Features

OREGON STREET 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I applaud the efforts of Paul Rauber and 13 of his neighbors to rid their neighborhood once and for all of a drug house. 

With all due respect to Ms. Prichett, while it is certainly true that racism does still exist towards blacks in our society, and there are educationally and economically disadvantaged black youths in South Berkeley and a lot of other places, Paul Rauber and his neighbors have the right to live in a neighborhood free of all the elements a drug house brings on the scene. We have heard so much about the racism and the economic and educational disadvantage, but there is absolutely no reason for Mr. Rauber and his neighbors to have to wait for social solutions to their problem when they have obviously waited too long as it is! 

Frank Rivers 

Oakland 

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NIGHTMARE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am an active Berkeley Progressive, no more racist than the average white progressive, and one who has been generous in providing shelter to my homeless friends, black and white, throughout my tenure in Berkeley. I am flagrantly anti having to live near any house or liquor store where drug taking and drug sales can flourish. I have even become anti SSI government housing because of absentee landlords who let the rest of us deal with the addictive, drug-selling tenant and his multiple friends who come and go all night long. For those of you who have not lived near such a house as Mrs. Moore’s is reputed to be—and she is probably the best of women—you have not experienced one of the true nightmares of life in America. I recommend it and bring your fine progressive values, your hard work and your children—white, black, Latino, South East Asian—it won’t matter. You can participate with all of us in an ongoing hell, that feels too often like a war zone with the enemy close at hand instead of like a home in a time of peace. After seeing that we were serious about bringing a civil suit, our absentee landlord has reformed and no longer takes in SSI tenants. Which is a shame to be sure since most SSI tenants are also hard-working, good people such as ourselves. But what a difference a suit can make for the rest of us—no matter who owns the house. This is life in many parts of America—and minority peoples have to suffer this life far more than the average humanistically hearted well educated Berkeleyan. Does it sound as though I’m anti-white progressive? Oh, dear. 

Sara DeWitt 

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DEMOCRACY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We attempt to sell democracy to the world while we often ignore its values at home. Leo Stegman, Berkeley paralegal, who is attempting to aid Ms. Moore, points out that “the time, effort and energy put into this lawsuit would be better spent getting all the parties and relevant agencies together to find a common sense non-litigious solution.”  

He is correct in pointing out that forced litigation or even banishment is being used as a first step in this neighborhood dispute, rather than a last one, ignoring the available rational and moral democratic procedures of mediation. All parties in this encounter need to be heard. 

We teach our children non-violent solutions to conflict. Just as Rosa Parks taught the nation, conflict resolution can reach far beyond the “neighborhood,” and be the first step in reminding us again how democracy is supposed to work. 

Gerta Farber 

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PLEASE VOTE TODAY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I hope that the Daily Planet will publish a front-page article today encouraging everyone to vote. Progressive areas such as Berkeley and Oakland need to have a high voter turnout in order to help defeat Gov. Schwarzenegger’s right-wing agenda. 

If you need to find your polling place, you can call the Alameda County Registrar of Voters at 272-6973, or you can enter your address and zip code on the League of Women Voter’s website at: www.smartvoter.org. 

If you want to read some online analysis, I recommend the Green Party’s or the Bay Guardian’s. (They both urge a no vote on Propositions 73 through 78, and a yes vote on Proposition 79. The Guardian recommends a “Yes” vote on Proposition 80 while the Green Party does not make an endorsement.) 

In any case please vote today—and help stop the Governator! 

Greg Jan 

Oakland 

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WHITE NOISE, WHITE PAPER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

According to the Daily Planet, Berkeley Community Media (BCM) is attempting to dramatize a possible existential threat to its being by intermittently broadcasting a state of nothingness. It is difficult to decide if this action represents nascent insanity in certain ideological quarters or is simply an expression of typical infantile petulance whenever a supposed entitlement is threatened. Granted the notion that the “corporate” or for profit media has a fundamental moral obligation to subsidize and facilitate the dissemination of a viewpoint whose avowed goal is the destruction of those same corporate media conglomerates fits nicely into the old pseudo-Marxist concept that “the capitalists will sell (donate?) the rope that hangs them.” 

However, it is surprising that a comrade in arms such as the Berkeley Daily Planet has apparently not yet thought fit to express its profound solidarity with BMC in its shared struggle against the monolithic corporate media. 

Imagine what a powerful statement it would make if the Daily Planet were to publish at a loss a full-length completely blank issue to underscore the snow job foisted on a gullible public by a corporate media beholden to the neo-con Bush/Schwarzenegger regimes! Imagine the awesome public symbolism of the blank white pages of a free newspaper representing all of the innumerable white lies obscuring the disastrous consequences of a government of billionaires, by billionaires and for billionaires only! The longer the Planet’s “whiteout” were to continue, the more blank issues that hit the newsstand, the greater the sacrifice for truth and accuracy in media.  

Finally, to counter the objection that using up so much blank newsprint would be too wasteful and environmentally irresponsible even for such an important symbolic statement as this, the Planet could perhaps find a way to produce these blank issues in sturdy perforated toilet tissue so that those who pick up an issue won’t let it go to waste (so to speak). Who knows, it may even find its way into a litter box or two as well as the hallowed Free Box at People’s Park where it would doubtless find many creative applications. 

Edna Spector 

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DOWNTOWN PLAN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am a fairly new repeat resident of Berkeley and am trying to get a sense of this wonderfully diverse city after all these years of being away. 

One of the most interesting events to occur in the recent past was the on-again, off-again lawsuit filed by the city against the University of California’s new downtown development plan. Later we learned of the settlement of the lawsuit after secret negotiations and no public input. 

This seems to be a very big deal to me, and yet there is very little public discourse on the subject. So, interested Berkeleyans should know that a forum is planned this month to give a platform to some of those who oppose the settlement to present their positions. The public is welcome to attend the free meeting at the Alternative High School Multi-Purpose Room on MLK Jr. Way, Monday evening, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. 

Corrine Goldstick 

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PUBLIC SCHOOLS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Marilyn Boucher’s commentary should be read and reflected on deeply by the members of the Board of Education. Marilyn’s assessment is accurate and the message of caution critical before yet another reform is approved. Stay the course, follow the site plan, and assess the effectiveness of the stated goals first. 

Most importantly, create resource periods for those students below proficiency, especially reading instruction. And please require teachers to use progress-reporting software so we parents can be properly informed. We cannot do right by our kids without knowing what is happening in the classroom. Help us do our jobs so we can make sure our kids are engaged and succeed before you add another useless class period called advisory period. 

Laura Menard 

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CLEAN WATER ACT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The biggest threat facing this country today is President Bush’s rollback of the Clean Water Act, which preserves clean water around the country. The president’s action will result in producing dirty water in the bays, canals, rivers, lakes and oceans due to actions by the oil, gas, and chemical companies who got permission from the president to do their business without any regard to that law. 

This president poses to be a moral person which he isn’t. A true moral president wouldn’t let water be polluted in favor of greed. People who are concerned about preserving clean water should fight every attempt by this president to roll-back further laws protecting it. 

Billy Trice, Jr. 

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A SOLUTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have what I believe to be a rather elegant solution to the continuing turmoil between the residents of Berkeley and its resident university. Under my proposal, all the residents (excluding those whom older residents deem “Berkeley babies” and “students”) of Berkeley assemble a committee, complete with a subsequent pro-protest, with the stated purpose to bring a special election to the city, a “Vote for Berkeley” if you will. Voting yes on such a ballot would authorize the city to completely raze its university’s campus, starting with that gaudy Barrows building and the dangerous Evans Hall. The law would further authorize the city to blow up any building the residents declare to be “of entertaining interest” and tickets sold to cover costs. Sather Tower could bring an absolute windfall to the cash-strapped city coffers. 

Of course, the city must then be renamed in order to fully erase the memory of its least grateful institution: I propose that a list be drawn together by concerned residents and the name be democratically elected by the same (Peaceland, Pottersville or Sequoia are all worthy contenders). Above all, this name must reflect the diverse opinions of this great city without offending anyone. “Castrated Neutrality and Inoffence” would therefore be our credo and written on civic structures of merit. Thus, citizens could simply point to our greatest monuments instead of speaking when confronted with an uncomfortable prejudiced statement. 

Once all the professors are sent packing and students ordered out of this newly minted land, the residents could then build at will upon the old campus grounds (fascist hamlet), perhaps a prodigious bust of a coffee cup, or an incessant “squeaky wheel” installation could accompany the “corporation-free tree.” 

Any attempt for outside revenue (i.e., tourists or right-wing fanatics as the city’s constitution would now refer to them) will be sharply curtailed. An Achillean picket wall, complete with slogans and bumper stickers would be built around the city to further discourage these fanatics from entering over the borders to see all the world-class stuff that our city has to offer, chiefly “odor.” 

With one single vote tally, we can live freely in unobtrusive peace, without supporting a tumerous [sic] center of education sapping away our valuable resources and destroying Berkeley’s way of life. 

Kyle Strom 

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ISRAEL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’d like very much to start one of those back-and-forth battle of letters a la The Nation magazine in which people passionately respond to responses of responses, etc. Let’s start off: I’m truly persuaded that Jews deserve a homeland because throughout history they’ve been successfully butchered. There seems to be this unexplained thing about being a Jew, which historically puts them in jeopardy. Okay, the U.S. backed Israel during the Cold War with lots of money. Blame the U.S., not Israel. Jews are more reasonably paranoid about being in jeopardy than any other ethnic group in the history of civilization. Prove me wrong. Israel is the best answer to the holocaust of the last 2,000 years of rabid, lethal anti-Semitism. Even left-wing Jews must feel at least a little trickle of sympathy for the State of Israel, i.e., for their right to exist. Here’s an analogy: African Americans know that when the chips are down, white folks are going to start talk about “niggers” and how they are the problem; and by the same token, so-called white folks, when the chips are down, are going to start talking about “kikes,” and how they are the problem. Remember, Adolph did it.  

Robert Blau 

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CHAMBER’S PICKS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a member of the Government Affairs Committee of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce and a co-owner of a small business here, I share Andy Ross’ displeasure with the positions adopted by the chamber’s board on the ballot initiatives on the upcoming ballot. The Government Affairs Committee is charged with reviewing the ballot and making recommendations to the full chamber board. A small handful of chamber members participated in the meetings, which resulted mostly in “no recommendation” since there weren’t enough members present and voting to achieve a yes or no position. For those of us who don’t believe that the governor and the state Chamber of Commerce know what’s best for Berkeley, this was a frustrating experience that needs to change. 

The Government Affairs Committee meetings are open to any member of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce who will take the time to come and vote on recommendations to the full board. The board meetings are also open to all chamber members though only members of the board are eligible to vote on endorsements. So you don’t like the positions your Chamber of Commerce is taking? You can make a big stink without quitting the chamber. Come join me at a few meetings and make a big stink there. You’ll be in good company. 

Elisabeth Jewel 

AJE Partners 

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IRAQ 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Why another op-ed piece? And Why from a women’s group? After all everyone in the U.S. already knows: Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein was not involved in 9/11. American dead now total nearly 2,000. To quote Donald Rumsfeld, “The lethality, however, is up.” Many of our soldiers lack adequate equipment. Bush has been closing veterans’ hospitals and cutting benefits. We have no exit strategy. And as to U.S. support of a democratic constitution in Iraq: A former C.I.A. Middle East specialist, Reuel Marc Gerecht, said on “Meet the Press,” “I mean, women’s social rights are not critical to the evolution of democracy.” 

Yes, everyone knows all this, but there are other facts not as well known.  

According to UNICEF, one in four Iraqi children under five years of age is chronically malnourished. One in eight children die before their fifth birthday.  

Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator. No one disputes that. There was no political freedom. But it’s also true that in 1970, the Iraqi constitution, under Hussein, declared all women and men equal before the law. Women in Iraq became among the most educated and professional in the entire region, and working outside the home became the norm. 

After the 1991 Gulf War and economic embargoes were applied, living conditions for women in Iraq began to deteriorate. The declining economy caused many women to lose their jobs and abandon their education. Girls and women today are now facing a major learning gap, and there has been a sharp decline in adult female literacy. 

The country is in chaos. Violence is increasing. Let’s bring our troops home before more die. 

Nancy Ward 

Oakland/East Bay 

National Organization for Women 

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CORRUPTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The news in today’s paper alone (Nov. 5) should be enough to show anyone that Bush’s administration is corrupt: politically, economically, and morally. 

Where millions of people rallied around us after 9/11, today, they are protesting against our president wherever he goes. 

Today, the U.N. International Advisory and Monitoring Board recommended that the U.S. (we taxpayers) should pay over $200 million to Iraq to compensate for price gouging and shoddy work performed by our vice president’s former employer, Halliburton, which received $7 billion of our tax money through no-bid contracts. 

Yesterday, it was revealed that the vice president initiated and encouraged the export of U.S. prisoners to torture chambers in other countries. Today, Cheney is working to exempt the CIA from anti-torture legislation. Americans who believe that we stand for high moral values are being denigrated by our own government. 

In today’s news, the president’s Supreme Court nominee is revealed to have opposed the special prosecutor who ultimately uncovered a previous administration’s wrongdoing: secretly selling weapons to Iran’s terrorist regime in order to support Contra terrorists in Central America. Also in today’s news, Bush’s nominee, Judge Alito, was discovered to have ruled in a mutual fund case in which he owned nearly $400,000 of the company’s funds. Can justice be any more corrupted? 

Finally, after ignoring the problem of global warming and cutting the funds for reinforcing New Orleans’ levees, the Bush administration wants the people of Louisiana, who suffered the loss of an entire city from Hurricane Katrina, to pay $3.7 billion to FEMA. 

Those conservatives who have honest integrity can no longer deny that Bush’s administration is rotten, and is rotting our country. 

Bruce Joffe 

Piedmont 

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LONG’S DRUGS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Had you passed by early the other morning, you might have wondered why Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, and Sherlock Holmes were standing in front of the new Long’s Drug Store in Downtown Berkeley, scratching their heads. 

Previously, as the interior installation of the store at Shattuck and Bancroft progressed, passers-by were struck by the noticeably awkward layout of the store. Neighbors had watched the landlord install expensive, heavy, glass display windows only to see the interior of the drug store designed to turn its posterior or “rear end” to the street. 

Why in the world was the new store purposely presenting such an unsightly view to the public? Some serious sleuthing was needed, so Sherlock was called in. Well, he soon found that Long’s had wanted to cover the windows but the city, insisting on the adaptive reuse integrity of the historical landmark, required that their windows match those of the other shops in the building. 

But, still, how to explain the unsightly display featuring the derrieres of the staff? Sherlock decided it was a case for Sigmund and Karl, who are always eager to pay a visit to Berkeley. 

After the one early-morning consultation, Freud and Marx agreed that the explanation was embarrassingly obvious. That is to say, to act out their resentment of authority and flaunt their arrogant sense of capitalist entitlement, Long’s chose to use the bodies of the workers to expose their corporate backside to the city and the people of Berkeley. 

Who knew you could moon while fully clothed? 

Bonnie Hughes?