The Berkeley City Council went into extra innings on the Sprint cellular facility appeal last Tuesday night, using up four separate ballots before finally upholding Sprint’s application to put three antennas on the roof of a commercial building at 1600 Shattuck Ave. After all of that voting, it was actually a single non-vote—an abstention by Mayor Tom Bates—that was the deciding factor. 

Sprint originally applied for the antenna permit in 2002, and over the objections of an ad hoc coalition of neighborhood residents, the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) approved that application in December of that year. The neighbors then appealed the ZAB decision to the city council, which took a full year to receive an independent expert’s analysis, hold a public hearing, and then come to a final decision. Tuesday night’s meeting was the last night for city council to act, or the ZAB approval decision would automatically go into effect. 

Bates’ abstention at Tuesday night’s meeting on a vote to deny the Sprint application resulted in a rare council 4-4-1 tie, a failure of council to act, and an invoking of that automatic approval provision. 

After the meeting, Bates said he knew that his failure to vote, and the resulting standoff, would result in a Sprint victory. 

“This was a difficult one,” the mayor said. “But I just didn’t think there was enough in the record to justify denying their application.” 

That didn’t sit well with former Mayor Shirley Dean, who Bates defeated in an election two years ago. “If that’s what [the mayor] believed, why didn’t he just vote that way?” Dean said in a telephone interview. She accused the mayor of “wimping out.” “I was flabbergasted,” Dean added. “I personally would have denied the application, but that’s not the point. You could make an argument either to deny or to uphold the application, and you could defend it either way, because there was plenty of material on both sides. But not to make a decision—it just floors me. The city council and the mayor have a responsibility to make a decision. That’s their job. I don’t understand walking away from it like that.” 

Sprint currently has some 50 cellular antennas spread throughout Berkeley, but the company said it needs the new facility to boost what it calls unacceptable cell phone service in North Berkeley. Neighbors of the proposed Shattuck Avenue and Cedar Street facility—in a building which houses a Starbucks Coffee Shop, Barney’s Gourmet Hamburgers, and Café de la Paz—argued that the facility was both a health hazard and not needed by the company. Sprint threatened Berkeley with a lawsuit if the application was denied.  

The council initially voted down 3-3-3 Councilmember Gordon Wozniak’s motion to approve the Sprint application (Spring, Breland, Maio voting no; Worthington, Bates, Olds abstaining). Councilmember Margaret Breland, who has been ill for several weeks, voted by telephone. The city council then split down the middle on Maio’s motion to deny the permit (Worthington, Spring, Breland, Maio voting yes; Shirek, Olds, Hawley, Wozniak voting no; Bates abstaining). Following that vote, which had the effect of upholding ZAB’s approval of the application, Maio asked for reconsideration of her “no” vote on Wozniak’s original motion to approve the application. In a statement directed to the audience, Maio said that reopening the vote was the only way that the council could add protections to the permit for restaurant workers who might have to do repairs on the roof in the vicinity of the antennas. With both Maio and Bates changing their votes to “yes”, the council voted 6-2-1 (Spring, Breland voting no; Worthington abstaining) to approve the permit, with added protections that included increased rooftop security measures. 

The city council approved City Manager Phil Kamlarz’ timetable for implementing the recommendations of the Mayor’s Task Force on Permitting and Development. The 14-member task force met for much of last year, returning with a list of proposed changes in the permitting and regulation of Berkeley development projects. The city manager has recommended that some 30 of those changes be implemented by the end of the year. 

The council also directed city staff and the Planning Commission to return to the council by May with recommended changes in the zoning ordinance to conform to the University Avenue Strategic Plan. The strategic plan, which is part of the city’s General Plan, has height and building setback requirements that are more restrictive than those currently allowed in the zoning code for the University Avenue area.?

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 

“The Vagina Monologues” Berkeley High School student production, directed by Joanna Lee, at 8 p.m. at the Florence Schwimley Little Theater, 1920 Allston Way. Adults $10, Student $5. A benefit for Bay Area Women Against Rape. 527-3086. 

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 includes 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 Heri- 

tage 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. 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. 

TUESDAY, FEB. 24 

Tuesday Morning Birdwalk at Tilden Nature Area, 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Call if you need binoculars. 525-2233. 

Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras Celebration with live music and costume making from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Tuesday Farmers’ Market, Derby St. at MLK. Featuring Josh Paxton at 3 p.m. and Wild Buds at 4 p.m. 548-2220, ext. 227. www.ecologycenter.org 

“Accessible Tech - The Great Equalizer!” a Berkeley Special Education Parents Network (BSPED) presentation from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT), 2547 8th St. AT and universal design in educational materials make a tremendous contribution to a meaningful, equitable education for ALL children. Wheelchair accessible and free. 525-9262. BSPED@mcads.com 

“Climbing Mt. Shasta” with Tim Keating, Director, Sierra Wilderness Seminars, at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“Gaza Strip” A documentary of the lives of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip struggling with the day to day trials of the Israeli occupation. At 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library Central Branch, 2090 Kittredge St., 3rd floor community meeting room, wheelchair accessible. Sponsored by Berkeley Peace Walk & Vigil and Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Present.  

“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 

Triumph Over Fear, Victory Party and Award Ceremony, in honor of all those who made our stunning victory in Raich v. Ashcroft possible, with Attorney General Bill Lockyer, at 5 p.m. at Oakland Box Theater, 1928 Telegraph Ave. Tickets are $50 general public, $35 patients with OCBC i.d. cards. Reservations can be made by calling 764-1494. Sponsored by Angel Wings Patient OutReach.  

Berkeley PC Users Group, problem solving and beginners meeting to answer, in simple English, users questions about Windows computers, at 7 p.m. at 1145 Walnut St., near corner of Eunice. All welcome, no charge. 527-2177.  

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. To join us, call 215-7672.  

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25 

Tilden Tots A nature adventure program to learn about our amphibian friends from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Area. For 3 and 4 years olds accompanied by an adult. Fee is $6, $8 for non-residents. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Great Decisions 2004: “Weapons of Mass Destruction” with Prof. Harold P. Smith, visiting scholar, Goldman School of Public Policy, 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.  

March Ballot Free-For-All Join the Gray Panthers for a review of the March ballot measures with Kriss Worthington on Berkeley Measures, Michelle Milam from Loni Hancock’s office, on the State Propositions, Avram Gratch, MD on Measure A, and Ms. Quintana-Turner on Prop. 55, at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 548-9696. 

“Arnie’s Energy Policy: Just Another Shade of Gray?” with Bob Finkelstein, Executive Director, The Utility Reform Network, at 4 p.m., 110 Barrows Hall, UC Campus. 642-1640. 

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

“The Chilean Popular Movement” with Prof. Jorge Arrate, at 4 p.m. in the Lounge, Women’s Faculty Club, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies. 642-2088. www.clas.berkeley.edu 

“From Fatigue to Fantastic” with Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, at 7 p.m. at Cafe de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave. Sponsored by Elephant Pharmacy.  

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Sta- 

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

Bayswater Book Club meets at 6:30 p.m. at Lius’ Kitchen, Solano Ave. for a discussion of “The Boom and the Bubble” by Robert Brenner. 433-2911. 

Prose Writers Workshop We're a serious but lively bunch whose focus is on issues of craft. Novices welcome. Experienced facilitator. Community sponsored, no fee. Meets 7 to 9 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut, at Rose. For information call 524-3034. 

Berkeley CopWatch open office hours 7 to 9 p.m. Drop in to file complaints, assistance available. For information call 548-0425. 

THURSDAY, FEB. 26 

Public Hearing on University Village Master Plan EIR at 6:30 p.m. in the Multi-purpose Room, Ocean View School, 1000 Jackson St., Albany. Copies of the Subsequent Focused Draft Environmental Impact Report are available for review at the Albany Branch Library, 1247 Marin Ave. or at the University Village office. For more informaion contact Carol Kielusiak at 643-0638. 

Third Biennial Meeting of Bay Area Creek and Watershed Groups at 6 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Sponsored by Aquatic Outreach Institute, East Bay Watershed Center, Friends of Baxter Creek, Friends of Five Creeks, SPAWNERS, Urban Creeks Council. The meeting is free, but please pre-register by calling Mary Malko, at 231-9430. mary@aoinstitute.org 

“The Fourth World War” a documentary on the human story of global conflict, at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5-$10. Benefit for Bay Area Indie Media and Chiapas Suppot Committee. http://bayarea.indiemedia.org 

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. 

Starbucks Grants for Giving is offering $375,000 to local non-profits in Berkeley and other East Bay cities. Eligibility and application information can be obtained from any Northern California Starbucks location, by visiting www.starbucks.com/ 

grantsforgiving or by calling 1-866-535-GIVE.  

CITY MEETINGS 

Parks and Recreation Commission meets Mon., Feb. 23, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Deborah Chernin, 981-6715. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/parksandrecreation 

Solid Waste Management Commission Mon., Feb. 23, at 7 p.m., at 1201 Second St. Becky Dowdakin, 981-6357. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/solidwaste 

City Council meets Tues., Feb. 24, at 7 p.m. with a Special Meeting at 5 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Sherry M. Kelly, city clerk, 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Citizens Budget Review Commission meets Wednesday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Paul Navazio, 981-7041. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/budget 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., Feb. 25, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/civicarts 

Disaster Council meets Wed., Feb. 25, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. Carol Lopes, 981-5514. www.ci.berkeley.ca. us/commissions/disaster 

Energy Commission meets Wed., Feb. 25, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Neal De Snoo, 981-5434. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/energy 

Mental Health Commission meets Wed., Feb. 25, at 6:30 p.m., at 2640 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Harvey Turek, 981-5213. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/mentalhealth  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Feb. 25, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Ruth Grimes, 981-7481. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed. Feb. 25, at 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, Barbara Attard, 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/policereview 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs. Feb. 26, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/zoning   

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FRIDAY, FEB. 20 

CHILDREN 

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

THEATER 

“The Vagina Monologues” Berkeley High School student production, directed by Joanna Lee, at 8 p.m. at the Florence Schwimley Little Theater, 1920 Allston Way. Adults $10, Student $5. A benefit for Bay Area Women Against Rape. 527-3086. 

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. 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 punk 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 includes 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.com 

MONDAY, FEB. 23 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Ronn Owens introduces the “Voice of Reason: Why the Left and Right are Wrong” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Eddie Yuen describes “Confronting Capitalism: Dispatches from a Global Movement” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

TUESDAY, FEB. 24 

FILM 

Joseph Cornell Centenary: “...tokens and traces of chance...” at 7 p.m. and “Goofy Newsreels” at 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Comix 101” a visual travelogue with Art Spiegelman at 8 p.m., Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $18-$28, available from 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Brian Green describes “The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time and the Texture of Reality” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

Jim Garrison introduces his new book “America as Empire: Global Leader or Rogue Power?” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson with Cheryl McBride at 8 p.m. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazz- 

school at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Kaki King at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $15.50 in advance, $16.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Mimi Fox, solo guitar, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

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

www.thejazzhouse.com 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25 

FILM 

Film 50: “Scarface” at 3 p.m. and Video: They Might be Giants: “Steina and Woody Vasuka” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

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.starryplough.com 

“Daughter’s Keeper” with author Ayelet Waldman at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0327, ext. 112. 

Perri Klass reads from her new novel, “The Mystery of Breathing,” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert with Robert Schumann and Heitor Villa-Lobos at International House, corner of Bancroft and Piedmont Aves. Admission is free. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Freddy Clarke & The All Over the Map Band, CD Release Party at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

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

Blowout Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Strings Attached: What We Live, improvisation at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donations of $8-$15 suggested. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org 

THURSDAY, FEB. 26 

THEATER 

Everyday Theater, “The Bright River,” a show by Tim Barsky opens at 8 p.m. at the Transparent Theater, 1901 Ashby Ave. and runs through March 20. Tickets are $12-$20 and are available from 644-2204. 

A Traveling Jewish Theater, “Times Like These” at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $20-$28. 415-285-8080. www.atjt.com 

FILM 

Human Rights Watch Film Festival “Power Trip” at 7 p.m. and “Life on the Tracks” at 8:50 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Mexican Folk Art” a lunchtime gallery talk with Stanley Brandes from noon to 1 p.m. at the Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology, 103 Kroeber Hall, Bancroft Way at College.  

Jennifer Carrell describes “The Speckled Monster: A Historical Tale of Battling Smallpox” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Bruce Wipperman takes us on a visual tour with “Moon Handbook of Pacific Mexico” at 7:30 p.m. at Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore, 1385 Shattuck Ave. 843-3533. 

Loolwa Khazzoom reads from “The Flying Camel: Essays on Identity by Women of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish Heritage” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Word Beat Reading Series with Connie Post and Lara Monroe at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave., near Dwight Way. 526-5985, 205-1749.  

Carla Blank introduces her new novel, “Rediscovering America” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble. 644-0861. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

International Gospel Music Spectacular, a showcase of choirs and soloists from East Bay African American Churches at 8 p.m. at International House, Piedmont Ave. at Bancroft Way. Tickets are $5 at the door. The concert will be preceeded by a buffet at 5:30 p.m. for $8.50. 

Moore Brothers, Paula Frazer, Nedelle at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

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

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

Duck Baker and Peppino D’Agostino, guitar, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $19.50 in advance, $20.50 at the door. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Strings Attached: What We Live, featuring John Schott at 8 p.m. at The Jazz House. Donations of $8-$15 suggested. 649-8744. www.thejazzhouse.org?

Tears were shed Wednesday after the Berkeley School Board approved a fiscal emergency plan that slashed $3.2 million from its general fund and killed a 31-year-old program serving teenage mothers and their children. 

“Pregnant students and parent students won’t disappear just because there are no services available,” said a bleary-eyed Katherine Sullivan, director of the Vera Casey Center—one of the first programs in the nation to offer pre-natal services and parent counseling to Berkeley students and day care to their children  

Eliminating Vera Casey was the most controversial part of the plan that cuts 32 positions, and roughly $1.2 million in spending on personnel, while relying on improved administrative efficiencies and program transfers out of the general fund to balance the books for 2004-2005. 

The plan, mandated by the county, erases the structural deficit the district faces next fiscal year from rising health care and labor costs. The plan’s approval—depending on the outcome of the state budget—could be the final chapter in the three-year budget crisis that nearly ended local control over Berkeley schools. A final budget for 2004-05 will not be approved until June. 

After cutting $14 million over the past two years by among other things increasing class sizes for fourth through ninth graders, cutting music instruction in middle and elementary schools and closing an elementary school, Alameda Associate Superintendent of Business Services Michael Lenahan said the district is poised to win county approval for its budget for the first time since 2001. 

District officials, however, remained cautious. “We’re not out of the woods here,” said Superintendent Michele Lawrence, who warned more cuts might be needed if voters rejected the March ballot initiatives authorizing the state to borrow up to $15 million to close its budget gap.  

The board approved the latest plan by a vote of 3-1-1, with Berkeley School Board President John Selawsky voting against it, based on his objections to closing Vera Casey. 

“This serves and supports one of our most vulnerable populations,” he said. “I’m not sure what happens to teen parents if we close this program entirely.” 

Vera Casey operates on a state grant, but the district must cover program deficits which in recent years have topped $100,000 and, despite cuts to the program, was projected to hit $70,000 this year. Enrollment has shrunk in recent years to just 18 students, fewer than ten of which regularly attend school, Lawrence told the board.  

The district did not present a plan to serve student mothers, though Lawrence broached possibly issuing child care stipends to students in need. 

Selawsky’s concerns fell on deaf ears. “I have the same concerns as you, but none of these cuts have been easy,” said Board Member Joaquin Rivera. “If we take items out now the whole thing will fall apart.”  

Vera Casey Director Sullivan blamed a lack of knowledgeable administrators for overstating the forecasted deficit and said she would try to keep the center open with money from the city or state—a prospect she acknowledged was a longshot. 

“I don’t see how they could close the program without an alternative in place,” Sullivan said. “It’s a greater crisis to the community to have teenage mothers put their children in an unsafe environment.” 

Further cuts could also come, Lawrence said, if a district budget report due out in April shows that cost savings measures already implemented have failed to plug an estimated $2.3 million hole in the current budget. 

In addition to passing the fiscal recovery plan, the board declared a fiscal emergency for next year, allowing it to budget class sizes at ratios of 37 students to one teacher in the general fund—well above limits authorized in the voter-approved Berkeley Schools Excellence Project ballot measure. Money from that initiative will pay for more teachers to reduce class sizes below numbers provided in the general fund. 

In contrast to budget battles from the previous two years, this year’s cuts, which targeted mostly non-teachers, sparked little citizen outrage. Class sizes are scheduled to remain stable and lost teacher jobs due to an estimated decline in enrollment of 176 students are forecast to be offset by retirements and resignations. 

The plan foresees thousands in savings from improved administrative controls, including self-insuring the district for worker’s compensation, lowering legal expenses and improving payroll systems and data processing systems. It forecasts health and welfare benefits to rise 18 percent and doesn’t include the governor’s proposed spending hikes that could bring the district $700,000 due to the precarious nature of the state budget. 

Among the more controversial measures were provisions to eliminate more than 15 positions for special education instructional aides and push the cost for middle school librarians and an accountant responsible for Berkeley High student accounts from the general fund to discretionary accounts controlled by school sites. 

Student Boardmember Bradley Johnson worries that charging the accountant to the high school student account could endanger student programs like the newspaper, student government and athletic department. However, Superintendent Lawrence said the fund had money to absorb the position next year until the district found a long-term solution. 

›

The University of California has drafted a policy explicitly forbidding student governments from lobbying on state ballot initiatives, setting the university on a collision course with UC Berkeley student government leaders. 

In a second revised draft of student policies circulated this month, the university inserted a clause precluding student governments from using student fees collected by the university to lobby for or against a particular candidate or ballot proposition in a non-university election. The move attempts to clarify contradictory language in current UC codes that fueled a controversy last semester when the UC Berkeley graduate student government (GA) funded a student government campaign against Proposition 54—a November ballot initiative that would have barred race as a category in state-funded research. 

Student leaders were furious last November when UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl ruled the allocation illegal on grounds that student governments, like the university itself, were barred from lobbying on ballot initiatives. In December, the GA, which had earmarked $35,000 to fight the ballot measure they said would inhibit student research, voted to sue UC Berkeley if the university didn’t change its interpretation of UC policy. 

GA President Jessica Quindel called the new system-wide policy “unacceptable.” “How is it that when it comes to the legislature we can lobby all we want, but with ballot initiatives which have equal impact on students we lose our right to meaningful speech?” she asked. 

Though the policy is still in draft form and not slated for final approval until the summer, April Labbe of the University of California Student Association (UCSA) sees little chance for a revision. The policy was drafted by UC attorneys, she said, so it would likely take a lawsuit or a competing legal opinion to change it. 

“The student government is part of a state agency, the university, so the same rules apply to them,” said UC Berkeley Counsel Michael Smith. “They’re subject to the rules in the same way a staff member can’t take university money and spend it on a political campaign.” 

In contrast to student governments, the new policy reaffirms the rights of registered campus groups to lobby on ballot initiatives.  

The UC Board of Regents joined student governments to UC in 1972 to provide student government employees with university health and retirement benefits. The designation as “official units” is rare, but the policy on ballot initiatives is not. Melissa Unger of the University of Oregon Student Association said a 1986 Attorney General ruling forbids both student governments and campus organizations from lobbying on ballot initiatives in that state, which also uses initiatives to decide key issues of public policy. 

UCSA Executive Director Liz Geyer said the university has opted to interpret its policies “as conservatively as possible” to forestall possible lawsuits from well funded conservative legal groups like the Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF). That group threatened to sue UC Berkeley last year when it learned mandatory student fees were used on the “No on 54” campaign. 

“Their policy is totally irrational,” Geyer said. “They’re basically equating the student government to the French Department.” 

The PLF might have sued Berkeley had they upheld the student government’s allocation, Smith acknowledged, but he maintained the specter of a lawsuit did not drive UC’s ruling. 

Labbe of the UCSA said she plans to work with the Regents to determine if they would drop the “official unit” status of student governments while finding a way to safeguard the privileges for employees the status provides. 

Should that effort fail, a lawsuit seems likely, GA President Quindel said.  

A student website laid out their arguments pointing to language elsewhere in the student code specifying that “positions on issues taken by student governments shall not be represented as or deemed to be official positions of the University,” and the 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin vs. Southworth. In that case the students argue the court ruled student speech is different from that of the university and that “a university may allow the broadest range of activities to be funded as possible.” 

UC Hastings Law Professor David Levine called a possible lawsuit, “a close one,” but thought UC would prevail. He said even though, when it comes to lobbying on ballot initiatives, “UC might not be required to make a distinction between student governments and registered campus groups, but as long as UC has a rationale basis for making the distinction, it’s entitled to make it.”  

3

On Wednesday a California Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Berkeley attorney that aimed to increase security measures on electronic voting systems before the March 2 primary. 

Judge Raymond Cadei denied a temporary restraining order against Diebold Election Systems, Inc., the maker of the majority of the state’s touch screen voting machines, that would have kept Diebold from changing or updating anything on the machines before election day. The plaintiffs sought the restraining order against Diebold because they said the company used software updates that are not approved by the state. 

“We are pleased that the election officials will be able to move forward with the election,” said Diebold spokesperson David Bear.  

The plaintiffs also lost an injunction against Secretary of State Kevin Shelley and the registrars of voters from at least 18 counties, including Alameda, that would have prevented them from using the machines for an election until security updates are made. 

Attorney Lowell Finley and five plaintiffs filed the suit because they say Diebold machines pose serious risks to the election.  

“Electronic voting systems sold to California counties by defendant Diebold Election Systems, Inc., pose a grave threat to the security and the integrity of the statewide elections to be held on March 2, 2004, and November 2, 2004,” wrote Finley in the lawsuit. 

“Numerous computer security experts have shown that the hardware and software used in the Diebold systems is highly vulnerable to vote tampering both by company insiders and outside computer hackers.” 

There is also criticism of the Diebold servers used by counties to tally the votes. 

“I believe [the decision] was a mistake,” said Jim March, one of the plaintiffs named in the suit. “But this was not the main event, this was just a side show. This is just one step in a 15-round fight.” 

“We never asked that the judge prevent the election from going forward,” said Finley. “Our goal is to hold the state and counties to a high standard of security. We knew this was an uphill battle because of how close the election is.”  

Several of the plaintiff’s security requests are similar to those issued in two separate directives by California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley. In one issued last November, Shelley said that as of July 1, 2006, all touch screen voting terminals used in the state will be required to contain a voter verified paper audit trail which would allow election officials to double check votes in case of any vote tampering  

He also issued a directive on Feb. 5 pertaining to the upcoming March 2 election. Included in the directive were instructions to stop using the Internet to submit votes from the poling places to the county. This was also one of plaintiff’s requests. 

“Modem uploads of votes to a county’s GEMS server (the county server used to tabulate votes) is vulnerable to what is known as a ‘man-in-the-middle’ attack,” said Finley in the lawsuit. In one of the analyst reports cited by Finley, he said a hacker can program a laptop to act like a GEMS server.  

“By convincing a precinct judge to dial into an attacker’s laptop computer rather than the actual GEMS server, the laptop could receive the results, acquire the name and password to access the real GEMS server, and upload modified results to the GEMS sever with no noticeable lag time,” wrote Finley.  

“I think Shelley is trying to do the right thing and has taken much more proactive steps than election officials elsewhere in the country,” said Finley. But Shelly’s seven suggestions are just part of several others the plaintiffs demanded in the 36-page lawsuit they filed. 

“While [Shelley’s directives] are welcomed steps in the right direction, the directives do not fulfill the secretary’s duties under the election code because they leave many known security vulnerabilities unaddressed,” according to the suit.  

Several county registrars of voters signed a letter of protest scoffing at Shelly’s directives and saying he is overstating the concerns. They also said there is not enough time to make the changes and that the costs would be too high.  

“I think a lot of [Shelly’s] points were very good ones,” said Brad Clark, Alameda county registrar of voters, who did not sign the letter of protest. “But [the report] came too late. Some of the things cannot be done that quickly.” 

He said the same was true for the security updates requested in the lawsuit. 

“You simply cannot order that level of software change 12 or 13 days before the election.” 

After the court decision, a spokesperson for Kevin Shelley’s office said Shelley “appreciated that the court has chosen not to interfere with the upcoming election.” 

Finley said the plaintiffs will now move ahead with other actions, none of which he could disclose. 

Another one of the plaintiffs, Bev Harris, who runs blackboxvoting.com, the leading information site for opponents to touch screen voting, said there are other lawsuits brewing in states around the country who also use the new technology. She said the courts were the only way to proceed because elected officials have failed to intervene. 

“We will win one [lawsuit] eventually,” said Harris, who lives in Washington state. “And if that’s not doing it we’re going to have to organize demonstrations, move onto the streets.”  

›

The controversy over who will represent Berkeley’s interests in the early stages of development of the proposed downtown UC hotel complex—the Planning Commission, the city council, or the mayor alone—continued to simmer even as the Planning Commission’s Hotel Task Force moved forward with the stated blessing of the UC hotel’s project manager. The mayor, a city councilmember, and representatives of both the task force and UC all weighed in on the representation issue at this week’s task force meeting in exchanges that ranged from the testy to the “let’s all get along.” 

UC Senior Planner Kevin Hufferd told some 60 participants in the task force’s first public meeting at the North Berkeley Senior Center Wednesday night that “I welcome the task force getting involved in the process at this time. This is a perfect time for the community to bring their ideas forward.” 

That was in considerable contrast to Mayor Tom Bates, who had requested that the 25-member task force should delay any action until he completes the first-round of private negotiations with UC representatives involved with the project. Bates told meeting participants that he was “skeptical about the [task force] process getting started” at the present time because “these issues are so complicated.” The mayor had earlier told the Daily Planet that it was UC that objected to the task force’s immediate involvement. 

And Councilmember Kriss Worthington, whose district borders on the proposed downtown hotel site, complained at the same task force meeting that he was being kept out of the loop. “No one from the university or city staff has given me a single piece of paper about this project,” Worthington said. “What I’ve heard comes from individuals, or what I’ve read in the Daily Planet.” Worthington said that he had, in fact, received information from the Planning Commission, but made a distinction between that group and paid city staff. 

Shortly afterwards, Hufferd made his way across the room to put a stack of project documents into Worthington’s hand. 

The major contention between the city and the university over the hotel project is whether the project is subject to Berkeley’s zoning code, and must therefore go through the city’s normal development approval processes. Hufferd said that while there will be “substantial community input one way or the other, we are trying to craft a new development approval process that is separate and different from what UC has done in the past.” Hufferd did not elaborate on what that new approval process might be. He also said that the hotel project will generate taxes to the city “equivalent to if it were completely privately-developed.” 

Following the meeting, Planning Commissioner and task force chairperson Rob Wrenn downplayed one of the major issues in Assistant City Attorney Zack Cowan’s legal opinion memo to Mayor Bates concerning the hotel complex. In the memo, which was leaked to the Daily Planet and published in the newspaper’s Feb. 17 edition, Cowan had advised that the city’s zoning code be changed to accomodate UC’s wishes for the hotel. The major contention about the zoning code is that its downtown height limitations would not permit UC’s desires for a 12 story structure. “I’m not opposed to changing the zoning,” Wrenn said. “The real question is: change what to get what? There has to be some tradeoffs with UC—some quid pro quo—on some mitigations that we will get in return. And the real question of the building is not so much how tall it will be, but the details of the design. We have to be absolutely certain that it looks nice.” 

Several meeting participants questioned UC Project Manager Hufferd on exactly what that design might be, Hufferd said that the project was in its preliminary stages, and no exact project design was presently being considered.  

While the bulk of the first task force meeting was work-related and non-controversial, taken up by detailed presentations of proposals to set up a pedestrian mall and to daylight Strawberry Creek along Center Street, Bates clashed with meeting participants in the meeting’s first five minutes. The mayor said that while he was a longtime supporter of creek daylighting, he was “now becoming a skeptic” about proposals to do so on Center Street. Bates cited potential problems with the nearby BART station, as well as with proposed Seagate properties that would border the creek. And when Bates announced that he was going to have to leave the meeting following his opening remarks, a creek restoration advocate complained that this would mean the mayor would miss a detailed presentation on the creek daylighting proposal which had been prepared at the request of the mayor himself, and which was designed to answer some of his concerns.  

“I’m sorry,” the mayor snapped back. “I have a life. It’s not convenient for me tonight.” Bates pointed out that some of his staff members would remain to hear the presentation. 

Several audience members took exception to the mayor’s remarks that “We’ve got to rachet down our expectations about what’s going to come from this hotel project; we’re not going to get everything that we want; this project is not going to solve all of Berkeley’s problems.” 

Hotel Project Manager Hufferd announced that while UC had selected the project developer from a list of four finalists, the university was not yet ready to reveal the name until negotiations with the developer are completed. He said an announcement was expected sometime around the first of March, and also said that the developer had not yet selected a project architect. 

The Planning Commission task force, which is chaired by Planning Commissioner Rob Wrenn, is expected to make recommendations to the city council on the UC hotel complex project sometime in May.

The three Claremont Resort and Spa workers suspended last week had their suspensions changed to verbal warnings and are back at work with back pay. 

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

Javier’s suspension was reduced last Monday and Pertrazzouli and Marie had theirs reduced Tuesday after all three had meetings with Human Resource representatives from the Claremont.  

The Claremont did not return calls concerning the reductions. 

Local 2850 said they think the Claremont used the suspensions to scare other workers because Petrazzouli and Javier—both strong union supporters—attended a rally outside the resort after they clocked out. 

The resort’s parent company, KSL, has been embroiled in a labor dispute with local 2850 for almost two years, but agreed to sell the hotel to CNL, an Orlando-based real estate investment trust. KSL is 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. 

According to the union both Pertrazzouli and Marie clock out early when there are no more clients for the day. Javier regularly clocked out 30 minutes early when he worked through his lunch break.  

“The Claremont is seeing the light, that they can’t scare the workers,” said Claire Darby, one of the lead organizers with local 2850. “They realized how drastically stupid it was to retaliate.” 

Javier said he did nothing out of the ordinary when he clocked out last Tuesday and went to the rally.  

“It wasn’t anything I hadn’t done before,” he said. “They could have nailed me months ago if they wanted to. It’s clearly retaliatory.” 

Now Javier has to ask for permission to leave early even though he says he has been self-regulated for years. 

“They trying to save face,” Javier said about the reduction. “It was bad timing and a knee jerk reaction.” 

—Jakob Schiller 

›

A student group lost a bid before the California Supreme Court Thursday to invalidate Gov. Schwarzenegger’s reduction in the vehicle license fee and corresponding cuts to education and other programs. 

The high court denied the lawsuit filed last month by the University of California Student Association and two other student advocacy groups, but ruled the plaintiffs could re-file the case in a lower court. 

The student advocates had argued the governor’s executive order last November to repeal a $4 billion vehicle license fee hike violated California law because the state lacked the money to offset the cuts. In December, Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal emergency allowing him to cut $148 million, including $24 million from the state university system. 

UCSA Executive Director Liz Geyer said she had not decided whether or not to take the case to a lower court. 

“If we won through the superior court, the cuts would still have to be restored, but taking a long time is definitely a concern,” said. 

Joining the UCSA on the lawsuit were the Equal Justice Society and Californians for Justice. 

a

Robbery Suspect Caught 

Workers at the downtown branch of Wells Fargo had a rough start to their day Tuesday when the second customer who walked through the door turned out to be a bank robber.  

The man handed the teller a note claiming to have a gun, and, with cash in hand, he fled out the bank’s south exit, a security guard said. 

Berkeley police alerted neighboring police departments, and later Tuesday Oakland Police arrested Raoul Skinner, 29, of Oakland outside the West Oakland Bart Station. 

Skinner, who was found unarmed, was booked into Berkeley Jail on one count or robbery. Bail was set at $20,000. 

Sting Operation 

A prostitution sting late Friday evening along San Pablo Avenue between University and Ashby avenues resulted in the arrest of 11 women, police said. The operation is part of a series targeting prostitutes and johns along San Pablo Avenue, Police spokesperson Kevin Schofield said. 

Meter Vandal Arrests  

Police arrested two people Wednesday during a four-hour parking operation scoping out parking meter vandals around Telegraph Avenue. One of those arrested was found to be carrying a large knife and methamphetamine, Schofield said. During the operation, police also issued four citations to motorists for not yielding to pedestrians and three parking tickets.e

The Stitches West Knitters Convention is only a few miles from my home, but in truth it is worlds away. Held annually in the large Oakland Marriott City Center, it features three days of knitting workshops and seminars covering everything from beginner’s basics to Russian lace, to color theory and designing your own socks. 

Hundreds of knitters come to Oakland from all over the western United States and Canada to speak a common language, practice a common art and admire (and covet) the creations of others. For most, knitting is a treasured and relaxing past-time, and a refuge from the frenetic pace of our lives. Not surprisingly, it is hard to find the time to knit. Knitting, I believe, is like breast-feeding, something that should be acceptable to do in public, but unfortunately seems not to be.  

A convention in the company of hundreds of like-minded knitters is quite liberating. No longer are we hiding our knitting projects to work on when we are alone. During the Stitches West Convention knitters are knitting all over downtown Oakland, in hotel hallways and public spaces and restaurants of the City Center and, of course, in the classes. Among the 125 classes offered this year, you can learn to knit, or at least how to start knitting, an Aran sweater covered with bobbles and cables and other textured patterns. Or you can learn to knit with multiple colors in the classic Fair Isle style. Simpler project classes cover hats, socks, and mittens and small bags. For the adventurous there are classes in knitting backwards, in charted lace, and mosaic knitting.  

While most of these classes will be filled by now (remember the approximate dates for next year) it is certainly worth a trip this weekend to the Stitches West Marketplace, where a whole floor of the City Center is filled with the booths of over 150 vendors of yarns, fibers, patterns, books, buttons and knitting accessories. It is a visual feast of colors and textures. Knitters may buy their yarn based on feel as much as color, and it is not uncommon to find a crowd of women petting and caressing a skein of cashmere or qiviut, the down of the musk ox, the softest fiber in the world. 

Knitting yarn is no longer just wool or cotton, and not just in the primary colors. Today’s knitters can find mohair (from goats), chenille, angora (from rabbits), yak down, rayon - a natural fiber derived from wood pulp, linen and even ribbon yarn and yarn with interspaced beads. Hand-painted and hand-dyed yarns are very popular and ensure that even a lowly scarf knit with these yarns will be unique.  

Every year I am eager to revisit some of my favorite vendors. Chasing Rainbow Dyeworks from Willits, California, produces some of the loveliest hand-dyed yarns of silk and merino wool in shades with names such as “Magic Carpet” (plum, blue-green and muted orange), “African Savannah” (greens and golds) and “Abalone” (silver, teal and violet). For those who need a pattern and wool, kits to produce head-turning sweaters are available from Cheryl Oberle Designs from Denver, Colorado, Philosopher’s Wool from Ontario, and many others.  

For those looking for unique natural fibers, be sure to visit Pacific Meadows Alpacas from Eugene, Oregon, and Royal Cashmere Goats from Fallon, Nevada. Hemp, a remarkably soft and versatile fiber is available from Lanaknits Designs from British Columbia. If you are looking for some very soft fiber, Paradise Fibers from Colfax, Washington has yak down, blended with silk and wool, for spinners. At Royale Hare from Santa Rosa you can find silk dyed in more than a rainbow of colors, silk to knit or crochet, silk to spin, or silk just to fondle and admire. 

For the latest in art and technology for yarns, Habu Textiles, a Japanese company, has yarns in hemp, bark, bamboo, pineapple, ramie (a plant fiber), and even stainless steel.  

Although designer yarns from Italy and Japan are very popular with the art-knitter, I prefer to patronize family-owned businesses. Janet Heppler will be here from Covelo, California, with the fiber from her 30 angora rabbits. She also raises sheep for their wool, and if you want to see wool in its original state (just off the sheep), take a look her musky, lanolin-laden fleeces in lovely shades of ivory, browns and greys.  

A note to the worried: Obtaining the wool from a sheep does not harm the animal, it is more like a haircut. But it is a long, arduous process to clean a fleece and card and comb the wool into a form useful for spinning.  

For those who want to create their own yarn, you will see a number of people with their spinning wheels on the Convention floor. In the midst of the happy chaos, the spinners will be meditatively tranquil. It is said that one spins, presses the treadle, at one’s natural heart rate. If you treadle too fast your yarn will end up a useless tangled mess, so the natural pace is what makes spinning so comforting, even to watch.  

Visiting the marketplace at Stitches West can be a pricey venture. Hand-spun and hand-dyed yarns are not, and should not be, cheap. But even if you don’t buy anything, come for the sights and the touches. You will be inspired.  

More information about Stitches West can be found at www.knittinguniverse.com. 

Tyranny, our conservative friends remind us, is like hot tar poured from a limitless source. To describe it as greedy misses the point, as even the largest stomach eventually gets filled. Tyranny is more insatiable. Its own weight compels it on, overwhelming even the part of it that first comes through the breech, and it never stops of its own accord. Either it chokes off all the available space, or you have to walk over and turn off the spigot. Our conservative friends are wrong about a number of things. But not about this. 

Having successfully vaulted the fence of our electoral rights (taking away Oaklanders’ right to run our own schools through an elected school board, that is), our little band of tyrants has taken to relieving themselves upon the public lawn. The specific target of the season appears to be that portion of the First Amendment that protects the right of folks to assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances. 

A group of Oakland citizens gather of a brisk afternoon at the center of the seat of power—the corridor between the State Building and City Hall—to let their opinion be heard concerning the state seizure of the Oakland Unified School District. To a person, they do not like it. It is an orderly gathering of teachers and parents and students (many of them of elementary school age) with a sprinkling of elected officials, both present and past (I see City Councilmember Nancy Nadel and former City Councilmember Wilson Riles amongst the group). By design, the gathering splits up to take their message to the offices of officials, state and local, who have had a hand in the school takeover. 

Those seeking an audience with Mayor Jerry Brown, however, find the doors of City Hall locked, and a contingent of Oakland police officers barring entrance thereto. The mayor has taken to exchanging smirks about the takeover with the business breakfast crowd, but the group at Ogawa Plaza that day probably does not appreciate the joke, and so Mr. Brown makes no appearance to the assemblage, nor does he suffer any of his aides to do so, either. 

By way of explanation to an Oakland Tribune columnist, Captain Rod Yee of the Oakland Police Department reveals that the doors were locked because letting these Oakland citizens into Oakland City Hall “would be disruptive to business.” A slip of a Freudian nature, one supposes. The citizens are reduced to shivering in the cold of the late afternoon, holding up signs and banners to empty windows. That they, huddling in the cold wind outside, are the ones paying to keep the lights on and the heat going inside, is a point many are apt to remember as they break up and head back for their Oakland homes. 

Oaklanders, get used to it. Pamela Drake, a parent and a former city council aide, posts the following message to a local political Internet discussion group concerning State Administrator Randolph Ward’s second public hearing on the Oakland school closures last month. I quote, extensively, with her permission, because there is no way I could describe it better: 

“Last night I attended the Oakland School Board Meeting (or whatever we’re calling it these days). I was met again with a large show of police force and no little amount of intimidation. School security and police officers straddled the steps. It was not apparent that you were able to enter at all. I went around them successfully and found at least a half dozen OPD officers immediately inside filling up the hallway. 

“I asked the officer in charge why such a large force was needed. He said he probably needed more and had I seen what had happened at the last meeting. I said I had and there had been no incident. He told me that they were required to enforce the fire safety laws (or something to that effect). I asked him why folks were not allowed to stand in the halls as they always had in the past when the room filled up. He felt that there were already too many people in the halls. At the time, most of people in the halls were TV reporters and cameramen. He commented that if there were an emergency, a gurney would not be able to get through. So I’m guessing that next the press may be excluded for causing a hazard. 

“I made my way to the meeting hall. There was an officer blocking the door. He said that the room was not yet open. [It later was opened], but when I tried to enter, I was asked who I was. He then told me that I had to have a ticket. I was unable to locate the ticket ‘vendor’. A teacher from Burbank School came up to me and got me to the lady giving out the tickets. She asked me if I were a Burbank teacher or parent and the teacher said that I was. So that way I could get into an OUSD ‘public’ meeting.” 

According to Ms. Drake, the only citizens allowed in the public hearing were representatives of the five schools scheduled to be closed, and then only one school at a time. She goes on to write: 

“Once in the meeting there were numerous police and security personnel... About 30 folks lined up and spoke very emotionally, many of them children. 

“As I got up to leave I observed an audience member (whom I know slightly), almost get into an altercation with an officer apparently over handing out flyers. Another officer calmed the first one. I saw that more security was coming in. I also saw an officer from the hallway ask if more citizens could come in. He said no. I watched as numerous people left, but it was still no. I could see the OPD and school security forming a barrier at the top of the stairs. Citizens were being ushered out the side entrance and not allowed back into the hallway. I watched a mother plead with the group of officers to let her take her daughter to the bathroom. They escorted her out. I shifted myself to the door and quickly left as an officer attempted to grab me before I could get through.” 

“The evils of tyranny,” John Hay once said, “are rarely seen but by him who resists it.” Oakland, in beginning to resist, begins to see. 

›

MISLEADING CONCLUSIONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your recent article about the role of the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) in the financing of Panoramic Interest’s mixed-income project in Berkeley (“Affordable Housing Program Funds High-Priced Apartments,” Daily Planet, Feb. 13-16) makes misleading conclusions about the nature of that agency and the goals of these projects. To set the record straight: 

1) The bond funding programs you allude to are administered by the State of California as part of a statewide competition, and are deliberately earmarked for projects that provide low-income housing mixed in with market rate units —a socially desirable goal advocated by many planners, politicians, and agencies, including HUD. The bond monies are raised privately and repaid entirely with private funds. If our projects had not qualified for these bonds, the funds would have gone to other mixed-income projects in other parts of the state, to Berkeley’s loss.  

2) ABAG’s role as a project sponsor furthers its mission to provide affordable housing, and has resulted in the construction in Berkeley of 90 units of low income housing—a number that I believe is greater than all of the units developed and managed by Berkeley’s Housing Department during the past decade. No city housing trust funds were needed to build these bond financed units, nor are any city funds used to maintain or manage them.  

3) Berkeley’s experience with 100 percent low-income projects has been mixed, and led to accusations that such developments amount to “ghetto-ization” of low income people. In contrast, the inclusion of low-income residents in market rate projects furthers the goal of diversity, and generally makes for a living environment preferred by residents and neighbors alike. 

The general benefits to the city of the additional 425 units of new housing are also there for people to judge.  

Patrick Kennedy 

• 

MISCONCEPTIONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

J. Douglas Allen-Taylor’s recent article on the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and affordable housing financing leaves the reader with misconceptions. Financing and bond issuances are complex subjects and unfortunately Mr. Allen-Taylor misunderstood the full range of ABAG’s affordable housing program under ABAG’s Finance Authority for Nonprofit Corporations.  

We are proud of our innovative program that helps create critically needed housing at all income levels through tax exempt bond financing. This financing supports the acquisition, construction, and rehabilitation of multifamily and senior housing and is available for nonprofit housing developers, partnerships, and others with public benefit goals. It helps provide low cost financing for smaller urban projects and is an efficient competitive lending vehicle for larger developments.  

Contrary to Mr. Allen-Taylor’s statements, ABAG’s Finance Authority regularly monitors borrowers, and enforces strict compliance with Federal and State regulations for tax-exempt bond financed multifamily housing projects. There are no exemptions to these requirements as stated in the article 

Nonprofit housing developers quoted in the article reflect the difficulties of financing such valuable projects. To help meet the critical shortage of housing, especially affordable housing, we encourage nonprofit groups to take advantage of this tax-exempt debt financing opportunity.  

Scott Haggerty, ABAG President 

Alameda County Supervisor

Mr. Haggerty writes that “[c]ontrary to Mr. Allen-Taylor’s statements, ABAG’s Finance Authority regularly monitors borrowers, and enforces strict compliance with Federal and State regulations for tax-exempt bond financed multifamily housing project. Ther e are no exemptions to these requirements as stated in the article.” 

The reference was to the statement in the article that “ABAG’s signed agreement with Panoramic Interests to sponsor bond financing for the Gaia Building specifically exempts ABAG from h aving to monitor whether Panoramic actually rents the affordable apartments to low-income tenants.” 

A re-reading of the contract between ABAG and Panoramic Interests concerning the affordable housing shows that the Daily Planet was, indeed, in error in o ur statement. The contract provision only exempts ABAG from monitoring the project once the bonds are repaid. 

Having said that, we are glad to read that ABAG regularly monitors Panoramic on compliance. Questions have been raised both at Berkeley City Cou ncil and at the Berkeley Housing Commission as to whether or not Panoramic’s projects are actually in compliance with the 20 percent low-income unit inclusionary agreements. We look forward, therefore, to seeing ABAG’s reports on such compliance concernin g the Panoramic projects. 

We are in complete agreement with Mr. Kennedy and his many planners, politicians, and agencies, including HUD, that affordable housing units should be included in larger housing developments, and not ghetto-ized in the discredit ed, traditional housing “projects.” We do not agree, however, that the way to do this is to use tax-exempt affordable housing loans to subsidize both the low-income and the market rate units in a single development.  

In return for $72 million in low-cost, tax-exempt, ABAG-issued loans, Panoramic agreed to build 90 units of low-income housing. Mr. Kennedy asserts that an added benefit is that the city of Berkeley also got a total of 425 units of new housing (80 percent of which are market rate).  

But suppose HUD changed its regulations, and allowed the low-interest loans only for low-income housing. Under that type of program, Panoramic would qualify for approximately $15 million in ABAG loans for the 90 low income units in its seven Berkeley mixed-unit housing developments. With this public benefit in hand, Panoramic would still be free to seek market rate loans for the remaining market rate units in its seven housing developments. The remaining $57 million in ABAG loans could then go directly to low-in come inclusionary housing in mixed-unit developments. Thus Berkeley might end up with more than 400 affordable units and an additional 400 market rate units, far more than we are currently receiving under the present HUD way of doing things. This appears to us to be a wiser use of scarce public funds. The only ones who might argue against such a use are those developers intent on getting more than their fair share.3

THE CONNECTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

If Civics Arts Commission Chair David J. Snippen can’t find the connection between the safety and condition of our public streets and the money spent on what passes for public art, there are dozens of people who were present at Fred Lupke’s grave-side service who would be happy to assist him. 

Carol Denney 

• 

PHOTOSHOP SATIRE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In the piece by Richard Brenneman (“Kerry Photo Altered, Used for Political Attack,” Daily Planet, Feb. 17-19) he talks about the website Freakingnews.com. 

You state literally: “Registerd himself often posts his creation on Frekingnews.com, a site that hosts contests for photo lampoons of democratic and leftist people and issues.” 

If you had investigated the site a little better, you would have seen that it isn’t a right wing extremist site, like you insinuate. It’s a political site where all opinions are heard. Not only democratic or leftist people are Photoshopped, right wingers, Republicans and everything else that’s hot in the news is done too. Bush is one of the most used persons on the site. The site hasn’t got the intention to hurt Democratic campaigns or any other campaign. It’s just a site where we take the news and add satire to it. 

Rik Barrezeele 

• 

PROPOSED STATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I agree with Lisa Brunet (Letters, Daily Planet, Feb. 10). As she says, the proposed fire station is too big for the site on Shasta Road. 

The total size of the proposed building is 7,200 square feet, including the deck. All of this will not only tower over the majority of homes in the neighborhood, it will also detract from the beautiful fountain directly across the street from it. 

The fountain was designed by renowned architect, William Wurster in 1939. He was a professor of architecture at UC Berkeley for many years and Wurster Hall on the Berkeley campus is named for him. 

The fountain is a treasure. Unfortunately the City does not appreciate it; nor does the architect of the proposed Fire Station, Marcie Wong. 

Ladonna Stoppel 

• 

RAPID TRANSIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Michael Katz, in his Feb. 17 commentary in the Berkeley Daily Planet (“AC Transit’s Redundant Bus Plan”), fails to mention some of the truly exciting components of AC Transit’s rapid bus plan for Telegraph Avenue. Bus Rapid Transit with dedicated lanes will greatly increase the speed, certainty, and comfort of the bus for existing riders, while attracting thousands of new riders. In fact, AC Transit is focusing on cost-effectiveness and avoiding the boondoggle of putting light rail on this line, which would have cost at least three times more and is significantly less flexible than Bus Rapid Transit. 

Furthermore, Michael is out of touch with the latest proposals for regional ferries. Three of the five lines included in regional Measure 2, which will be on the March 2 ballot, are for existing successful lines. The reason for their relatively small ridership is that they are infrequent. These ferry upgrades for Oakland, Alameda, Vallejo, would make them frequent enough to be used by a broad range of commuters and also enable significant transit oriented development in downtown Vallejo and Jack London Square. 

Finally, the funding included for the Caldecott tunnel (which I agree is a bad project) in regional Measure 2 is not enough to “widen” it but will primarily be used for environmental and engineering studies. If the tunnel is ever to be built it will only be because Contra Costa taxpayers are willing to pony up well over $100 million in future sales tax revenue. 

There is good reason that every major environmental, social justice, and labor organization is supporting regional Measure 2 and the only organized opposition is coming from the Contra Costa Taxpayers Association, and now Michael Katz. But voters should decide for themselves by logging on to measure2.org and reading the plan. 

Stuart Cohen 

Executive Director 

Transportation and Land Use Coalition 

• 

THE SALESMAN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The governor of California was featured in a segment on the German television Deutsche Welle from Berlin in a program called JOURNAL news on Friday, Feb. 13. DW-TV is one of the best sources for international news. The English language broadcast can be seen throughout the day in the Bay Area on KMPT channel 32. 

Hearing the anchor of DW-TV announce “...and here is the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger” piqued my interest. The unmistakable and now familiar Austrian-American governor in a newsmaker story on German TV caught my attention. There he was, plain as day, promoting his own line of private label wristwatches. 

Imagine, our governor advertising watches. Each of the four watches were mounted for easy viewing. He described the pedigree, each named after one of his own action movie characters. One wonders if it is proper for this governor or any other elected official in America to use their position to promote and personally profit from their own product while still in office? 

Did we elect a leader or a pitchman? Whether our governor is promoting his own product on German TV or his California bond measure in those ads frequently broadcast throughout the day on Bay Area television, what impresses me most is that the governor’s appearance and demeanor are uniformly the same glib style. 

Meanwhile, the $14 billion worth of short-term debt must be paid by this June. Neighborhood schools are closing. Firemen are facing rolling layoffs. Local governments are operating on fumes. 

Nonetheless, our governor has presented a false dilemma: Either we must mortgage future generations with his bond measure or he will have no other choice but to reduce the next generation’s educational opportunities and a chance for a more equitable society through severe budget cuts. 

The governor himself has a built-in conflict of interest which causes him to disregard a third alternative: people in the governor’s own wealth class contributing their fair share. During the recall campaign another candidate, Peter Camejo, makes the valid argument that the wealthy people in this state pay at a lower rate than working people. If the wealthy merely paid the same tax rate as working people, the budget deficit could be closed. Would the governor increase his own taxes and pay his fair share? After all, he and his wealthy friends benefit from the infrastructure created by the taxes we all pay to have a civilization. 

In his campaign speeches, Mr. Schwarzenegger raved about what a fantastic place California is; and how California has given him everything. Doesn’t he notice how much he has benefited from the public infrastructure built by taxes? 

If our governor is such a good promoter, then why not create fundraising events specifically to benefit the State of California in its time of need? 

Mina Edelston 

• 

XXXXXXXXXX 

We had an important meeting at Rosa Parks Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 10. More than a hundred committed parents and teachers were focused on our future and how to get there. Why were we meeting? A plan was presented focused on building a conducive learning environment for the success of all the kids. Every aspect of the school environment was discussed and clear strategies, goals and objectives laid out for the next six months. 

I’ve been a Rosa Parks parent for six solid years. My daughter is now in fifth grade. A straight-A student. She’s completing her last year before she’s off to middle school. My son is in second grade working overtime on third grade level reading and math. This is a great learning environment. 

There’s no question I’m proud of my kids but I’m also proud of my school. Our principal has shown unwavering commitment. The teachers are exceptional, dedicated and experienced at teaching to different levels with different challenges. Our students are a complete mix of numerous, ethnic groups, from Iceland to India. Most of all there’s a clear focus on what we all need to do to continue to support the future of the school and our community. It’s this critical aspect of coming together and focusing on what we all need to do that’s inspiring. 

Is it perfect there? No, is it perfect at any school, public or private? I doubt it. But we have a strategy—for learning, thriving and expanding for each student. 

If you are an incoming parent, talk to parents at the school, meet the faculty, talk with the principal and see the immense opportunity we have to continue to create a powerful and positive learning environment in the years ahead. 

Steven Donaldson 

Rosa Parks Parent 

›

It’s a good thing Cal has some outstanding undergraduate players, because the last home game of the season is Saturday, and the seniors will be moving on. American players, including the talented La Tasha O’Keith, will presumably stay in the United States, but three of Cal’s best are from other countries, and two are due to graduate. Guard Nihan Anaz plans to return to her native Turkey, where she is on the roster to play for the Turkish National team. Basketball in Turkey? NBA player Hidavet Turkogla told a reporter, “you should see the young players in Turkey! They are amazing.” 

Anaz did indeed play for her high school, and was offered a scholarship to come to the States to play for South Carolina. After an additional year in Texas, she came to Cal. Don’t miss the chance to see this player! She has led the team in points and rebounding, and was most valuable player on her high school’s world championship team.  

“I wanted to come to Cal,” she smiled. “I like the coaches and players. And the place, the atmosphere; it reminds me of home. San Francisco kind of looks like Istanbul.”  

Before the recent tragic death of teammate Alisa Lewis knocked the team out of stride, Anaz was averaging over 15 points per game. In one game I attended, I saw her make a smooth, accurate pass that was as graceful as ballet; the image is still in my mind. 

“Nihan Anaz can do everything on the floor,” affirms Caren Horstmeyer, the energetic and attentive coach battling to hold her team together emotionally after the sudden death of Lewis, presumably from bacterial meningitis. “Class started the very next day (after Lewis’ death); the players were grieving. We haven’t been playing like we were (Cal lost the next nine games), but the community support is still there.”  

Women’s games tend to have smaller crowds than the men’s, but this team has drawn crowds of more than 3,000, especially when they play Stanford, another excellent team and Cal’s historical rival. The Straw Hat band plays for every game, and there are cheerleaders and mid-game activities, usually by children, and the enthusiasm is impressive. (I always intend to bring earplugs but always forget, and end up stuffing bits of napkins into my ears.)  

At practice on Tuesday, another senior from another country, Olga Volkova, was playing without the knee brace she needed in January after a second surgery. She too was offered scholarships to come to the United States, and chose to come to Cal. “I like it here; the academics, and the coaches.”  

Along with three of her teammates, she has been honored for academic achievement while on the team. “These girls are studying in a foreign language!” marvels Coach Horstmeyer, clearly proud of the high academic standing of her players. Volkova, who is from Kiev, Ukraine, began playing when she was just 9 years old. Alexander Volkov, who played for the Atlanta Hawks, is her cousin, and his friendship with Sarunas Marciulionis brought Olga to the United States.  

When a coach saw her practicing 3-point shots far from the basket, she pointed out, “Olga! You’re 6’4”—you don’t need 3-pointers! Work closer to the basket.” The top 3-point shooter is in fact the 5’6” guard Kristin Iwanaga from Santa Clara, California. Her percentages put her in the top of the league, and she has been honored academically as well.  

The coach is hoping that her resilient team will be up to the challenges this week from the hard-driving teams of UCLA and USC. UCLA has many strong players, including one from Israel, Ortal Oren, who scored 11 points in 22 minutes against Fresno State. But Cal may be the only university women’s team with three players from outside America on their first string. Cal has always recruited players from other countries, but last September was the first time Horstmeyer went to Istanbul to scout a player who is 6’6” tall. After Volkova leaves, the next tallest player is Emmelie Geraedts from the Netherlands. Just a freshman, she gained experience playing with older players when she was the youngest member of the Dutch national team. She is 6’2” and a local sportswriter remarked. “She’s got some moves.” She also has avid support from her parents, who wake up at 4 a.m. in the Netherlands to catch her games on the Internet.  

Geraedt’s parents are in California for the first time to watch their daughter play the last two home games here in Berkeley this week. I asked Geraedt her how she likes Berkeley. “It’s great; I love it!” 

That’s how I felt when I arrived at UC in 1960. Women’s basketball then was half court; our only audience was my boyfriend Kelly; all of us were from America; and at 5’6” I was one of the tall girls. When I told Volkova that, she smiled down at me, “Times are different; things have really changed.” 

Practice ended, but two seniors stayed late: La Tasha O’Keith worked on her layups, and Olga Volkova practiced pivoting. Turning, catching, shooting, pivoting, without her knee brace. 

The last game is Saturday at 2 p.m. at Haas Pavillion on Bancroft. Children and senior citizens are admitted free.f

George Bernard Shaw was a very smart man. 

If you’ve ever had any doubts about that (granted, not everybody cares a whole lot nowadays, but still…) read the “unpleasant” play that opened at the Aurora Theatre last week. Actually, The Man of Destiny isn’t unpleasant at all—that’s just one of Shaw’s jokes. Despite the heavyweight title, it is a witty—albeit rarely performed and, for Shaw, unusually brief—play included in Shaw’s collection entitled “Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant.” 

You would probably find it even more fun to see the production than to read the play. In the hands of Aurora’s well-known director, Barbara Oliver, and a very strong cast, the dialogue creates an amusing, if cerebral, duel of wits between two perfectly matched opponents: Napoleon, and a woman whose name you never get to know. You’re reading it? Well, it’s funny all right, but you can come away mostly dazzled with how smart Shaw was. (One suspects that he may have felt that way, too).  

In one of Shaw’s usual showers of words, Stacy Ross (“The Woman”) and T. Edward Webster (Napoleon) spend the play battling each other—verbally, of course—for possession of an unopened letter to Napoleon she had hoodwinked from a marvelously dumb Lieutenant (Craig Niebaur).  

It takes great talent on the part of everyone involved to create a successful production of this small piece. And, fortunately, that’s the case with Aurora. The play opens with a lengthy prologue in Shaw’s own voice that is extraordinarily well done by Jeffrey Bihr. Regrettably, Bihr then retreats into a minor role as keeper of the inn where the lengthy verbal conflict between Napoleon and the woman takes place. (It would have been nice to see more of him.) 

Craig Niebaur’s self-satisfied, not-too-bright Lieutenant, is the other well-done supporting performance. This man’s blissful oblivion to his responsibility for the mess he created by his own gullibility is a delightful minor theme. The guy doesn’t even get it that he’s in serious trouble with his own general when he has to hand over his gun. 

But the play basically hangs on the considerable talents of director Barbara Oliver and the two leads, Stacy Ross and T. Edward Webster. The action of the play is a talk-a-thon—as is any of Shaw’s plays, of course. This one differs, however, because of the relatively small cast and simple set-up. There’s only one issue and two characters to talk it out. And with these well-matched warriors no holds are barred. Lying, misrepresentation, playing upon the emotions—everything is thrown into the mix. 

And talk they do. Shaw cuts no slack. The fact that the actors (and, of course, their director) succeed in maintaining the audience’s interest in such a challenging piece of work is an impressive achievement 

The woman’s reason for stealing the letter, who wrote it, and who she is, are all complete mysteries to be fought over. She’s quite willing to lie and misrepresent and play every card in the deck to keep Napoleon from receiving the letter. And Napoleon himself is not bound by unnecessary niceties when he sees himself challenged by a worthy opponent.  

Actually, some of the details are never really cleared up, although the combatants struggle through to a resolution that makes quite good sense—within the confines of Shaw’s very special view of the world.  

But who among us would have the nerve to take on the old fellow, face to face?›

Peas can be grown twice a year in Berkeley: in early spring and early fall. Seed germinates rapidly when conditions are right, sown either in six-packs or directly into the ground. It is best to pre-soak seed overnight, and sow in moderately damp, not soggy soil. It is crucial to refrain from watering until leaves appear, or seed will rot. Nurseries carry every conceivable variety of pea plants, too, and these will transplant easily and thrive. Just remember to loosen the roots gently before dropping them into holes four inches apart. Now is the time to water, regularly. Peas fix nitrogen from the air with adapted roots. Water is all they need for growth. 

On the whole peas are free of pests, but an entire crop can be destroyed in a day by little brown birds. These charming Berkeley residents skip along the rows tweaking the young leaves and uprooting the tiny plants. One solution is to protect the plants with one-inch chicken wire. If the peas are planted against a fence, make sure to add a length of chicken wire along it. In front of the row of peas, install another length of wire, supported with vertical stakes. Neither side need be tall, three or four feet is enough. Curve the front piece around the ends and over the top. The peas will grow through this cage and benefit from the extra support for their tendrils. 

Climbing peas, like beans, tend to be more prolific than the bush varieties. And surely the genetic development of the edible pod was a major horticultural event. These can be fragile plants. If the first year’s performance disappoints, save the seeds and try next year. Once adapted to local conditions they will be more robust. 

Peas are a versatile addition to the dinner table. They are at their most pea-like when the pod is an inch or so long, and such a pleasurable snack that they rarely get as far as the kitchen. Then there is the shared fun of shelling peas, preferably out of doors, and a good way to give a very young child a start in kitchen matters. When the pods are fit to burst and start to lose color, they make an excellent puree, without the need for the presoaking and long cooking of the fully dried pea. These last, left on the vine until stalks are brown and brittle, can be podded and stored in open jars all year, providing heartwarming winter soups. A bay leaf in a jar will deter insects. Dried peas are mealy, and a pleasant change from beans. 

Soak peas overnight if dry. If they are still green, cook immediately or soak for a few hours. Simmer or pressure cook as little water as possible, adding peeled garlic and a couple of cloves. When the peas are soft, remove the cloves and blend the peas, adding salt sparingly. Stir in finely-chopped mint before serving piping hot. A ham steak or a thick slice of pate de campagne make fine accompaniments, as do crusty bread and cheese, or a green salad.›

If you are thinking of selling your home, there is no time like the present. Buyers are swarming Berkeley listings. Interest rates are still alluringly low, allowing buyers to offer more than they would otherwise be able to afford. 

Berkeley homes are still receiving multiple offers, but just because you live in Berkeley do not assume you will get top dollar when you sell your home. Sellers always ask me what improvements they should make to ensure the best return on their real estate investment. After living in a house for a while it isn’t easy to see it in a fresh light. When visiting new listings I often see obvious opportunities that have simple solutions. You can fix those sorts of things before putting your house on the market, or you can let the buyer fix them and capture that slice of your equity. If you are about to put your home on the market consider doing the following: 

• Get out. Move out. Leave. I cannot overemphasize the value of your absence. As charming as you are, the new owners would rather have the place to themselves. Your home feels more like their home with you out of it. Certain improvements cannot be accomplished until the house is empty, such as refinishing the floors. If you can’t move out physically, do so spiritually by removing all of your clutter. Less is more. The 700 porcelain pig figurines that you have been collecting since you were six may in fact be worthy of the Guinness Book of World Records if not the National Gallery of Art. Surprisingly, some prospective buyers may see them as useless clutter. Get rid of your knick-knacks and offer buyers a serene setting where their imaginations can carry them into a state of heightened nesting. 

• Donate everything that you never use, but think you might someday, to a worthy charity. You might as well get started on moving what you will have to move anyway. National Geographic collections will never be worth what they will cost you by filling up your lovely garage. Hire someone to haul all your junk to the dump. Ask your brother to store your boat. 

• Remove carpet that is covering hardwood, no matter what the condition of the wood. Carpet is just not fashionable, especially that carpet your dog has been drooling on since he was housebroken. If you have moved out, have the wood floors refinished, and do this before painting the house. The dust from sanding will ruin a fresh paint job. 

• Paint everything inside and out. Paint is the miracle cure. And yes, appearances do matter. Refrain from painting everything white. The myth that white walls make a space appear larger has cost many sellers because buyers see stark white as primer, as work they must do. White walls have that sanitarium ambiance that is no longer the rage. Choose a neutral color scheme for the walls and paint already painted trim white.  

• Replace outdated fixtures whether they are broken or not—especially anything that reminds you of a pizza parlor or a Motel 6. Lighting fixtures and faucets are relatively easy to replace and new ones will go a long way in turning your “motel” into a “hotel”. Mini blinds should go too. I know you love them but they are dusty and clanky, and a great danger to infants and other small life forms. They should be removed and replaced with sheer drapery panels that allow light in and soften rooms.  

• Where there be Formica let there be stone. Several granite distributors along San Pablo are amazingly inexpensive. This is an investment on which you can expect an exceptional return. Just stay away from any stone with pink veins.  

• Hire someone to clean your house and your windows. You may think you can clean your house and your windows, but you can’t. I promise you will be shocked at the difference a professional deep dentistry-like cleaning will make. Hire a guru who moves the stove and fridge and finds nooks and crannies you never knew existed. There are cleaning professionals who exclusively provide pre-sale cleanings. They are expensive and worth every penny. 

• Hire a staging professional or have your real estate agent help you stage your house so it looks luxurious. Please avoid Ikea unless you want prospective buyers to fear that your house will fall apart in the next rain. Cheap materials suggest a cheap house. Small luxury items go a long way. Your real estate agent should fill your house with flowers that are long lasting. Roses are always perfect. 

• Have your yard spruced up and stage it too. Create spaces outside that extend the living space of your property. Create a dining area, a reading nook, and fill the yard with colorful plants. If you have trees that create too much shade have them pruned to allow light in. Make sure everything is blooming. 

• Finally and most importantly, hire an exceptional real estate agent and make sure you don’t overpay on real estate commissions. Professionals are ethical, market savvy, and ready to roll up their sleeves. Be sure your agent will spend a healthy portion of the commission on marketing. There is no point in going the extra mile on the work suggested above if you don’t have professional representation and exceptional advertising for your investment. 

If you have no intention of selling, go ahead with these improvements anyway. Many sellers are amazed at the transformation of their properties after they’ve made these changes. They often wish they had made them before deciding to sell. 

›

On Wednesday a California Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Berkeley attorney that aimed to increase security measures on electronic voting systems before the March 2 primary. 

Judge Raymond Cadei denied a temporary restraining order against Diebold Election Systems, Inc., the maker of the majority of the state’s touch screen voting machines, that would have kept Diebold from changing or updating anything on the machines before election day. The plaintiffs sought the restraining order against Diebold because they said the company used software updates that are not approved by the state. 

“We are pleased that the election officials will be able to move forward with the election,” said Diebold spokesperson David Bear.  

The plaintiffs also lost an injunction against Secretary of State Kevin Shelley and the registrars of voters from at least 18 counties, including Alameda, that would have prevented them from using the machines for an election until security updates are made. 

Attorney Lowell Finley and five plaintiffs filed the suit because they say Diebold machines pose serious risks to the election.  

“Electronic voting systems sold to California counties by defendant Diebold Election Systems, Inc., pose a grave threat to the security and the integrity of the statewide elections to be held on March 2, 2004, and November 2, 2004,” wrote Finley in the lawsuit. 

“Numerous computer security experts have shown that the hardware and software used in the Diebold systems is highly vulnerable to vote tampering both by company insiders and outside computer hackers.” 

There is also criticism of the Diebold servers used by counties to tally the votes. 

“I believe [the decision] was a mistake,” said Jim March, one of the plaintiffs named in the suit. “But this was not the main event, this was just a side show. This is just one step in a 15-round fight.” 

“We never asked that the judge prevent the election from going forward,” said Finley. “Our goal is to hold the state and counties to a high standard of security. We knew this was an uphill battle because of how close the election is.”  

Several of the plaintiff’s security requests are similar to those issued in two separate directives by California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley. In one issued last November, Shelley said that as of July 1, 2006, all touch screen voting terminals used in the state will be required to contain a voter verified paper audit trail which would allow election officials to double check votes in case of any vote tampering  

He also issued a directive on Feb. 5 pertaining to the upcoming March 2 election. Included in the directive were instructions to stop using the Internet to submit votes from the poling places to the county. This was also one of plaintiff’s requests. 

“Modem uploads of votes to a county’s GEMS server (the county server used to tabulate votes) is vulnerable to what is known as a ‘man-in-the-middle’ attack,” said Finley in the lawsuit. In one of the analyst reports cited by Finley, he said a hacker can program a laptop to act like a GEMS server.  

“By convincing a precinct judge to dial into an attacker’s laptop computer rather than the actual GEMS server, the laptop could receive the results, acquire the name and password to access the real GEMS server, and upload modified results to the GEMS sever with no noticeable lag time,” wrote Finley.  

“I think Shelley is trying to do the right thing and has taken much more proactive steps than election officials elsewhere in the country,” said Finley. But Shelly’s seven suggestions are just part of several others the plaintiffs demanded in the 36-page lawsuit they filed. 

“While [Shelley’s directives] are welcomed steps in the right direction, the directives do not fulfill the secretary’s duties under the election code because they leave many known security vulnerabilities unaddressed,” according to the suit.  

Several county registrars of voters signed a letter of protest scoffing at Shelly’s directives and saying he is overstating the concerns. They also said there is not enough time to make the changes and that the costs would be too high.  

“I think a lot of [Shelly’s] points were very good ones,” said Brad Clark, Alameda county registrar of voters, who did not sign the letter of protest. “But [the report] came too late. Some of the things cannot be done that quickly.” 

He said the same was true for the security updates requested in the lawsuit. 

“You simply cannot order that level of software change 12 or 13 days before the election.” 

After the court decision, a spokesperson for Kevin Shelley’s office said Shelley “appreciated that the court has chosen not to interfere with the upcoming election.” 

Finley said the plaintiffs will now move ahead with other actions, none of which he could disclose. 

Another one of the plaintiffs, Bev Harris, who runs blackboxvoting.com, the leading information site for opponents to touch screen voting, said there are other lawsuits brewing in states around the country who also use the new technology. She said the courts were the only way to proceed because elected officials have failed to intervene. 

“We will win one [lawsuit] eventually,” said Harris, who lives in Washington state. “And if that’s not doing it we’re going to have to organize demonstrations, move onto the streets.”  

›

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 

• 

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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 

• 

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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. 

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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.  

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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

“MILWAUKEE, Feb. 18 — Howard Dean ended his bid for the presidency on Wednesday, leaving John Kerry and John Edwards battling over free trade and jobs as the Democratic presidential contest veered into a more combative two-man struggle.” 

—New York Times 

In their dreams. In whose dreams? Both the media’s and the Democratic party’s dreams, if either has any common sense. There’s nothing the mainstream media loves more than “a combative two-man struggle.” Heaven forfend that Democrats would actually get al ong, as they seem mysteriously to have done lately, with a few lapses. It makes much better copy if their smallish tiffs over trade can be blown up into main events. And, in fact, better copy is also better for the eventual Democratic candidate, whoever h e might be (and no, we’re not adding the pro forma “or she” for the next term anyhow). Without an apparent “struggle” the media will just not be interested. It’s the new new thing: politics as the sports page.  

Blog-trolling gives one the impression that the major determinant of how Democrats have been voting in primaries this season is handicapping the race: not “who do I think is the best man for the job?” but “who will others think is the best man, so we can beat Bush?” And there’s nothing wrong with this theory, under the circumstances. Two young guys standing behind me at the Chinese New Year parade got the message. One said to the other, “So, are you going to vote your conscience this time and vote for Nader again?” “Oh sure,” the other one answered sarcastically. “I have nothing better to do than sit at home and wait for Homeland Security to come and get me.” Politics stops at the water’s edge, and we’re all in deep hot water.  

To overextend the sports metaphors a bit more, Dean has performed an extremely valuable service to the American people by setting the pace for the race. Before he got going, in fact for the last eight years or so, Democrats have been convinced by the Democratic Leadership Council and their anointed candidates that the best way to win elections is to run slowly and hope no one notices you. Dean (and Sharpton) set an example for the other Democrats—they made having the courage of your own convictions in debates look plausible. The DLC’s republicrat stance, which sucked in Cl inton, Gore and Lieberman, looks increasingly ineffectual when juxtaposed with Dean’s vigorous campaign. This has not much to do with “liberals” or “moderates” or “progressives” or “conservatives.” It’s an attitude thing, and Dean’s attitude was contagiou s. 

Kerry seems to have been chummy with some of the wrong people during the Clinton years, but his stellar record in the Vietnam era prompts many of us to hope he can get past that. From time to time, he works himself up to effective denunciations of Bus h’s follies. Edwards has the advantage of not being in the Senate when the disastrous NAFTA legislation was completed, so he can distance himself effectively from Clinton, who is still more of a liability than an asset. (There’s fascinating back chat circ ulating that Clark was the Clinton candidate, and he was supposed to lose the general election to make way for Hillary next time. Guess that one didn’t work.) 

The obvious dream team for the Democrats is ready to run. Dean supporters, most of them, show n o signs of acting like sore losers, though of course the mainstream media is hoping they might in order to spice things up. Kerry and Edwards might be able to simulate a few more exciting laps around the track to keep the media’s attention, but it would t ake some kind of unexpected disaster to prevent them from being Number One and Number Two on the November ticket. They’ll have some gentlemanly discussion over free trade, leave the I----- word completely out of the picture, and move forward to the main e vent. Which could be a lot of fun, the way things have been going for Bush lately.  

Becky O’Malley is executive editor of the Daily Planet. 



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.›