No need for tears. Joseph Charles wouldn’t have wanted that. He would have wanted you to smile—or wave. And he would have definitely wanted you to cheer. On March 22, members of the Berkeley NAACP Youth & College Division are coming together to celebrate the legacy of Mr. Charles, Berkeley’s “Waving Man.” 

For 30 years Mr. Charles stood on the busy intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Oregon to smile and wave hello to morning commuters. What started off with a casual wave to his neighbor way back in 1962 went on to become a daily custom, not only for Mr. Charles but for hundreds of others who waved back at him on their way to work or school every day. It earned him the title of “Waving Man” and by the time he retired from this daily ritual in 1992, he had been featured in media worldwide and had become the “face of Berkeley.” 

Although Mr. Charles retired from his job at the Oakland Naval Supply Center in 1971, he would be at his usual post at 6:30 a.m. everyday, adding a little cheer to the morning commute on Martin Luther King J. Way. 

The residents of South Berkeley found a way to remember this legend after he passed away in 2002 from heart failure. Eve Cohen came up with the idea of putting a mural in the neighborhood based on the theme “South Berkeley Shine.” Sara Bruckmier, who worked on Mr. Charles’ mural remembers, “He was a wonderful, wonderful man. He generated so much love. I remember seeing him when I was younger and thinking how extraordinary his gesture was. It’s fate that I ended up doing his painting,” she said.  

Bruckmier was so drawn into the project that she visited the Berkeley Historical Society Museum to carry out research on Mr. Charles. Today visitors can find the pair of bright yellow gloves that a fan had given him to use while waving at the museum.  

“I was afraid that people wouldn’t recognize the mural. I started with his smile, thinking that it would inspire me. And this lady passing by asked me if I was painting Mr. Charles. I was delighted. A man like him makes a neighborhood,” Bruckmier said.  

Bruckmier recalls how people would stop by when she was painting the mural to tell stories about Mr. Charles. “He was a sweet loving man with not a bad word to say. I am really inspired by the love that he generated to the neighborhood.” 

On his 96th birthday, Joseph Charles will be remembered once again. “Although a lot of people see his house everyday, they still forget,” said Denisha DeLane, advisor to the youth council of NAACP. “We have so many young people in Berkeley who missed seeing Mr. Charles wave. We want to bring back the memory for them. I had wanted to do this for a long time and I am glad that we finally are. There will never be anyone like Mr. Charles.” 

Founded in 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization and its half-million adult and youth members are the premier advocates for civil rights. The Berkeley NAACP youth and college division have decided to celebrate Mr. Charles’ tradition by holding up signs on the intersection of MLK and Oregon and smiling and cheering at passengers as they drive by.  

“I remember him giving so much joy to people,” said DeLane. “I would see him waving everyday on my way to Berkeley High and later King. He wasn’t always in the best of health and some people said he interfered with traffic, but he was a good kind man and he took the time to greet everybody.” 

For many, Mr. Charles was the official welcomer to Berkeley. People from all over would drive out of their way in order to take a look at him. Some would even honk back to acknowledge his smile. As DeLane puts it, “It was a very Berkeley thing. If he was not out there waving, you knew that something was definitely wrong.” 

DeLane feels positively about the event scheduled to be held next Wednesday morning from 7:45 to 9:30 a.m. “I want to see a good group of people. We are telling people to bring along the bright yellow gloves that were Mr. Charles’ trademark. Legacies such as this should be continued. Young people have a lot to learn from this and their support and enthusiasm is just terrific.” 

“There is nothing more powerful than a smile,” said Councilmember Kriss Worthington. “I am planning to attend on Wednesday and I think it is a very appropriate thing to remember Mr. Charles by. By lifting up our hands and cheering we are keeping the tradition alive. Young people can learn so much from this positive action.”›

Caught between a steady chorus of warnings by local voting rights activists and a looming deadline to begin preparations for the November elections, Alameda County Supervisors voted narrowly this week to begin negotiations with two companies for the poss ible purchase of paper-verified electronic voting machines. But even supervisors who supported the negotiations cautioned that the vote does not necessarily mean that new electronic voting machines will actually be bought. 

Acting Alameda County Registra r of Voters Elaine Ginnold told supervisors that nothing in the contract negotiations would prevent the county from adopting a paper ballot system for the November election similar to the one that will be used for the June election, if the supervisors lat e r choose to go that route. 

Berkeley Peace and Justice Commissioner Phoebe Anne Thomas Sorgen, one of several county residents who urged supervisors to abandon electronic voting machines during two days of presentations at the county administration buil ding, said following the vote that “we’re disappointed. We are going to have to regroup and decide what to do next.” 

Thomas Sorgen predicted that activists would return to the supervisors meeting en masse when the report on the contract negotiations come s back. 

Supervisors Nate Miley and Scott Haggerty supported the $17 million contract negotiations with voting machine manufacturers Diebold Election Systems of Texas and Sequoia Voting Systems of Oakland. They were joined by Alice Lai-Bitker, who appeare d to waver over her vote until the last minute. Board president Keith Carson and Supervisor Gale Steele opposed moving forward with negotiations. 

Diebold and Sequoia were the top two of four companies vying to supply voting machines for Alameda County for the general election in November. 

Saying that she supported the negotiations because the decision is “not binding us to the purchase,” Lai-Bitker said that “if we kill this [voting machine purchase] process, we could jeopardize the November elections. K illing this resolution today would mean that the Registrar of Voters could not move forward with providing options.” 

Carson, who said “I’ve been on record not in favor of Diebold,” pushed for supervisors to approve some form of paper balloting for the No vember election, saying that “while paper ballots might take a little longer to count, it’s a system that worked well recently in Iraq, and in South Africa, when Nelson Mandela was elected. And people have confidence in the result.” Carson added that “thi s is not like buying a new fleet of vehicles for the county. This is fundamental to the rights of Alameda County citizens.” 

Electronic voting machines will not be an option in the June primary. 

Alameda County residents used a punch-card system for votin g for 30 years until 2000. But after the 2000 Presidential election debacle in Florida, in which punch-cards played a major part, the California Secretary of State outlawed the systems, and Alameda County moved to an electronic touchscreen voting system o perated by Diebold. 

The Diebold machines became obsolete in January of this year when a new state law went into effect, requiring a verifiable paper audit trail on electronic voting machines. 

With the old electronic voting machines, counting was done el ectronically, with neither the voter nor public officials having any way to independently verify whether the voter’s ballot was properly counted and the entire tally was correctly done. 

With the machines now required under the new California law, the vot er can compare a paper printout with the votes registered on the screen, and public officials can use the paper printouts as a backup to make sure that the electronic count was correct. 

The voting system is further complicated by the fact that f ederal la w, under the 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA), now requires that voting precincts contain at least one method of allowing disabled voters to vote in secret, without assistance. 

Alameda County began the process last year of soliciting proposals from manu facturers for paper trail electronic machines, but the process broke down when companies could not get early state and federal certification for those machines. When time ran out to purchase the new electronic machines in time for the June prim ary, acting Alameda County Registrar of Voters Elaine Ginnold proposed using paper ballots for those elections, with counting done by scanning machines at a central location in Oakland. 

At Tuesday’s meeting, county supervisors approved Ginnold’s proposal for a pape r ballot June primary with little debate. 

But discussion was extensive over the proposal to restart the procedure to enter purchase negotiations for electronic voting machines for the November election, now that both Diebold and Sequoia have both receive d state and federal approval for their paper trail machines. 

Urging supervisors to abandon electronic voting altogether, John Bass of Oakland told supervisors that “the heart of the issue is we want our vote to count. With the present electr onic voting m achines, we do not know if our vote is counted correctly. If the person who got the most votes is not the person who is put in office, then we do not live in a democracy.” 

And Voting Rights Task Force co-chair Judy Bertelsen, a frequent con tributor to th e Daily Planet commentary section, called the voting machines being considered “hackable and shot through with security problems.” 

Supervisor Steele, who requested a two minute break “to clear my head” following the debate and before the v ote—a break tha t eventually stretched to a half an hour—said that she “came here thinking I was going to do one thing, but I changed my mind. I’m continually bothered by the erosion of confidence in our electoral system, whether it’s real or only perception. We need mor e security on these systems.” 

Haggerty said he was “impressed” by the presentation of voting machine opponents, telling them that “if your goal was to leave doubt in my mind, you’ve been successful.” But Haggerty added that “if we don’t start the process, we won’t have a process,” and he and Miley and Lai-Bitker indicated that they were swayed by the timetable presented by acting Registrar of Voters Ginnold, who said that failure to move forward at Tuesday’s meeting would make it difficu lt to get ready f or the November vote and would limit the county’s flexibility for the adoption of a permanent voting system in 2007 and beyond. Ginnold said that six weeks were needed to complete the negotiations with the two vendors, with another three to four months ne eded for the winning vendor to prepare equipment and deliver it to Alameda County. “We need to physically have the voting machines in our possession in July in order to prepare the ballots beginning in August,” Ginnold said.›µ?

Diamonds are forever, so the Berkeley Board of Education is starting small. It will build an open field.  

Board directors voted unanimously to earmark $800,000 for an open athletic field design at the East Campus/ Derby Street site on Wednesday. The decision will end six years of disuse at a district-owned block, stretching from Martin Luther King Jr. Way to Milvia Street, and Derby and Carleton streets. Plans to develop a larger field at the site, which calls for the closure of Derby Street to make room for a regulation-sized baseball diamond, are still underway, Board President Terry Doran emphasized.  

“For me, this is clearly a Phase One, and an interim project. The board has gone on the record stating that the preference is to have a larger, multi-purpose field that would include a baseball diamond and that would require closing of Derby Street,” he said. “(Directors) have not changed their mind about the ultimate field we desire to build on this site.” 

The approved interim design, paid for in bond monies, reflects the bare minimum required to develop a functional playing field. It will consist of a grass expanse surrounded by a fence of a yet-to-be-determined height.  

The plan requires the demolition of existing parking structures at the site’s north and south sides, new irrigation, re-grading and corrective drainage measures, and removal of electrical transformers. 

Berkeley Unified School District students will have first dibs on field-use, but the community will also have access. Project completion is expected by fall, said district spokesperson Mark Coplan. 

Speakers at Wednesday’s meeting were by-and-large thrilled to see the project move forward.  

“I was delighted at the vote, and I look forward to participating in the design process,” said South Berkeley resident Susi Marzuola after the meeting.  

Joy Moore, a health specialist from the Alternative High School, located on Martin Luther King Jr. Way at Ward Street, commended the project. Her students are predominantly at-risk youth who have been without a playing field for 10 years, she said. 

“There is no opportunity for physical exercise” at BAHS, she said. “It’s more important that these kids get resources, because the district has already failed them.” 

She presented the board with a petition in support of the open field, signed by 50 BAHS students. 

Support was not unqualified, however. Both Linda Graham, a representative from the Berkeley Farmer’s Market, which is held each Tuesday on Derby Street, and Ecology Center Executive Director Martin Bourque expressed concern for the project’s encroachment on parking and bathroom use. Farmer’s market vendors currently use portable facilities, and would like access to BAHS restrooms, Graham said.  

Doran was unimpressed by the suggestion.  

“As a school board responsible for the education of our students and facilities for students, it’s difficult to grapple with taking resources from students to provide restrooms for the community,” he said.  

Board directors approved the project scope sans amendment, but will render further decisions in coming months, such as how high to build the fence and whom to hire as a project manager. The board will decide on the latter at an April 5 meeting. 

Terms surrounding the long-range closed-street project are less clear. In February, the board approved $100,000 toward an estimated $200,000 environmental impact report that would investigate the effects of closing Derby Street. The report is on hold, however, because the school district wants the city of Berkeley to share the cost. The city has exclusive rights over street closures. 

Coplan said there is a total of $1.3 million in bond money salted away for the East Campus field, which is not enough to cover the cost of the larger project. 

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People who turn to the Internet for information about Berkeley crimes will get both more and less information than they did before, but much more attractively packaged. 

In addition, the new mapping system will allow neighbors to get a quick look at events happening nearby, something the old system doesn’t offer. 

The Berkeley Police Department has launched Crime View Community, a graphically rich online system that lists incidents on an interactive map that can be used to search for events by type, location and date.  

It’s a system that’s catching on across the country. The San Francisco Police Department has just launched a version of the software and Concord also uses the program, along with Redondo Beach. 

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police uses Crime View—though a department spokesman said there were initial troubles getting it to work—along with cities in five other states. The Los Angeles Police Department has just gone online with a similar package from another developer. 

In Berkeley, the system is designed to replace the daily police bulletins, which list events throughout the city on a daily basis and which are not easily searched except by reading through the daily logs one by one. 

“It takes a lot of additional work to produce the bulletins,” said Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Ed Galvan, “and the new site offers the same information.” 

But does it? 

Law and parsimony 

Compared with several other jurisdictions, the Berkeley Police Department has always been parsimonious about the information it doles out to the press, so a reporter decided to look at the new system and compare it to the one it’s designed to replace. 

Galvan said one reason the information is so scarce is that the department operates under strict guidelines from the city attorney’s office that starkly limit what information can be revealed. 

“We are not allowed to include dog bites and sex crimes in the bulletins,” he said, although a reporter cited instances when both had appeared in the bulletins. 

A Dec. 21 report of a rape by drugs in the vicinity of the intersection of Haste and Dana streets is listed in that day’s bulletin, though Galvan’s predecessor, Officer Joe Okies, refused to provide any information about it to the Daily Planet. 

Other rapes and incidents of child molestation have also been reported in the daily bulletins. 

Still, the new mapping system does show sex crimes, the result of a new decision by the city, Galvan said. 

A quick exploration revealed that the information provided by the two systems is often conflicting. 

In testing the new system, a reporter recently looked for incidents reported within a quarter-mile radius of the intersection of Ashby and Shattuck Avenues. 

The resulting map revealed that a rape was reported at 3:38 p.m. on Feb. 1 which occurred in the 1600 block of Russell Street. No such incident was reported in the daily bulletins, nor had the department issued any notice or bulletins to the public or press. 

Score one for Crime View Community. 

Another map search—for the quarter-mile around the intersection of 10th and Gilman streets—revealed yet another sex crime on the maps that never appeared in the daily bulletins. That incident occurred on Feb. 4, when police were summoned to the area at 9:41 a.m. to investigate an alleged child molestation. 

That day’s bulletin lists nothing between a tire slashing in the 1400 block of Allston Way at 9:16 a.m. and a report of a stolen Toyota in the 1800 block of Marin Avenue at 9:51. 

Missing links 

But other instances of crimes reported on the bulletins don’t show up on Crime View, such as the robbery reported at 7th Street and University Avenue on Feb. 7. Four other searches also found incidents listed in the bulletins that didn’t appear on the map. 

A report of shots fired near Roundtree’s restaurant at 2618 San Pablo Ave., at 1:32 a.m. on Feb. 5, is missing from the map altogether. The blotter reports the incident and offers a detailed description of the suspect. The Daily Planet reported on the incident, including the fact that officers found shell casings at the scene. 

And when the two systems do intersect, the daily bulletins produce more information of use to the public and press. 

A search through the daily reports revealed that many crimes weren’t finding their way to the maps, but one that did was case number 06997109, reported at 9:70 p.m. on Feb. 8. The location is listed as the 200 block of Dwight Way and the event category as a robbery, which is also the “Offense as Recorded.” 

And that’s it. 

But a check of the bulletin revealed considerably more. The crime is listed as a 211 (the California Penal Code section for robbery), and the address this time is specific. The victim is listed as Roxie Food Center, 2250 Dwight Way, and the stolen property is identified as cash. The bulletin also says the crime was committed by “threats of gun,” and it lists the officer who handled the call, Officer Hong. 

The same case number is provided, as in the sequence number—which is another way to access information on the incident. 

Attempts to locate six other crimes reported in the bulletins failed to turn up any map hits. One was case number 008435-06, a Feb. 15 grand theft report involving the taking of a laptop computer, a digital camera and a passport from a car near the corner of Forest and Piedmont Avenues. It’s simply not there on the map. 

Nor is a far more serious case, a car crash that resulted from a carjacking on the same date. The daily bulletin lists the event as being reported at 9:14 p.m. at Ashby Lumber Co., where the stolen car crashed into a fence. The report also lists the name and birthdate of a suspect who was arrested. 

As far as the map is concerned, the event didn’t happen. 

The maps also won’t list the non-injury and injury traffic accidents listed in the daily bulletins. “Otherwise, Sixth and University would just be a mass of symbols,” Galvan explained. 

Fewer crimes listed 

The maps also include much smaller range of incidents and offenses. 

Community Crime View is certainly more attractive that the bulletins, which are Adobe PDF documents done in all-capital letters. But attempts to print out the resulting map on two Daily Planet computers, one operating with Windows XP and the other a Macintosh, resulted in almost blank documents. 

Crime View also provides a way of offering crime density maps, graphic evidence of the concentration of specific types of crime in certain areas—something the bulletins didn’t provide. But once again, the maps didn’t print on the newspaper’s computers. 

Crime View is clearly superior in allowing residents to look at what’s happening in their neighborhoods, without inputting and crunching all the data from the bulletins, a long and laborious process, given that PDF files can’t be cut and pasted from the Internet in the same manner as regular text files. 

But for anyone looking for a meaningful picture of crime in Berkeley, a reporter would have to say the bulletins provide more meaningful factual data, while Crime Review, at this stage, must be rated as just another way the Internet can serve up pretty pictures. 

Galvan said the bulletins are labor intensive, and are used by only three reporters, this writer being one of them. 

Bottom line 

From a reporter’s perspective, the maps—while attractive and informative in certain ways—are a poor replacement for the bulletins. The latter tells what’s happening on a day-by-day basis, and in a far more inclusive way. 

From a resident’s perspective, the maps clearly offer a way to see what’s happening in the neighborhood, and to see how it compares with other neighborhoods. 

In the best of all possible worlds, the public would have both systems. 

Trip Albagdadi, marketing director and spokesperson for the software maker, said the problem isn’t the software package itself. 

“The application can be expanded or further customized to provide more information,” he said. And expanding the program to include citywide searches is an easy fix. 

Currently, it’s impossible to do a citywide search with the software, which was developed by the Omega Group in San Diego. At present, the widest search area permitted is a one-mile radius from a given location or a city council district. 

It’s an easy fix, said Albagdadi, and Galvan said it’s underway. 

To compare the two systems, go to the BPD website at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ police. There’s an icon for Community Crime View on the right hand side of the page and the bulletins are found by clicking on the third link posted under the heading “Frequently Used Resources.”?

There have been many Betties. 

There was Wartime Betty, Artist Betty, Political Betty, Black Nationalist Betty. There was Married Betty, Divorced Betty, Mother Betty, Midlife Crisis Betty. There was New Orleans Betty, Berkeley Betty, Dancing Betty, Painting Betty and lately, Blogging Betty. 

This month, the National Women’s History Project will pay tribute to the woman who has reinvented herself more times than Madonna: Richmond resident Betty Reid Soskin. 

The project has highlighted women’s historical achievements since 1980. Soskin and nine other women will be honored in Los Angeles this Sunday, and again March 22 in Washington D.C.  

Soskin, 84, was selected for demonstrating the year’s theme: Builders of Communities and Dreams.  

And build she has. 

As a South Berkeley shop owner, she helped overhaul a drug- and crime-infested neighborhood, earning her the 1995 honor California Woman of the Year. In more recent years, she has worked to shore up Richmond’s historical record, by resurrecting the stories of residents in war-era black neighborhoods. 

Her investment in military history is deeply personal. 

As a young woman during World War II, Soskin took a job clerking for the Boilermakers A-36. Like many women of the time, she was dubbed a “Rosie” for contributing to the wartime effort, though she did not consider herself one, she said. She pointed out that African Americans did not join the workforce until later in the war, and the term “Rosie” largely referred to white women. 

After the war, Soskin settled down to raise a family in Walnut Creek, a time in her life she branded her “lowest and highest point.”  

The sleepy East Bay suburb, then a stronghold of white ultra-conservatives, was loath to welcome a black family into the community. 

“I became the target of racial hatred, by virtue of being the first [African American] family on the block and the second family in that valley,” she said. “The white community we moved into thought one of their rights was their denial of mine.” 

To steel herself against discrimination, Soskin became active in the local Unitarian-Universalist community. But it only took her so far. 

As the pressure of her oppressive environs mounted, Soskin’s marriage started to crumble and her eldest child spiraled deep into a troubled adolescence. 

“I just caved in,” she said. 

Unable to resume day-to-day functioning, Soskin palliated her midlife crisis with Jungian therapy. Therein she discovered myriad new Betties. 

“I began to write music and to sing and to paint,” she said. “Things just seemed to move out of my subconscious into my conscious state. I was a whole, totally reinvented Betty, who was an artist.” 

Then, like that, she reinvented herself yet again. 

“I became political Betty,” she said. 

After her first husband fell ill, Soskin ventured to Berkeley to save his business, Reid’s Music Store on Sacramento Street at Prince Street. The area was a veritable wasteland of drugs and prostitution. Soskin quickly realized that the only way for the store to survive was to overhaul the neighborhood. 

Thus began an estimated $8.5 million, seven-year battle to replace a two-block crime-ridden expanse with 41 units of low-income housing. 

It was a grueling process, she said, that contributed to the downfall of her second marriage. 

But it also reaffirmed her identification with the black community. 

“It was a period that was really rich,” she said. “I really came to terms with the fact that my salvation lay in my racial identification, and that’s when my Africaness came to the front, and that’s what I move out of.” 

For her triumph over the South Berkeley slum, the California State Legislature nominated Soskin Woman of the Year in 1995. Soskin went on to work as a field representative championing the causes of two California state assemblymembers, Dion Aroner and Loni Hancock. 

In the late 1990s, Soskin became involved in the Black Power movement, pushing for the recognition of the black agenda in the Unitarian-Universalist Association.  

More recently, Soskin has taken on a major role developing the Rosie the Riveter/ World War II Homefront National Historical Park, an auto tour in Richmond. 

Though the city is a goldmine of World War II-era relics, the historical ledger often excluded African Americans. 

Soskin worked to change that. 

Thanks to her efforts, the park acknowledges the role of black neighborhoods surrounding the site of mass industrial production during World War II. The neighborhoods were bulldozed following the close of the war.  

While digging up these accounts, Soskin has turned to recording her own history. 

She has been a prolific blogger since 2003, turning out several entries a week. Entries range from detailing the care of her disabled daughter, to describing obscure local stories, generously peppered with outrage over the paucity of historical awareness in Richmond.  

But her blog serves a more personal purpose, too, she said. It is for her children and family so they may learn about the woman who has been many different women, and the woman who doesn’t plan to stop reinventing herself now. 

Soskin’s blog can be found at http://cbreaux.blogspot.com. ?

While he has little experience in city government, Zachary RunningWolf, who formally announced his candidacy for mayor on Wednesday, says he knows what Berkeley needs. 

“I’m running on Tom Bates’ record,” said RunningWolf, 43, who opposes the mayor on a number of issues.  

In an interview on the steps of City Hall, RunningWolf challenged the mayor’s support for development, citing rushed plans to build housing on the Ashby BART station property with little citizen input. (After public outcry, the mayor h eld a public meeting on the proposed development.) 

He also condemned Bates’ deal with UC Berkeley. “He went behind the voters’ backs,” RunningWolf said, referring to an agreement Bates brokered between the city and the university. 

Looking south from Cit y Hall, RunningWolf looked down Milvia Street toward a housing project under construction just steps from his alma mater, Berkeley High School. He said he opposed the development, fearing that new neighbors might come into conflict with the “frisky” young teens. Moreover, the housing development won’t serve low-income people, he said. 

Instead of development, the city should support farmers’ markets, the Flea Market and playing fields, he said. 

RunningWolf’s only formal position as a city official has be en serving as School Board member Terry Doran’s appointee on the Peace and Justice Commission. His bio, however, includes a number of leadership positions: serving on the board of directors at the Intertribal Friendship House in Oakland and being named an elder in the Blackfeet Nation at age 42.  

A community activist, RunningWolf said he has helped to start the American Indian Charter School in Oakland, worked to change the name of Columbus School to Rosa Parks and fought to preserve ethnic studies at UC Berkeley. 

His platform calls for banning genetically altered foods in Berkeley, suing the University of California over the downtown plan, getting the city’s diesel fleet back to bio-diesel and strengthening ethnic and gender studies in Berkeley schools. 

On Wednesday, RunningWolf filed his “papers of organization” with the city clerk, which allows candidates to start raising money for their campaigns. Bates is the only other candidate in the local November races who has filed these papers. At present RunningWolf is the only announced mayoral challenger, although former Planning Commission Chair Zelda Bronstein reportedly will announce her candidacy this month. Formal filing of candidacy papers will take place in mid-July. 

RunningWolf’s website is www. kanatsitapiiksi.org and his e-mail is zacharyrunningwolf@Yahoo.com..

By unanimous vote, environmentalist and former Berkeley City Councilmember Nancy Skinner was named Monday to fill a vacant seat on the board of the East Bay Regional Parks District. 

In a 6-0 vote, board members elected Skinner to fill the term vacated by the death of Jean Siri, who represented Ward 1. 

Siri, a San Pablo resident and a long-time environmental activist, died Jan. 20 at the age of 85 in the final year of a four-year term. 

Skinner will fill out the remainder of her term, and is expected to run for the post in the November election. AT 51, she will be one of the board’s younger members. 

“I hope to be a good ambassador for the parks, promoting the parks throughout the district, and not just Ward 1,” Skinner said Wednesday. 

As one of six finalists from an initial field of 13 applicants, Skinner and the other five were interviewed for the post by a committee of three board members: Ted Radke, Beverly Lane and Carol Severin, who also serves as board president. 

Other finalists included former Berkeley Mayor Shirley Dean, Richmond environmental activist Whitney Dotson, Sierra Club attorney/activist Norman La Force, Oakland Deputy City Attorney Richard Illgen and former Berkeley school board member Car roll Williams, who had served as Ward 1 representative before he was defeated by Siri in 1992. 

The board administers more than 95,000 acres of parkland, including 65 regional parks and recreation, wilderness, shoreline, preserve and land bank areas in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. 

Their 2005-2006 fiscal budget totals $159 million. Park staff includes 596 full-time and up to 80 seasonal and temporary employees. 

Skinner said she hopes to increase awareness of the parks and their role in parts of the district where voters have been reluctant to vote new funds. 

“It’s important because to fulfill the mission of the parks and to provide the necessary services and amenities, the district needs more operating funds,” she said. 

If she has a special interest, Skinner said “it’s shepherding the East Shore Park. It’s very near and dear to me, and to everyone in Ward 1.” 

Skinner was the youngest person ever elected to the Berkeley City Council when she ran in 1984 while a student at UC Berkeley. She served on the council through 1994. 

In that race she had the strong backing of then-Assemblyman and now Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates. She also served as coordinator of the successful 2002 run of Bates’ spouse, Loni Hancock, to replace him in the Assembly after he was forced out by term limits. 

Dean said that she heard “from at least 25 people” that Skinner “is being groomed to run for Loni’s seat in November 2008 when Loni is termed out” of the Assembly. 

An internationally known environmentalist, Skinner is one of the founders of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) and the U.S. director of the Climate Group, a non-profit organization rallying governmental and corporate support on climate change issues. 

Prior to joining the Climate Group after its formation in 2004, she served nearly 10 years with Cities for Climate Protection, an alliance that included Berkeley, San Francisco, Seattle and other municipalities..

UC Berkeley officials, athletes and contractors staged a full-court press at Memorial Stadium Monday, offering soft drinks and cookies along with the reasons they said everyone should support their massive building plans around the aging facility. 

Wheth er or not it worked remains an open question. 

The university is scheduled to unveil an environmental impact report on the project in May, which will offer new details about the school’s plans for what could total nearly a half-billion dollars in new cons truction. 

Three new major structures are proposed, along with massive alterations to Memorial Stadium, an aging concrete edifice built directly atop the Hayward Fault—the fissure U.S. geologists say is most likely to rupture in the years ahead. 

One of t he new structures, a monumental athletic training center, is separated from the stadium by only a five-foot gap, and a second structure—a five-level mostly subterranean parking structure northwest of the stadium—directly borders the fault. 

The third edif ice, a stair-stepped “Law and Business Connection” building, is farthest from the rupture, located directly across Piedmont Avenue from the stadium. 

On hand to answer questions about earthquakes was David Friedman, a structural engineer from Forell/Elses ser Engineers, Inc., a San Francisco firm working on the project. “We’re planning for the worst case scenario with the stadium,” he said, which would include up to six feet of horizontal movement along the two sides of the fault, two feet of vertical move ment. 

Friedman also noted that the planned press box, topped by another level of luxury sky boxes for deep-pocket fans, would rise as much as 28 feet above the stadium rim. That bothered preservationist John English, who pointed to the university’s own 1 999 Historic Structures Report conducted by an Emeryville consulting firm that concluded no additions should extend above the stadium rim. 

“But it’s going to be much more open and translucent than the old press box,” said Joseph Dienko of HNTB Architectu re, one of the firms involved in the project. 

Friedman, Dienko and the other official representatives staffed tables featuring hand-out sheets and foam-core-mounted graphics and charts. And for the sports buffs who weren’t already dazzled by the rows and cases of trophies in the Hall of Fame Room where the gathering was held, there were also real, live members of the Cal Bears gridiron crew, smiling pleasantly and eager to describe how the project would benefit them and their fellow athletes. 

“Any quest ions?” asked quarterback Nathan Longshore. “We’re glad to help,” added linebacker Greg Van Hoesen.  

“We will take out everything from the outer walls until you hit the grandstand,” said Harrison Fraker, the Dean of the university’s College of Environment al Design and the chair of the university Design Review Committee that will approve the stadium plans. “It will be wonderful.”  

The training facilities now housed within  

the cramped confines of the stadium’s interior will be relocated in a 132,500-squar e-foot Student Athlete High Performance Center, the first of the new structures slated for construction, and the stadium itself will be refurbished for seismic safety and spectator comfort. 

The training center will be built along the stadium’s western wa ll, separated from the older structure by a five-foot gap designed to keep the structures separate in event of a temblor. 

And if the need for the center was in doubt, there were colorful charts showing how Cal athletes are short-changed for training spac e compared with their Pac 10 rivals. Planning Commissioner Gene Poschman, himself a former Bears gridiron star, laughed at the charts. “Wait till I can start doing an analysis,” he said, smiling as his pen flew over the handout sheet. 

Angel L. McDonald o f Horton Lee Brogden Lighting Design was on hand with charts and answers about the new permanent night lighting planned for the stadium, a sore point with neighbors who live on Panoramic Hill, recently enrolled as a nationally landmarked neighborhood in p art because of residents’ opposition to the expansion plans. 

“It’s far worse than I thought,” said Janice Thomas, a Panoramic Hill neighbor instrumental on the landmarking efforts. “Now I see that they’re adding a cooling tower in the south stadium parking lot that will bring even more noise. There’s been no give. I’m stunned, like a deer caught in the headlights.” 

Another Panoramic Hill resident who declined to give her name for fear of upsetting Thomas and other fellow neighbors, said she thought the university had shown some sensitivity to their concerns. “It’s better than I thought it would be, but they still shouldn’t be building on top of a fault. But then they’re going to do it, so maybe this is the best we can hope for.” 

Monday evening’s agenda also included walking tours of the stadium—both to view dry rot and termite-eaten seats in need of replacement and to see the far from deluxe interior accommodations accorded the needs of the university’s athletes and the throngs of fans who come for eve nts like the fabled Big Game against the Stanford Cardinals. 

Bob Milano, the ever-smiling assistant financial director for capital planning and management, even offered both genders in his tour group a glimpse of a women’s bathroom, little changed from w hen the stadium first opened for games in 1923. 

He also pointed to the gap in the stadium’s southern rim that is designed to accommodate movement along that pesky fault. A matching gap is found at the opposite end of the stadium. 

Athletic equipment mana ger Ed Garland escorted the curious through the laundry room—festooned with the corporate banners of ABC, Nike and TBS—and upstairs to the room and its array of stacked and racked athletic gear ranging from extra football helmet face guards to size 17 ins oles. 

City of Berkeley Planning Commissioner Jordan De Staebler and city Principal Planner Allan Gatzke accompanied Milano’s group. Other Berkeley city officials who attended Monday’s gathering included City Councilmember Gordon Wozniak, Planning Commiss ioner Mike Sheen, Landmarks Preservation Commissioner Steven Winkel and Disaster Commission member Jesse Townley. 

The public’s next opportunity to offer on-the-record comments about the massive building plans will come in May, when the university release the draft environmental impact report on the combined projects. Comments will be taken for consideration in the final document for 45 days after the draft’s release..z

Issues of race, poverty and neglect dominated during the next-to-final hand of a high stakes gamble over the future of North Richmond. 

More than 200 supporters and foes of a plan to build a tribal casino in the unincorporated area gathered in Richmond Memorial Auditorium for the final hearing on a key environmental document. 

The draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be used to help the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs determine if a disinherited tribe should be granted a new reservation on the site, the critical step before the massive casino can rise along Richmond Parkway. 

Don Arnold, chair of the Scotts Valley Band of Pomos—the tribal group seeking to have the land declared a reservation—listened throughout the hearing but made no comments for the record. 

The tribe is partnered with a Florida developer who specializes in packaging tribal casinos. They plan to build the Sugar Bowl Casino, a 225,000-square-foot, 1,940-slot Las Vegas-style gambling palace. 

Andres Soto, a Richmond Progressive Alliance activist and former city council candidate, was first to raise the issue of race, charging that casino developers had held out African Americans as the community’s “gatekeepers,” while North Richmond is seeing a rise in Latino and Asian residents. 

Noting that an elementary school near the casino site has a 65 percent Latino enrollment, Soto called for a new dialog. 

“Shame on you, Andres Soto,” said Barbara Becnel, an African American who serves as executive director of Neighborhood House of North Richmond, a program that provides services and housing for felons and substance abusers and provides meal for those in need.  

A frequent ally of Soto’s on other issues, Becnel said the casino is needed because “we need jobs in this community, and we can’t wait. It’s inhumane of our leaders to say we have to wait.” 

A major selling point for Becnel was the promise of Don Arnold, chair of the Scotts Valley Band of Pomos, to hire ex-felons, something neither the nearby city of Richmond nor Contra County is eager to do, Becnel said. 

Soto also blasted Analytical Environmental Services, the consulting firm that prepared the EIS. 

”They proudly describe their bread and butter business as doing reports for gaming tribes,” said Soto. “They have a vested interest in sugar-coating their reports.” 

A Thursday check of the firm’s website—www.analyticalcorp.com—showed that of 15 current documents available on-line, 10 were for Native American casino projects. 

Both Soto and William Thompson, a University of Nevada-Las Vegas professor who has been hired by casino opponents, criticized the EIS for neglecting the issue of gambling addiction. 

“The draft EIS is deceptive and incomplete,” said Thompson. “It implies no crime connections, an audacity that rises to the heights of deception.” 

Thompson cited the case of a Casino San Pablo winner who was followed out of the casino and robbed while attempting to deposit her winnings in a bank ATM. 

“No casino ATMs take deposits,” he added, a remark that drew gasps and chuckles from the audience. 

Thompson also said the casino would suck money from the already impoverished community, enriching Nevada slot machine makers to the tune of $30 million to furnish the machines and the tribe’s corporate business partner in Florida who will get 35 percent of the net for a tribe that doesn’t live in the area. 

“The money is coming out of the community. There will be no tourists because there is no hotel and no tourist attractions,” he said. 

Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, who wasn’t able to attend Wednesday’s meeting, said Thursday that he was very concerned with the document’s lack of consideration of negative impacts. 

“It’s very hard to spell out mitigations when you don’t go into detail about the negative impacts. The Board of Supervisors is on record against the expansion of casinos in the West County. With three Las Vegas style casinos proposed within a few miles of each other, we have become the ground zero of urban gambling in California,” he said. 

Tribe vs. tribe 

One point on which all parties agreed was that Native Americans had been the target of virulent, often genocidal racism at the hands of the American government, and that the Scotts Valley Band and others had been wrongly stripped of their reservations a half-century earlier. 

But the casino project has also pitted tribe against tribe, with two Pomo bands confronting the Muwekma Ohlones, the only group of the three recognized as historic inhabitants of the site—the Pomos hailing from further north in Lake, Sonoma and Mendocino counties. 

The Muwekmas, however, have been denied recognition by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, despite their passionate arguments and the avid support of archaeologist Allan Levanthal, who appeared Wednesday night to argue on behalf of the tribe. 

Tribal chair Rosemary Cambra, accompanied by co-chair Monica Arellano, made a dramatic argument against granting the Pomos a reservation on traditional Ohlone lands. 

“We’ve never backed away from a public challenge when it comes to our religion, our history, or genealogy and our relationship to our sacred sites,” said Cambra. 

Turning to Scotts Valley chair Arnold, Cambra declared, “I don’t want to debate over our sacred sites versus your development, over sovereignty over our sacred sites versus your love of money,” she declared. “Take your vision home . . . do it in your own home. 

The Scotts Valley tribe is traditionally based near Lakeville. 

“Bring it on. Bring on the fight,” she declared. “But remember it is the Muwekma’s land. We’ve never left our land.” 

(The Muwekma’s aren’t entirely opposed to casinos; Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown once proposed backing them for a casino at the old Oakland Army Depot.) 

Another Pomo band was on hand to support Arnold and his tribe. 

Michael Derry, CEO of the Guidiville Rancheria’s economic development arm, urged approval of the Scotts Valley project. 

The Guidivilles are planning a casino of their own at Point Molate, a project which is several months behind the Sugar Bowl proposal. 

After the meeting Arnold said his band had supported the Muwekmas in their fight for recognition. “The reason they weren’t included in the EIS is that they aren’t federally recognized. One of our biggest problems is that we fight among ourselves,” he said, “and a hundred years later, and we’re both still fighting the federal government.” 

Other speakers 

Richmond City Councilmember Gayle McLaughlin was the only elected official to speak. 

While sympathizing with the plight of the tribe and recognizing the troubles faced by North Richmond residents, McLaughlin said the casino “will not bring about increased well being and quality of life just because it’s sought by Native American people.” 

The community needs “other, realistic alternatives to get out of decades of poverty and neglect.” 

Chantay Scott, who is of African American and Choctaw heritage, offered “100 percent support for casino. North Richmond has nothing now.” 

Lee Jones, president of the North Richmond Municipal Advisory Council and an African American, said that fears of crime were ridiculous, given that the community “is already inundated with crime and HIV. The community is full of it. We’re up to our necks.” 

The community needs jobs and hope, he said. 

“I feel like a swimmer in the ocean and all of a sudden I look over the horizon and I see this poor Indian saying he would throw us a life jacket and rescue us . . . let’s grab the life preserver.” 

But Latondra Goode, another African American, said “it’s a life preserver that’s thrown to us that’s filled with lead,” citing a study which she said revealed that the typical costs per resident of a new casino amounted to $214 a year. 

Tim Cromartie, an aide to state Sen. Kevin Murray, said he favored tribal casinos—but not in urban areas. 

Genocide can never be erased, he said, but casinos are not valid economic development projects for poor communities. 

“Yes, they bring jobs. But when you factor in all the social ills, they’re a band-aid. In the long run, the social ills will outweigh the economic development.” 

Fred David Jackson, who works at Neighborhood House and has lived in North Richmond since 1956, praised the casino project. 

“Crime is so bad now that I don’t think it can increase any more. The Native Americans can help empower our community,” he said. “They should have this chance.” 

Two BIA officials listened patiently throughout the hearing: Environmental Protection Specialist Patrick O’Malley and John Rydzik, chief of the BIA’s Pacific Region Division of Environmental, Cultural Resource Management and Safety. 

The agency is expected to reach a decision on granting the reservation in 120 days..

It’s a war goin on, the ghetto is a cage 

They only give you two choices; be a rebel or a slave. 

—Boots Riley  

of Boots and The Coup 

Watch out Walnut Creek—average home price $800,000, registered Democrats just slightly more than Republicans; 84 percent white—here comes Oakland’s Boots and The Coup, Berkeley’s Country Joe and a flock of folks protesting the Iraq War on its third anniversary. 

Oh—you thought the march was in the “city.” One—probably the largest—is. 

Dozens more, however, are scattered around the state and hundreds around the country. Nearby anti-war marches are set for Walnut Creek—Walnut Creek BART, 11 a.m.; San Francisco—Civic Center, 11 a.m.; Palo Alto—noon, City Hall Plaza, 250 Hamilton Ave.; Vallejo, 10:30 a.m., Redwood and Sonoma streets. And Rep. Barbara Lee’s holding a town meeting at Oakland’s Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., 9 a.m. 

The peace movement has been slowly fracturing into two main camps, one more narrowly focused on getting out of Iraq and the other insisting that protests reflect the concept that the Iraq War is just one piece of the U.S. attempt to  

dominate the planet. 

“San Francisco will be preaching to the choir,” said Tony Martarella, with the Progressive Alliance of Contra Costa County, one of the Walnut Creek march’s sponsoring organizations. “Contra Costa County is more conservative—we are moderate, centrists, not liberal progressive.” 

People need to ease into the peace movement, he said. “We don’t want to confuse people with multiple messages. After [the war] we can deal with other social and economic injustices.” 

But without multiple messages—protesters in San Francisco will hear from groups supporting Palestine, Haiti, the Philippines and more—people will not get a sense of the global nature of the conflict, argued Bill Hackwell spokesperson for the A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and Racism) Coalition, the umbrella group sponsoring the San Francisco demonstration. 

Hackwell said the march will physically link issues by stopping at Glide Church, where the hungry are fed and at the Sheraton Hotel, where workers are on strike.  

In addition to Norman Solomon, most recently author of War Made Easy, the Walnut Creek Rally will feature a number of speakers from the Democratic Party, including Rep. George Miller, D-Concord, and former U.S. Congressperson Pete McCloskey. 

Targeting these speakers, Hackwell said he has no confidence in the Democratic Party. “Kerry was for the expansion of the war,” he said, adding: “We say bring the troops home and put them in job training. Don’t redeploy them somewhere else.” 

Speakers at the Palo Alto march and rally, sponsored by the Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, will hear from Joel Beinin, professor in Middle East studies at Stanford University and Larry Bensky, Berkeley resident and longtime KPFA-FM producer.  

Asked why Palo Alto was organizing separately from San Francisco, Bensky responded that “a lot of people don’t want to work with A.N.S.W.E.R. People who try to work with A.N.S.W.E.R., part of the Workers World Party, have found them to be hard-line and inflexible.”  

Bensky further noted that the other large umbrella coalition, United for Peace and Justice, which has stated uncategorically on its website that it will no longer work with A.N.S.W. E.R., will be holding its own large peace march in New York, April 29. 

Speaking for Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, Nathan Britton said the congresswoman wanted to hold a different kind of event, one where the community will have a chance to voice its opinions. At rallies, “generally what you get are a long list of speakers,” Britton said. 

Lee will be joined by panelists Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange, Andy Shalal, Iraqi American activist and Sophie Simon-Ortiz, producer/reporter at Youth Radio. 

“Three years into this unnecessary war, after an incredible human and financial cost and our country and the world are less safe, it is time to recognize that success means ending this war, bringing our troops home and making sure there are no permanent military bases (in Iraq),” Lee said in a prepared statement. 

r

The “backdoor agreement” that outlines pollution management of Pacific Steel Casting must be revoked, environmental groups say.  

About 20 representatives from several community organizations mounted pressure on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) Board of Directors Wednesday to take action against a settlement forged between the Air District and Pacific Steel, saying it fails to adequately regulate the steel company’s emissions. 

“The settlement was cut behind the back of the community, and sends a message that the permits written by BAAQMD are not worth the paper they’re written on,” said Bradley Angel, a representative for Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice. “It makes a mockery of your public participation mandates and your environmental justice mandates.” 

Reached in December, the agreement details avenues Pacific Steel must take to curb odor emissions that many say smell like a burning pot handle. 

The company is composed of three plants at 1333 Second St. in West Berkeley. It was built in 1934. 

Residents have been complaining about its noxious fumes for more than two decades. 

Measures laid out in the agreement include installing a $2 million carbon abatement system, expected to reduce odor emissions by 90 percent, said Darrell Waller, Air District public information officer. Additionally, the company must implement interim abatement measures, draft an odor management plan and shell out $17,500 in fines for past violations. 

Though several speakers at Wednesday’s meeting urged cancellation of the agreement, the board could not take action because it was not on the agenda. The board is comprised of 22 public officials from Bay Area counties.  

According to Oakland City Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente, who introduced himself at Wednesday’s meeting as vice president of the steel workers’ union, Pacific Steel is doing everything in its power to get clean.  

“That plant has been there 70 years and that plant has done everything to reduce emissions,” De La Fuente said. “This is a responsible company that has put in numerous resources to improve the quality of life for workers and for people who live in the community.” 

Opponents disagreed, citing a caveat in the agreement that could alter emissions permitting the company to actually increase pollution. 

“The community does not agree with the air district staff’s decision to modify permits to enable Pacific Steel to pollute more,” writes David Schroeder, a member of the environmental watchdog group West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs, in a prepared statement. “This approach encourages industrial pollution and excludes the affected community from any say in the matter. Such policymaking is egregious and completely unacceptable.” 

Pacific Steel spokesperson and former state Assemblymember Dion Aroner said in an interview Wednesday that emissions amounts do not change under the settlement, they’re simply re-distributed. This corrects a permit error made in 2002, she said. 

The agreement is not clear on the point, however. Speakers at Wednesday’s meeting complained that they were left out of the process of drafting the cleanup plan. 

Waller said the community has been involved every step of the way. 

“When the community indicates they have a serious concern, we have been very responsive and we will continue to be,” he said. 

For many, the most pressing cause for concern is health.  

“Pacific Steel is a serious health problem. It is not just a nuisance,” said Berkeley resident Peter Guerrero, a member of the alliance. “BAAQMD’s attempts to address this are insufficient.” 

The facility has been shown to emit toxic substances, confirmed Nebil Al-Hadithy of the City of Berkeley Toxics Management Division, but levels have not been significant enough to pose health risks.  

However, the foundry has increased output in recent years, producing everything from bridge parts to busses, cable cars and wheelchairs. Thus, Air District officials commissioned a new health risk assessment. The report is due June. 

Some opponents aren’t willing to wait. In February, the watchdog group Cleanaircoalition.net threatened to file a small claims lawsuit against Pacific Steel. Other community members, who have supported the company in the past because it keeps nearly 600 union jobs in West Berkeley, are getting fed up. 

“We think it’s important that we not lose our industrial jobs,” said Ecology Center Executive Director Martin Bourque after Wednesday’s meeting. “But it’s not acceptable for that to happen at the cost to our community health and our environment.” 

Efforts put forth by the environmental groups to persuade Air District directors to formally consider their concerns at their next meeting largely fell on deaf ears. 

Director Chris Daly of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors expressed interest in forming an ad hoc committee to address the issue. The majority of the board did not share his sentiment, however. 

“I think it would be wrong for the board to step in,” said Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty.  

At the urging of Air District Executive Officer Jack Broadbent, the board agreed to move forward with the details of the settlement at staff level, though there was some talk of staff drumming up a report by the next board meeting, April 5. 

Community activists said they will be there, pressing for new terms of the agreement.  

Aroner said their pressure isn’t likely to work.  

“It’s a binding agreement on both parties,” she said. “We can’t imagine why the air district would walk away from that settlement.””

A vote by Alameda County Supervisors this week to remove a controversial trustee from the board of the Alameda County Medical Center may not necessarily stop pending legal action against the county for her original removal from the board. 

“If the court says I can continue, I will continue,” former trustee Gwen Rowe-Lee Sykes said by telephone. “If the court says I can’t, then it’s up to the taxpayers of Alameda County to look into the problems at the medical center.” 

The ACMC Board of Trustees oversees several of Alameda County’s public medical institutions, including Highland Hospital and the John George Psychiatric Clinic. 

Sykes’ off-again, on-again, off-again saga began in February when Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson informed medical center trustees that Sykes “will no longer serve on the Alameda County Medical Center Board of Trustees.” Carson, who nominated Sykes to the board in 2004, said in an interview that he had removed her because of complaints from “a majority of her colleagues” on the board, who Carson said were “having a difficult time conducting business” because of her actions during meetings. 

Sykes called those allegations of disruption “false, unless disruption means not allowing people to steal money from the hospital.” During her tenure on the board, Sykes repeatedly criticized the board over management and doctors’ contracts. 

In response to Carson’s notice of removal, Sykes filed legal action in  

California Superior Court in Oakland, stating that only the full county Board of Supervisors—not one supervisor—were empowered to remove a trustee from the Medical Center Board. Alameda County Counsel Richard Winnie agreed with that assertion in an earlier interview with the Daily Planet. Sykes was allowed to participate in the March board of trustees meeting after board president J. Bennett Tate and board clerk Barbara Miller-Elegbede had originally informed her that Carson had removed her. 

On Tuesday, an item to remove Sykes from the medical center board was placed on the county board of supervisors’ consent calendar, and supervisors approved it along with the rest of the calendar without debate. Sykes said that neither she nor her attorney were notified that her removal would be on the agenda, and did not attend the meeting because of a prior business commitment. 

In her later interview, Sykes criticized the supervisors for placing her removal on the consent calendar, where matters are passed en masse without debate on individual items. “That type of action is smothering the concerns,” Sykes said. “It’s the same type of smothering that’s taking place with issues affecting the entire medical center.” 

Three citizens spoke up for Sykes at the supervisors meeting, including Berkeley resident Jackie DeBose and health professional Edith Davis of the Bay Area Consortium, asking that the supervisors postpone their vote to give Sykes a chance to come before them and defend herself. Albany resident Greg Miller asked supervisors to “strongly reconsider your action. I’ve known Dr. Sykes for 10 years. She’s always been a strong advocate. Certainly she causes waves, but isn’t that what we want?””

They scream obscenities at the teacher during class and show up all smiles to chat after school; they defy curfews and curl up in their mothers’ laps; they’re ready to live on their own and can’t make a sandwich; they sleep with boyfriends and play with Barbies; they live on chips and cry over acne. 

They are teenagers and more likely to die from car crashes, homicide or suicide than anything else, according to Dr. Barbara Staggers, who heads adolescent medicine at Children’s Hospital and Research Center, Oakland.  

“Homicide and violence in teens is a huge issue,” she says. While teens are physically healthier then they will ever be, “they are dying of things that are preventable.”  

Meleia Willis-Starbuck, 19, Juan Carlos Ramos, 18, Keith Stephens, 24 and Alberto Salvador Villareal-Morales, 15, were lost to violence in recent months. The deaths of the three young people killed in Berkeley and Villareal-Morales, a Berkeley High student murdered in Oakland, have prompted the community to ask how to keep children safe. 

While erratic teen behavior is comprehensible and changes throughout the teenage years, a young teen is unaware of consequences. According to Staggers, “He could shoot someone. He’s thinking of here, now, today. He can’t plan.”  

Teens in the middle range, learning to separate from adults, thrive on conflict. “They have to experiment with life; they’re different people on different days,” she says, noting that being afflicted with AIDS or hooked on heroin can be lifelong consequences of experimental teen behavior. 

At this stage, decision-making skills are key and parent lectures are useless. “Parents have to step back,” Staggers says. Teens listen to peers. For kids on a rocky path, “ex-gang members have more credibility,” Staggers says.  

Berkeley High Security Officer Mark Griffin teaches anger management. He can relate to kids in trouble—he’s been there. In his work, he gives teens a chance to talk about why they are hurting and helps them role-play conflict situations to find a safe way out. 

In late adolescence, teens make conscious decisions, Staggers says. Drug dealing, for example, is no longer experimental, but a conscious choice. Teens may not see other options. What young people need at this stage is to recognize choices. Perhaps a young man carrying a gun does not know how to talk his way out of a situation. “Teach him to talk,” Staggers says, cautioning: teach him in a non-judgmental way. 

Berkeley’s Youth Services Coordinator Phil Harper-Cotton offers options to teens on the edge. Sometimes he drives down Sacramento Street or San Pablo Avenue in the evenings and chats with kids hanging out, letting them know someone cares. He offers a pocket-size card with services—job referrals, drug and alcohol treatment, counseling. He’s offering choices; some respond. 

Teens under stress 

Home and school should be safe places, but sometimes they create stress. For teens of color, race is an often ignored stressor, says Dr. Vicki Alexander, responsible for child and teen health in Berkeley’s Health Department. “There are very clear divisions in wealth in Berkeley; it comes down along racial lines,” with the presence of the university exaggerating the divide, Alexander says. She advocates anti-racist campaigns to change attitudes, equalize opportunities and reduce stress on people of color. 

The recent murders are stressors for local teens, says sociologist Howard Pinderhughes, Berkeley resident and assistant professor at UC San Francisco. Even when teens don’t know the victims, the homicides trigger emotions carried over from other incidents in the teen’s life. They need safe places to talk about what they are feeling, he says, adding: “And they need safe places to hang out.”  

Safe spaces for teens 

But that’s easier said then done. Youth leaders at the Berkeley-Richmond Jewish Community Center have tried to create a safe place to party and hit a blank wall, they said last week, sitting around a table at the Walnut Street facility, eating pizza and talking to a reporter. “There’s no place for teens or pre-teens to go,” Molly Bilick, 17, said.  

The group tried putting on dances and had several successful ones. But the popularity grew through text-messaging and word-of-mouth. The second-to-last dance drew 700 teens to the Walnut Street building; neighbors called the police and the fire marshal shut it down. The group was diverse, well behaved; there was no stealing or vandalism, the youths said. 

The last dance was in August. Tickets were sold in advance and only ticketed people could come in. This was a disaster, leaving a large unruly crowd outside.  

The night before meeting with the reporter, the group trekked to the City Council meeting to ask for funding for a teen center, a place for dances and opportunities to learn skills, such as carpentry and cooking. It would have to be in a warehouse, away from homes, they said.  

They’d already asked the city for the use of their gyms, but were turned down. There is no appropriate city venue, said Harper-Cotton in a separate interview. Recreation staff could control the dance, “but we can’t control outside,” he said, explaining that neighbors would complain. 

While Councilmember Darryl Moore and other city officials say a teen center is a good idea, there are no plans to create such a space. 

The city is not without things for teens to do. “Berkeley’s very rich in resources, but you have to be self motivated and a lot of kids aren’t,” said Tricia Brazil, who works in tobacco, drug and violence prevention at Berkeley High. At the school there are more than 30 clubs, plus drama, music and sports programs. In the community there is the Young Adult Project, a city-run center for youth referred by teachers or counselors, Berkeley Youth Alternatives, where young people can get tutoring and take classes such as in music production. There’s Youth Radio and more. 

Kids in trouble 

But, as Dr. Staggers noted, teens experiment and don’t see consequences. They get in trouble with the police. That’s when Detective Sgt. Dave White of the Youth Services Bureau steps in.  

Lately, he’s heard from a growing number of parents. “We’re getting a lot of calls saying that kids are incorrigible—two to three times a day.” Parents don’t know what to do. White refers them to community agencies. 

White says his job is keeping kids out of the juvenile justice system. When teens are picked up for minor crimes, they can be sent to youth court in Oakland. Staffed by teen prosecutors, judges and juries, retributive, rather than punitive justice is delivered: offenders may have to write letters of apology to victims or scrub graffiti off walls. (Berkeley High has recently introduced a youth court as well.) 

Teen offenders might also be required to check in regularly with a police department counselor. 

While the recent homicides are tragic and have shaken nerves throughout the city, teen violence does not appear to be escalating, White said. (Berkeley Police keep no records specific to juvenile crime, according to Ed Galvan, police department spokesperson.) White said juvenile crime trends tend to be about the same as trends for adult violent crime. In Berkeley, violent crime over the last five years has not increased. 

Still, the tragic deaths have been a wake-up call: youth commissioners want to create more opportunities for young teens to learn conflict resolution strategies; youth violence was the focus of an Albany High meeting last week and will be the focus of a Berkeley High workshop Thursday.

Lauralaura is an 18YO SWF (18-year-old single white female, for the uninitiated) from Berkeley who likes Goth parties.  

Crystalia is 17. She’s a SBF from Berkeley who has a thing for impromptu dance parties. Her profile also says “YEAH for slumber parties!” 

Dolce Vita, 15, is all about the next 4th of July block party. 

All three belong to “Sexy Party People”—a group on myspace.com which boasts 76,179 members to date. Nothing wrong about being a party person—but “Sexy Party People” isn’t your everyday teen forum on parties—it comes with sights and sounds no underage teen would be encouraged to dabble in. It even talks about gatecrashing parties “just for the fun of it.” 

Gatecrashing is often one of the steps that leads to violence at teen parties. According to Officer Ed Galvan of the Berkeley Police Department, the Berkeley police occasionally receives phone-calls from irate parents or hosts about gatecrashers.  

Although concerns for violent teen parties are rising, Officer Galvan told the Daly Planet that “In general, the rowdiness or violence level in parties in Berkeley hasn’t increased or decreased over the last few years.” Echoing his words was Detective David White, Youth Services Bureau, BPD, who said that he hasn’t seen any trends in teen parties getting violent or out-of-hand. “The Berkeley Hills party which led to the Contra Costa kid being murdered was an eye opener for a lot of people. You get kids and alcohol together and it’s a dangerous mix. It’s definitely important for parents to be aware of these parties and chaperone them.” 

The other complaints about teen parties that the police receive from Berkeley residents involve noise levels, blocked streets or driveways, and littering caused by beer bottles or food. 

Although the city hasn’t enforced any rules on the chaperoning of underage parties, Officer Galvan said it was advisable to do so. “It is good to have a parent or a grown-up around in case things get out of hand,” he said. When asked why the police didn’t receive more calls from teenagers when something went wrong at these parties, Officer Galvan said that “they were probably scared of getting into trouble.” 

The city also has very strict rules about alcohol being served to minors at parties. “You cannot, by any means, serve or sell beer or any form of alcohol to someone under 21 at a house party,” said Officer Galvan. 

Keeping in mind the recent stabbings in the Berkeley hills, the BPD and the District 5 Berkeley City Council Office (represented by councilmember Laurie Capitelli) will be sponsoring a community forum on teen parties at the Northbrae Church Community Center next Thursday. The forum, “How Many Guests Are Too Many?” seeks to address the problems of large, unsupervised teen parties, uninvited guests, and noise, which result in vandalism and violence. Other concerns that will be addressed are: 

• The social factors that lead to out-of-control teen events. 

• What teens can do if their party gets out of control. 

• Teen anxiety about calling the police. What will really happen? 

• What are parents’ responsibilities if they are not there? 

• What can and should neighbors do if they suspect a large, unsupervised teen party? 

• How websites, such as “My Space,” play a role in large, unchaperoned teen parties. 

“The main reason behind this is to educate high school and middle school parents on the vices of teen parties,” said Officer Galvan. We especially hope to raise the issue of the Internet as a tool for spreading the word about these parties.” 

Jill Martinueci, aide to councilmember Capitelli, agrees. “The event is close to the area where the recent murder of Juan Carlos Ramos occurred. As a parent of a teenager I feel that forums like this are extremely important to know what’s going on.” 

Martinueci also feels that cell phones and the Internet play a huge role in getting teenagers at these parties instantaneously. “It’s all so immediate, so right now—the word spreads like wildfire. You can’t really blame any one website or chatroom for this.” 

Another parent who wished to remained anonymous told the Planet that parties in the big houses in the hills drew kids like magnets. “Somehow it makes them think that it’s going to be a nicer party. That they are away from prying eyes of parents in these places,” she said. 

Mark Coplan, Public Information Officer at BUSD and father of a 16 year-old, told the Planet that “with the influx of teen violence throughout the nation, the rules that parents lay down for their children when it comes to parties is very important.” 

“Kids often are heard telling parents, ‘don’t call other parents when I’m at a party’ because it’s not popular. If I am worried about something I always call up other parents whose kids my son is visiting. This at times has surprised a lot of parents.” 

Coplan said that his son stopped going to parties after he witnessed one getting out of control. “There was a lot of drinking and vandalism and he just shelled up after that. Now he just calls over a few friends when he wants to have fun.” 

Rio Bauce, Chair of the city’s Youth Commission and a student at Berkeley High, told the Daily Planet that teen parties in Berkeley are usually pretty mellow. “Sure you can get tons of hits on parties if you go to websites like myspace.com, but if you are sensible you would know which ones to avoid.” 

Krystal, a sophomore at Berkeley High, says that although she has witnessed smoking and drinking at teen parties in Berkeley, she hasn’t come across violence. “It’s usually normal teenage behavior. Guys being guys and fighting over alcohol or pot,” she said. Krystal has also walked into the girl’s bathroom in Berkeley High and seen girls smoking pot. 

According to Dane, a freshman at Vista College, “it all depends on what kind of people are invited and what kind of party you land up at. I have older siblings and when I exchange stories about parties with them—I don’t see any major differences in the parties we both attended.” 

Then there are some teenagers who avoid parties completely and want to keep it that way. Jessica Nicely, a junior at Berkeley High has “no time for parties.” 

“I have better things to do than getting drunk and hooking up with random people at parties. Right now rehearsing for a school musical is taking up all my time.” she told the Daily Planet.?

At Wednesday’s regularly scheduled Berkeley Board of Education meeting, directors approved: 

• The second year interim report on district finances. The district expects to earn a “positive” certification, meaning the budget can meet its fiscal obligations. Board President Terry Doran pointed out that the district has received positive certifications for each of the last three rounds of financial reporting.  

• The Five-Year Deferred Maintenance Plan, which outlines facilities improvements the district will undertake with monies from the state’s deferred maintenance fund, a matching fund. Projects the district will embark upon in the 2006-2007 school year include painting and flooring at Emerson Elementary School and replacing roofing for administration at Willard Middle School. 

• The 2006 Facilities Master Plan. The first comprehensive plan since 2005 corrals budgets, scheduling and accounting information for all current and future facilities projects. The document highlights several projects likely to pose challenges in the coming year. Among them: finalizing plans for the West Campus, which will be used as the district’s central administrative facility, finalizing development of the East Campus (see articl, Page One), gaining approval for a new transportation facility, and resolving planning issues for the district’s various child development sites, namely assessing how many children will use the facilities in years to come. 

• Several education policies. The board gave final approval of a modified high school exit exam policy, thus allowing students who have not yet passed the exit exam to walk on graduation day with their peers. Directors also revised high school graduation requirements, approved details of the annual Standardized Testing and Reporting Program (STAR) and adopted Student Study Team academic intervention policy. 

The board also heard a report on a special education model called “Learning Center” that will be recommended for districtwide implementation. Cragmont Elementary School and Willard Middle School are currently piloting the model, which gives students with special needs access to general education in addition to special education services. 

—Suzanne La Barre 

›

Shots fired, two found 

911 operators were flooded with calls from concerned West Berkeley residents at 9:21 p.m. Saturday, all reporting that they’d heard a volley of gunfire near the intersection of Seventh and Addison streets. 

Officers scoured the scene but weren’t able to find any evidence of the shooting, said Berkeley police spokesperson Officer Ed Galvan. 

Two hours later, a resident returned home to find a bullet hole in a front window and called police. Responding officers found spent .40-caliber shell casings and a second bullet impact in the residence’s front yard. 

Just who fired the shots—and why—remains a mystery. 

Rat pack punch 

A gang of three teenagers confronted a 20-year-old Berkeley woman as she walked along the 2400 block of Carleton Street about 3:30 Sunday morning. 

After one of the trio punched her in the mouth, the gang stole her backpack and wallet, then fled. 

Belated report 

A woman walked into the Berkeley Police Department Sunday morning to report that she’d been robbed the night before by a strongarm bandit who stole her purse and cell phone as she was walking along the 2500 block of Telegraph Ave. 

Failed heist 

A 52-year-old Oakland woman who’d just been confronted by a strongarm heister demanding her purse bolted instead into a nearby store—Metro Lighting in the 2100 block of San Pablo Avenue. 

The robber had been long gone by the time officers arrived. 

GTP 

That’s grand theft . . . piano, the offense reported by the owner of a Sacramento music store who arrived at his storage facility in the 1000 block of Folger Avenue only to discover that 10 of his prize pianos had been stolen. 

Because there was no sign of forced entry, detectives are investigating the possibility that the theft was carried out by a former employee, said Officer Galvan. 

“To make it even worse, he later saw one of his pianos for sale on craigslist.com,” said the officer. 

Short but deadly 

Walking along the 1500 block of Oregon Street Monday afternoon, a man found himself confronted by a five-foot-tall youth packing an adult-sized handgun. 

When the robber demanded his wallet, the man complied, then headed to the lobby of the Berkeley Police Department, where he reported the crime. 

Powerful thirst 

A short-haired bicyclist with a profound thirst stormed into L&K Liquors just after 6 p.m. Monday, where he pulled a knife, waved it at the manager, then grabbed two pint-sized cans of King Cobra Malt Liquor before beating a retreat and biking away. 

The beer peddler was long gone from the 2495 Sacramento St. store by the time the black-and-whites arrived. 

Unsnatched purse 

A purse not snatched can be news, too—at least to San Francisco resident Rita Jeremy, who was visiting Berkeley Saturday night. 

“I lost my purse. It wasn’t stolen, it fell off my shoulder near Piedmont and Bancroft,” she said. “Someone very nice found it and handed it in to the Police Department.” 

Informed that it had been recovered, Jeremy came to Berkeley Wednesday, where she was delighted to discover that she’d lost none of her cash, her ID or her keys. 

The finder turned in the purse to Officer Brian White, who turned it over to the police property room. 

“I want to thank whoever turned it in,” said Jeremy. “And I thought your readers would like to hear something very positive about life in Berkeley.”›

On a balmy Saturday morning, a doctor, a lawyer, a software engineer, and a smattering of others gathered in a room in West Berkeley to learn how to install windows, doors, and skylights. 

It’s not a career change this motley group of 12 was after—it was home improvement. 

For those who want to learn how to replace a room full of old, drafty windows or make a dull breakfast nook look cozy again, there’s help in the form of the Building Education Center. 

Founded in 1992 after its predecessor organization, the Owner Builder Center, went out of business, BEC helps people build, remodel, and maintain their own homes. 

According to Sidney Adams, the program’s director, BEC is strictly an educational organization. 

“Our courses cover everything from building from the ground up to being an educated, informed consumer,” she said. “We have been seeing more students who are interested in being trained for the professional trades, but we primarily cater to your ‘average’ homeowner type.” 

The classes are open to anyone with or without prior knowledge in building construction and the instructors are all professionals in their fields. 

“We have architects, attorneys, authors, builders, contractors, designers, engineers, inspectors, project managers and many others taking classes throughout the week.” Adams said. “We get most of our instructors through word-of-mouth referrals.” 

Glenn Kittsenberger has been teaching at BEC for 20 years. He has more than 30 years of experience in the building profession. 

“My classes help students to go out and build their own homes,” he said. “Sometimes it helps them to supervise construction. I try and keep it as simple as possible. For example, I would illustrate a three-way switch with the help of charts.” 

Kittsenberger even provides students with an hour’s worth of free consultation time after classes. 

“I use handouts, slide projectors, and a lot of hands-on training to make them understand the nuts and bolts of building,” he said. “Sometimes the students call me when they are actually trying to build something.” 

Among the more popular classes that Kittsenberger teaches at BEC is the Homeowner’s Essential Course. 

Joe Rickson, a computer engineer from San Jose, praised the class. 

“This is my fourth class at BEC and I must say it’s helping me remodel my house in a big way,” he said. “I have replaced older windows from the 1940s and have also learned carpentry framing and basic electrical theory.” 

BEC also covers issues such as flood damage control and earthquake retrofitting, which are helpful to those owning homes in the Bay Area.  

Sharon Maldonado is a retired school teacher who lives near Monterey Market. 

“I wanted to learn how to use power tools safely and effectively,” she said. “BEC helped me to do that. They make beginners feel very comfortable.” 

Apartment Management for Women is a course aimed at helping women gain independence and security. According to its instructor Naomi Friedman, it’s not easy work. 

“It requires you to have good people skills and being on call, sometimes 24/7,” she said. “It teaches you the basics of plumbing, electrical, locks, tenant relations, emergency preparedness, scheduling and working with contractors. My one requirement is that students must be on time.” 

Rebecca Herman, a Berkeley homeowner, said Friedman knows her subject. “She is really smart and very supportive,” Herman said. “The course made me more confident about basic electrical and plumbing stuff.” 

Specialized classes like Feng Shui, Green Building, Architectural Model Making and sketching attract a lot of people.  

“Everyone wants more hands-on workshops,” Adams, the director, said. “Thus they are very popular and fill up as we do limit the enrollment somewhat on these. The Homeowners Essential Course is the most comprehensive overview we offer and the Summer Intensive are especially good for people who are from out of the area or want to get a lot of information in a short amount of time.” 

Adams said the classes How to get Your Permit Approved, Plan Reading and Finding and Assessing Fixer Uppers are the most popular three-hour short classes. Owner Contracting, Earthquake Retrofitting and Kitchen Design are the most popular one-day seminars, she said. 

A free lecture, “What You Need to Know Before You Build or Remodel,” will be held at the Building Education Center, 812 Page St., on Saturday, April 8 from 10 a.m.-noon and repeated on Monday, April 10 from 7- 9 p.m.  

For more information on courses see www.bldgeductr.org or call 525-7610. 

›

By Riya Bhattacharjee 

“We can’t say anything. We haven’t received any recent updates from the control office.” 

My heart sank at the control officer’s words when I asked her about the next outbound Richmond train scheduled to leave the 24th and Mission Street BART station last Tuesday morning. 

I had a deadline in two hours and the only information available was that there had been a trash fire on the BART tracks right below San Francisco’s Market Street that morning, causing all services to the East Bay to be closed. 

Standing 12 stations away from the place where I was supposed to have been an hour ago, I felt I was not in another city but in another country. 

And like thousands of others who had been stranded there that morning, I panicked. 

Panic is exactly what BART commuters are discouraged from doing during emergency situations, says BART Chief of Police Gary Gee.  

In this case, passengers began pushing their way to the back of the Pittsburg Bay Point-bound train, jumping over seats, prying open a door, and trying to evacuate while the train operator was still walking over to the rear cab. After the power on the train was shut down, the remaining passengers were asked to evacuate. Reportedly, the operator’s exact words to them were: “A couple of fools have decided to jump off the train, so now we’re all going to have to evacuate.” Once the doors opened, the brakes stopped moving, making it impossible to drive the train. 

Had it been a terrorist attack, the situation could have been fatal.  

Chief Gary Gee agrees. “We cannot stress enough how important it is for passengers to follow instructions given by train operators or BART officials instead of taking matters into their own hands.” 

However, Chief Gee acknowledged that there had been a communication breach in certain stations on Tuesday morning which left many people confused. “During chaotic situations such as these, communication often suffers a setback,” he told the Daily Planet. “Mass transit systems like the BART definitely need to be concerned about this. Thursday’s fire was a good lesson learned.”  

The chief added that officials are often ordered to give passengers minimal information, as some passengers just keep on asking for more, leading to further confusion. 

According to a testimony on “Enhancing Emergency Preparedness in California” provided by Michael A. Wermuth (a senior policy Analyst at Rand Corp.) to the California Little Hoover Commission on Jan. 26, “establishing a comprehensive public information system” is an important managerial strategy for excellence in emergency preparedness. The report states: 

“Conventional wisdom has been that governments cannot be open with citizens about the threats they face, because such activities may cause heightened fear. Practical experience has taught that the more informed citizens are prior to a disaster, the less likely they are to panic and the closer they will listen to and trust government pronouncements about actions to be taken. This is specially true in the event of a biological incident—natural or intentionally perpetrated. Programs should be expanded to include more comprehensive public information and education before, during and after an incident, and should be exercised for refinement.” 

Chief Gee further explained that in case of a major emergency, such as a bomb or shooting terrorist threat, the first step would be to close down all the 43 BART stations. “There is no one formula that applies to all situations,” he said. “First we would need to do a systemwide evacuation, then our canine patrols would be brought in to do a sweep. We are definitely on the radar for an attack. It is not a matter of if but when.”  

It would, however, take a very severe situation to bring the SWAT Team in. When asked if BART faced a threat from terrorist hijacking, Chief Gee said it was possible but not too likely. “The driver does not control the speed of the train. The actual speed is controlled from a central place. But yes, there could be someone with a gun giving orders to the driver while attempting a hijack.”  

BART recently hired Aaron Cohen, a former member of the Israeli Defense Forces Special Forces Counterterrorist Unit, to train members of the BART SWAT Team on how to tackle suicide bombers without weapons. “The time factor is also very important when bringing in a SWAT Team. Officers are usually at another station or off-duty when an emergency strikes and have to be mobilized immediately,” Chief Gee told the Daily Planet. 

“We had a hostage situation at MacArthur station six months ago when the SWAT Team responded in 10 minutes. Although the situation turned out to be a false alarm, the team was able to make it there that fast because of low traffic at night.” 

BART has also assigned one of its officers to the FBI Special Joint Task Force in Oakland in order to monitor terrorist intelligence. In case of a terrorist attack in New York or even London, BART police use its own intelligence and works with the FBI as well as the Department of Homeland Security to get maximum information and determine a possible shutdown of the entire BART system. BART also holds monthly meetings to discuss security measures and analyze threat levels. 

According to Lt. John Conneely (in-charge of the evening patrol bureau for Zone 2, which includes the North Berkeley, Berkeley, and Ashby BART stations), BART officials are concerned about the safety of all BART stations, irrespective of the threat levels involved. “The stations in Berkeley could very well be a soft target,” he said. “What’s not to say that someone gets up from the North Berkeley BART station or the MacArthur transfer point and makes his way into San Francisco?”  

San Francisco is currently one of the four cities in the United States which is most likely to face a terrorist attack, with the Golden Gate Bridge being a high-visibility target. (According to a RAND Corp. report, the other three targets are New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.) 

Lt. Conneely says that BART police have so far been extremely successful in protecting its stations, and although the system has been identified as a possible target for terrorist attacks, it has not received any credible threats to date. “Commuters might think they are not being watched, but that person discussing the weather next to you could very well be a plain-clothes officer.”  

Lt. Conneely says a minimum of two police officers are present at stations at any given point, but acknowledged that BART does not have the resources to have a full-fledged team present all day long.  

After the 1995 sarin gas attacks in the Tokyo subway, BART closed down its underground bathrooms for fear of possible chemical or biological poisons spreading through the bathroom’s ventilation system. 

What about stations like North Berkeley or Ashby which are located in residential neighborhoods and become deserted by 6 p.m.? 

“Although Berkeley has UC and the Lawrence Labs, we don’t really expect it to be a target. But yes, we could definitely use brighter lights at the Ashby Station,” acknowledged Chief Gee. Bart officials told the Daily Planet that the Berkeley stations have surveillance cameras in the control booths but no device to record activities at the station. 

March 11 marked the second anniversary of the Madrid bombing when 191 people died and 1,741 more were injured by terrorist attacks on Madrid’s commuter trains. Ironically BART shares its birthday—Sept. 11—with the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history.  

“We have 326,500 passengers on weekdays, around 92 million people every year,” said Chief Gee. “Sometimes we also need to rely on the 6,000 or more eyes and ears that use our service everyday. Safety is not something we can achieve alone.”.”ª

By J. Douglas  

Allen-Taylor 

With the city of Oakland reeling from an explosion of violent street crime, city council members have scheduled a closed session meeting for this morning (Tuesday, March 14) to learn whether they will have to declare a state of emergency to invoke a new police deployment plan. 

At a People United for a Better Oakland (PUEBLO) police-community meeting at Frisk Middle School in Oakland a week ago, Oakland Police Chief Wayne Tucker confirmed that he had developed a plan to immediately triple the number of patrol officers on Oakland streets at peak crime times, with no new hiring needed and a decrease in overtime costs. The increased police presence would be managed by assigning officers to overlapping shifts of eight hours (for five days a week), 10 hours (for four days a week), and 12 hours (for three days a week), all to be paid at straight time. 

Tucker is currently negotiating implementation of the plan with the powerful Oakland Police Officers Association union, which is balking at the plan’s projected loss of overtime for its members. But last Tuesday night, with Tucker reporting increases in the city since this time last year of 300 percent for homicides, 127 percent for assaults with a deadly weapon, 100 percent for robberies, and 47 percent for sexual assaults, the council unanimously passed a resolution by District 6 Councilmember Desley Brooks (East Oakland) to give the police union a week to agree to Tucker’s proposal. Declaring a state of emergency would allow the city to implement the chief’s deployment plan unilaterally, without union agreement.  

“We talk to our constituents and we hear what you’re saying,” Brooks told a council chamber packed with citizens demanding more police on the streets. “I’m sorry it’s taken this long, but I think we’re going to move fairly quickly from here on in.”  

Last weekend, another group of neighborhood residents rallied in the Fruitvale district—which has also been hard hit by the crime wave—to call for increased police patrols. 

At the earlier PUEBLO meeting, Brooks had charged that Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown—who is running for California attorney general—and Council President Ignacio De La Fuente—who is running to succeed Brown as mayor—had helped to hold up implementation of Tucker’s redeployment plan in order to gain the support of the police officers’ union in their political races. De La Fuente was absent from last Tuesday’s council meeting but spoke at the Saturday Fruitvale area rally. Under the strong mayor law, Brown is not required to attend council meetings. He rarely does and was also not present at Tuesday’s session. 

Tucker is scheduled to report back to councilmembers on the results of those negotiations this morning (Tuesday, March 14) at the 11 a.m. closed session. According to District 2 Councilmember Jane Brunner (North Oakland), councilmembers may hold a special open noon council session “depending on what we get in the report.” Presumably, if no agreement has been reached between the chief and the union, the council will vote on the emergency declaration at the noon session. 

Brunner, who sponsored a separate resolution at last Tuesday’s meeting—also passed unanimously by council—that called for the police department to fill the 89 patrol officer vacancies “absolutely no later than Jan. 1, 2007,” said that the shortage of patrol officers and the current police deployment plan was causing critical police services to be taken out of her district. “I’m tired of fighting for my crime reduction teams not to be taken out of North Oakland,” Brunner said. “Once again, they took them out this week. That’s unacceptable. We should have enough officers on the street that every district has a crime reduction team.” 

The crime reduction teams are small squads of officers that crack down on known crime hot spots. Two years ago, when the CRT was temporarily pulled out of North Oakland to conduct sideshow patrols in East Oakland, the murder rate in North Oakland tripled. 

The Oakland City Council is scheduled to go over details of Brunner’s “full staffing” resolution at its regular March 21 meeting. 

With neighborhood residents rallying outside the council meeting in support of increased police patrols, citizens inside supported the chief’s deployment plan. 

Preston Turner, chair of the Neighborhood Community Police Committee of Beat 27X (Melrose and Maxwell Park), one of the areas heaviest hit by the recent violent crime wave, told councilmembers, “We feel that Chief Tucker’s hands have been tied because of politics. We’d like the mayor, the president of the council [Ignacio De La Fuente], and all of the councilmembers to embrace the chief’s plan and roll it out as soon as possible. The bullets have no eyes.” 

Turner said that recent homicides in the Melrose/Maxwell Park area were “only two or three blocks from my house.” 

Former Oakland School Board member Toni Cook, who had attended the PUEBLO meeting where Brooks and Tucker originally announced the deployment plan, said that she was “horrified to learn that we have to bribe our police officers to do their job.” 

And PUEBLO Executive Director Rashidah Grinage, who has been holding weekly meetings with Tucker on police-community issues, added that “the chief is a professional who has done this type of work for many years. Folks who are looking at their own bank accounts, their own wallets, and their own political careers are putting that over the safety of the citizens of Oakland. We need to look at who is behind blocking this plan, and why.” 

Jim Hynes, assistant to the city manager, has told the Daily Planet that the city is not considering baiting the rats in Willard Park at this moment. “We have an integrated pest control policy according to which we have to look at the least toxic way of getting rid of the rats,” he said. Presently the city is only setting traps to catch the rodents at Willard Park. 

The city was able to trap up to 11 rats on its first attempt and the number went down to three the next day. “This is a positive sign. Therefore, we have decided to continue with trapping, as the situation is not that extreme.” 

Hynes also said that the matter would hopefully be under control within the next week. The team which is in charge of the inspection at Willard Park will reconvene there on Thursday to analyze the work done and decide on future action..

By SUZANNE LA BARRE 

Students at UC Berkeley are lashing out against a conservative campus publication that reprinted two Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muham-med. 

The March issue of the 5,000-circulation California Patriot magazine, released Monday, features two controversial images initially published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. One portrays the Prophet Muhammed with a lit bomb for a turban. The other depicts a student pointing to a blackboard that calls Jyllands-Posten journalists “reactionary provocateurs.” 

Islamic law forbids images of the prophet.  

“I think it’s really outrageous that they have the audacity to print it,” said Dena Takruri, a senior, and member of the Cal Muslim Student Association. “Not only are they insulting a community, they’re defaming a religion.” 

A total of 12 cartoons printed by the Danish newspaper, and reprinted elsewhere, have triggered massive unrest in the Islamic world. Rioting claimed the lives of dozens, and Danish embassies in some Muslim countries were attacked.  

In an unsigned editorial, the California Patriot said it reprinted the cartoons to register its support for free speech.  

To shore up the argument, it cites a 1989 incident when an artist created a photograph of a crucifix immersed in human urine.  

“Being offended occasionally is the price of living in a diverse, tolerant, pluralistic society,” the editorial says.  

Ethan Lutske, opinion editor of the California Patriot, said it was his decision to print the cartoons.  

“We figured that as a journalistic entity, we felt it was our duty and an honor to free speech to put it out there,” he said in a phone interview Monday.  

Many Muslim students on campus are deeply angered by the decision. 

“The Cal Patriot is not an intellectual publication and does not merit an intellectual response,” Takruri retorted. “(They) printed the cartoons to be audacious and to instigate an angered response. They should know, however, that our community will not stoop to their level.” 

Scott Lucas, president of the Cal Berkeley Democrats, said he supports free speech, “but the cartoons were published in such an inflammatory manner.” 

The Cal Berkeley Democrats have not taken an official position on the matter. 

The magazine’s publisher, Amaury Gallais, insisted the point was not to shock. 

“We’re not trying to be offensive, we’re not trying to insult, we’re not trying to provoke,” he said. “We’re trying to make a statement. It’s a free speech issue.” 

While Gallais spoke with the Daily Planet in front of Sather Gate Monday, a student grabbed a copy of the magazine and said, “I can’t believe the Cal Patriot published this. That’s bullshit.” Moments later, a student absconded with a stack of magazines, ostensibly to dispose of them, Gallais said. 

The cartoon controversy has made its way onto other college campuses. Groups at both UC Irvine and UCLA publicly displayed all 12 of the cartoons initially printed in Jyllands-Posten, to vehement—but peaceful—student pro-test. 

The unofficial university news blog CalStuff posted rumors last week that student protests are in the works. No organized rallies were reported by press time.  

The Cal Muslim Student Association held a meeting Monday to discuss political action in response to the reprinting of the cartoons.  

“I think it’s quite disappointing,” said Rafay Khalil, treasurer of the Cal Muslim Student Association. “[Muhammed] is one of the most beloved figures for Muslims. Unfortunately, this is only going to increase Islam-phobia and racism on campus.”ª

The Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC) meets this Wednesday at 7 p.m. to examine current land use conditions and policy in downtown Berkeley. 

The committee will look at the relationship between major downtown destinations and different retail shops, employment and residential densities, zoning issues, property values, ownership patterns and projects that have been approved or are pending. 

DAPAC has been meeting since November to discuss downtown Berkeley, following a settlement forged between the city and UC Berkeley over developing the area. 

Other topics for consideration Wednesday include the discussion of committee goals and setting up workshops on conceptual options, transportation, historic preservation and environmental quality.  

On April 22, DAPAC is expected to explore concepts for downtown Berkeley. Between May and September, the committee will develop these options. 

Tomorrow’s meeting will be held at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

—

Proponents, opponents and concerned citizens have their last chance Wednesday to speak out on the report the Bureau of Indians Affairs (BIA) will consider when they decide whether or not to allow a casino in North Richmond. 

While Contra Costa County officials oppose the opening of the Scott’s Valley Band of Pomos’ proposed Sugar Bowl Casino in unincorporated North Richmond, the city itself is backing another casino proposal on Point Molate, and both proposals have drawn strong support in the African American community because of the promise of jobs. 

A leading casino opponent is East Bay Assembly Democrat Loni Hancock, who represents the city in the state Legislature and has called on casino opponents to come out in force for Wednesday’s meeting. 

“Join your voice and help us put an end to the deception that urban casinos bring prosperity and not crime,” she urged constituents Friday. 

The session, which will begin at 6 p.m. in Richmond Memorial Auditorium, 403 Civic Center Plaza at the corner of 27th Street and Nevin Avenue, will last until the final speaker is heard. 

The hearing is formally a call for comments on the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS), a document required under the National Environmental Quality Act. 

If the proposal is granted by the BIA, the tribe will be allowed to designate 299.9 acres along the eastern side of Richmond Parkway north of Parr Boulevard as a reservation for the Scott’s Valley Band. 

Backed by Noram Richmond LLC, a special purpose corporation formed by Maitland, FL., developer Alan H. Ginsburg—a major player in the tribal casino industry—the tribe proposes a 225-square-foot building with a casino, showroom, buffet and sports bar, along with a four-story parking structure and a 1,305-space lot. 

The DEIS also outlines four alternatives, two with smaller casinos and two without. 

The developers say the project would bring prosperity for an impoverished 181-member tribe and bring 1,885 new jobs to the city. 

The tribe has also promised compensatory payments to cover law enforcement and emergency services costs that would be incurred by the county. 

A copy of the DEIS is available on line at www.analyticalcorp.com, the Internet site of Analytical Environmental Services, the consulting firm which prepared the report. To access the document, click on “Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians” under the heading “Current Environmental Documents.” 

Though Wednesday is the last chance to comment from the lectern, the BIA will continue to accept written comments through April 28. They may be mailed to Regional Director Clay Gregory, care of the BIA’s Pacific Regional Office, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento 95825. 

Hancock and county officials have opposed the project in part on the grounds that gambling tends to increase as income rate declines.  

The DEIS for Richmond’s other casino project at Point Molate is still in preparation. That project is backed by Berkeley developer James D. Levine, Harrah’s Corp. and former Secretary of Defense William Cohen. The Guidiville Rancheria Band of Pomos is the tribal applicant..

The Berkeley Board of Education will consider funneling $800,000 into developing an open East Campus/ Derby Street field tomorrow. 

The funding would cover the cost of turning the district-run vacant site into an interim athletics field while the board considers building a more permanent standard baseball diamond there.  

The East Campus field, hemmed in by Ward and Carleton streets, and Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street, has long been a bone of contention for the Berkeley Unified School District. 

Some say it should be converted into a baseball field to meet the needs of the Berkeley High School men’s baseball team, which currently practices at San Pablo Park, a driving distance from campus. To make the diamond regulation size, the Berkeley City Council would have to grant the district permission to close Derby Street between MLK and Milvia. The Berkeley Farmer’s Market is held there. 

Others say Derby Street should stay open and the site should host a multi-use playing field.  

The $800,000 board directors will consider allocating tomorrow would fund basic demolition and development of an open field, including the cost of removing electric transformers and parking areas, fixing drainage problems, re-irrigating the site, planting grass and installing a fence.  

The approval of funding would not preclude the board from deciding to build a baseball diamond at a later date. The board still plans to move forward analyzing the environmental impacts of closing Derby Street. 

S

Local anti-war activists, who say government agencies collected data on their meetings, demonstrations and events, filed suit last week to force the Department of Defense to disclose the contents of documents it has on file. 

The data, the existence of which was uncovered by an MSNBC report in December, were collected as part of the government’s Threat and Observation Notice program. TALON’s goal is to compile information on threats to military bases, according to Lisa Sitkin, an Emeryville-based attorney joining the ACLU complaint on behalf of the UC Berkeley Stop the War Coalition, the UC Santa Cruz Students Against War and the San Francisco Bay Guardian.  

The anti-war activities “seemed so far afield from collecting threats to military bases,” Sitkin said. In addition to getting the specific data collected by the government, attorneys hope to get a better idea of what the secretive TALON program is about. 

The UC Berkeley demonstration of April 2005, described in the DOD database, targeted military recruiters on campus, according to Matthew Taylor, a fourth-year UC Berkeley student in Peace and Conflict studies and a member of the Stop the War Coalition.  

In March, the student government had approved a resolution “condemning the immoral occupation of Iraq and banning the presence of military recruiters (on campus),” Taylor said. However, the resolution was ignored by the administration and recruitment continued. In reaction, the Berkeley Stop the War Coalition held a peaceful protest on campus in April.  

TALON collected data on the demonstration. 

The DOD’s spying on the students is part of the bigger picture where citizen rights have been under attack over the last few years, Taylor said. “They don’t want anyone who speaks out to be heard.”  

The complaint, filed March 7 in U.S. District Court, names the DOD as well as its component departments, the Army, Navy and Air Force, and calls on these entities to release the data due to the need to inform the public about the government’s domestic surveillance activities and the “imminent loss of substantial due process rights, including the right to privacy.” 

Filing suit at this time “is significant because there’s a huge national dispute on the extent to which there should be intelligence gathering,” said ACLU attorney Mark Schlosberg. “There’s a lot of public concern about government overreaching that targets groups engaged in political dissent.” 

Not only do such counterintelligence activities violate privacy rights, they are counterproductive, Schlosberg added. In casting a net “far too wide and not delineating between peaceful protests and acts of terrorism, they end up overwhelming law-enforcement officials,” he said. 

A long-time defender of open government, the Bay Guardian, is also a plaintiff. Defendants have 30 days from the time of filing to respond..

The Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District will hold public hearings next Wednesday, March 22, on bus and service changes in North Alameda and West Contra Costa counties.  

The public will have the opportunity to weigh in on major AC Transit policy, including the Service Deployment Plan and the Fleet Composition Plan. 

The Service Deployment Plan is a long-range plan that defines bus routes and schedules in the East Bay. Service changes were implemented in 2003 that affect Berkeley, Albany, San Pablo, Richmond and El Cerrito.  

The Fleet Composition Plan called for diesel buses to replace gasoline-powered vans. 

Changes put forth by both plans already went into effect in 2003, but because of a lawsuit filed by community groups, AC Transit was ordered to draft additional impact reports.  

Livable Streets Network, an ad hoc group based in Berkeley, and Neighbors Against Big Diesel challenged AC Transit in court after the agency adopted a draft initial study/negative declaration for the Service Deployment Plan without adequate public notice. The suit also calls for AC Transit to study the environmental impacts of the Fleet Composition Plan. 

Comments on the plans are accepted online at www.actransit.org through March 22, or at the hearings, slated for 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., at the AC Transit General Offices, 1600 Franklin St., in Oakland. 

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Strangers saved the lives of Annette Herskovits and her sister in occupied France almost a half-century ago.  

And so when Herskovits learned that Muslims in France had kept some 1,700 strangers—many of them Jews—from the Nazi death camps, she began que stioning today’s animosity between Muslims and Jews and discovered that there is a history of the two peoples—cousins, some say—living harmoniously.  

Herskovits found a documentary that tells some of that story. She will show Derri Berkani’s 1991 film, T heir Children Are Like Our Own Children, A Forgotten Resistance: The Mosque of Paris tonight (Tuesday), 7:30 p.m., International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave.  

At the screening, Herskovits will share her personal Holocaust story.  

Herskovits’ parents, Roman ian Jews, came to France in 1923, she told the Daily Planet in an interview in her Berkeley home last week. “They mistrusted Jews in Transylvania (part of Romania),” she said. 

Her father worked as a typesetter. With the rise of Hitler, he joined the Fren ch army, even though, as a foreigner, he was refused French citizenship. “He wanted to fight the Nazis anyway,” Herskovits said.  

France declared war on Germany in September 1939 and the following year surrendered to Germany. Soon Jews began to be picked up by the occupying forces and the French collaborators. However, Romanian Jews were not rounded up until the fall of 1942, having initially been protected by their Romanian citizenship.  

Fearing for their children, Herskovits’ parents sent 3-year-old Annette and her 13-year-old sister to a foster home away from Paris. They found work on a farm for their 17-year-old son near the younger girls.  

Though it was so long ago, it’s still very painful for Herskovits to talk about those times. “It still makes me nervous, I cannot tell it,” she said, stopping for a moment. Pushing on, Herskovits shared memories of her father’s last visit: “He came on my fourth birthday. He came to see me and brought me a present, a dress.”  

Soon after, both parents were arre sted and taken to Auschwitz. “I don’t know what happened to them after that,” she said.  

Life became complicated. There was no one to pay for the sisters’ care at the foster home and their presence there became an increasing danger to the caregiver. Herskovits’ brother was hiding in a hotel in Paris and working at night cleaning presses in the same shop where his father had worked. He did not dare give his employers his real name. He arranged for his two sisters to stay with him.  

“He didn’t know what to do with me,” Herskovits said. “He knew very well he didn’t want to entrust me to the orphanages, which were official orphanages run by the official Jewish organization under German control. I was four and a half. He was hiding himself; he had false pap ers.”  

Her brother was able to speak with someone he thought he could trust and learned of a well-organized network of communists, Catholics, Protestants and Jews that worked to save children.  

During the Holocaust, this group saved some 500 children, H erskovits said. Sometimes they would go and literally kidnap children from the state-controlled orphanages.  

Once they got the children, they would place them in safe, clandestine shelters. Herskovits was placed in one of these, a sanatorium for children with tuberculosis run by Catholic nuns.  

After finding safe hiding places for the children, the network had to give the child a new identity by procuring false papers; they also had to raise funds to pay for upkeep, and send the payments to the secret hiding place without attracting attention.  

“They had to keep records, in code, of the children’s true and false names and whereabouts, bring the children to their hiding places in small groups, and visit them regularly to ascertain that they were well treated,” Herskovits wrote in a winter 2004 article published in the Buddhist Peace Fellowship journal Turning Wheel. “Many who participated in this work—both Jews and non-Jews—perished,”  

Once she had papers, Herskovits was able to live more openly in foster homes until the end of the war. She was then adopted by a French family.  

Herskovits’ survival had depended on strangers and so she was moved when she learned the story of the Paris Mosque  

“In these times of mutual hatred, a hatred that is sust ained by distorted views of the ‘other,’ the story of Muslims saving Jewish children struck me as one Jews and Arabs especially should hear,” Herskovits wrote in the Turning Wheel article. “This history strengthens my sense that mutuality and harmony make up the natural fabric of human relations. Division and cruelty are like torn places in that fabric. Surely, at certain times and places the tearing can be so thorough that it seems the fabric is not there. But that is an illusion.”  

The story of the mos que begins in 1926. The French government had it built to thank the half-million Muslims who had fought alongside the French in World War I—including the 100,000 who lost their lives.  

During the German occupation, the Paris mosque sheltered French resis tance fighters and North Africans who had escaped from German POW camps—340,000 African/North African troops in the Free French army in 1939 out of 550,000 were there. When the occupation began rounding up Jews, they were also hidden in the mosque—especia lly children, Herskovits said.  

French Filmmaker Derri Berkani, whose documentary tells the story of the Paris Mosque, is of Algerian ancestry. While his father was fighting in the Resistance, Berkani was in the south of France, hiding among Jewish child ren.  

Herskovits shared a letter to her from the Muslim filmmaker, translated from the French: “My distress about all this [Jewish-Muslim tensions] is made more intense because my own personal history could be that of a Jewish child of my age. I recogniz e the fears and the obsession of the return to the possible nightmare…. I would so much like to be a link between the two communities.”  

Herskovits also seeks to serve as a link between Muslims and Jews; showing Berkani’s film is one step toward becoming that link.  

f

A drive to put the four college Peralta Community College District in the forefront of the Bay Area’s environmental movement was kicked off last week with a one-day mini-conference at Laney College in Oakland. 

District leaders are hoping that the conference will spark a Sustainable Peralta Colleges Initiative designed to integrate environmental curriculum with an overhaul of the district’s physical plant into energy efficient units. They also have an eye on the district’s upcoming $390 million construction bond measure, currently scheduled for the June ballot. District officials believe the bond measure’s chance passage may be increased if the projected construction projects are tied in to environmentally sound building practices.  

Peralta Trustee Nicky Gonzalez Yuen, who began promoting the Peralta sustainable initiative even before he was elected to the trustee board, said during a break in the conference that “environmental sustainability is going to be a major part of the bond measure campaign.”  

Pointing out a brisk wind coming through the closed doorway of a classroom where one of the conference sessions was being held, Yuen said that “eventually, this classroom is going to have to be renovated using the money from the June bond measure. We need to make sure that when those renovations are done, the windows have double panes and the doors have enough insulation to make them energy efficient.”  

Yuen said part of the initiative will coordinate what he called “mini-grants” of $500 to $1,000 to provide materials or sponsor grant-writing activities to promote environmental movement projects throughout the district. Another goal of the initiative will be to develop environmental-protection project partnerships with community groups, foundations, businesses, and non-profits. 

The trustee added that he is not sure that existing new building construction going on throughout the college includes solar panels and physical orientation to take advantage of sound heating and cooling principles. “But from now on,” he added, “that’s what we must do.” 

During a morning slide show presentation, local physicist and solar energy expert Donald Aitken painted a bleak picture of what might happen if American builders do not follow sustainable energy practices. 

“We’ve got 40 years of oil reserves left, but 5.5 billion years of sunlight,” Aitken said. “Choose it wisely.” Aitken said that power generated from solar energy, wind, and waste products could meet the country’s energy needs immediately, while oil, coal, and nuclear power were only contributing to the destruction of the planet’s environmental balance. “While there’s plenty of nuclear energy available,” he added that “it’s completely unethical to pass on nuclear waste to our children.” 

Aitken has installed solar energy units at a number of colleges throughout the Bay Area, including UC Berkeley’s Martin Luther King Jr. Student Center, Cal State East Bay, and the South Bay’s San Jose State, De Anza College, and Foothill College. At Napa Valley College, he said he has installed a solar energy unit that “provides 40 percent of the energy needs for the entire college.” 

Oakland mayoral candidate Ron Dellums, who delivered the keynote address to the collection of college professors, students, and local environmental activists, told participants that the ecological movement provides a vehicle to unite citizens over racial and economic boundaries. 

“The world is small and we are dependent upon each other,” Dellums said. “We can die equally in environmental disasters, so we should learn how to live equally. If a tsunami were to come to Oakland, it wouldn’t sidestep black folks or poor folks—it would hit everybody. The former Oakland/Berkeley congressmember added that “however ecologically sound we are in our practices, we have to do it in the context of sustaining human beings. Ending poverty. Providing universal health care. These are all elements of sustainability.” 

Taking a jab at the Bush Administration’s rejection of various environmental treaties, Dellums said, “It staggers me that we have an administration that won’t sign a treaty because they might lose a few jobs. Lose a few jobs? We might lose the whole planet.” 

Another speaker, panelist Reg Duhe of the Environmental Careers Organization, told an “Opportunities for Students” panel that environmentalism has entered the mainstream and was no longer what he called “just a bugs and bunnies field.” Saying that he wasn’t an environmentalist, a statement that brought “ooohs” from the audience, Duhe explained that “I think the term “environmentalist” is becoming irrelevant. Environmental jobs used to be the most low-paying, at a nonprofit somewhere. That’s all changed. Now, everything relates to protecting the environment. Making money and having an environmental job are no longer incompatible.” 

Also speaking on one of the conference panel’s was Oakland Councilmember and mayoral candidate Nancy Nadel, a licensed engineer and former EBMUD Commissioner who has been active in the Bay Area’s environmental movement for years, and is an advisor to the Merritt College Environmental Center/Self Reliant House. 

In a letter promoting the conference and the Sustainable Peralta Initiative, Peralta Chancellor Elihu Harris said that “for years throughout the District various people have worked hard to promote environmental consciousness. From recycling programs and courses in environmental sciences to green-building apprenticeships and water conservation projects, many people have labored (often in the wilderness) to promote responsible environmental stewardship at Peralta. I believe it’s time that we pulled all of our past efforts together and dramatically escalate our green profile. … The public is clamoring for solutions to our environmental challenges and the community colleges are perfectly positioned to take leadership in promoting these solutions.” 

A followup meeting has been planned for March 24, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the Laney Administration Building to develop committees and working groups to “put the ideas in motion that were suggested at the conference,” according to Peralta’s Sustainability Coordinator Robin Freeman. “We’ve already started to send groups out to other colleges and universities to see what projects they have been working on, as well as take a survey of what is already going on within the Peralta district itself.” Freeman said that “a lot of us have been participating in environmentally-sound activities and education without each other knowing it. One of the goals of the Sustainable Initiative is to coordinate those efforts.” 

Worried about the impending earthquake in the Berkeley area? There has been a series of lectures at Stanford and at UC Berkeley for the centennial of the 1906 earthquake. Kathleen Tierney spoke March 1 on “Preparedness for catastrophic and near-catastrophic events: Issues and challenges in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.” Professor Tierney is director of the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder, professor of sociology, author of works on hazards and disasters, and a member of many committees on disaster research. Her appearances on NPR and PBS discussing catastrophe planning can be found on the Internet. 

She advocated planning for a catastrophe like another earthquake at the national, state, local government, neighborhood, business, and household levels. In catastrophes, because of infrastructure destruction, household or office water and food supplies and citizen rescue groups may be necessary. During the discussion the issue of mandatory preparations, similar to mandatory smoke alarms, was suggested in the audience. 

In the case of Katrina, scientists had already predicted the Category 4 hurricane the preceding week and given accurate descriptions of what eventually happened. The levees were known to be good only up to Category 3, yet Homeland Security did not prepare for transportation, food, and housing for evacuees, or evacuation of the poor and disabled. Katrina ranks with the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the Galveston 1900 storm as one of the worst natural catastrophes in United States history because of such poor preparation and response. 

Dr. Tierney differentiated emergencies, disasters, and catastrophes in the area affected, the range and level of official response systems required, infrastructure damage, public involvement as first responders, and cascading long- term effects on health and the environment. Local authorities like police and fire departments can handle emergencies, but in disasters—like the Berkeley 1923 fire—neighboring cities or the state provide aid. At present, she said, the United States has no catastrophic response plan but only hastily prepared and impractical proposals that are more like fantasies than realistic plans.  

A detailed report on FEMA in 1993 after Hurricane Andrew suggested improvements, but instead of the optimal integration of mitigation, preparation, response, and restoration they have been separated. Many functions, and associated funds, have been given to the military. The trained civilian experts brought in by the Clinton administration began leaving FEMA for private contracting companies as political appointees took over. Many experts believe that such changes have made the U.S. more vulnerable to catastrophes like an earthquake in California. 

Social scientists have identified several heuristics which have been observed when people think they are planning for ambiguous future events, including myopia—too short-range views—or focusing on similar past events that in fact were not as grave as what actually could happen, providing poor models.  

One of the novel features of reactions in natural catastrophes is a process called “elite panic” in which persons with prestige and property become fearful of social disorder. Their response is to become obsessed with looting and civil disorder, to the point of fearing the poor and minorities, arming themselves, issuing shoot-on-sight orders, and developing rumors like the stories about rapes and murders in the Superdome after Katrina. When speaking on the Lehrer News Hour about Katrina, Professor Tierney commented that “looting in natural disasters in the United States has been extremely vanishingly rare. Looting is almost never a problem in natural disasters.” In New Orleans, people trying to rescue neighbors were arrested by armed veterans, workers were removed from rescue operations to control looting instead, and some citizens were prevented from crossing onto higher land because of these fears. Right now, discussions in the national government about planning for a bird flu epidemic include whether to issue shoot-to-kill orders, despite the experience of orderly civil behavior during the 1918 flu epidemic.  

The last lecture in the series will be “Designing for disaster: UC Berkeley looks ahead” by Mary Comerio at 7:30 p.m., March 15 in Sibley Auditorium..

Add this to your list of things to worry about: Native California earthworms. Like many native California creatures, they’re not doing well. 

Scientists aren’t even sure how many species of earthworms we have here, or what roles they play in the complex ecology of the soil. Oligochaetology—the study of the class within the phylum Annelida that includes night crawlers, red wigglers, and the little black tubifex worms you feed to tropical fish—would appear to be a wide-open field. There are just a couple of practicing earthworm taxonomists in the United States, and the technical literature is sparse. A Southern California survey in 1990-91, the first ever in that region, turned up several undescribed species and a new genus. I don’t know whether anything comparable has been done for the Bay Area. 

The only comprehensive collection of native California earthworms was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and never rebuilt. I’m assuming this was in the California Academy of Science’s old downtown quarters. The intrepid botanist Alice Eastwood ventured into the ruins of the building to retrieve rare plant specimens before it burned, but it appears that no one went for the worms; they may have been in glass jars that were irretrievably smashed.  

The worms in your garden, or your worm bed if you’re that serious about them, are aliens. Lumbricus terrestris, the classic earthworm of the biology textbooks, is native to Europe. Like other weedy species, exotic earthworms thrive in disturbed environments. When they encounter native worms, the invaders generally outcompete them. 

It’s not clear what impact the exotics have had on our native vegetation, but studies in the Great Lakes region indicate they may be contributing to the decline of the rare goblin fern.  

Functionally, there are three kinds of earthworms: epigeic worms that live in the uppermost layers of soil and feed on undecomposed plant litter; endogeic worms that make horizontal tunnels further down; and anecic worms that inhabit deep vertical burrows from which they come to the surface in search of leaf litter, manure, and other organic matter. Lumbricus terrestris is one of the anecic types, the worms that do the bulk of the work of soil formation. But its relative L. rubellus and the red wiggler Eisenia foetida are considered to be better composting worms.  

From what little is known of their habits, most of the native Californian species are endogeic, with an activity pattern that peaks in the rainy season. Tolerant of drier, leaner soil than the exotics, they’re most abundant in oak-savanna habitats, but also occur in chaparral and wet coastal forest. The natives, sensitive to disturbance, disappear where soil has been tilled or tree cover cut down.  

Although California native earthworms are on the small side, there are or were giants in the earth to the north of our borders. Driloleirus macelfreshi, found in riparian woodlands in Oregon’s Willamete Valley, attained a length of three feet and smelled of lilies. Its relative in the Palouse Valley of Washington, D. americanus, was of similar dimensions. I use the past tense here since the Oregon giant earthworm was last seen in 1981 and is most likely no longer with us, although people are still looking. (Just for the record, the world-champion earthworm is the 10–foot-long Megascolides australis of Gippsland, Australia, rare but still extant). 

Charles Darwin was the first to appreciate the ecological importance of earthworms. He had addressed the subject in a short paper in 1837, just after his return from the Beagle voyage, concluding: “It will be difficult to deny the probability, that every particle of earth forming the bed from which the turf in old pasture land springs, has passed through the intestines of worms…” He returned to earthworm studies late in life, and the last book he wrote, The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Actions of Worms, was a surprise bestseller.  

As with all his other projects—the pigeons, the insectivorous plants, the orchids—the whole Darwin family was drawn into the worm research. He was curious about their sensory apparatus and tested their reaction to tobacco fumes and the proximity of a red-hot poker. To determine whether they had a sense of hearing, he had his son Francis play the bassoon to a pot of earthworms. He also set worm pots on top of the piano and asked his wife Emma to play fortissimo. Emma remarked to one of her correspondents that Charles “has taken to training earthworms, but does not make much progress, as they can neither see nor hear.” 

The worm work became for Darwin yet another example of what gradual processes can accomplish given enough time. He calculated that earthworms had completely buried the ruins of a Roman villa in Surrey, their castings—the pellets of soil that passed through their guts—accumulating at the rate of one inch every 12 years. This fit nicely with his view of natural selection working slowly through deep time to create the multifarious living world. 

Ironically, the worm species Darwin studied may now be in trouble at home, even if it’s thriving in North America. Two flatworms introduced to western Europe from Australia and New Zealand have been found to prey on Lumbricus terrestris, reducing some populations to the point of local endangerment—the kind of thing that can all too easily happen as biological globalization scatters exotic species around the world.  

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Bad week for cooks 

Berkeley firefighters responded to three residential fires over the past week, each of them caused when a meal went awry. 

Deputy Fire Chief David P. Orth said the fire was already out by the time firefighters arrived at the scene of a stove fire report at 2707 Stuart St. a week ago Monday. 

“The only thing lost was the meal,” said Orth. 

Not so with the second fire just before 4:30 p.m. Saturday, which did an estimated $30,000 in structural damage and another $10,000 in damage to the contents of a residence at 3011 Hillegass Ave.  

Orth said a short circuit in a conduit to a built-in oven caused a fire that destroyed the oven and did major damage to the kitchen. Firefighters also had to chop a small hole in the roof to control the blaze. 

The third blaze, reported at 6:27 p.m. Sunday at 1831 Woolsey St., did about $15,000 in structural damage and $500 to the range. 

That fire, too, had been largely extinguished by the time firefighters arrived. 

“On the bright side, we didn’t have any reports of damage from the snow,” said Orth, referring to the light dusting of that freezy skid stuff that was reported in parts of Berkeley Saturday.›

More kidnap info 

Police have released more information on last Wednesday’s kidnap of a woman near the corner of Atherton Street and Channing Way. 

Berkeley police spokesperson Officer Ed Galvan confirmed a report received by the Daily Planet that in addition to the Berkeley woman who was driving the car commandeered by the kidnapper, the vehicle was also occupied by two children. 

“We always conceal some details,” said the officer. 

The woman was approached by a gunman outside the UC Berkeley Child Study Center at 2425 Atherton about 6 p.m. after she had just secured two children she had picked up into their seat belts. 

He then forced the woman to drive at gunpoint to a location near the freeway in Albany, where he robbed her, then forced her to drive him back to People’s Park, not far from the scene of the original abduction. 

Neither the woman, a caregiver, nor the children were injured. 

Galvan said a sketch of the suspect will be ready for release perhaps as early as this afternoon (Tuesday). 

Round Table robbers 

Police arrested two teenagers Thursday after they allegedly robbed another teen of her purse at the 2017 University Ave. Round Table Pizza just before 12:15 p.m. 

Officer Galvan said the suspects were booked on suspicion of robbery and sexual battery (groping). A third suspect has been identified, he said. 

Road rage attack 

Police are looking for the Mercedes driver who vented his road rage by attacking an 18-year-old Oakland woman’s car with a baseball bat after she had stopped in front of Ashby Lumber. 

A 911 caller alerted the Highway Patrol—911 cell phone calls go to the CHP; cell callers who want Berkeley emergency dispatchers should call 981-5911—and officers arrived to find the woman shaken but not in need of hospitalization. 

The Mercedes had fled the scene before they arrived, said Officer Galvan. 

The woman and the driver of the Mercedes had been involved in an incident on Interstate 80 as both cars had been headed westbound toward the Bay Bridge. 

After the incident, the woman took the Ashby Avenue exit, and the driver of the other car followed, launching his attack after the woman had stopped in front of the lumber store at Ashby and Seventh Street.

In the past three years Iraqi guerrillas worked with al Qaeda fighters, or Arab Afghans, in attacking U.S. occupation forces and undermining the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government. There are now reports in Arab media, however, that al Qaeda fighters are leaving Iraq because the resistance has turned against them.  

Al-Watan Al-Arabi magazine reported that Arab Afghans fighting in Iraq are now returning to Afghanistan and the tribal areas in Pakistan by the hundreds. They are settling in areas under Taliban control in preparation for increasing the number of attacks to more than 500 a month on Afghan government and NATO forces in the spring.  

Mullah Muhammad Atta, an Afghani Mujahdeen leader, told the Al-Watan Al-Arabi that leaders of al Qaeda and the Taliban will coordinate their attacks under a new strategy aimed at expanding their influence to new areas in Afghanistan, instead of hit-and-run guerrilla tactics.  

According to Atta, Al-Zawahiri, who personally called on Arab Afghani fighters to return to Afghanistan, has formed alliances with tribes in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region through a series of meetings. According to Al Watan Al Arabi, the U.S. air strike that targeted Al-Zawahiri on Jan. 13, 2006, in Pakistan, was in fact was aimed at one of those meetings. Al-Zawahiri was supposed to meet with tribal leaders to get their help in ensuring the free movement of al Qaeda fighters, especially those returning from Iraq.  

The arrival of al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan may explain the sudden increase of suicide bombings there which, according to Abu Dhabi television, totaled 14 in the past three months.  

Why is al Qaeda leaving Iraq?  

Riyad Alam Dean wrote in Al-Watan Al-Arabi that the American administration has decided to turn its strategy in Iraq “180 degrees” by dropping previous plans to hand Iraq to the Shiites. Instead, the United States has decided to empower Sunnis and use them to undermine Iran’s role in Iraq.  

Dean’s article, published on Feb. 10, claims that the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, has finally persuaded the Sunni resistance, including senior Baathists in the former Iraqi army, to get rid of al Qaeda fighters in Iraq in exchange for 1) the reappointment of Baathist officials to sensitive political positions and 2) the removal of Shiite militias, especially the Badr Corps from the interior ministry. These militias were implicated in torture and reprisal killings of Sunnis.  

Two days later, on Feb. 20, Khalilzad publicly threatened to cut off funding to the Iraqi government if the ministries of defense and interior remained under “sectarian” control.  

To fulfill their part of the deal, Bsathists, Sunni religious scholars and religious resistance groups launched coordinated and comprehensive efforts to cleanse Iraq of al Qaeda fighters. Imams called on worshipers in mosques to expel al Qaeda, and Iraqi tribes formed committees especially designed to expel armed groups sympathetic to Al-Zarqawi from Al Ramadi, Samara and the Sunni triangle.  

The Sunnis’ efforts in tracking and attacking al Qaeda fighters led to the arrest of 400 suspects and forced hundreds to flee Nenawa and Anbar provinces, which were the strongest al Qaeda strongholds in Iraq. Many, including Al-Zarqawi, are believed to have escaped from Iraq. Simultaneously, U.S. forces also trained new Iraqi troops especially for the purpose of eliminating Al Qaeda and expelling its members from cities under their control.  

This, of course, could have negative consequences on neighboring countries like Saudi Arabia and Jordan, as escaped al Qaeda fighters might, upon return, target vital civilian institutions to destabilize the two kingdoms.  

According to Dean, secret meetings have been held between American and Sunni representatives almost every week since Dec. 15, 2005. American generals then started to meet directly with leaders from the armed Iraqi resistance groups in Anbar province in Iraq and in Jordan since January 2006.  

Leaders from more than 12 armed Baathist and religious resistance organizations (excluding al Qaeda) have been at these meetings, including senior Baathists from the Republican Guards and Saddam’s intelligence agency, as well as senior Baathist officials who organized and financed resistance operations from outside Iraq. At least two senior Baathists who attended the meetings were recently released from U.S. prisons in Iraq and were very close to Saddam. 

Why did the American administration decide to empower the Sunnis?  

First, the U.S. forces have simply failed to quell the resistance, which has managed to kill 2,300 American soldiers and inflict severe injuries to thousands of others, utilizing innovations such as using laundry detergent to maximize burns caused by roadside bombs.  

Second, Dean believes that the United States has given up plans to establish an independent Shiite government in Iraq because Iran has simply managed to advance its favorite loyal candidates and parties in all the Iraqi elections, thus transforming the toppling of Saddam’s regime into a great Iranian victory.  

Third, the United States feared that Iran would act on its threats to use its influence over Iraq’s Shiite militias to incite them into attacking U.S. soldiers. The head of the Iranian Expediency Council, Ali Rafsanjani, made the threat clear when he said, “The 150,000 American soldiers in Iraq are in the mouth of the lion.”  

The threat was further confirmed when the leader of the Shiite Mahdi army in Iraq, Muqtada Al-Sadr, made his famous statement while he was visiting Tehran that he would defend Iran. The United States decided to empower the Sunni resistance, including Baathists, to counterbalance Iran’s threat to turn Iraq’s Shiites against American soldiers.  

After three years of war, the Bush administration has come to the conclusion that it should empower the same group it toppled three years ago. The United States might also have to make a similar deal with the Taliban as the only way to isolate al Qaeda fighters and eliminate them from Afghanistan.  

ª

It starts like any other lo-fi college radio production. 

The host introduces himself and his colleagues, all decorated with important titles. One is the executive producer or the production manager—he hasn’t quite decided yet.  

There’s a cursory nod to the recording room, the basement of somebody’s dorm. The host proclaims a lofty mission: “My show is about whatever I find interesting in life.” 

Then he gets down to business. 

“Affirmative action sounds like a great idea, gun control sounds like a great idea, high minimum wage and peace in the Middle East both sound like these nice, fluffy, flowery ideas,” he says. “But the bottom line is that affirmative action slows the growth of the black middle class, gun control has a direct relationship to increased crime rates, a higher wage has a correlation to greater job loss, and peace in the Middle East fails to acknowledge that there are evil people who feel that virgins are waiting for them in heaven if they kill Americans.” 

Meet Alex Marlow, UC Berkeley sophomore, political science major, unabashed conservative. 

On Feb. 27, Marlow, 20, and a team of five fellow students recorded the first podcast of The Alex Marlow Show, a production of the newly formed campus group California Patriot Radio. Patriot Radio is affiliated with UC Berkeley’s conservative publication, the California Patriot. 

The show finds Marlow, a self-declared “Republitarian” with a gift for bluster, opining on everything from liberal bias on the UC campus to the absurdity of student health flyers that prioritize body image over healthy eating.  

He fearlessly calls out professors for presenting single-sided debates in the classroom. In one course, an instructor uses the term “African-American” to describe people of Haitian descent. Marlow insists the label is patronizing and incorrect.  

“When are the prefixes going to stop, ladies and gentlemen?” he says. “There’s nothing wrong with calling someone black, but the suggestion that African-Americans, so to speak, are anything less than full-fledged Americans is totally condescending.…  

“It’s stupidity. It’s political correctness and it’s the exact kind of thing going on here at the University of California Berkeley.” 

Marlow is not your typical conservative. Raised by ex-hippies-turned-Republicans in liberal West Los Angeles, Marlow is fittingly “soft” on social issues. He doesn’t think abortion should be banned, and he’s convinced the war on drugs would do best to wave a white flag. 

Still, his penchant for blasting affirmative action, body image discourse and the use of university dues for financial aid is enough to send most liberal Cal students running for their dog-eared copy of A People’s History of the United States.  

It doesn’t look like they’re tuning in anyway. 

Of 13 comments posted on the California Patriot website, 13 on the radio program’s MySpace.com page and four on Marlow’s blog, alexmarlow.blogspot.com, feedback has come entirely from fellow conservatives offering unflinching support. 

Many are outside Berkeley’s ivory tower. 

Among natives who are well aware that UC Berkeley harbors a 600- to 650-member strong Republican club, Patriot Radio should raise few eyebrows. But elsewhere in the country, where the color red features prominently, a conservative voice in the People’s Republic is downright revolutionary.  

“What you guys are doing is so totally amazing,” wrote Audrey, 19, a student at Middle Tennessee State University, on the show’s MySpace page. “I’m just so impressed. I mean to be broadcasting a CONSERVATIVE talk show from BERKLEY… come on that’s amazing. I’ve downloaded your podcast and can’t wait to hear your show! Good luck in your endeavors and God Bless America!” 

Audrey is one of 232 “friends” on the MySpace page. Friends hail from all over the country including Georgia, Texas and Pennsylvania to name a few. 

Marlow and his radio cohorts revel in their cult status as People’s Republic Republicans. 

“It fuels the fire,” Marlow said. “It gives me ammo to talk about on my show and to write about on my blog.” 

“I love being a Republican in Berkeley,” echoed Ethan Lutske, opinion editor of the California Patriot, and aforementioned radio producer and/or manager. “You get the sense that you’re in the club, that you’re on an island on the campus.” 

Lutske, 21, co-founded Patriot Radio with freshman Kyle Tibbitts. Their aim is to channel the university’s growing conservative voice with an underutilized media form.  

“The ultimate goal here is that there’s a medium we have that is untapped,” Lutske said. “A one- or two-hour dialogue is a way to tease out opinions in a more fluid fashion, that’s what radio provides.” 

He added that the production is still in its infancy stage but that there are big plans ahead. Two other talk shows are in the works, one focused on culture and humor, the other a forum for debate. As the programs gain a wider audience, Lutske hopes Patriot Radio takes a seat on live radio. 

“It is lo-fi now,” he said, “but the type of people that we are, we don’t want it to stay that way.” 

The buzz this week in journalistic circles has been all about the Knight Ridder corporation selling itself off to the McClatchy organization. Last week’s panic in the press—fears that the chain would fall into the wrong hands—was momentarily superseded by euphoria in “responsible” quarters, notably the New York Times, because of the wholesome reputation for solid journalism that McClatchy’s California flagships have nourished over the years.  

This just in: It’s not your grandfather’s McClatchy anymore. Old C.K. McClatchy, the legendary stiff-necked publisher of the Bee papers in the Valley, died in 1989, and Gary Pruitt, the current publisher, is a smiley blond lawyer-turned-executive described by Editor and Publisher as specializing in “iron-cupcake diplomacy.” 

The three names in this transaction, Knight, Ridder and McClatchy, all carry connotations of a period when newspaper journalism was more than a corporate money-making enterprise. The original Knights, the Ridders and the McClatchys all managed their businesses—and they were, of course, businesses, even then—in such a way as to add luster to the family name as well as gold to the bottom line. Occasionally some family member even took a modest flier into the public policy leadership arena. John S. Knight, though a registered Republican, was one of the earliest voices calling for withdrawal from Vietnam in the ‘60s.  

Now we’re being treated to the unseemly spectacle of K-R publisher Tony Ridder saying he’s shocked, shocked, that McClatchy’s corporate masters are going to unload some of what they’ve bought as fast as they can. Well, anyone who’s read Carl Hiassen’s hilarious 2002 crime novel Basket Case isn’t a bit surprised. Catty rumors in Blogsville suggest that the character Race Maggard III, the owner of the newspaper where the protagonist worked in the book, was a send-up of Tony Ridder. Here’s one of Hiassen’s many sharp-edged depictions: 

Maggard-Feist is a publicly traded company that owns 27 dailies around the country. The chairman and CEO, young Race Maggard III, believes newspapers can prosper handsomely without practicing distinguished journalism, as distinguished journalism tends to cost money. Race Maggard III believes the easiest way to boost a newspaper’s profits is to cut back on the actual gathering of news. 

In 2003 Geneva Oberholser, a columnist for the journalism think-tank Poynter Institute, lambasted Knight Ridder’s “executive incentive” plan: “Knight Ridder executives could hardly send a clearer message about what matters most than this plan to ‘motivate and reward executives for achieving total shareholder return equal to or greater than the other companies in the S&P Publishing/Newspaper Index,’ as the company’s proxy statement put it.” At that point, Knight Ridder’s return to shareholders, both stock-price gains and dividends, was 25 percent, according to a story in the chain’s San Jose Mercury News. Oberholser’s comment: “If the mantra used to be: ‘We’ve got to be a strong business in order to do strong journalism,’ it now seems quite openly to have become: ‘We’ve got to make higher profits than all the others.’”  

And when the profits went down a bit this year, to just above 19 percent, the Wall Street investors got even greedier, resulting finally in last week’s firesale. Carl Hiassen’s book predicted the post-sale results, so they should have come as no shock to anyone, especially Ridder, who’d done the same thing himself in the past:  

When a newspaper is purchased by a chain such as Maggard-Feist, the first order of business is to assure worried employees that their jobs are safe, and that no drastic changes are planned. The second order of business is to attack the paper’s payroll with a rusty cleaver, and start shoving people out the door.  

Because newspaper companies promote the myth that they’re more sensitive and socially responsible than the rest of corporate America, elaborate efforts are made to avoid the appearance of a bloodbath. Mass firings are discouraged in favor of strong-armed buyout packages and accelerated attrition. 

And it’s not just McClatchy-Knight-Ridder-Maggard-Feist that’s guilty of doing business like this. Ask any current or recently discharged staffer at the San Francisco Chronicle (bought by Hearst) or the Los Angeles Times (bought by the Chicago Tribune). Or for that matter at the Village Voice (bought by New Times, Inc.) 

A widely-quoted quip described the acquisition as a dolphin swallowing a whale. From the perspective of a small bottom-feeding family-owned newspaper, however, the action among the big players looks a lot more like Shark v. Shark. It’s not clear what, if anything, is to supposed to become of old-time public service journalism, but we’re pretty sure that, wearing our investor hats, we’d settle for a lot less than 19 percent profit in this venture.  

—

HARD CHOICES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Great political leaders must be able to make hard choices. Every good political move has consequences—some bad. Post-communist Russia resulted in an increase in poverty among elderly pensioners. Post-apartheid South Africa resulted in an increase in crime for all South Africans, both black and white. But the people of both nations are now more secure, not less secure. Life is all about tradeoffs: short-term political advantage versus long term diplomacy. Anyone, including Hillary Clinton, who thinks the barring of a friendly Arab country from our ports will increase our long-term security is unable to make those hard choices. 

Gerald Shmavonian 

Piedmont 

• 

UC STADIUM OPEN HOUSE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding the university’s stadium open house:  

It was a lot to take in, but at least the university disclosed their project designs and opened their doors to the community. Who knows whether community questions and input will affect the final design. But at least there was an opportunity for frank dialogue.  

Nevertheless, I was not relieved by what I learned. The cold fact is that the low profile stadium will be more prominent with a raised rim and prominent permanently installed lights. Stadium capacity will be lowered but the number of events will be increased.  

Some information was misleading, such as the inappropriate height comparison between existing portable lights and proposed permanently installed lights.  

Some areas of concern had not been considered, such as construction routes passing through residential corridors rather than through university-owned roads, or the unnecessary location of a noisy utility box next to, rather than, separate from residential areas.  

Some seismic questions remain such as the difference between the university’s recent geotechnical report and the established California Geological Survey landslide and liquefaction maps published in the 2020 Long Range Development Plan.  

Clearly additional work needs to be done to iron out project detail before the university project will be the “win-win” solution envisioned by Cal athletics. One wonders though if project detail can ever mitigate the co-occurring hazards of earth rupture, spectators evacuating the area, interference with emergency response, and firestorms in the most inaccessible area of Berkeley. 

Janice Thomas 

• 

CLOSE ADELINE, NOT DERBY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It is funny sometimes how the right answer to a problem can be so obvious and yet be overlooked. Take the flap over the Derby field. I won’t argue whether the field should be multi-use to serve both neighbors and athletes, or a fenced special area able to accommodate a long ball. I want to offer an alternative: Closed Adeline between Shattuck and MLK. Seven or eight lanes plus a huge divider strip—there is room for baseball, football, soccer, probably even polo!  

Adeline is superfluous, it does not really go anywhere; it is just an extra wide shortcut. Just a quicker faster way to get cars through our part of town, leaving scattered pedestrians in their wake. That traffic could go down other streets like Ashby or Alcatraz. Imagine the long beautiful park we could make—some picnic tables near the Berkeley Bowl that were not slanted and perched on a sidewalk, room for the Farmers’ Market and the Flea Market, grassy places to play without fear of stepping over the curb and being squashed by a car. We could call it Harriet Tubman’s Terrace. The time has come!  

David Soffa 

• 

BUS RAPID TRANSIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Marcia Lau seems to be confusing two features of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) plan when she says “opposition to narrowing Telegraph Avenue is overwhelming” because many people have signed the Telegraph Avenue merchants’ petitions opposing the project.  

As I understand it, many Telegraph Avenue merchants are against closing Telegraph to all cars between Bancroft and Dwight. But this is only one alternative in the BRT plan. Another alternative includes one lane for buses and one for cars along this part of Telegraph. This seems to be a reasonable compromise that would bring the regional benefits of BRT with minimal disruption to automobile traffic: there would be one northbound car lane on Telegraph south of Dwight feeding into the one northbound lane on Telegraph north of Dwight.  

As I understand it, a relatively small number of local NIMBYs are against BRT south of Dwight, which would leave this part of the street with one car lane and one bus lane in each direction. For example, they claim that BRT would make it harder for them to turn onto Telegraph when they are driving from their neighborhood. I do not understand why they think this minor inconvenience to a relatively small number of people should outweigh the benefits of BRT to the entire East Bay.  

Lau is also wrong to say that this transit route is redundant because it is faster to take BART from Berkeley to San Leandro. BRT will be useful to people taking shorter trips all along this new line, and it is not meant to compete with BART for this long trip. For example, UC students who live near Telegraph Ave. in south Berkeley and north Oakland cannot conveniently use BART for their commute, and BRT will shift people in this corridor from their  

cars to the bus.  

BRT has been successful everywhere that it has been tried. Every city on the west coast, from Seattle to San Diego, has converted some bus routes to either light rail or BRT. Only the East Bay is still relying solely on conventional buses stuck in automobile traffic. It is time for us to help break the national addiction to oil by building BRT.  

Charles Siegel 

• 

DERBY FIELD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In the story “Board Considers Open Derby Street Plan” (March 14), there is the statement “Others say Derby Street should stay open and the site should host a multi-use playing field.” It is important for your readers to understand that the closed Derby option also results in a multi-use playing field accommodating all of the same sports as the open option. The difference is that the closed-Derby field includes baseball whereas the open-Derby field does not. Therefore the open Derby multi-use field does not satisfy the BUSD need to provide a home for the BHS baseball program. Until that BUSD need is met there is no resolution to the fundamental problem that has caused this property to remain undeveloped and underutilized for all of these years. I hope that the people of Berkeley and our elected representatives will recognize that the final solution to the problem will include a regulation-sized baseball field, within walking distance of BHS and with scheduling of the field under BUSD control. The BUSD property at Derby and MLK would seem to provide the ideal solution. As it turns out, there is a Farmers’ Market that uses the section of Derby that would be closed, one day per week, that opposes the closure of the street (for baseball, not the market). Additionally, there are neighbors of the property that oppose the street closure (also for baseball, street closure for the market is okay). The BUSD has offered to design features into the property that address most of the concerns of these opponents to the closed Derby multi-use field. From my perspective, as a concerned resident of Berkeley and a parent of a baseball player at BHS, it seems the opponents are completely unwilling to compromise such that BUSD can serve all of its students. 

As long as BUSD owns this property, BHS has a baseball program and there is no suitable BUSD-owned home field for this program, there will be no end to the debate over how to develop this property. That is because each year there will be a new wave of angry parents of BHS baseball players (they are also Berkeley residents) to add to the existing group. They become angry as they discover that a small group of intransigent neighbors and a one day per week Farmers’ Market have stalemated development of the BUSD property that can best solve the problem. The open-Derby multi-use field does not solve the problem and leaves students that choose to play baseball with pariah status. It is my hope that all affected parties can come together and form a compromise that creates a home for BHS baseball and takes into account the concerns of those that fear a multi-use field (that includes baseball) will diminish their quality of life. 

Ed Mahley  

• 

BREVITY APPRECIATED 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The letters of the editor of the Daily Planet are, for me, one of the more interesting parts of each issue. 

Would that more letters were as short and well written as the letter by Pat Cody in the March 10 issue. 

Why not put letters that are excessively long (some taking up an entire column) in your Internet site and print those that are similar to Pat Cody’s making a point clearly and briefly? 

Max Macks 

• 

BART BIKE THEFT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

There are two possible solutions to the problems that Justin Lehrer (Commentary, March 14) and others face in parking bikes at BART. One is to use the valet parking available at Downtown Berkeley Station. For bicyclists unable to use that service, we should encourage BART to upgrade its current bike lockers and adopt the system being used at El Cerrito Plaza Station. Those lockers are available for rent with a prepaid key-card. They provide greater security than racks that expose bikes to theft and vandalism. 

I recently gave up a bike locker at the Ashby station that I rented for a full year. Most of that time, the locker was empty. It is more efficient to allow people to rent lockers for the time they need them, and prepaid cards are a convenient way to do that. In the long run, this would be more effective and cheaper than hiring more police and monitoring video cameras. To know that your bike is safe until you return is worth the rental cost. 

Tom Yamaguchi 

• 

SENSATIONALISM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am saddened to read Suzanne La Barre’s March 14 coverage of the republication of Danish cartoons in the California Patriot. The opening sentence of the article is that students have ambiguously “lash[ed] out against” the Cal Patriot in response. Unfortunately, this “lashing out” merely constitutes an isolated incident involving the disposal of a number of magazines, the mere opinions of campus Muslims that were offended by the publication, two editorials in the Daily Cal condemning the publication, and an educational event on the life of Muhammad on Thursday evening organized by the Cal Muslim Student Association. The method in which the article is opened to report a “lashing out” is misleading, inaccurate, and seems to give an intentionally reactionary image of the Cal MSA when, in fact, it is the Cal Patriot that is the “reactionary provocateur.” 

Later in the article La Barre cites a rumor blog, Cal Stuff, as reporting that “student protests are in the works.” She follows this up with the fact that no organized rallies were reported by press time. Incidentally, this is because none are planned.  

I am saddened to see the record of the Daily Planet marred by such irresponsible and sensational reporting. 

Yaman Salahi 

• 

BOY SCOUTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The recent action by the City of Berkeley against the Boy Scouts is without merit. The Boy Scouts deserve to use the marina free of charge. The City of Berkeley and its citizens have been the beneficiary of Boy Scout service to the community for many decades (free of charge). The Boy Scout program has helped thousands of youth and kept many from pursuing lives of crime. Rejection of the scout’s use of the marina for a few hours is pathetic. The City of Berkeley should take some time and add up the thousands of hours the Boy Scouts have spent improving their local community (free of charge).  

Many groups that discriminate against others in our society are beneficiaries of public funds even in the City of Berkeley. Any citizen who lives in the city gets the benefit of public funds whether it be clean air to breathe, feeling safe walking down the street, or utilizing any public service. 

By taking this action the City of Berkeley is not only rejecting the Boy Scout volunteers and boy scouts but they are rejecting the future of Berkeley and of America. 

Dewey Stanford 

• 

BART STORY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

To paraphrase your front-page headline on the March 14 edition, “BART Fire Article Spotlights Need for Balanced Reporting.” 

According to the article’s criticisms of BART, the following events took place: Her BART train was delayed. The author, fearing she’d be late for an appointment, panicked! Passengers on the halted train ignored instructions given by the train operator and forced doors open, making the train inoperative. Oh, and the reason the train had stopped was that there was a trash fire on the tracks.  

What was not disclosed was how long it took BART to become functional again. Did your beleaguered reporter reach her appointment in time? I’m willing to bet that she did—and I’m not a little irked that she invoked a “terrorist attack” which “could have been fatal” to describe what was in fact a minor inconvenience. And would she have preferred that the train power on through the fire on the tracks? 

I dislike front-page editorializing and I dislike the easy attack on bureaucracies. I rode the BART line to my job in San Francisco for over 20 years. Thanks to BART, I never had to worry about finding a parking place in the city—or paying for it. Yes, there were occasional delays on the system—but for the most part my travel was very reliable. And on a daily basis I could look out the window of my moving train to see freeway traffic at a standstill. 

BART deserves our appreciation and support—and your readers deserve more balanced reporting. 

Kate Styrsky 

• 

PACIFIC STEEL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Are the political winds changing in the toxified neighborhoods surrounding Pacific Steel Casting?  

Dunno. Still stinks to me! 

At today’s Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) Board Meeting in San Francisco, approximately 20 irate Berkeley residents and their supporters took three-minute turns at the podium in support of revising the corrupt December 2005 settlement between PSC and the district—a deal struck without any community input at all. Concerned members at the meeting today included Greenaction, the West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs, cleanaircoalition.net, the Ecology Center and a new Berkeley-based Title V group. 

What isn’t surprising is that Jack Broadbent and his associates at PSC opposed the demands of our citizens to get this issue on the official agenda at the next board meeting, scheduled for April 5. Interested citizens can join us for Round 2 at this Board Meeting, at 939 Ellis Street, San Francisco at 9:45 a.m. We need your voices! 

Surprising was finding a letter from District 1 City Councilmember Linda Maio at the meeting! In her letter, Maio presented the following concerns to BAAQMD, including if the settlement actually increases the allowable emission rate at the foundry; what the district knows about Dioxin and other toxic chemicals in the manufacturing process; How Title V plays role moving forward in this struggle; and her wish for BAAQMD/PSC-related meetings to be held in Berkeley so residents can attend and give input. Good stuff. My guess is that you can read this mission-changing letter on Maio’s website. 

Maybe Maio smells the clean winds of change heading back down Gilman, a “green shift” that cleanaircoalition.net and many other groups kick-started long ago! Let’s everyone keep a watchful eye and ear on Maio’s rhetoric and see if this letter actually represents a sincere desire to recover our backyards—and sanity—as we cleanup PSC.  

November is just around the corner, Linda. 

Willi Paul 

• 

PUBLIC LIBRARIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I live near Shattuck and Alcatraz in Oakland and for years I rode the No. 43 bus to Berkeley Public Library’s Main Branch. Now I go exclusively to various branches of the Oakland Public Library. I have vowed to never use the self checkout. I like interacting with the workers however briefly and I resent the use of a dubious and expensive new system (RFID) that uses library patrons as guinea pigs. It doesn’t even seem to be working half the time. I proudly voted for Measure Q which has rejuvenated the Oakland Public Library system and leaves Berkeley in the dust. Keep your “here” over “there.” 

Jack Finzel 

• 

O’CONNOR SPEECH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The San Francisco Chronicle, with extraordinary cheek, began a minor editorial on March 15 with the statement “Sandra Day O’Connor’s remarks on the dangers of dictatorship in this country got little attention last week. Maybe that’s expected when a retired U.S. Supreme Court justice speaks to a roomful of lawyers. But O’Connor’s thoughts on the high court deserve prime time."  

That, of course, would have been the job of the Chronicle’s editorial board which, as far as I can determine, never ran an article on O’Connor’s warning, let alone giving it the prime time of the front page which the editors usually devote to large photos of Barry Bonds in drag or otherwise. Nor did the Chronicle, the following day, run a story on how Justices O’Connor and Ginsburg have received death threats from those domestic fundamentalists whom O’Connor now cautions are taking the U.S. toward totalitarianism. To get that news, I have to rely on the Internet, Amy Goodman, and the London Guardian, not on my local Hearst paper.  

Since we can’t even get the story itself, we can’t get the analysis that it deserves, and thus our amnesia deepens. Like its oft-repeated description of Dianne Feinstein as a “respected centrist,” the Chronicle editorial describes the former Supreme Court justice as a “Reagan-appointed moderate” who now warns that extremists are taking the U.S. towards a dictatorship. 

Is that the same Republican whose swing vote stopped the vote recount in Florida in 2000, thereby giving us the loser so beloved of those very people whom O’Connor now sees as a threat? Is that the same “moderate” whose retirement gave the far-right Samuel Alito a lifetime berth on the Supreme Court bench from which to work out his bizarre theory of a “unitary executive” who can operate above the law? 

I hope that O’Connor’s remarks indicate that she is beginning to understand the magnitude of what she herself has brought down, and that a vestigial conscience will torment her as her dark prophecy unfolds. 

Gray Brechin 

• 

DUBAI DEAL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Democrats are to be congratulated for killing Dubai ports deal. They managed to be more right-wing than the president in their use of xenophobia and anti-Arab and anti-Muslim scare tactics. Going to the right of the repressive Bush regime seems to be their strategy for winning this year’s congressional elections.  

As James Zogby, president of Arab American Institute stated about the Democrats, “They are full of shit.” And just like Bush, their shit stinks. 

Kenneth J. Theisen 

Oakland 

• 

MATT CANTOR’S COLUMN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your paper has done a great service to it’s readership by printing Matt Cantor’s article about the problem(s) with aluminum wiring in homes from the mid-’60s to mid-’80s (East Bay Home & Real Estate, March 10). This is an unseen and very serious danger as you will see for yourself as I relate my tale of experiencing aluminum wiring problems. 

While attending a dinner party at some family function I noticed the lights would flicker occasionally. I asked what that was all about and my mother-in-law said it happens more and more lately but started about a month prior. She complained that the oven was not getting as hot as fast as usual also. Every so often those lights would flicker and I would here a strange noise coming from the garage. Being the nosy one I decided to investigate. 

Upon entering the garage I noticed a bad burning smell. I quickly put two and two together (I had worked in facility maintenance for many years ) and asked where the breaker panel was. Much to my chagrin it was behind 15 years worth of assorted junk. After rapidly throwing the junk out of the way I got to the breaker box. I could see light wisps of smoke coming from it. I ran to the main power disconnect and shut it down immediately. 

Returning to the panel I opened the front cover, burning my hand in the process. Realizing there might be fire behind it I ripped off the whole panel cover and found the BUSS bar melted and smoldering and some small fire starting in the insulating materiel adjacent to it. We called 911 and had the fire department out. 

The fire captain said that had we not taken the action that we did the whole house would have probably burnt down. If this were to have happened in the middle of the night things could have been much worse. PG&E came and disconnected the house until it was repaired. My in-laws got to stay at the Holiday Inn while they did the work. 

The wiring situation was so bad that every single wire, for the most part and except the ground, were fried and melted and ready to go. We are talking about the wires to lights and plugs and everything. Everything in the whole house was re-wired with copper. 

This will hopefully illustrate to some of your readers the importance of having your home wiring inspected by a professional at least every three years and by the home owner every six months. If any kind of change or problem is noted have a professional repair it immediately or sooner. This may prevent a tragedy. I have seen first-hand how dangerous aluminum wiring can be. 

Christopher D. Fuller 

Livermore 

• 

VIOLENCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

There have been a number of random shootings on San Pablo Avenue. I am concerned for those who get injured and their anxious families. I wonder why access to guns is so easy in the United States. I wonder why people who are addicted to drugs or mentally ill can nonetheless find their way to guns.  

Can we not become a society where guns are handed out only to the police? Let our sense of looking out for our neighbors be the basis of security in our society. 

Romila Khanna 

• 

BUSH IMPEACHMENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I believe the American media have long been derelict in their duty to keep the citizenry informed of wrong doings by those in public office. The litany of Bush’s misdeeds is too long to list here. Any one of his many alleged illegal and immoral activities would prove to be grounds for his impeachment. I urge your newspaper to reclaim your sense of conscience in our community, and commit to reporting on the growing national call for Mr. Bush’s impeachment. We need clear reporting and fact-checking throughout the nation now, so we can choose wisely and again take control of our political process. Please examine Rep. Conyer’s H.R. 635 and comment on his allegations, and opine whether they seem to be impeachable offenses. 

Peter M. Toluzzi

“Purcell Daniels Jr., A Humble Hero” 

By John F. Morrison 

With Company C pinned down by enemy fire in a battle during the Vietnam War, somebody had to get to a parked tank and take out the hostiles. There’s an Army adage that you don’t volunteer for anything, but Purcell Hayward Daniels Jr. paid no attention to that. To the surprise of his buddies, Purcell jumped up, ran to the tank and climbed inside. As related to his family by men who were there, he drove the tank over a hill. The men heard shooting, then silence. The tank came back, and Purcell hopped out. “He could drive a tank real good,” one of his buddies told the family. Asked why he had been so reckless, his buddies recalled, he said something like, “The job had to be done and somebody had to do it.” That was Purcell. When something needed doing, he was always there to do it. The decorated soldier won a Bronze Star with a “V” device for valor for another action, and two Purple Hearts for wounds that left him 100 percent disabled, as well as other decorations. Daniels died Feb. 21, 2006. He was 57 and lived in West Oak Lane. It wasn’t until after his death that his family found out about his Vietnam actions. He never talked about it and, in fact, at one point urged that his medals be discarded. “My brother was a humble giant,” said his sister. “I once asked him how his arm got messed up, and he wouldn’t tell me. He finally told our mother that there had been a skirmish, and he was the only one to come back alive. “We’re all in shock,” she said. “He was a black ‘Rambo,’ a black John Wayne. He is our hero.” 

I write this story because Purcell was my cousin; we grew up across the street from each other, got drafted at the same time and eventually shared a bachelor’s pad in Philadelphia. In between partying, and going to work we spent hundreds of hours talking about our lives and the past, around the midnight lamp. The stories he told me have no resemblance to what is printed above. In between being scared, bored or tired in Viet nam, he told me he spent his time self-medicating and wishing he was home. In no way do I want to tarnish the medals that he and the other brave people who also did extraordinary things, richly deserve. It seems to me, however, that young people today are being programmed to think that military service is a good way to pay for college, learn computers and get housing loans. Recruiters tend to downplay the fact that you may get killed, kill other people, and may never be the same.  

I write this story because my kids have asked me, “Dad, why didn’t you go to Viet nam like Purcell, it sounds cool!” I told them, “I’m not good at playing Follow the Leader! Once upon a time the leader used to be at the forefront of the action, the first one into battle—thus the name leader. After awhile the leader stayed at the rear so he could observe the battle unfold and dispatch support where needed. Eventually the leader was nowhere near the fighting and received reports from others about what was happening on the battlefront. Today, in a crisis, too many leaders are the furthest away from any danger! They may be buried miles beneath the earth or flying miles above—safe and sound with their circle of family, friends and advisors. It’s surprising how many so-called leaders, who are eager to send us to war, have never served in the military. While it’s okay for my family to serve our country, their children are ensconced at some nice college or employed in a plush job, far from harm’s way.” My kids also asked, “You and Purcell must’ve learned how to be tough and fight from growing up in the hood.” I told them “The main thing I learned was to run first, run fast and to run often!” I’m a big fan of Forrest Gump! 

We live in a violent society, and as a nation are always at war. (That’s why my kids’ fear, fascination and interest in the ongoing violence in our communities and the world doesn’t surprise me.) Not just the announced wars like Iraq and Afghanistan, but the war on poverty, the war on drugs and the day-to-day wars that happen all the time over dumb shit. “Where’s my money, who stole my weed, you ate my chicken sandwich, you disrespected me!” The lesson we teach, the answer we give from the news, movies, TV shows and our history books is violence! If you mess with me I’ll mess you up! I must admit that I’ve raised my kids with the message, “ if someone hits you, hit them back!” Even the Bible says an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth. We have to admit, but not accept, that as a nation, a society, a culture, we are warlike! 

I also write this story because at my son’s elementary school a group of high school ROTC cadets marched around carrying the American flag as part of a Black History Month celebration. Several parents were disturbed, and for good reason. It’s true that the Supreme Court recently ruled unanimously that colleges that accept federal money must allow military recruiters on campus. But elementary school? And what do young cadets performing rifle drills have to do with Martin Luther King or Harriet Tubman?  

So beware students! The war drums continue to beat! And when the ROTC and other recruiters come to your campus to send you in harm’s way remember, their leaders will be behind you—far, far behind you! Be careful playing Follow the Leader—for many it’s not a game. Follow the leader? You often can’t find them in times of trouble! 

Purcell Daniels was a hero, like so many other young Americans who heeded the call to follow the leader and serve their country. I also know why Purcell Daniels wanted to discard his medals. But what happens in Philly, stays in Philly! 

Winston Burton is a Berkeley resident. 

The Supreme Court has gotten many things wrong over the years but the decision to uphold the Solomon Amendment is good Constitutional law. Unfortunately for those hoping to stem the tide of homophobia, the Constitution offers little protection. 

The Solomon amendment passed in 1995 with the intention of barring federal money from universities that barred military recruiters from campus. A series of changes toughened the law: the amount of funding withheld increased, the university as a whole became vulnerable from the actions of one of its departments, and the granting of unequal access in 2005, as well as complete barring, meant disqualification. 

A consortium of law school professors collectively challenged the law’s constitutionality, charging that by forcing the schools to accept military recruiters through threat of financial divestment, the government was forcing them to carry the military’s message. That message is the homophobic “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. 

Chief Justice Roberts got it exactly right when he wrote, “[The Solomon amendment] affects what law schools must do—afford equal access to military recruiters—not what they may or may not say.” The idea that a campus is promoting a view by allowing it is bad logic. And my wish to bar recruiters from campus has no bearing on that. The matter is one of power—one institution forcing another to perform certain actions—and not speech. 

So, what to do now? We can continue with the course we have been taking: lobbying, writing, voting, and the like. We can bar military recruiters and face the financial consequences. We can create an undesirable atmosphere for military recruitment through mass action. 

The first option we have been pursuing already and the results have been positive but slow. The second option is unlikely to happen and, if it did, the conservative cabal at Cal—much larger than most people believe—would revolt. Even if the latter were to get enough support, which is doubtful, it would polarize the campus. 

I would like to suggest another option, one that will have little immediate impact but could make a world of difference years from now. The Solomon amendment makes an exception for “the institution of higher education [that] involved a longstanding policy of pacifism based on historical religious affiliation.” I am not suggesting that we all become Quakers—rather, we should demand that we be treated with the respect we would get if we were. 

Religious beliefs carry a moral currency in this country that other moral beliefs do not. Those professing pacifism or equality, without reference to God, are laughed at, insulted, and not given serious consideration. Ending this double standard should be among the highest priorities of those wishing to affect change in this country. 

This involves more of the same: talking, writing, voting, and lobbying. But we must do this with a new sensitivity to insults and stereotypes. Being taken seriously is a fundamental prerequisite to dialog and change. Simply appealing to free speech will not get us far. When the Supreme Court rules against laws like the Solomon amendment, it will be recognizing change, not creating it. 

Gene Zubovich is a Berkeley resident..

“U.S. Launches Invasion of Iran,” or maybe, “Nuclear Ultimatum Delivered to Pakistan.” We can imagine these screaming headlines in the Chronicle. This is unlikely to happen now, but it may not be for the next American president. 

The problem of nuclear proliferation is not one the U.S. will be able to prevent or solve, but a problem that we will have to learn to live with. In the modern world the knowledge needed to build a bomb is not particularly complex. Virtually any nation that can sustain the cost can build a bomb—North Korea is broke but was able to do it. The United Nations is useless, and the non proliferation agreements ineffective simply because, as has been demonstrated plainly in the Security Council, the international community does not have the will to effectively enforce them. 

The real problem in the future will be whether or not the Iranian regime will pass a weapon or radioactive material on to terrorists. The same threat exists in Pakistan. Should President Musharaff be overthrown, the “Muslim bomb” could conceivably fall under the control of a radical regime already experienced in selling, giving or smuggling nuclear material to others.  

Should terrorists explode a nuclear device in Israel, Europe, or in San Francisco the pressure on the American president will be intense. Should the president order nuclear retaliation against Iran based on shadowy intelligence that may not be perfect? After the WMD fiasco in Iraq, who would trust “intelligence” sources for this kind of decision? Though, this was the clear logic behind the recent pronouncements of French president Chirac, to the effect that France would use its nuclear force to retaliate in the event of a nuclear terrorist attack against it.  

Instead of ordering a nuclear retaliation that could cost hundreds of thousands of lives, the President would more likely again rely on U.S. military forces, and order another campaign of “regime change.” American military forces are our first line of defense in what is clearly going to be a long, civilizational conflict between democratic, technological and capitalist societies and the resentful, reactionary rump of the Islamic world that seeks to destroy a system it has been unable to integrate with successfully. Understand that a robust military gives America flexibility whether to respond to a tsunami in Muslim Indonesia or an earthquake in Muslim Pakistan or genocide in Muslim Bosnia. Of course, the military is superbly trained to use force in defense of American interests when needed, such as toppling a hostile Taliban government in an isolated country on the other side of the world in under two months time.  

This is the future we all face and it is necessary for those on the left in this country and in Berkeley to realize that the armed forces will play a vital role in preserving your way of life—your right to be gay, to be atheist, to be a woman with a career, for your right to criticize and write what you wish. As Osha Neumann said in these pages, “none of us would look good in a burquas.” It is time to stop the mindless and destructive hatred of the military. Gerardo Sandoval is naive in the extreme and Cindy Sheehan’s complaint that the U.S. military was “occupying” New Orleans was incomprehensible. Young Americans volunteering to take on this threat should not be equated with Nazis. Don’t like the way the military is run or used? Try to change it, but you better believe that the young men and women who volunteer to do that dirty work are a necessary and vital and important way of defending our freedoms. It is time to realize that the Bay Area’s foolish opposition to all things military is not leadership, moral or otherwise, but amounts to nothing more than freeloading and free riding on the good will and the blood and tears of the rest of America.  

Alan Christie Swain is graduate student at UC Berkeley..

I sat through Tom Bates’ long introduction to his “mayor’s breakfast” at the Vault today, listening to his iteration of all the things he is doing for Berkeley. I have little framework for evaluating much of what he had to say. Sounds like he’s taking on every relevant issue—locally, nationally, globally—right here in Berkeley. 

My ears pricked up, however, during his response to a request for his vision for Berkeley in ten years. The pieces that grabbed my attention were his projection that the population density will remain the same in all neighborhoods and that he has a vision for a large open public space in Downtown Berkeley, where public events can take place, art shows, music, etc. 

So, this sounds like what we would like in South Berkeley. Yet, Bates’ future for us, in the plan he has included in the planning grant to Caltrans for the Ashby BART station, involves taking our last open space, the humble “public space” of the parking lot at Ashby BART, where our key public activities, namely, the Ashby Flea Market, our world class South Berkeley drum ensemble and Mas Allah’s very local blues are conducted weekly, and replace it with high density housing. 

Sounds to me like increased population density and less public space for South Berkeley. Are we not one of the neighborhoods you see in your ten year vision, Mr. Mayor? 

But, wait . . . you have also said you want to conduct a planning process that will let the community decide what it wants for that parking lot, everything is up for grabs. Yet, Max Anderson and Ed Church, your cronies in the project and Dan Marks, your planning director, have all said privately to community members that they are interested in what the public has to say, but the only option they will consider is an option that includes high density housing . . . this sounds like, “Whatever the public wants, as long as it’s what the city wants!” 

My ears tell me that there is widespread interest in South Berkeley for a public space at the Ashby BART, a space large enough for the flea market, outdoor art and music, space for outdoor eating and public interaction, some greenery, with retail that supports local needs thrown in, maybe a public meeting space. There is little enthusiasm for your high density housing, especially the kind proposed that will not serve low income families, but contributes to the already existing spate of market rate housing that is driving us out of our neighborhoods. 

We have a budding arts district here. One we can afford. My housemate just debuted at the Ashby Stage in a cutting edge production met with rave reviews and an average audience of about 10, a great start to a career that wouldn’t even be noticed at the Berkeley Rep. There is space here for not-yet-established artists who are still low income, for the Tryptich Gallery that has a home in the side windows of the Walgreen’s Drug Store along Adeline Street, for Epic arts that opens its space to the community for events the community feels are important, for the Black Rep trying to find its footing in a hungry community. We have a community land trust that is offering access to one of the few housing models that might provide for permanent housing affordability. Our flea market is one of the few places a budding entrepreneur can get a start without taking on a mortgage to gain access to over-priced commercial real estate. Local residents have exposed themselves to huge personal financial risk to establish what are wonderful budding businesses on the strip along Adeline Street, a strip that has failed to otherwise establish itself through the City’s best economic planning efforts. Community groups are addressing youth issues, crime, housing, traffic, all issues the City has never been able to address effectively. 

Along with these things, things we have built out of whole cloth with our own hands, we want our open space, too. We want it as much as the high paying theater goers want their open space in Downtown Berkeley. 

What about it mayor Bates? What about a vision that is truly responsive to what your constituents want? Is it “your way or the highway?” Or . . . are you willing got put your money where your mouth is. You’ve presented a business plan, through Ed Church, for the Ashby BART predicated on high density housing. How about a business plan that demonstrates how a public plaza can be made economically feasible? If it’s good enough for downtown Berkeley, it’s good enough for us! 

Unless we have an alternative like this to compare, it is a setup. Of course, without this comparison, the only thing feasible is increased population density and less public space for South Berkeley in ten years. 

Kenoli Oleari is a member of the Neighborhood Assemblies Network..

I commend the Daily Planet for running several good and timely commentary pieces lately concerning the proposed Ashby BART development. Bob Wrenn’s piece (2/28) made the important case for going ahead with the project even though it has “gotten off on the wrong foot.” His reasons include providing needed housing for low and very-low income people, for the disabled, and for senior citizens. 

David Soffa’s piece called important attention to how the project could “create a neighborhood, both to replace the erased neighborhood and to knit the city fabric back together where it was cut apart.” I agree with these assessments. 

I have some further comments about the important opportunity we have to transform or to reconstruct our neighborhood and community. But, before I go there I would like to comment on the reluctance of many neighbors to support the ongoing process to develop the Ashby BART property. 

There is a natural and understandable reluctance by many long time residents to support efforts by the city government to “develop” areas within our neighborhood because of the history of past redevelopment practices that sought to clear away older and less affluent residents and build upscale developments. This practice was good for private developers and city coffers but bad for long-time residents. I believe that this process can be avoided by making sure that all concerned neighbors, homeowners, renters, and even homeless stay involved in the process throughout. Also, some homeowners feel that any development that increases density will hurt their property values due to an increase of housing stock and decreasing demand. Also, in the case of an increase of low income housing some neighbors are afraid of “the criminal element” impacting their safety and possibly lowering their property values. The counter argument is that our neighborhood must be economically varied, having room for all income groups, races, and our own children. We cannot deal with social problems by exclusion. 

The placement of the Ashby BART station in the heart of a predominantly African-American neighborhood 40 to 50 years ago was a big set back for long time residents. Fortunately, neighborhood activists and city officials retained the air rights above the station and parking lot for future development. Further impacting long-time residents is the continual and persistent replacement of black homeowners, renters, and businesses with more affluent and usually white residents. Gentrification continues to change the nature and culture of this area. This economic trend must be resisted or mitigated in order to maintain the unique and valuable character of this multi-racial South Berkeley-North Oakland neighborhood that we are proud of and are known for.  

How might we accomplish such a project? By providing housing and services for low income and senior citizens we can help keep a more diverse population in the neighborhood. Also, an accommodation for the Ashby Flea Market will help maintain this distinctly African-American institution. Traditional black run businesses such as restaurants, beauty parlors, barbers, night clubs and other cultural outlets could be encouraged to set up in the commercial areas of the development. Just as Yoshi’s has done for Jack London Square a world class jazz club could be an anchor and destination for music lovers from all over the Bay Area. An African-American museum and bookstore that chronicles the local history of African-Americans would be a valuable cultural addition to this South Berkeley-North Oakland neighborhood.  

Economic development in the local community including the black community should be a priority. Construction jobs could be set aside for the local black population that suffers from an especially high unemployment rate especially among black youth. A job training and career program could be developed and housed at the Ashby BART development. The city could initiate and encourage lenders to make small business loans available to local small businesses, including black entrepreneurs. 

The Ashby BART Transportation Village envisaged by some local politicians and planners can have a very positive impact on the South Berkeley-North Oakland area if neighborhood activists from all populations get involved in the planning process. We have a unique opportunity to develop a public vision of our community based on our cultural history and to carry it out into the future. 

Bill Hamilton is a Berkeley resident..

I worked at Jim Doten Honda as a mechanic for 15 years. The average tenure of the mechanics was about 20 years. 

Some of us had been employed by Mr. Doten for over 30 years. Together with the other departments there were about 60 employees in all.  

Over the years we became a family. We watched each other’s children come into the world, and watched each other’s parents leave this world. Through the good times and the bad, we were there for each other. 

Not only did we become a family of coworkers, we also became part of this community. Some of us grew up here, some of us purchased homes here.  

We are raising our families here. We attend school here. We coach your children in youth activities. Our wives and girlfriends also work here, at the optometrist’s office, the university, and the local restaurants. We come here to practice our faith. We serve the needy in our community. We are taxpayers, good citizens and good neighbors. We are the threads in the tapestry of this great community. 

This all changed when Mr. Doten sold the dealership. 

It was around May 15th.The note by the time clock at work read:  

“I have sold the dealership and I am sure you will find the new owners very pleasant to work for. Thanks for the years of service, 

Mr. Doten”  

Good for Mr. Doten, most of us thought, he can finally retire. 

Mr. Doten is getting on in years, we haven’t seen much of him anyway. 

He spends most of his time in Palm Springs, he loves his golf you know. 

Maybe this is why he didn’t do his homework. In his recent commentary to the Daily Planet [January 24 th–26th ] he said he had made a slight oversight in not realizing his liability to the underfunding of the Union’s pension.Was Mr. Doten too focused on his game? 

It seems that every other owner or general manager of a union dealership is aware of their obligation to the pension fund including the new owners, they were all notified by the union! 

The new owners realized Mr. Doten did not do his home work, and that he was unaware of his obligation to the pension and did not mention it to him during the sale of the business. In Mr. Doten’s recent commentary he assures us that the new owners will be “good corporate neighbors”  

Mr. Doten, how do you feel about your corporate neighbor now ? 

Mr. Doten goes on to tell us of how much he is suffering from having to pay this money, even after his handsome contributions to our pension 

Would I be rude to remind Mr. Doten that half of these contributions were our raises that we voted to direct to our pension? 

Mr. Doten we empathize with your suffering. For the workers have come to know suffering as well. Out of the 60 members of the Jim Doten Honda family there are only four still working there. The lives of 56 families were turned upside down! Some of us on the strike line have suffered significant financial loss also. Some of us have not received a real pay check in eight months. Some of us have wiped out our savings. Some of us now have to pay an obscene amount of money for our families’ health care. All of us have lost our accrued vacation time and seniority. 

Some of us [ the younger workers ] suffer the loss of all of their retirement contributions for they were not fully vested yet. Some of us will not receive any more contribution to this retirement fund and therefore it cannot mature properly. Some of us are too close to retiring to bring another nest egg to maturity, it takes 20 years to realize a significant return in a 401k or defined benefit plan. Some of us will suffer for the rest of our lives due to the loss of our pension. Some of us will not be able to retire! Some of us on the line have been cussed at, had dead birds thrown at us, threatened, verbally and physically, almost run, over flipped off, spit at, have had our legs intentionally pinned between cars, told to get a job, and generally harassed on a daily basis. 

Mr. Doten said in his commentary, “this strike is not about people, it’s about the money grab by the union.” To Mr. Doten I say tell that to the 56 families that have been displaced and the greater community, people are exactly what this strike is about . We also suffer loss but not only loss of money, but loss of self, our dignity, our jobs, our work family, and our community. 

The fabric of this community is being ripped apart. Mr. Doten we all know who is the source of all this suffering. It’s the new guys in town with the Wal-mart-type business plan. They are the ones who will make a profit on all of our suffering. Mr. Doten, the suffering won’t stop with us. The new owners are drastically cutting their employees benefit plan. The new employees are starting to feel the pain of paying for their families health care. And as for their retirement soon they will come to realize that to few are receiving too little too late, and they will not be able to retire. And who is profiting on their suffering? 

Mr. Doten, the suffering won’t stop with them, because in order to remain competitive the other shops in town will have to cut their employees benefits, and who is causing their suffering? Mr. Doten the suffering wont stop with them either. Because any of these people who can’t afford health care or can’t afford to save for their retirement will end up falling back on the state for assistance, and all of us will suffer from higher taxes. Once again who will be profiting on all of our suffering? Mr. Doten, the ripple effect of suffering passing through our community is caused by a few very very rich men, Blackhawk developers who have said, “this operation is so small it is not even a blip on our financial radar screen.” 

It is said that true evil is the total lack of empathy. Now I ask you if these rich men have so much money, that the profit they are making on our suffering is so insignificant to them. 

Is this not approaching that definition? Mr. Doten, I pick up a sign and protest in front of Berkeley Honda every day, because I view our family, friends, coworkers and community to valuable to allow this quality of thread to be used in the tapestry of our community. 

Just a striking worker’s perspective. 

Garry Horrocks is a Berkeley resident. 



I feel a little bit helpless. The words have been spoken, declared and proclaimed. “We are not moving.” What used to be a flower has wilted and died. The Flea Market is not what it used to be. I doubt that many of the sellers there are actually from the neighborhood. To me it’s just another example of people from outside the neighborhood coming in and dictating to us how it’s going to be. 

Osha Newman has his heart in the right place, but he is working with a dead flower. The Flea Market could be a vibrant, happening place, but not as it is now. I have a music store kitty corner to the Flea Market (The Berkeley Musical Instrument Exchange). I’ve been there for 31 years. I live close by and have watched the neighborhood change. I have nothing against the Flea Market or the sellers. It’s a great place to enter the economy. I started my music business selling instruments at flea markets. I never would have been able to afford to rent a store.  

In other countries, Mexico for example, all the transportation centers are surrounded by stalls that people rent by the day or week. I think the area above the flea market, on Adeline Street should be developed into such an area. We don’t need a six-lane highway going through our neighborhood. The fact is, we should be discouraging car use. The area above the Flea Market could be put to a much better use. As it is now, it is like a demilitarized zone. There’s absolutely nothing going on there. There could be stalls, food venders, little repair stalls, who knows what? It could be happening seven days a week. Stalls would mean no rainouts. The stalls would have to be very basic, barely sheltered and with no permanent power. Or who knows? That area could be like a mini Solano Stroll, and we could still call it The Berkeley Flea Market. 

I’ve heard about mixed use retail and residential in the development plans, but the truth is, retail stores are a thing of the past. Who can afford $4,000.00 a month for a retail store? Even now I see vacant shops everywhere in Berkeley. 

Please, let’s get real. Something is going to happen to the parking lot. It is going to be developed somehow! What’s going to happen to the flea market during construction? Where is it going to go? Maybe we should start thinking about change, not intransigence.  

George Katechis is the owner of the Berkeley Musical Instrument Exchange.

Mid morning on January 26th I was just about to call Allan’s house to see how he was doing, when my phone rang. It was Susan calling from work to tell me she’d just read the announcement of his death. It felt very strange. An important part of my life had suddenly become the past.  

Fellow “scribblers” and lovers of architecture, Allan Temko and I had known each other since the late 1950s, in what had seemed a rather unequal friendship. I was a discontented designer-draftsman, while he, three years older and teaching Journalism at Cal, had already lived in Paris, taught at the Sorbonne, and written a well-received book on Notre Dame. Inevitably, he had become the mentor. I recall phoning him from a booth on Telegraph. “You need a grant,” he said. “Come and see me and I’ll tell you the ones to try for and how to get them.” 

But we didn’t meet again until 1962 when I was teaching architecture at the University of Oregon, and was able to invite him up to give a talk. He was in his post-New-Deal “socialist” mode, and delivered a passionate presentation on Skidmore Owings’ giant apartment blocks in all-black South Chicago that went over like a lead balloon in woodsy problem-free Eugene. Later, in the customary social evening, he upset the Louis Kahn contingent by dismissing their hero as a misguided eccentric. “Poor old Lou!” he kept muttering, not giving an inch. 

Allan’s years at the Chronicle suited him well. Never unnerved by celebrity of big egos, he was on intimate terms with almost all the significant names in architecture, planning, local politics and art, championing some and castigating others, famous or otherwise. The downside to being San Francisco’s one-man architecture critic was the scarcity—in a city loved mostly for its dramatic setting—of new world-class buildings to write about until the high-rise office boom of the Sixties and Seventies, when, despite some distinguished towers, huge corporate invaders overwhelmed the beloved topography. 

Yet, through it all, Allan seldom sounded depressed. He relished attacking the spectacularly bad Transamerica with its dunce’s cap spire, to the huge “jukebox” of the Marriott, then waxing poetic over the truly radical Oakland Museum. The sheer breadth of his interests made him invaluable. As a historian, he delighted in Temple Emanu-El’s restoration. As a student of urban design, he described a new vision for Berkeley’s harsh waterfront, and with his boyish eye for bold engineering, drew attention to the Port of Oakland’s monumental cranes. And almost always, besides being technically well-researched, his essays were pugnacious, witty, and amusing enough to entertain even the architecturally indifferent. 

Following the Eugene visit, I didn’t see Allan again for some years. After all, he was the famous fire-eating critic, while I was just an obscure City of Oakland planner. No matter that I did an occasional commentary on KPFA, was getting published in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, and exhibiting drawings in the Art Co-op, HE was the one with “literary tenure!” 

Yet somewhere along the way a significant breakthrough had occurred, when I spotted him “en famille” in a local restaurant reciting a Yeats poem from memory—“An Irish Airman Foresees His Death.” 

I know that I shall meet my fate 

Somewhere among the clouds above; 

Those that I fight I do not hate, 

Those that I guard I do not love . . . 

and so on through the sixteen lines. Impressed and delighted, I walked over to their table and announced that “anyone who can recite Yeats to his family can’t be all bad!” That brief discovery of something mutually loved broke the competitive ice, which could, looking back, have turned into a glacier by the next episode. 

In 1972, irritated by Allan Jacobs’ Urban Design document issued by the San Francisco Planning Department, I wrote a sarcastic critique, and on the advice of a perceptive friend, sent it to Alfred Frankenstein, the Chronicle’s revered art critic. Much to my surprise, he ran it in his column for two consecutive Sundays, then invited me to lunch. Sitting at his usual table in his usual dark-panelled lair, he told me how much he had liked my writing, and asked if I would be interested in submitting articles on a regular basis. Did he mean as an “outside” contributor? “No,” he said, “I’d like you to join the paper full time.” Taken aback, I told him I’d consider it, while he said he would have to run it past the editorial board, and would let me know as soon as possible. A month later he phoned to tell me that they’d turned his proposal down flat. Apparently, they refused to battle with another big ego, and believed that any other architecture critic would be as bad! The villain of course was Temko, who had left the paper, for whatever reason, in 1970. In effect, I’d have been taking his job. 

Looking back 34 years, I’m glad now that I didn’t have to decide. In Richmond’s pared-down Redevelopment Agency, my position in charge of graphics, architectural visualizations, and Marina design, had grown more fulfilling, while leaving me private time to pursue my painting and unpressured writing. As a featured newspaper critic, holding forth on every major development, I’d have had to relegate my artwork to “Sunday painting.” Besides, I think now, re-reading Allan’s collected essays, No Way to Build a Ballpark, that in both personality and writing style, he was the more suited to the role of “king critic.” 

An unexpected reward from my accidental loyalty came in 1978, when Allan, now back in the Chronicle saddle, asked me to drive him around the great Kaiser Shipyard site that was destined to become Richmond’s new marina, then visit the design consultants in San Francisco. Shepherding him around MY project was enjoyable enough, but the real thrill came when his article “A Bold Vision on Richmond’s Shore” appeared some days later, with not one, but two references to me, “the Redevelopment Agency’s British-born planner and architect.” The second was positively embarrassing: “In the end,” he wrote, “success may hinge, in ways few people except planner John Kenyon have appreciated, on the beauty of the new container port and the enduring power of the earlier industrial monuments in the vicinity.” Deprived of even a mention, my boss was hopping mad, but it was worth it! 

Through the ’80s, Allan and I didn’t see much of each other. Forced into “early retirement” by the City’s financial straits, I was busy catching up on my painting, and writing an occasional article for the old East Bay Express. Fully preoccupied, he was busy working toward his 1990 Pulitzer Prize. Unable to take on other assignments, he very kindly passed one on to me, suggesting my name to a French government educational journal seeking an illustrated piece on San Francisco. I took the photographs and wrote it, and became for a time a regular contributor. It was another helpful boost. 

During that busy period, Allan’s wife Elizabeth, known to her many friends as Becky, became our indispensable go-between. For health reasons, she walked everywhere, so our shopping paths crossed on Hopkins or Solano almost every week. She’d tell me about Allan’s latest article, say nice things about mine, and report on their last or next trip. Nobody has final insight into anybody else’s marriage, but theirs, lasting 46 years, seemed to me very successful. She too was very design-conscious, but mainly in the realm of big scale environmental improvements and the methods of achieving them. Becky was a social worker, schoolteacher, peace activist and more, but is perhaps best remembered for her work on the Berkeley Parks and Recreation Commission, where she played an important part in creating the city’s splendid waterfront park. A memorial grove is dedicated to her there, on the edge of the meadow. 

Her death from cancer in 1996 was a major blow for Allan, which he dealt with, typically, by sardonic humor. He seemed to relish telling me how they had celebrated her last hour with a bottle of champagne, during which he’d asked her, “Have I been a good husband?” Her nonchalant response, “You were OK” seemed perfectly designed for his self-deprecating style. But he wasn’t always so stoical. On a later occasion, while walking together around her waterfront park, he told me straightforwardly, “Becky loved you.” I took it as a very moving compliment. 

After Allan’s retirement from the Chronicle in 1993, our friendship became deeper, more fun, and certainly less competitive. He’d already achieved a Pulitzer Prize and national fame, but was missing the big city and the Chronicle office companionship. He was also “fed up” with the current architecture scene, and the turn it had taken into showy eclectic “Post Modernism,” including his longtime heroes S.O.M. Yet low spirits were not in his nature, and he found new heroes in Frank Gehry, and—especially—the Spanish architect, engineer, sculptor Santiago Calatrava, whom he later tried hard to “sell” to the Diocese of Oakland as the architect for the new Catholic Cathedral. Sad to say, he failed, but did succeed in getting them to site the future edifice on Harrison, overlooking Lake Merritt. For months I was treated to a running commentary on which “world class” architect was currently favored, or was too busy to come 6,000 miles for an interview. It was all very fascinating, but didn’t rival his comment that as the only Jew on a panel of Catholic priests, he would have guaranteed entrance to Heaven! 

Another vivid memory is of Allan’s impressive but always amusing name-dropping. I once mentioned James Stirling, one of Britain’s most celebrated designers, immediately eliciting an “award-winning” description of having been given a ride from Edinburgh to London in “Big Jim’s” huge dark green open car, hurtling along at 90 mph while passing the whisky-bottle back and forth. And, of course, when he or they traveled, they somehow did it right. Visiting Falling Water, Wright’s most famous house, they were allowed to spend the night! In Spain, he always stayed with Calatrava! Yet to me, Allan’s showing-off had a childlike quality that made it very forgivable. I remember an outdoor lunch behind their little house on Fresno Avenue, and the delight he took, wearing his collar-less Thomas Jefferson shirt, in showing off Becky’s silver and white garden, inspired by the famous one at Sissinghurst in Kent. 

During the long years when I craved even a little bit of the public fame Allan seemed to enjoy, we were too locked into unexpressed rivalry to be real companions. When supportive friends would suggest that I was now the Allan Temko of the East Bay, I’d refer them to a future time when he would be called “the John Kenyon of San Francisco.” All very amusing, but ultimately fatuous, for it seems to me now, as the surviving friend, futile to envy anyone, especially somebody close. We all have our struggles and disappointments, and one of Allan’s biggest ones was not being offered the Directorship of New York’s Metropolitan Museum, a job I’d never remotely desire! 

This morning, after winding up my brief memoir, I listened to Garrison Keillor reading another short, powerful Yeats poem: 

How can I, that girl standing there, 

My attention fix  

On Roman or on Russian 

Or on Spanish politics? 

and so on to the poignant last lines— 

But O that I were young again 

And held her in my arms! 

Short, “journalistic,” and free from Yeats’ Celtic mysticism, I’ll bet that was another of Allan’s favorites, but I’ll probably never find out. We should have talked more about poetry, and a little less about architecture..

FAST FOOD TAX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I want to express my views about taxing fast food restaurants for the enormous litter of aluminum foil and plastic wraps generated by their customers. I understand that the city faces the financial burden of emptying garbage cans and keeping the streets clean but I feel responsibility should be learned by customers of fast food places. We should devote our energy to developing civic responsibility. Why shouldn’t individual customers have the sense to keep streets clean for their neighbors? We need to be a civic-minded society not just because of taxes and laws but because we have a strong feeling about the welfare of our neighbors. 

Romila Khanna 

• 

RAPID TRANSIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your March 7 article on bus “rapid” transit beside the Berkeley-to-San Leandro BART tracks got a few things wrong. But the region’s clueless Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) got one big thing wrong in proposing to fund this AC Transit boondoggle by killing a really worthwhile rapid-bus route on MacArthur, Foothill, and Hesperian Boulevards—where BART doesn’t run. 

First, your March 10 correction helpfully acknowledged that the MTC-favored Telegraph/East 14th St. bus route will not “speed commuters through Berkeley, Oakland and San Leandro in 12 minutes or less,” as the original article mistakenly said. (Those 12 minutes are the proposed intervals between buses.) 

Worse, though, AC Transit’s own figures show that if you rode its whole proposed 30-mile route, you’d save just 10 minutes over current bus service. That’s minimal time savings on an hour-long ride that no one’s going to take. BART will always be much faster—and BART lies just one to six blocks west of AC Transit’s whole absurd route.  

In other words, the Telegraph/East 14th route is completely redundant: an obscene waste of good technology and taxpayers’ money, both of which would be better spent on MacArthur/Foothill. 

Second, your article acknowledged opposition in Southside Berkeley to removing lanes from Telegraph Avenue for this project. But it quoted only a flak from an Oakland-based lobby defending that notion. 

A Berkeley opponent should have been easy to find, because our town’s opposition to narrowing Telegraph Ave. is overwhelming. Literally thousands of people have signed petitions at Cody’s and Caffe Strada opposing the bus project. The Berkeley leg’s nearly sole supporter is Commissioner-for-Life Rob Wrenn, who’s carefully wired it to stay on life support despite public opposition. Until the City Council kills it. 

May that day come soon. Better to speed up buses on the BART-deprived MacArthur corridor, so that fewer commuters will feel compelled to drive into Berkeley. 

Marcia Lau 

• 

RENT CONTROL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In his Feb. 28 response to my earlier Feb. 17 letter, I was pleased that Mike Mitschang apparently supports the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Program’s rent level monitoring/database system rather than seeking its dismantlement and elimination. As I have advocated, it is critical that all Berkeley renters and property owners have unlimited access to the correct, legal rent amount for their respective rental units. 

With respect to Mr. Mitschang’s concern that the Rent Stabilization Program undergo an audit, in point of fact, this has been the program’s continuous policy since 1981: The program’s most recent audit was conducted by the firm of C.G. Uhlenberg LLP. The program also maintains a balanced operational budget. 

At another point in his letter, Mr. Mitschang claims that “market rents in Berkeley are dropping.” According to the rent program’s data, Berkeley rent levels have changed only very slightly over the last several years. 

For example, for new tenancies during 2003, the median rent for a one bedroom apartment was $1,100. At the start of 2006, the median was about $1,095.  

For new tenants moving in, Berkeley rent levels have essentially remained unchanged over the last three years. New Berkeley renters still pay some of the highest rent levels in the entire nation. 

As to Mr. Mitschang’s concern about rent program expenditures, to reiterate, the program’s primary budget operations include the following components: 

• A comprehensive, computerized rent level database system monitoring the city’s nearly 19,000 regulated units, and corresponding notices mailed to all renters and property owners. 

• Staff servicing of more than 10,000 annual client inquiries/contacts. 

•An agency mediation/hearing examiner process to resolve property owner/tenant issues or disagreements. 

• An agency legal counseling service for tenant and owner clients. 

Berkeley’s voter-approved Rent Stabilization Ordinance remains the city’s single most important affordable housing public policy program providing stable, predictable rent levels and housing security for the city’s majority renter community. 

Chris Kavanagh 

• 

TRANSIT VILLAGES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

There was a time when I believed in transit villages and infill housing. Lately the luster has fallen off. They come with a price, they offer benefits. The balance is where it is all at. For a long time I have been supporting them as the only game in town. After all, bad tools are better than none. It is time we reconsider. 

Transit villages are justified as a way to facilitate the use of mass transportation. It is taken as a given that people are going to commute and transit villages are an attempt to have the commute go by public transit rather than by auto. The costs associated with commuting are personal time and money, and degradation of the environment by the consumption of energy, much of which produce green house gases and result in global warming. Transit villages accept commuting as a given and just try to reduce the undesired consequences of it without looking at the bigger picture. Wouldn’t it be better to simply try to reduce the need for commuting? What good is a Transit Village in an area with more workers than jobs?  

Commuting will probably always be necessary for some, but overall it can be managed and reduced—provided we make it a priority. It is not enough that the number of jobs offered in a community roughly matches the number of workers. The type of jobs have to be appropriate for the residents also. If a community tries to create retail to get sales tax revenue, it should also consider the community need for the retail and where the retail clerks will live. If the retail is at the expense of other kinds of jobs—like light industrial—then the community must ask itself if these are the kinds of jobs it can afford to lose or not let be created. Greed driven development, whether by a developer out to make the big bucks, or by a politician out to create revenue streams for a community, are not likely to create the balance we need to reduce commuting—to reduce greenhouse gas emissions—to reduce global warming.  

Infill Housing was tooted as a method of stopping the spread of suburbia. Most agree that it has not worked simply because many people want their own home and yard instead of living in dense infill apartment complexes. Infill can be justified when a community has more jobs than housing and the housing created matches the needs of those who have to commute in. However, it might make much more sense to move the jobs to where the people are. Covering some grass in the suburbs to reduce commuting is probably much better for the environment than continuing to create ever increasing congestion.  

Community modeling to better understand the effects of rezoning and large developments on commuting and the worker/job ratio is necessary for rational decisions about where we want to go as a community. The modeling should be a required part of many environmental impact reports. Since it will be relatively expensive, the city should oversee the development of the computer modeling and pay for it through development fees and/or grants. Too much is at stake to be running blind.  

Tim Hansen  

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I am a BART bike theft victim. Both my wife and I bike to the North Berkeley BART station every day. Between us, we have had no fewer than four occasions over the past 18 months where our property was stolen from this BART station. Three of the four incidents involved the entire bike getting stolen, the fourth was a seat and rear tire. We do what we can to avoid these situations; we use thick Kryptonite U-Locks, and lock both the front wheel and the frame to the bike rack. We promptly upgraded to Kryptonite’s new locking system after the Bic pen loophole was publicized. We even make an extra effort to lock our bikes within view of the station agent’s booth whenever possible. It makes no difference. Three of four times, the bikes were stolen in broad daylight, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Bike thieves have taken to using car jacks to pry open Kryptonite locks. I can tell you as a victim, this method works very well.  

It doesn’t take a victim to know there is a problem here. Walk by any bike rack at a BART station and you will find a graveyard of stripped frames among the locked up bikes. There is one stripped down TREK road bike frame at North Berkeley BART that has been there for over three months. The car jack is still wedged in the U-Lock, which is bent somewhat out of shape. Leaving these violated frames in the rack for such an extended period reduces the number of available spots for other bikers and suggests that BART doesn’t care enough about its bike-riders to maintain this area. 

When is BART going to start taking steps to safeguard the property of their riders? BART police have told me point blank that bike theft is not a priority for them. They do not have any security cameras trained on the bike rack area; even a fake camera serves as a visual deterrent. When the most recent theft occurred, after waiting 20 minutes for the BART police to arrive, the station agent asked my wife if she still wanted them to come and file a report. Just because 20 minutes have passed doesn’t mean the crime, or its impact, is no longer significant. 

BART is sending a clear message to their riders that they do not care about safety and security around the bike racks, or about customer satisfaction. 

Here are some basic, inexpensive steps BART can take to address this situation: 

• Post signs that the bike racks are under surveillance and crimes will be punished to the full extent of the law.  

• Install security cameras. Whether they are on or not, they are an important visual deterrent.  

• Remove the ransacked frames of bikes that have been vandalized or partially stolen after a reasonable period of time (one to two weeks). 

Once these initial steps are taken, BART can step up and take even more action that will have an impact: 

• Install bike racks inside the stations, within the turnstiles. Some stations have a surplus of available space for this.  

• Raise the priority of these crimes for the BART police force. I’m not suggesting this is more important than human safety, but property theft is a common issue at BART stations. Having an officer focus on bike theft prevention for even a portion of their time is bound to have an impact. 

Bikes are a critical component of the commute for many BART riders. When will BART realize this and take action? 

Justin Lehrer is a Berkeley resident.›

We couldn’t help but notice that just a few weeks after Joe Eaton’s Daily Planet piece on barn owls in Berkeley, there have been two front page stories—March 7 and March 10—about the rat infestation in Willard Park.  

Understandably, neighbors, parents of young children, and Willard students are worried and want to see the rat population vastly decreased.  

At first we thought that baiting with poison was going to be used as one of the strategies, but upon contacting the officials in charge, we learned that they are following the city’s Integrated Pest Management policy, and would only use poison “as a last resort,” and with written advance notice. 

They have temporarily closed the Willard Park Tot-Lot to allow for removal of wood planks which provide harborage, and they are trimming plants, installing more rodent-proof trash receptacles, and as of Monday, March 13, have already trapped close to a dozen rats. 

This news made us very happy, since poisoning rodents can kill or seriously injure not only owls and hawks (from eating poisoned rats) but also dogs and cats. Just the other day we witnessed a distraught dog owner paying an emergency visit to the vet—the dog had almost died from eating rat poison.  

It also made us proud to be residents of Berkeley, which uses a more enlightened approach. 

And it gave us hope that the city might also try out another idea we think could be a really exciting and educational “win-win” part of the solution.  

As researcher Bruce Colvin was quoted in Eaton’s article, barn owl nestlings can consume their own weight in rodents each night! Our group, Keep Barn Owls in Berkeley, has been working to protect the thriving population of barn owls Berkeley has, and to increase their numbers. We find it amazing that barn owls have been living in Berkeley for several decades, and we would like to keep them here. 

To encourage these remarkable rodent-eating machines, farmers in the Central Valley have put up nest boxes in which the owls can raise their young and catch the rodents that eat the farmers’ grain. We, too, can take advantage of these marvelous — and natural — rat-killing machines. 

Barn owl nest boxes (available through the non-profit Hungry Owl Project) are carefully sited and designed and safe for fledglings, which all too often fall out of the palm trees chosen by their cavity-nesting parents, who lack barns or the old-growth trees they might otherwise choose. 

We’d like the city to erect a “pilot” nest box somewhere in Willard Park. We realize that this more ecologically friendly approach will take time. So it’s important to note that it is utterly compatible with all the other approaches to the problem city staff and exterminators are currently using. 

We think it would be exciting to try and to see if owls do come and join our efforts as free rodent-control agents! And there’s a bonus, too: Anyone who joined the impromptu evening gatherings on California Street near Allston Way last spring and summer, observing the barn owl parents sallying forth to catch and feed rats and mice to their young, will know how exciting and educational having these interesting creatures in our city can be. 

In Central Valley and Berkeley schools, children are studying owl pellets in science classes-an activity that engages kids who are often bored with less hands-on types of science. You’d be amazed how much they know about owls and the (mostly rodents) that they eat! 

We’ll bet before long some of those Willard neighbors and parents might find themselves on a wonderful local “field trip” that provides far more than pest control. 

For more information about barn owls and how to provide habitat for them, please see our web site (www.kboib.org) and that of the Hungry Owl Project (www.hungryowl.org). 

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In the obfuscation facts about Pacific Steel Casting’s (PSC) toxic air emissions, the City of Berkeley has a fine partner with Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD). While Berkeley continues its history of favoring commercial interests over our health, PSC’s flagrant emission violations have become the norm. 

The public meeting on Feb. 15 at the West Berkeley Senior Center was graced by the presence of BAAQMD’s CEO, Jack P. Broadbent, as well as its director of engineering, Brian Bateman. At that meeting BAAQMD was asked if dioxin—actually a large group of similar chemicals—is listed as one of PSC’s toxic air pollutants billowing out of its foundry and associated incinerator that is deceptively renamed a “sand recycler.”  

Bateman explained that dioxin will not be monitored because they found no chlorine source at PSC, which is needed in order to produce dioxins. However, BAAQMD was not sure if the PSC’s “Non-Waste Hazardous Materials Inventory Spreadsheet” (NHMIS) had been studied yet. 

In any case, without even looking at the NHMIS, multiple sources of chlorine are easily found in and around PSC. All we need now is someone charged with the task of regulation to admit that they see them.  

Let’s remember that the $648,950 loan to help purchase the incinerator was facilitated by California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) as a means of reducing waste. Any residence caught burning such stuff in a backyard barrel would be fined, but it should be assumed that they burn anything and everything in their incinerator with the state’s permission. And don’t be duped into thinking that incinerators actually exist that can burn chlorine-containing objects without creating dioxin.  

Almost any scientist who is intimate with incinerators knows that dioxin is inevitable unless all sources of chlorine are eliminated. No amount of public relations hype will convince this writer that PSC’s incinerator is operated as a scientific lab in a way that eliminates chlorine sources. 

First, many industrial supplies come wrapped in plastic, paper or cardboard that are bundled atop wooden pallets and in turn wrapped extensively with polyvinylchloride (PVC) shrink wrap, which is composed of large amounts of chlorine. Much of this stuff—paper, wood, some plastic—become sources for dioxin when burned in an incinerator.  

Then, any city water used to mix and dilute PSC’s chemicals and production inputs is loaded with either chloramine or chlorine, depending on which city the water is from. Here in Berkeley, EBMUD uses chloramine and it shows up as a residual chemical at the Orinda Water Treatment Plant. 

Furthermore, being located almost directly on the San Francisco Bay, PSC is bathed on a 24/7 basis with its ocean mist and vapor. Since PSC insists that they will not close the big doors, we can assume that the interior spaces are also filled with that ocean breeze. Saltwater (brine) is what chlorine is made from. And top soil—think dust—contains goodly amounts of sodium chloride. In other words, there are limitless supplies of chlorine at PSC. And all of these sources are well-known to the EPA.  

EPA lists foundries and incinerators as sources of dioxin in many of its studies and documents. Just prior to joining BAAQMD, Broadbent spent more than two and a half years as the director of the Air Division at EPA Region IX. In that position, he was responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Clean Air Act. He and his chief engineer should know better than to state for the record that they can’t find a source of chlorine. Of course, if they don’t look, they won’t see it.  

And while dioxin is far from our only worry, it is one of the most potent poisons known to EPA. Amazingly, dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD) is more hormonally toxic at extremely low doses than at higher ones. While detectable in one’s blood, it is not traceable back to PSC production and incinerator stacks.  

The health effects from exposures that are probable from PSC would not be immediately perceivable, but would emerge over more than one generation and could include a very wide range of physical and psychological health problems. One quick example is that dioxin contributes to spontaneous abortions during the first four to eight weeks of pregnancy. During those first weeks, a woman might confuse a spontaneous abortion with a missed period, never knowing that she was pregnant at all. Because such incidences are not realized by women or their doctors, no record is kept. 

Perhaps these regulators honestly can’t find dioxin sources because they need everything presented on neat little lists. But BAAQMD’s avoidance of monitoring dioxin is just one more important example of the deception that passes for regulatory enforcement. Adding insult to injury, we taxpayers are expected to pay for this regulatory work as well as be thankful for it.  

Those who are most threatened by these unnoticeable dioxin emissions are young children, those yet-to-be-born and mothers-to-be. This unmonitored pollutant is most dangerous when bodies are still being formed within mothers. Even before pregnancy, dioxin can affect future children because it builds up in the fatty tissues of mothers. Dioxin can also be passed on to the fetus by fathers because it damages and coats their sperm. Ask Vietnam veterans about this. 

If PSC were properly registered as the single facility that it truly is rather than multiple facilities, then the sum of its emissions would classify it as a major polluter and force it to operate under Title V of the Clean Air Act, which contains much stricter requirements than it presently faces. Clearly, all of PSC is in this one large multiple-block site on Gilman Street and should be registered as a single facility. 

Instead of blowing more smoke at us with “royal” appearances of high-level people from BAAQMD, as well as with idle promises of full disclosure, what is sorely needed at this time is enforcement of PSC’s emissions as the single facility that it most obviously is, by an agency such as EPA that has adequate financial backing and that hopefully possesses the will to do the job properly.  

Paul Goettlich is a Berkeley resident. He writes and speaks on the health and socio-economic effects of technologies. Find more of his work at Mindfully.org. 

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Some elections to keep an eye on. Last month’s massive demonstrations in Bangkok demanding the resignation of Thailand Prime Minister Thanksin Shinawatra focused on the media mogul’s avoidance of $100 million in taxes. But underlying the charges of corruption is a growing allergy to Thanksin’s heavy-handed approach to any opposition, a result of his scorched-earth policy toward Muslims in the country’s southern provinces. 

In an effort to derail the uproar over his taxes, Thanksin called a snap election for April 2. 

But the largely urban and middle-class opposition is less concerned with Thailand’s endemic government corruption than it is with a series of emergency laws aimed at the provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, which abut the border with Malaya. The laws allow the government to ban publications, impose curfews, tap phones and detain suspects without a warrant 

“This kind of law is a Pandora’s Box,” says Sunai Phasuk, a political analyst associated with Human Rights Watch, “Once you open it, all the nasty things will come out. This law provides the government with a blank check, which is pretty alarming.” 

Thanksin has silenced critics by filing defamation suits, and buying up media outlets. He says the media must serve the “national interest” and not report “bad news.” 

Southern Thailand is “bad news,” and it’s getting worse. The area is mostly Muslim and ethnically Malay, unlike the Buddhist and ethnically Thai center and north. The three provinces, formally the Sultanate of Pattani, were annexed by Thailand—then Siam—in 1909 in a deal cut with the British. 

The fact that the south is vastly poorer than the rest of the country has fueled resentment in the three provinces, anger that exploded in April 2004 when a group of Muslims, mostly armed with knives and machetes, attacked several Thai police stations. The government responded with fury, killing more than 100 local Muslims, including 32 people who had taken refuge inside the 16th century Kru Se Mosque. 

The following October, the government savagely attacked a demonstration with water cannons and live ammunition, arresting over 1,300 people. The demonstrators were piled on top of one another for a five-hour drive, at the end of which 78 of them had suffocated. 

Thanksin said the deaths were a result of the Muslim holy month, Ramadan. “This is typical. It’s about bodies made weak from fasting. Nobody hurt them,” he said. 

The prime minister has poured 35,000 troops into the provinces, and threatens to cut aid to the impoverished region. According to Amnesty International, the military and local police are guilty of “arbitrary detentions, torture, and excessive lethal force.” The United Nations says the Thai government is violating an international treaty on civil and political rights. The ongoing tension has strained relations with Thailand’s neighbors as well. 

Some of Thanksin’s behavior has been simply bizarre. In an effort to encourage “peace,” the military dropped 100 million origami paper cranes over the provinces. But since victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki invented the origami as an act of forgiveness, the crane drop suggested that the Muslims were the ones who needed forgiveness. Needless to say, it was not well received. 

At this point the opposition says it will boycott the April 2 vote because they say it is impossible to have a fair contest during a state of emergency. Under Thai election rules that could invalidate the election. In the meantime, the repression in the south continues. It is a tactic, argues an editorial in the Financial Times, “that does not work for Israel in the occupied territories or for the U.S. forces in Iraq, and it will not work for Buddhist Thailand in the country’s predominantly Muslim southern provinces.” 

Consider the train wreck that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has engineered going into the April 9-10 national elections: 

• The prime minster may be facing his ninth indictment for corruption and bribery. He has been convicted three times on similar charges, but managed to pass legislation in the Italian parliament that allowed him avoid any punishment. 

• The Italian economy, according to Mario Draghi, governor of the Central Bank, “has run aground—gross domestic product did not grow, our products lost even more world market share, and the budget deficit increased.” 

• His reform minister from the racist and xenophobic Northern League was forced to resign for wearing a t-shirt embossed with cartoons insulting Mohammad, and his health minister resigned because he was caught wire tapping political opponents. 

Should be a slam-dunk for the center-left L’Unione coalition, right? Not when Berlusconi owns controlling stakes in three of the biggest private TV stations and, as prime minister, can decide what happens in the three owned by the state.  

For example, he got blanket media coverage when he pledged to abstain from all sex until after the election. On the same day L’Unione’s unveiled its economic program, he stole the limelight by comparing himself to Jesus Christ. He managed to get round the clock coverage when President Bush lent him a hand by inviting him to address a joint session of Congress.  

Using this combination of showmanship and raw financial power, he is keeping the race close. The most recent poll (before his latest legal difficulties) indicates the gap between his center-right coalition and L’Unione has closed from 6 percent to 4 percent. 

In the end, Berlusconi’s antics may all come to naught. Even with the current poll numbers, L’Unione is still on track to build a wide margin in the lower house (340 to 277) and narrowly take the senate (158-151). And his new legal difficulties may widen the gap. But with a friend in the White House and almost unlimited media power, this one isn’t going to be over until it’s over. 

Israel’s March 28 elections looked like they were going to be a victory lap for Ariel Sharon’s Kadima Party, but with his lackluster successor, Ehud Olmert, in charge, polls indicate a fall from a projected 44 seats to only 37 in the 120-member Knesset. Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud has picked up one of those seats for a projected total of 15. Labor is at 19 seats, the number two position. But it looks like some of the former Kadima votes will go to small parties that range from extremely reactionary to Left.  

One newcomer is the Green Leaf Party, which is dovish on the Palestinian issue and advocates legalization of marijuana, gambling and prostitution. It may take two seats. 

Netanyahu has ruled out a coalition with Kadima, and talk is of a Kadima/ Labor government. Olmert, however, says he will not negotiate with the Palestinians, which is nothing new. The Israeli government has refused to talk with the Palestinians since 2001. Labor’s Amir Peretz, on the other hand, recently met with the Palestinian Authority.  

With the exception of a few small left and Israeli Arab parties, none of the major parties has presented a peace plan that is likely to get much traction with the Palestinians, although at least Labor is willing to negotiate matters. However, until a majority of Israelis elect a government that will evacuate all the settlements, share Jerusalem, and equitably resolve the refugee question, peace will remain a long way off.?

In journalism, we are taught to look for social and political faultlines, the spots were the various forces of our society rub against each other, and sometimes collide. Usually, these are only tiny cracks in the social fabric that are barely visible, even to the trained eye. But sometimes they are a mile wide and if you lean over and peer inside, you can actually see what’s really going on. You have to look quickly, however. These things close up fast and even before they do, there’s folks running around with their smoke-blowing machines, trying to make you believe that what you are seeing is not actually what you are seeing. 

So it is, friends, with the struggle over Chief Wayne Tucker’s redeployment of the Oakland Police Department. 

If you read the Oakland Tribune on Wednesday morning, you would have been left with the impression that the City of Oakland was escalating its pressure against the powerful Oakland Police Officers Association to come to an agreement with Chief Tucker over the plan. That’s because the Tribune’s headline read: “City Puts Heat On Cop Union.” 

Really? To which part of the city was the Tribune referring, one wonders. Certainly not City Council. And definitely not the office of Mayor Jerry Brown. 

A brief recap, to bring you up to speed on this, in case you missed all the drama. 

Two weeks ago, in the midst of complaints by Oakland citizens that the police presence on the streets is dwindling while violent crime is exploding, Councilmember Desley Brooks revealed that the Oakland police chief had a plan to immediately triple the number of patrol officers at peak crime times, at no extra cost to the city. 

This would seem to solve the immediate police services crisis, except that under the current contract with the police union, the chief cannot implement the plan without the agreement of the OPOA. So last week, City Council gave the chief and the union a one-week deadline to come up with an agreement, voting unanimously to consider declaring a state of emergency at a special council meeting this week if no agreement was reached. (Council President Ignacio De La Fuente and Public Safety Chair Larry Reid were not present at last week’s meeting.) Under the terms of that proposed state of emergency, no agreement with the union would be then necessary to implement the chief’s plan. 

So what has happened since then? 

First, let us look at the leadership role of Mayor Jerry Brown in what everybody agrees is a public safety crisis (Mr. Brown, you may remember, is running for California attorney general on a platform of his leadership on public safety issues). According to Wednesday’s Tribune article, “Mayor Jerry Brown declined to take a position on the state of emergency, deferring to Tucker.” Declined to take a position? As far as I can tell—and I’ve been following all the papers on this every day—it doesn’t appear as if Mr. Brown has taken a public position on Chief Tucker’s redeployment plan, either. 

Meanwhile, the chief and the union apparently reached an impasse on Monday, unable to reach an agreement. That set the stage for the City Council to declare a state of emergency at Tuesday’s special council meeting. 

Council, instead, declined. 

According to the Tribune, Public Safety Chair Larry Reid, who represents one of the East Oakland districts hardest hit by the violent crime wave, said that “a state of emergency declaration would send a message across the nation that Oakland is not a safe place to live, work and raise their children. It would be a black eye for Oakland.” The San Francisco Chronicle noted that Councilmember Jane Brunner said the chief and the union were “close” to an agreement, adding that “if someone has a house on the market, if we’re in a state of emergency, is someone going to buy it?” The Tribune also noted that Brunner “warned her colleagues that it would hurt the city’s position in the coming contract renewal negotiations to take a hard line against the union.” “We could win the battle and lose the war,” the Tribune quoted Brunner as saying.  

Perhaps. Perhaps not. That’s a subject for another discussion. But that leads us back to the question, why should the police be opposed to Chief’ Tucker’s redeployment plan in the first place? 

Currently, Oakland police operate on regular, eight-hour shifts, with an equal number of officers on each shift. That leaves deployment holes at shift change times when one group of officers is coming off the street, and another is going on. One of these “shift holes” is at midnight, a time when crime in the city is going up. Another problem with the current police deployment plan is that it puts the same number of officers on the street at 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon as it does at 3 a.m. on Saturday night/Sunday morning, even though it’s obvious that more police officers are needed in the early morning hours because, after all, that’s when more crime takes place. 

Police often work longer than these regular eight-hour shifts when needed, of course. But when they do, we have to pay them at the overtime rate, which costs the city in the millions every year. 

Under Chief Tucker’s plan, the officers would work in overlapping shifts. Some would work eight hours a day for five days, some 10 hours for four days, some 12 hours for three days. 

Again, why is that a problem to the police? It’s difficult to say, because we’re getting conflicting reports. 

On Monday, in a story reporting that the chief-union talks were stalled, the Chronicle said that “the union’s biggest concern with Chief Tucker’s plan is the disruptive impact it would have on the officers’ private lives, and on the morale of the force.” That seemed to say that the union objection to the plan was on principle. 

But the Wednesday Tribune article said that the union’s objection, in part, at least, was not on principle, but on numbers. The Tribune said that Chief Tucker’s plan would put 84 officers on the street at peak crime times, up from the present 35. The Tribune said that the police union wants the deployment plan adjusted to only have 64 officers at peak crime times, and that Chief Tucker since reduced his proposed number in his plan to 72. 

So is the police union saying that it’s okay to disrupt the private lives of 64 officers, but the disrupting the lives of the remaining eight (the difference between the chief’s 72 and the union’s 64) is too much for them to bear? That seems too ridiculous to be the real reason. 

In her original announcement about the chief’s deployment plan, Councilmember Brooks charged that the union was holding up the plan because the plan would do away with the lucrative overtime pay (on the theory that the police union doesn’t mind disrupting police officers’ private lives so long as we pay the officers time and a half for the service). Ms. Brooks also said at the time that Mayor Brown and Council President Ignacio De La Fuente were holding up implementation of the chief’s plan because they don’t want to piss off the police union, whose endorsement Mr. Brown and Mr. De La Fuente need in their campaigns for California attorney general and Oakland Mayor. Neither Mr. Brown nor Mr. De La Fuente have responded to that charge, though they still have the opportunity to do so, if they’d like. 

“We have to take back the responsibility to manage our Police Department,” the Tribune reported Mr. De La Fuente as saying at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. It was not clear if he meant taking responsibility from the union and giving it to the chief, or putting that responsibility into the hands of the City Council. 

In any event, Mr. De La Fuente then voted with four colleagues (Councilmembers Jane Brunner, Henry Chang, Jean Kerningham, and Larry Reid) in giving the talks between the chief and the union one more week, which seemed to indicate that Mr. De La Fuente was not quite ready to make that responsibility change just yet. 

Watch carefully as this moves forward, friends. Before this is over, all of this ground may shift again, and cover up all trace of what has already happened. 

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“I hope this cheese comes from happy cows,” I overheard the customer ask at the Marin French Cheese Company. He’d just purchased pounds of Rouge and Noir in several varieties and was perhaps double-checking his investment. The cows and I were equally cont ent as I cruised country roads, tasting locally produced cheeses, gathering picnic goodies and basking in nature’s bounty. 

The mood for my day was set as I left Highway 101, driving west along Novato Boulevard. Gently undulating hills were tinged with gr een, dotted with gnarled oaks awaiting spring’s foliage, and outcrops of rocks. Holsteins enjoyed the recent rains’ harvest, several poking their heads through fencing, reaching for the choicest bits. White barns and rail fences shared this working landsc ape with those of weathered-silver corrugated metal. Passing the gentle waters of Stafford Lake Park, I gazed at flocks of Canada geese along the shores, sharing pasture with cows. 

The grounds of the Marin French Cheese Company blend harmoniously with the bucolic landscape. Enticing picnic grounds with wide lawns, tables and duck ponds occupy five acres of land along with the cheese factory, deli and retail shop. 

In operation for more than 100 years, on land purchased by Jefferson Thomas in 1865, Marin French produces authentic French cheese using traditional recipes and cultures. Beginning with the creation of granular cheese in 1900, the family turned their talents to soft ripened cheese. As the saying goes, the rest is history. 

Today, tours are give n on cheese-producing days of the multi-step process that begins with Jersey milk from 100 percent BST free cows. A secret blend of living cultures is mixed with the curd, and later rinsed with collected rainwater. Over several weeks, cheeses mature, deve lop their distinctive flavor, are hand-packed and, voilà, ready for tasting. 

From the traditional buttery brie and tangy camembert, more than 20 choices now beckon, including Brie flavored with pesto and jalapeno. Though it was difficult, I restrained my self from feasting on every one. After generous tasting, a sample pack of traditional and flavored cheeses satisfied my taste buds.  

Of course, cheese doesn’t stand alone. The farmhouse-like shop of buttery walls, with wood plank floor and ceramic cookie jars on parade below the ceiling, is well stocked. Wines, attractively displayed in their own wood-paneled wine room, Tuscan crostini and Metropole Panne Di Grano Duro, Angelo’s olives and dried fig compote will easily fill your picnic basket. Stock up, but leave room for more cheese experiences in Point Reyes Station. 

Along the Petaluma-Pt. Reyes Road, the countryside continues its postcard display. Alternating the dark of wooded canyons with the bright light of open expanse, the road is dotted with ar dent cyclists. I crossed a purple bridge over the shimmering waters of Nicasio Reservoir and made my way through lichen-cloaked woods to Point Reyes Station. Population: 350, plus cows. 

At Cowgirl Creamery inside Tomales Bay Foods, the bon appetit of Fra nce is replaced by the terroir of West Marin. Here, Sue Conley and Peggy Smith have turned to the richness of the land outside their doors to produce unique  

soft-ripened cheeses. Eight years ago an old hay barn was transformed into an airy rustic food wa rehouse with trussed ceiling, cement floors and walls painted rich earth colors reminiscent of Tuscany. 

“Cheese is only as good as the milk from which it’s made,” affirmed Michael Zilber, cheesemonger and manager, as he led me through a delicious mini-co urse on Cowgirl Creamery’s cheeses produced on site. Making the cheeses begins with pure, natural, organic Strauss Family Dairy milk, whose dairy cows can be seen grazing on West Marin land. The signature cheese, Mt. Tam, a buttery triple creme, stands al one with its slight bloomy white rind. Another cheese, Red Hawk, is coated with a washed rind, with a pungent flavor created by the indigenous bacteria present in the environment. Pierce Point cheese takes terroir one-step further; its rind is coated with local herbs like chamomile and wild grasses. One taste transports you to the local hillsides. These unique products could not be created anywhere else. 

Hungry hikers stop for fresh cheese and everything else attractively displayed within Tomales Bay Foo ds. The Cowgirl Cantina provides smoked trout and fatted calf salami from the charcuterie; Grab and Go Sandwiches feature Marin Sun Farms Skirt Steak with roasted red pepper and arugula; a couscous salad with cranberries, mint and feta cheese and Della Fa ttoria pumpkin seed campagne. Little Shorty’s Golden Point Produce, all organic, fills out the broadest section of the new food pyramid with local apples, oranges, and a tasty variety of vegetables. 

Save time to watch the cheese making process and eye th e plump bundles resting in the cold room. Enjoy the tree slab table inside or partake of outdoor picnic areas if you can’t wait to sample your wares, but make sure to wander around Point Reyes Station before you head off. There are still more goodies to a dd to your basket. 

You may have come to the realization that this outing is best enjoyed after fasting for several days. Bovine Bakery is so popular that the sidewalk outside its door is usually bun-to-bun seating. Scones the size of cow-patties, succule nt with berries and ricotta; huge slices of streusel-topped coffee cake; fruit muffins sweet from pear and apple; dessert-like raspberry almond marzipan torte and their famous chocolate chip cookies will have you wishing you had a bovine multi-stomach dig estive system. Don’t forget to pick up Brickmaiden Breads; their wood-fired brick oven crust and chewy texture are perfect platforms for cheese. 

Toby’s Feed Barn combines art and food wares for humans and animals. Local produce on wooden tables and insid e farm barrels decorates the front. Within its wood walls, you can pick up the labors of Pt. Reyes Preserves—pickled brussel sprouts, beets and garlic as well as delicious fruit jams. Toby’s packages their own dried fruits, nuts and trail mix to encourage reluctant hikers. 

Non-edible merchandise includes a zany collection of T-shirts like the ones offering advice from horse and dog, world music CDs, and, in the back gallery, the work of local artists. On my visit I enjoyed the photographs of Elaine Straub, offering multiple images of favorite scenes. Banana’s Red Dodge Pick-up Truck and Moore’s White Barn, among others, evoked a warm sense of place in this unique area. 

Even if your picnic basket is overflowing, don’t head back home. The options for an al fresco feast are also overflowing. Pt. Reyes National Seashore, Tomales Bay State Park, Samuel P. Taylor State Park—all have landscape, trails and tables to put the cap on a bountiful day. Carpe diem!ôo

Today was a good day. I started it off with the inspection of a gorgeous house. Did I say gorgeous? No, glorious. It was so true to the aesthetic of the period as to be a sensorial feast. It was actually a very simple house. Built in 1912, a “classic box,” aka, Classic Revival. One of those simple, almost-but-not-quite boxy designs that usually has a little bay front and almost always has a porch on one corner punctuated by a single classical column. There are thousands in the our area so I’m sure you know the one I mean. 

Every feature on this beauty went just a little beyond the typical. The front had a bow, not a bay, a rounded front projection with three windows, each possessing a rounded sill and casings (and let me tell ya, that’s a lot more work than a simple angular bay). The floor inside was also rounded (more work) with little inlaid borders of walnut, knotted at the corners. The windows were a joy of lead tracery and only a few panes were cracked or loose (truly amazing for a 94-year-old house).  

Inside, not much had been changed (praise the deity of your choice!). Many changes of ownership tend to come with many changes in the building and sadly, much is often lost. The most awe-striking time-capsules of construction I’ve seen over the years have been those that were left when Grandma passed away, leaving behind the home she bought with her late husband (may he rest in peace) on the G.I. bill in 1943. I’ve even seen some early refrigerators with top condensers and 1940s washing machines (with ringers) in houses when the sole owner of 60 years had just passed on. 

The other thing that made this a great day was that the pair of Realtors I spent this jovial four-plus hours with were as excited as I was about what we were doing. There was no rush to get done. No concern over making too big a fuss over what was outdated or in need of repair. Just a deep appreciation of the art of looking at houses and the importance of assessing the conditions accurately and fairly. 

We spend some time talking about the old Wedgewood stove. Whether the salt and pepper shakers were actually original (we figured out that the pepper was just a wee bit too tall and not quite the right shade of porcelain to match but it was pretty close). We had a little learning session on how to adjust pilot lights (I showed off a much loved and very old screwdriver that was just right for the little valve screw). 

We shared knowledge about who was good at fixing what and how much we liked this tradesperson or that one. It was all good, as they say.  

Most of the Realtors that I’ve met are very concerned about inspections being done carefully and thoughtfully. There’s no worry and no hurry. 

The Realtors I worked with today weren’t the least bit concerned about the time the inspection took or the gravity of the items that were found wanting. A foundation was discovered to be soft enough to drive a screwdriver inward up to the hilt. The reaction was concern but not the smallest bit of doubt as to the importance of the finding or any interest in lessening the manner in which it would be discussed. “Lay it on the table” was the subtext and the spoken word. What a blessing. 

This attitude really helps me to do my job. It’s not easy when I have to say that the furnace is ready for the scrap-heap or that the water heater is done for but it’s very important to at least one person that I do it.  

It might be the person who’s getting ready to invest their last penny in the house or it could be a seller who needs to be sure that they don’t sell undisclosed defects to a buyer (who may be upset if or when they have the contractor over to talk about remodeling several months down the road and discover that things were not as they had thought). It’s all good when everybody knows what’s up. 

It’s also pretty clear that buyers don’t expect perfect houses. There are a few people out there who don’t want to buy a house that needs any significant amount of repair. These few have to buy the crème de la crème and often have to pay top dollar to get it.  

Most folks come to understand, if they didn’t prior to looking at a few houses, that older homes have pluses and minuses, just like new homes. When I talk to people about what’s wrong with the house we’re in, mostly they’ll shake their heads and acquiesce the imperfections. Sometimes, a buyer will want to negotiate about a discovery but the desire to turn tail is rare when faced with a few trouble spots. 

After all, there are a lot of motivations to buying a particular house other than the condition of the water heater (although I’ve seen some pretty nice water heaters).  

The majority of buyers are looking for a house in a particular neighborhood and secondly they need it to be of a given size and layout (two baths, four bedrooms). The things on the inspectors list are important but rarely overriding. What matters is that the buyers know what they’re getting into and have a chance to address the things that matter to them. It’s all good when everybody knows what’s up. 

There is clearly more risk in driving a motorcycle than in living with the nastiest thing I might find in a house. People just want a chance to know about the issues and decide if and how they want to address them. When we all work together to do that, it is truly a good day. 

I’d like to applaud those two Realtors from today. The applause also goes out to all those others who do the same (help to lay it on the table). Your clients appreciate it and so do I because it really is all good when everybody knows what’s up. 

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All right, up and at ’em. The only cure I know for the March Muddy Blues is time spent with eager green plants, and since it’s still too wet to mess in the mid in most of our gardens, the place to mingle is the neighborhood nursery.  

Lucky me: The distance from here to Spiral Gardens Community Food Project’s Urban Garden Center is shorter than its official name. They could fit only “Urban Garden Center” on the A-frame sign on the Sacramento Street median strip; I guess that’s to the point. Most of the youngsters there are food plants or California natives, but there are wild cards and volunteers, some in the ground and some in pots, some landscape inhabitants and even some houseplants.  

It’s not exactly news that I’m fond of wild cards and surprises. (OK, not surprise snowstorms in March, those can stop now, thank you.) A nursery where I catch myself saying, “What the heck’s that?” is a place I enjoy. It’s even better when everything’s tagged and I’m still asking. Better still, when so much of it is food. I’ll try anything once. 

Except snails. Snails are the enemy, not the dinner. Besides, as the mulberries bloom I get that seasonal post-nasal drip that makes eating snails redundant. I’d rather just throw them into the street and tell them to go play in traffic. 

I’m not sure I’d eat an endangered species either, but growing things for food is one way to make them less endangered. Growing things for food in an area of the city that doesn’t have supermarkets within strolling distance is about remedying another kind of endangerment, and that’s part of Spiral Garden’s mission. Lately I’m a bit burned-out on non-profits and do-gooding, myself, but the Les Blankian motive, Always For Pleasure, hasn’t lost its power to move me. It’s not just my own pleasure. I think the world would be better off if everyone had more pleasure.  

The pleasure of eating fresh produce gets lip service but it’s still underappreciated. The pleasure of eating produce just a few yards from where it grew is more rare, and so is the related good feeling of growing your own. We’re in a great place for it, where we can grow all year, and Spiral Gardens is a good place to get starts for adventurous and for comfortably familiar eating. This year, e.g., they have a purportedly mildew-resistant squash. They have rarer things like opa, a funny tuber with clover leaves on sprawling stems.  

If you want to grow food but are new at it, Spiral’s also a great place to learn, hands-on and from experts. Just go volunteer now and then; call or drop in when they’re open. Like rare seeds, which need to be grown out and re-gathered to stay viable, garden knowledge is best preserves by dissemination—and that’s part of Spiral Gardens’ mission too.  

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We recently had a call from a woman who wanted some advice about her current home loan and whether we would recommend a refinance. After investigating her circumstances, hearing her story, and questioning her about the process she had gone through, I understood why there are consumer-rights groups wanting to regulate the mortgage industry. Her story spoke not only about a mortgage professional who was more interested in their own paycheck than the best interests of their client, but to a very popular loan program, that in my opinion, should be regulated very carefully. 

The loan program that was “sold” to this client is very popular today and is called by several names, some of which are registered trademarks of various banks. It is an adjustable-rate mortgage whose interest rate adjusts every month, but the required payment adjusts either annually or in some cases may be fixed for a longer time. As I write this I realize that many readers will be lost just on that concept alone. Therein lies the first reason as to why I think anyone considering one of these programs should be required to read and understand a set of disclosures using a 14-point font.  

The big print would clearly state how the monthly payment is less than the amount of interest due on the loan and that the difference between the monthly payment and the amount you actually owe will be added onto the principle balance of the loan each month. This means that as you make your payment each month, you now owe the lender more money than you did the prior month (you may want to read that sentence twice).  

This loan program has a feature called negative amortization and is not new. The program originated in the 1980s and has long been popular for large commercial properties since it gives the property owner a lot of flexibility over their cash flow. Since most commercial loans are adjustable-rate mortgages and property owners cannot raise rents every time interest rates go up, they need some stability in their cash flow and can use a loan like this to control cash flow until they can increase their income to offset their expenses.  

Also in the 1980s, the loan was introduced to homeowners as alternative financing at a time when rates were quite high. The results were fairly disastrous as market circumstances held home prices flat, the loan balances were growing, and many of these loans had balloon payments due in five years, meaning that the loan ends and needs to be repaid. The loan balances grew to equal or go beyond the value of the property and many homeowners lost their properties in foreclosure. 

The loans were then redesigned so the initial payments were at least the amount of interest due on the loan and after five years the loans were then re-amortized (a new payment schedule was established that required monthly principal reduction) and extended for an additional 25 years. Now however, in an effort to extend the low payments that had been in effect due to low interest rates, many of the safeguards have again been abandoned.  

My biggest objection to the service that this particular client experienced was that she was also sold a loan with a three-year pre-payment penalty. This means that if she refinances in the first three years she pays a penalty, which in her case is about $15,000. As a reward for selling the client this loan, the mortgage broker received a big commission from the lender. To add insult to injury, the client says that she told the mortgage person that she wanted a fixed rate loan but was told repeatedly how this loan was superior.  

There are certainly circumstances where this type of loan is the right choice. Since financing in general is sometimes a confusing subject, great care must be taken with any client considering this type of adjustable-rate mortgage. There are always choices and in my opinion, you need an objective advisor who discloses their fees (as required by law), and does not have a financial stake in your decision (one loan yields a higher commission than another).  

At this time, the interest rate market conditions are such that we have experienced a narrowing of the gap between the rate you can get on a fixed-rate loan and the rate you get on an adjustable-rate loan. In other words you can get a fixed-rate loan for almost the same interest rate as the adjustable-rate loan, making the fixed-rate loan easier to choose as well as easier to understand. 

Russ Cohn is president of Cohns Loans in Albany. 

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My friend Taffy called me Tuesday night to tell me Dana Reeve had died. “Get a pedicure,” she said. “You need to do something for yourself. Don’t let life pass you by.” 

That I needed to do something for myself was probably true. Going to bed and getting a good night’s sleep was a possible option. Getting a pedicure wasn’t. 

Don’t get me wrong, I understand Taffy’s intentions. She’s always been concerned about my health and well-being. Since my husband’s bicycling accident 12 years ago, she’s kept in touch from far away, urging me to visit her in New York, suggesting I do things I don’t necessarily know I want to do, such as jumping off a 35-foot cliff in Jamaica and taking a mid-winter kayak trip in the ice-clogged, frigid Long Island Sound. But getting my toes painted as an act of celebrating life? Sorry, it ain’t gonna happen. 

Maybe the reason for my reluctance to indulge myself had to do with timing. It was 8 p.m., and I was already in my pajamas, ready for bed. Ralph had been in the hospital for seven days and his condition was not improving. My niece had just been released from a five-day stay in Oakland’s Children’s Hospital. She’d gone in with an unusually high fever, but she was now, thankfully, recovered. That very same evening Ralph’s daughter had escaped with only a few belongings after a fire ravaged her Oakland apartment building. 

I had heard that Dana Reeve was sick, but I hadn’t followed the progression of her illness. I knew she had given some upbeat interviews recently, similar to the ones she and her husband Christopher had made after his horseback riding accident. She was always positive, buoyant, and downright cheery in front of the camera. I wondered how she did it. 

I’d developed a mild obsession with Dana Reeve. I studied her photographs in numerous women’s magazines, watched her banter with talk show hosts during daytime TV. I went to hear her speak when her book Care Packages : Letters to Christopher Reeve from Strangers and Other Friends, was published. I marveled at how she stayed so optimistic. Her smile was dazzling, her lipstick faultless, her fingernails and hair perfect, her eyes bright and sparkling. 

A year after Christopher Reeve’s accident, he wrote a book, then Dana wrote her book, then he wrote another book. They attended the Oscars, they spoke before Congress, they started a foundation. Christopher directed a movie, and starred in another, a remake of Rear Window, in which Darryl Hannah, reprising the role of Grace Kelly, tells the Jimmy Stewart character (played by Reeve), that she loves him even if he can’t put his arms around her and give her a hug. The movie’s ending implies they will live happily ever after together, but I had to wonder who was going to brush and floss the hero’s teeth, pick his nose, and empty his leg bag. Darryl Hannah? I don’t think so. 

After viewing the film, I gave up my fixation with the Reeves. I didn’t think they were painting an accurate picture for the public of what their life together was really like. But maybe they were candid and I was the one dishonest about my true feelings. I realized I was insanely jealous of their lifestyle, envious of a man who couldn’t breath without the aid of a machine, resentful of his adoring wife who looked directly into the photographer’s lens and smiled. 

But now they are both dead, and I’m returning to the hospital to watch over my husband as he struggles to keep a grasp on reality. He isn’t aware of Dana Reeve’s death. I may not bother to tell him. ª

FRIDAY, MARCH 17 

THEATER 

Central Works “Shadow Crossing” Thurs. - Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through March 26. Tickets are $9-$25. 558-1381. www.centralworks.org 

Impact Theatre, “Hamlet” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through March 18. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. www.impacttheatre.com 

FILM 

Asian American Film Festival “Letter from an Unknown Woman” at 7 p.m. and “Linda Linda Linda” at 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Tony Kushner in Conversation with Michael Krasney on Arthur Miller at 6:30 p.m. at Berkeley Repertory Theater, 2025 Addison St. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble and Combos Spring Jazz Concert at 7 p.m. at Florence Schwimley Little Theater, on the Berkeley High School campus. Tickets are $10, BHS students, teachers and staff free. 527-8245. 

Frederica Von Stade, mezzo soprano, with jazz pianist Taylor Eigsti at 8 p.m. at the First Congragational Church, 2345 Channing Way. TIckets are $125. Benefit for the Jazzschool. 845-5373. 

Junior Bach Festival at 7:30 p.m. at St. John’s, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $7-$12. 843-2224. 

Saoco, dance band mixture of reggaeton and ricos ritmos cubanos at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568.  

Blind Duck, traditonal Irish music at 7:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $4. 843-2473.  

Hal Stein Quartet CD Release Party at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Stomp the Stumps Benefit for Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters with Gary Gates Band, Funky Nixons, Day Late Fool’s Band at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Blame Sally at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Darryl Henriques at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

George Cotsirilos Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Mariospeedwagon and Lemon Juju at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Instant Asshole, Skinned Alive, Dog Assassin at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Glen Washington, reggae, at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $20-$22. 548-1159.  

Loretta Lynch, Oaktown country, Bob Wiseman & Leah Abramson at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 644-2204.  

The San Pablo Project at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SATURDAY, MARCH 18 

CHILDREN  

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

East Bay Children’s Theater, “Cinderella’s Glass Slipper” at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m at James Moore Theatre, Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St. Tickets are $7. 655-7285. 

“Strega Nona Festival” and ice cream social presented by Stagebridge Senior Theatre Company, based on characters from Tomie dePaola’s books, at 3 p.m. Sat. and Sun. at Arts First Oakland, 2501 Harrison, at 27th St. Oakland. Tickets are $10 general, $5 children. www.stagebridge.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

New Works by Ben Belknap, Mike Simpson & Derek Weisberg. New expressions of the figure in ceramics, wood sculpture, and pen. Reception at 7 p.m. at M.C. Artworks Gallery, 10344 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 703- 6621. 

THEATER 

“Oracles From the Living Tarot” at 2 and 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2501 Harrison St., Oakland. Tickets are $20-$30. Benefit for Magical Arts Ritual Theater. 523-7754. www.ticketweb.com 

FILM 

Asian American Film Festival “Memories in the Mist” at 4:40 p.m., “Punching at the Sun” at 7 p.m. and “Citizen Dog” at 9:15 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Buddhism at Dunhuang” Panel discussions on the manuscripts and artifacts found at the cave site, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Toll Room, Alumni House, UC Campus. 642-2809. http://ieas.berkeley.edu/events/dunhuang 

Poetry Flash with Andrew Zawacki, Andrew Joron, Maxine Chernoff and Gelorge Albon and others at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Parlor Tango, Argentine Tango music composed between 1910 and 1950, at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. bet. Durant and Bancroft. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. http://trinity 

chamberconcerts.com 

Bach Collegium Japan at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. TIckets are $42. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Jillian Khuner, soprano, in a benefit recital for the Berkeley Community Chorus, at 8 p.m. at the Crowden School, 1475 Rose St. Tickets are $30, includes reception. 601-1718, 549-1336.  

Noitada Brasileira “The Carnivals of Brazil” with Dandara, Beto Guimaraes, and Bateria Lucha at 8 p.m. at The Beat, Eddie Brown Center for the Arts, 2560 9th St. Tickets are $15-$20. 548-5348. 

Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu at 2 and 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $20-$32. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

“Jazz at the Chimes” with Vince Wallace at 2 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Donation of $15 requested. 228-3207. 

Annie Sprinkle in “A Public Cervix Announcement” with drummers, dancers and singers at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $20-$35. 925-798-1300. 

Robin Gregory and her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Aux Cajunals at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Jesu Diaz y su QBA, Cuban Timba music at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Pillows, She Mob and David Enos at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

The Ravines and Dave Lionelli at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Melanie O’Reilly & Aising Ghear at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Sol Bebelz, The Attik, Ill Adapted at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Kudisan Kai at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Eric Muhler Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Steve Smulian at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Sonando Quintet An Afro-Caribbean Tribute to Stevie Wonder at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 19 

CHILDREN 

Charity Kahn & The Jamband at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

“Illustrating Nature” A family workshop on biological illustrattions from the exhibition “The Art of Seeing: Nature Revealed Through Illustration” from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“Phenomenal Photogaphy” A family workshop on creating a photo transfer inspired by the exhibition of Edward Weston’s photography from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

THEATER 

Culture Clash’s “Zorro in Hell” A Benefit for KPFA and the Middle East Children’s Alliance at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Rep, 2025 Addison St., followed by reception. Tickets are $75. 548-0542. www.mecaforpeace.org 

FILM 

“China’s Contemporary Documentary Films” from 11:15 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. TIckets are $5 per screening. 643-6321. www.ticketweb.com 

Asian American Film Festival “Grain in Ear” at 4:45 p.m., “Walk Like a Dragon” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Java and Bali: Art, Religion, and Folk Tradition” A lecture with Joseph Fischer at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge. 981-6151. 

Poetry Flash with Kurt Brown and Geoffrey Brock at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852.  

Island Literary Series, jazz and poetry at 3 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $2-$4. 841-JAZZ. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Mozart and the Search for the Missing Children” a concert at 4 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Road, Kensington. Tickets are $15-$20. Benefit for Pro Busqueda, a non-governmental organization in El Salvador whose mission is to locate children who had been abducted by the Salvadoran military during the war, from 1980 - 1992. 650-579-5568.  

San Francisco Chamber Orchestra “Bernstein Bash” at 3 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Free.  

Junior Bach Festival at 3:30 p.m. at the Crowden Music Center and at 7:30 p.m. at St. John’s, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $7-$12. 843-2224. 

Cantible Chorale “Mass Transit” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $6-$25. www.cantabile.org  

University Chorus and Chamber Chorus “St. Matthew Passion” at 5 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $$5-$15. 642-9988.  

Organ Music with David Hunsberger at 4 p.m. at St. Johns, 2727 College Ave. Donation of $15 requested. Reception follows. 845-6830. 

Marvin Sanders, flute, Lena Lubotsky, piano at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Tickets are $10. 644- 6893. 

Dick Hindman, jazz pianist, at 5 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 201 Martina Ave., at W. Richmond Ave., Point Richmond. $10 suggested donation. 236-0527. www.pointrichmond.com/methodist 

Jewish Music Festival with Yahudice at 7:30 p.m. at the Thrust Stage, Berkeley Rep. Tickets are $22-$26. 415-276-1511. 

Jon Fromer at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $10-$20. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Tina Marzell and her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ.  

Four Schillings Short at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Bay Area Middle School Jazz Showcase at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $5-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Bob Marley Student Ensemble at 7:30 p.m. at the Jazz- 

school. Free. 845-5373.  

April Verch at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Look Back and Laugh, The Pedestrians at 2 p.m. and Park and Amity at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

MONDAY, MARCH 20 

THEATER 

Woman’s Will’s 24-Hour Playfest at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$25. 420-0813. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“China’s Contemporary Documentary Films” Panel discussion at 4 p.m. at IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton St., 6th Flr. 643-6321.  

Story Tells, a storytelling swap, invites storytellers and listeners at 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, Jack London Square, Oakland.  

Elizabeth Kolbert describes “Field Notes From a Catastrophe: Man, Nature and Climate Change” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Poetry Express with Tom Odegard at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Sista Kee aka Kito Gamble CD release concert at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s. Tickets are $10-$15. 238-9200.  

Zilber-Muscarella Quartet & Invitational at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Trovatore, traditional Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

TUESDAY, MARCH 21 

FILM 

Asian American Film Festival “The Burnt Theater” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

James Janko discusses his debut novel, “Buffalo Boy and Geronimo,” of the war in Vietnam, its impact on nature and Vietnamese civilians and a GI, at 7 p.m. at El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave. 526-7512.  

Michael Gordon describes “Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq” at 12:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Simi Linton describes her life as a disabled activist in “My Body Politic” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Joshua Clover introduces “The Totality for Kids” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Redwood Day School Rock Band at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $5-$8. 525-5054.  

Ellen Hoffman with Singers’ Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. 841-JAZZ.  

Samite of Uganda at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Howard Barkan Trio at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22 

THEATER 

Berkeley Rep “Culture Clash’s Zorro in Hell” opens at 8 p.m. in the Roda Theater. Tickets are $45-$59. Runs through April 16. 647-2949.  

FILM 

Asian American Film Festival “Dreaming Lhasa” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Writing Teachers Write Readings by students and teachers at 5 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Danielle Trussoni describes her life with her father, a Vietnam veteran, in “Falling Through the Earth” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music for the Spirit with Ron McKean on organ at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

Bernard Anderson & The Old School Band at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. West Coast Swing dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10-$12. 525-5054.  

La Verdad at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low. Salsa dance lessons at 8 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

UC Jazz Ensembles at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Chocolate O’Brian at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Bill Evans’ String Summit at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

THURSDAY, MARCH 23 

THEATER 

Shotgun Players “Bright Ideas” opens at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. and runs Thurs.-Sun. to April 23. Tickets are $15-$30. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

Swarm Studios Artists New Works by Jonn Herschend, Michael McDermott and Ryan Reynolds. Opening at 6 p.m. at 560 Second St., Jack London Square, Oakland. www.swarmstudios.net 

FILM 

Film and Video Makers at Cal at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

The Writer in the Digital Age A workshop offered by the National and Local Writers Union at 7 p.m. at the School of Journalism, Northgate Hall, UC Campus. 839-1248. www.writersunion.org 

Michelle Tea reads from her memoirs at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Nomad Spoken Word Night at 7 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Chris Bachelder introduces his novel of muckraker Upton Sinclair, “U.S.!” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Jason Francisco discusses “Far from Zion: Jews, Diaspora and Memory” at 6:30 p.m. at the Judah L. Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. Cost is $6-$8. www.magnes.org 

Word Beat Reading Series with readings from “Living in the Land of the Dead” Vol. 2 at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Jewish Music Festival with Yiddish songs by Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman at 2 p.m. at the BRJCC. Tickets are $12-$15. 415-276-1511. 

Ooklah the Moc at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Rachel Efron CD Release Party at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. 

Joe Paquin at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Gary Rowe Duo at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. ô

Sistah Kee, aka Kito Gamble, will bring her original music to Yoshi’s on Jack London Square Monday night, March 20, for shows at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., rapping and singing at the keyboard to celebrate her debut CD on Gamble Girls Records, Represent. She’ll be backed by a full horn section, guitar and rhythm section, violin and cello, plus three backup vocalists and her mother, noted jazz singer Faye Carol, deploying her celebrated scatting style. 

Sistah Kee’s music is the compound of a whole spectrum of styles: jazz, blues and hip-hop, with classical and spiritual influences. Such a wide-ranging combination is only natural to the daughter of musical parents like Faye Carol and the late Jim Gamble. Her father, “who taught at UC and privately, whose passion was writing, arranging and teaching music,” started teaching her piano at the age of three. “He taught me so much before I even knew it! He wrote some material my mother and I do together, though not at this show.” Both her parents were from Mississippi, and the influence of the South and of blues is strong in her: “I talk to my relatives, and they tell me I sound like I’m from down there.” Sistah Kee’s performing career began when she was 16; her own sound is coming from “the music of Otis Spann, of Ray Charles, of McCoy Tyner. I love McCoy Tyner!” 

Sistah Kee spoke about the history of rap, how in the beginning “the message was hard; it wasn’t sugar-coated. But then it veered off into gangsta rap. Sometimes, a number would have a good beat—but I wouldn’t want my music students to hear it! I’m glad things are coming back around to positive rap, to wanting to work with live instruments, with real musicians.” 

Spirituality suffuses her playing and vocals. “I’m just telling how glad I am that God’s touched my life, every day. In that sense, it’s gospel, but musically it sounds more like jazz or blues. I didn’t grow up playing in church. But my mother did; she sang in church. And she’ll be singing at my show, just like she did on the CD. All my life, my mother’s been a full-time, professional singer.”  

The show at Yoshi’s will be MC’d by gospel comedian J-Red. “He’s called a gospel comedian because he takes his material mostly from the Black church—Baptists, Church of Christ ... and it’s clean! He’s also promoted youth events. The local gospel rap scene wouldn’t have been the same without his participation.” 

Besides Faye Carol, Represent features well-known players from different styles of music, including innovative Jazz trombonist Steve Turre, and former 3xs Crazy member Agerman. “Agerman will be at Yoshi’s, and so will Eliza O’Malley, who sings operatically on one track of Represent, while you hear a DJ scratchin’! That’s my music, from hip-hop all the way over to classical, all at once.” 

Represent will be available at the Yoshi’s concert, as well as at Tower Records, Reid’s Records and Western Christian Bookstore. 

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Alexander Bulkley’s The Zodiac is opening this week in limited release, and for good reason: it’s terrible. The distributors are probably just cutting their losses, sneaking the film in and out of theaters quickly and quietly, conceding the story and its audience to the upcoming big-budget version starring Robert Downey, Jr., Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo, due for release this September.  

Bulkley’s version changes the names of all the central figures and many of the actual locations. Whether this was a financial decision or a creative one is unclear. It couldn’t possibly be out of respect for the people whose lives were torn apart by the notorious murder spree that tormented the Bay Area in the ‘60s and ‘70s; if the filmmakers really cared about them they wouldn’t have transformed their tragedy into such a shallow, trite film.  

The movie opens today (Friday) at 10 theaters nationwide, including several in the greater Bay Area. You’d expect it to open in San Francisco, and it will, at the Presidio Theater; but you might not expect a film in limited release to show at the Vallejo 14. It makes sense in a rather perverse way, as Zodiac’s first two attacks, on couples parked in lonely lovers’ lanes, were in Vallejo. Hell, as long as you’re co-opting a city’s tragedy, why not take their money, too? 

The central problem with this film is fundamental: It doesn’t know what it wants to be. Is it a horror film? Is it a police procedural? Is it a family melodrama? It seems to be striving for all three, yet fails on all counts.  

As a horror film, The Zodiac offers little that is actually frightening. The crimes themselves are frightening enough and for the most part the film depicts them accurately. But Bulkley relies on a number of less-than-effective horror-film gimmicks in an attempt to keep viewers on the edge of their seats: the handheld camera, point-of-view shots, and muffled, menacing sound effects. There are at least a few scenes which fall so far short as horror that they inspired laughter at a recent preview. 

As a police procedural, Bulkley again takes the standard elements of the genre and botches them completely. We see very little actual detective work and get very little insight into the case, its clues and their meaning. Much ado is made of the ciphers the killer sent to the press, and in reality the solutions to those ciphers provided valuable insights into their creator. But as depicted here they are nothing more than taunting threats. 

While the supporting cast of cops and detectives are portrayed alternately as naysaying cowards or as dolts who can’t see the forest for the trees, Justin Chambers’ lead detective character is another kind of stereotype: He’s driven, obsessed, and eventually—wouldn’t you know it—he crosses the line. In a scene lifted directly from a good serial killer movie—The Silence of the Lambs—Chambers and his cohorts descend on a suspect’s house while the film cuts back and forth between the impending raid and shots of the actual killer at home. This is supposed to be suspenseful, but of course we’ve seen this trick before and we know that Chambers has the wrong man. The botched raid leads to an almost unbelievably bad scene in which the police chief, played by Philip Baker Hall, reprimands Chambers and actually says the following line: 

“Listen son, I want to get this guy as bad as you do, but you’ve got to play by the rules!” 

That’s gritty stuff.  

As the story of a family torn apart by a horrific murder spree, the film likewise fails again. As is so often the case with movies these days, the actress is given little to do but cry, scream and reproach the leading man. Robin Tunney complains that her detective husband is not home often enough, he works too late and he’s neglecting his son. And of course there’s the obligatory scene in which the late-working, single-minded husband misses somebody’s birthday party—in this case his own. 

After a lot of meandering nonsense, the film ends abruptly. It’s impossible to fathom just what the ending was intended to do. It really seems as though the filmmakers simply ran out of time. Or film. Or, more likely, ideas. It really doesn’t feel like a finished film at all; it’s more like a rough edit of a film where the director still hasn’t worked out his themes or his narrative thread. Like the fictional cops who piece together the messages behind the killer’s ciphers, director Bulkley knows the details, but fails to find the larger picture.  

The unintentionally hilarious coda features a police sketch of the killer with his disembodied voice reading lines from the real-life Zodiac’s final letter to the police: “I would like to see a movie about me,” he says. “Who will play me? I am now in control of all things.” 

And in effect, he is, for this movie is exactly the movie the killer would have wanted: A simple, shallow tale that buys into the self-created mystique of an egotistic psychopath and fails to glean any insight whatsoever into the pathetic, coward behind the murderous mask. ›

“The California earthquake stands between eight and ten at points of greatest disturbance; from which we may trust our senses to the extent of believing that it was no small affair,” wrote Stanford scientist John C. Branner about April 18, 1906. 

No small affair, indeed. A century later, the events of that earthquake will be commemorated in a multitude of ways in the Bay Area.  

The experiences of 1906 can be revisited over the next few weeks in two considerably different ways at the UC Berkeley campus. 

On the one hand you can take in a earthquake-themed film series, fun and educational, kinetic and sometimes literally bone jarring, at the Pacific Film Archive. 

On the other, a contemplative library exhibit offers a look back at the great San Francisco catastrophe through a rich store of written and visual archival materials. 

Take in one or both to gain a better understanding of the epochal event—to date—in urban Bay Area history. 

Pacific Film Archive Video Curator Steven Seid has put together a weird, intriguing, and entertaining array of cinematic features screening over four evenings, from Thursday, April 6, to Sunday, April 9. 

Extensive archival footage of the 1906 era—both before the earthquake, and in the aftermath—is featured on Saturday, Apri l 8, at 7:00 PM in a program titled “Disaster at Dawn,” and narrated by lively and provocative Berkeley-based historian Grey Brechin.  

The footage will most likely begin with a tram ride down a bustling pre-disaster Market Street—and continue up through the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition when San Franciscans celebrated successful municipal rebirth. 

Next that same night, how about John Wayne as a cowboy come to the big city who gets all tangled up in romance, waterfront intrigue, and literally earthshak ing events in Flame of Barbary Coast? 

“Love’s a disaster,” is Seid’s succinct summary of this 1945 romance, which he purposefully chose over the more familiar—and more frequently screened—San Francisco, with Jeannette McDonald. 

The night before, April 7, the metal-walled PFA Theatre will reverberate with the deep tones of Sensurround when the PFA screens the 1974 Charlton Heston disaster—or disastrous—epic, Earthquake. 

A technical gimmick with a short heyday in the 1970s, Sensurround employed special e quipment to boom away at the lower end of the audio spectrum.  

Meyer Sound of Berkeley has assembled three “enormous subwoofers” and a “true Sensurround decoder,” Seid says, to rattle the PFA theatre for this one show. “It’s going to be a physical experi ence,” he observes.  

In Earthquake, Los Angeles is torn apart by adultery, “wholesale lunacy” and “soap-like suffering”. . . oh, and an earthquake, of course.  

“On a Richter scale of bad decisions, that one was a 7.4,” Seid says in his program notes. He personally recalls the surreal experience of seeing Earthquake for the first time in Hollywood’s Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, which is fictionally shaken up in the film. 

The PFA series opens on Thursday, April 6, with a free screening of several shorts th at provide provocative visual takes on disaster imagery, from lightning to mammoth Midwestern storms to 1920s floods. Included is the one working Mission District fire hydrant that helped halt the 1906 Fire. 

Christina McPhee’s SilkyVRML 422 contrasts foo tage of the fault-slashed Carrizo Plain with the actual sounds of the groaning earth, recorded by seismic equipment buried far below the surface. And All the Time in the World “makes the verdant English coast jerk and wrench.” 

After three days of localized disaster, everything ends on Sunday, April 9, with a screening of The Night the World Exploded.  

“This late-fifties disaster epic sets out to destroy the entire earth with barely a budget to back it up,” Seid writes in his program notes.  

No sooner have seismologists perfected a device to predict earthquakes than a huge one strikes Los Angeles (poor Los Angeles, ravaged again), and the earth tilts on its axis. 

An intrepid expedition of seismologists descends into Carlsbad Caverns to set things right. Or wrong, as the case may be. The wrong will be illuminated by UC seismologist Dr. Peggy Hellweg, whom Seid has enlisted to attend the screening and comment on the “scientific veracity” of the film.  

Overall, Seid says, “the beauty of these films”—at least the fictional ones—is “they have to drag the earthquake out,” since all the characters in each cast have to be variously jarred off their feet, tossed, and trampled by the Big One(s).  

For another view of epic local disaster, head over to the Brow n Gallery of the University’s Doe Library any day through Thursday, March 30.  

Changing exhibits in the Brown Gallery present the depth and treasures of the enormous University Library and affiliated repositories.  

Bancroft Library curator Theresa Salaz ar, working with a committee of campus library staff and historical experts, has put together an excellent display on 1906. 

“1906: The Great Quake—The History of A Disaster” features the events of April 18, 1906, of course, but also includes accounts and images of early earthquakes in California back to an 18th century shake in the Los Angeles basin described by Spanish explorer Juan Crespi as a “horrifying earthquake, which was repeated four times during the day.”  

There’s also the “The Great Earthquak e” of 1868 along the Hayward Fault which rattled the still-sparsely-populated greater Bay Area. 

Displayed images and written accounts of San Francisco life before the 1906 disaster include numerous photographs of city life in a metropolis of nearly 350,0 00.  

The exhibit explores the graft prosecution that was unpeeling layers of political corruption up to San Francisco’s Mayor, orchestra conductor Eugene Schmitz, and down to political boss Abe Ruef, whose status as perhaps the first Cal alumnus to becom e a great scoundrel goes unmentioned. 

There’s a printed program for Carmen at the Grand Opera House, featuring Enrico Caruso, the night before the earthquake rang down the curtain. 

The tumult of the following days—first earthquake, then fire raging acro ss the City—is conveyed through photographs, eyewitness accounts, even pieces of charred wreckage and a period pocket watch stopped at the time of the quake. 

“I buried my head in my pillow” as the earthquake struck just after 5:00 a.m., San Franciscan Ha rold Lionel Zellerbach, then 12-years-old, recalled in an oral history shown in the exhibit. “It felt like this was the end of the world,” he recalls of the moment the side of his family home fell off. 

Documentary photos show damage that spread far beyon d San Francisco, including Stanford’s wrecked Memorial Church, a shattered Russian church at Fort Ross, Santa Rosa ruined, a woman sitting in a field along the edge of a raw fault rupture.  

The exhibit acknowledges the exacting analysis and efforts of sc ientists, many from Berkeley, to advance the understanding and study of earthquakes after 1906. 

It also touches on the work of East Bay communities to shelter and feed tens of thousands of refugees who began to arrive while the fires still burned, as wel l as efforts to re-organize after the disaster. 

“Notice—Citizens Committee,” one placard directed at San Franciscans reads. “All citizens will observe the following: Don’t be afraid of a famine. There will be abundant food supply. Don’t use house toilet s under any circumstances, but dig earth closets in yards or vacant lots. “Pestilence can only be avoided by complying with these regulations.” 

In the aftermath nearly 100,000 insurance claims were processed and the business community quickly shifted pub lic focus to “The Great Fire.”  

“An earthquake was something that was unpredictable and uncontrollable, whereas a fire was a phenomenon that could be controlled and prevented,” the exhibit text notes. 

Official and commercial San Francisco rushed to rebuild, ignoring the grand, locally-commissioned plans of Chicagoan Daniel Burnham, who had spent months before the earthquake, cogitating on a city splendidly redone in Renaissance style. 

“On April 17, 1906, the plan, fresh from the printer, was deposited in City Hall for distribution.” Next morning, the building lay in ruins. 

Visionary thinking was set aside—as it often is in the rush to recover—and “within three-and-a-half years, downtown San Francisco was rebuilt along pre-earthquake lines,” the exhibi t notes.  

There’s an amazing panoramic photograph by George R. Lawrence, taken about four years after the earthquake and fire, showing the core of the city substantially reconstructed, although quite a few vacant lots are still visible. 

Not all was wel l done. “The desire for quick resumption of business meant cheap building construction and lax codes . . .” 

The exhibit organizers have woven together printed material and images, period items and later accounts, into a powerful tapestry of the event and its repercussions. "

“I hope this cheese comes from happy cows,” I overheard the customer ask at the Marin French Cheese Company. He’d just purchased pounds of Rouge and Noir in several varieties and was perhaps double-checking his investment. The cows and I were equally cont ent as I cruised country roads, tasting locally produced cheeses, gathering picnic goodies and basking in nature’s bounty. 

The mood for my day was set as I left Highway 101, driving west along Novato Boulevard. Gently undulating hills were tinged with gr een, dotted with gnarled oaks awaiting spring’s foliage, and outcrops of rocks. Holsteins enjoyed the recent rains’ harvest, several poking their heads through fencing, reaching for the choicest bits. White barns and rail fences shared this working landsc ape with those of weathered-silver corrugated metal. Passing the gentle waters of Stafford Lake Park, I gazed at flocks of Canada geese along the shores, sharing pasture with cows. 

The grounds of the Marin French Cheese Company blend harmoniously with the bucolic landscape. Enticing picnic grounds with wide lawns, tables and duck ponds occupy five acres of land along with the cheese factory, deli and retail shop. 

In operation for more than 100 years, on land purchased by Jefferson Thomas in 1865, Marin French produces authentic French cheese using traditional recipes and cultures. Beginning with the creation of granular cheese in 1900, the family turned their talents to soft ripened cheese. As the saying goes, the rest is history. 

Today, tours are give n on cheese-producing days of the multi-step process that begins with Jersey milk from 100 percent BST free cows. A secret blend of living cultures is mixed with the curd, and later rinsed with collected rainwater. Over several weeks, cheeses mature, deve lop their distinctive flavor, are hand-packed and, voilà, ready for tasting. 

From the traditional buttery brie and tangy camembert, more than 20 choices now beckon, including Brie flavored with pesto and jalapeno. Though it was difficult, I restrained my self from feasting on every one. After generous tasting, a sample pack of traditional and flavored cheeses satisfied my taste buds.  

Of course, cheese doesn’t stand alone. The farmhouse-like shop of buttery walls, with wood plank floor and ceramic cookie jars on parade below the ceiling, is well stocked. Wines, attractively displayed in their own wood-paneled wine room, Tuscan crostini and Metropole Panne Di Grano Duro, Angelo’s olives and dried fig compote will easily fill your picnic basket. Stock up, but leave room for more cheese experiences in Point Reyes Station. 

Along the Petaluma-Pt. Reyes Road, the countryside continues its postcard display. Alternating the dark of wooded canyons with the bright light of open expanse, the road is dotted with ar dent cyclists. I crossed a purple bridge over the shimmering waters of Nicasio Reservoir and made my way through lichen-cloaked woods to Point Reyes Station. Population: 350, plus cows. 

At Cowgirl Creamery inside Tomales Bay Foods, the bon appetit of Fra nce is replaced by the terroir of West Marin. Here, Sue Conley and Peggy Smith have turned to the richness of the land outside their doors to produce unique  

soft-ripened cheeses. Eight years ago an old hay barn was transformed into an airy rustic food wa rehouse with trussed ceiling, cement floors and walls painted rich earth colors reminiscent of Tuscany. 

“Cheese is only as good as the milk from which it’s made,” affirmed Michael Zilber, cheesemonger and manager, as he led me through a delicious mini-co urse on Cowgirl Creamery’s cheeses produced on site. Making the cheeses begins with pure, natural, organic Strauss Family Dairy milk, whose dairy cows can be seen grazing on West Marin land. The signature cheese, Mt. Tam, a buttery triple creme, stands al one with its slight bloomy white rind. Another cheese, Red Hawk, is coated with a washed rind, with a pungent flavor created by the indigenous bacteria present in the environment. Pierce Point cheese takes terroir one-step further; its rind is coated with local herbs like chamomile and wild grasses. One taste transports you to the local hillsides. These unique products could not be created anywhere else. 

Hungry hikers stop for fresh cheese and everything else attractively displayed within Tomales Bay Foo ds. The Cowgirl Cantina provides smoked trout and fatted calf salami from the charcuterie; Grab and Go Sandwiches feature Marin Sun Farms Skirt Steak with roasted red pepper and arugula; a couscous salad with cranberries, mint and feta cheese and Della Fa ttoria pumpkin seed campagne. Little Shorty’s Golden Point Produce, all organic, fills out the broadest section of the new food pyramid with local apples, oranges, and a tasty variety of vegetables. 

Save time to watch the cheese making process and eye th e plump bundles resting in the cold room. Enjoy the tree slab table inside or partake of outdoor picnic areas if you can’t wait to sample your wares, but make sure to wander around Point Reyes Station before you head off. There are still more goodies to a dd to your basket. 

You may have come to the realization that this outing is best enjoyed after fasting for several days. Bovine Bakery is so popular that the sidewalk outside its door is usually bun-to-bun seating. Scones the size of cow-patties, succule nt with berries and ricotta; huge slices of streusel-topped coffee cake; fruit muffins sweet from pear and apple; dessert-like raspberry almond marzipan torte and their famous chocolate chip cookies will have you wishing you had a bovine multi-stomach dig estive system. Don’t forget to pick up Brickmaiden Breads; their wood-fired brick oven crust and chewy texture are perfect platforms for cheese. 

Toby’s Feed Barn combines art and food wares for humans and animals. Local produce on wooden tables and insid e farm barrels decorates the front. Within its wood walls, you can pick up the labors of Pt. Reyes Preserves—pickled brussel sprouts, beets and garlic as well as delicious fruit jams. Toby’s packages their own dried fruits, nuts and trail mix to encourage reluctant hikers. 

Non-edible merchandise includes a zany collection of T-shirts like the ones offering advice from horse and dog, world music CDs, and, in the back gallery, the work of local artists. On my visit I enjoyed the photographs of Elaine Straub, offering multiple images of favorite scenes. Banana’s Red Dodge Pick-up Truck and Moore’s White Barn, among others, evoked a warm sense of place in this unique area. 

Even if your picnic basket is overflowing, don’t head back home. The options for an al fresco feast are also overflowing. Pt. Reyes National Seashore, Tomales Bay State Park, Samuel P. Taylor State Park—all have landscape, trails and tables to put the cap on a bountiful day. Carpe diem!ôo

Today was a good day. I started it off with the inspection of a gorgeous house. Did I say gorgeous? No, glorious. It was so true to the aesthetic of the period as to be a sensorial feast. It was actually a very simple house. Built in 1912, a “classic box,” aka, Classic Revival. One of those simple, almost-but-not-quite boxy designs that usually has a little bay front and almost always has a porch on one corner punctuated by a single classical column. There are thousands in the our area so I’m sure you know the one I mean. 

Every feature on this beauty went just a little beyond the typical. The front had a bow, not a bay, a rounded front projection with three windows, each possessing a rounded sill and casings (and let me tell ya, that’s a lot more work than a simple angular bay). The floor inside was also rounded (more work) with little inlaid borders of walnut, knotted at the corners. The windows were a joy of lead tracery and only a few panes were cracked or loose (truly amazing for a 94-year-old house).  

Inside, not much had been changed (praise the deity of your choice!). Many changes of ownership tend to come with many changes in the building and sadly, much is often lost. The most awe-striking time-capsules of construction I’ve seen over the years have been those that were left when Grandma passed away, leaving behind the home she bought with her late husband (may he rest in peace) on the G.I. bill in 1943. I’ve even seen some early refrigerators with top condensers and 1940s washing machines (with ringers) in houses when the sole owner of 60 years had just passed on. 

The other thing that made this a great day was that the pair of Realtors I spent this jovial four-plus hours with were as excited as I was about what we were doing. There was no rush to get done. No concern over making too big a fuss over what was outdated or in need of repair. Just a deep appreciation of the art of looking at houses and the importance of assessing the conditions accurately and fairly. 

We spend some time talking about the old Wedgewood stove. Whether the salt and pepper shakers were actually original (we figured out that the pepper was just a wee bit too tall and not quite the right shade of porcelain to match but it was pretty close). We had a little learning session on how to adjust pilot lights (I showed off a much loved and very old screwdriver that was just right for the little valve screw). 

We shared knowledge about who was good at fixing what and how much we liked this tradesperson or that one. It was all good, as they say.  

Most of the Realtors that I’ve met are very concerned about inspections being done carefully and thoughtfully. There’s no worry and no hurry. 

The Realtors I worked with today weren’t the least bit concerned about the time the inspection took or the gravity of the items that were found wanting. A foundation was discovered to be soft enough to drive a screwdriver inward up to the hilt. The reaction was concern but not the smallest bit of doubt as to the importance of the finding or any interest in lessening the manner in which it would be discussed. “Lay it on the table” was the subtext and the spoken word. What a blessing. 

This attitude really helps me to do my job. It’s not easy when I have to say that the furnace is ready for the scrap-heap or that the water heater is done for but it’s very important to at least one person that I do it.  

It might be the person who’s getting ready to invest their last penny in the house or it could be a seller who needs to be sure that they don’t sell undisclosed defects to a buyer (who may be upset if or when they have the contractor over to talk about remodeling several months down the road and discover that things were not as they had thought). It’s all good when everybody knows what’s up. 

It’s also pretty clear that buyers don’t expect perfect houses. There are a few people out there who don’t want to buy a house that needs any significant amount of repair. These few have to buy the crème de la crème and often have to pay top dollar to get it.  

Most folks come to understand, if they didn’t prior to looking at a few houses, that older homes have pluses and minuses, just like new homes. When I talk to people about what’s wrong with the house we’re in, mostly they’ll shake their heads and acquiesce the imperfections. Sometimes, a buyer will want to negotiate about a discovery but the desire to turn tail is rare when faced with a few trouble spots. 

After all, there are a lot of motivations to buying a particular house other than the condition of the water heater (although I’ve seen some pretty nice water heaters).  

The majority of buyers are looking for a house in a particular neighborhood and secondly they need it to be of a given size and layout (two baths, four bedrooms). The things on the inspectors list are important but rarely overriding. What matters is that the buyers know what they’re getting into and have a chance to address the things that matter to them. It’s all good when everybody knows what’s up. 

There is clearly more risk in driving a motorcycle than in living with the nastiest thing I might find in a house. People just want a chance to know about the issues and decide if and how they want to address them. When we all work together to do that, it is truly a good day. 

I’d like to applaud those two Realtors from today. The applause also goes out to all those others who do the same (help to lay it on the table). Your clients appreciate it and so do I because it really is all good when everybody knows what’s up. 

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All right, up and at ’em. The only cure I know for the March Muddy Blues is time spent with eager green plants, and since it’s still too wet to mess in the mid in most of our gardens, the place to mingle is the neighborhood nursery.  

Lucky me: The distance from here to Spiral Gardens Community Food Project’s Urban Garden Center is shorter than its official name. They could fit only “Urban Garden Center” on the A-frame sign on the Sacramento Street median strip; I guess that’s to the point. Most of the youngsters there are food plants or California natives, but there are wild cards and volunteers, some in the ground and some in pots, some landscape inhabitants and even some houseplants.  

It’s not exactly news that I’m fond of wild cards and surprises. (OK, not surprise snowstorms in March, those can stop now, thank you.) A nursery where I catch myself saying, “What the heck’s that?” is a place I enjoy. It’s even better when everything’s tagged and I’m still asking. Better still, when so much of it is food. I’ll try anything once. 

Except snails. Snails are the enemy, not the dinner. Besides, as the mulberries bloom I get that seasonal post-nasal drip that makes eating snails redundant. I’d rather just throw them into the street and tell them to go play in traffic. 

I’m not sure I’d eat an endangered species either, but growing things for food is one way to make them less endangered. Growing things for food in an area of the city that doesn’t have supermarkets within strolling distance is about remedying another kind of endangerment, and that’s part of Spiral Garden’s mission. Lately I’m a bit burned-out on non-profits and do-gooding, myself, but the Les Blankian motive, Always For Pleasure, hasn’t lost its power to move me. It’s not just my own pleasure. I think the world would be better off if everyone had more pleasure.  

The pleasure of eating fresh produce gets lip service but it’s still underappreciated. The pleasure of eating produce just a few yards from where it grew is more rare, and so is the related good feeling of growing your own. We’re in a great place for it, where we can grow all year, and Spiral Gardens is a good place to get starts for adventurous and for comfortably familiar eating. This year, e.g., they have a purportedly mildew-resistant squash. They have rarer things like opa, a funny tuber with clover leaves on sprawling stems.  

If you want to grow food but are new at it, Spiral’s also a great place to learn, hands-on and from experts. Just go volunteer now and then; call or drop in when they’re open. Like rare seeds, which need to be grown out and re-gathered to stay viable, garden knowledge is best preserves by dissemination—and that’s part of Spiral Gardens’ mission too.  

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We recently had a call from a woman who wanted some advice about her current home loan and whether we would recommend a refinance. After investigating her circumstances, hearing her story, and questioning her about the process she had gone through, I understood why there are consumer-rights groups wanting to regulate the mortgage industry. Her story spoke not only about a mortgage professional who was more interested in their own paycheck than the best interests of their client, but to a very popular loan program, that in my opinion, should be regulated very carefully. 

The loan program that was “sold” to this client is very popular today and is called by several names, some of which are registered trademarks of various banks. It is an adjustable-rate mortgage whose interest rate adjusts every month, but the required payment adjusts either annually or in some cases may be fixed for a longer time. As I write this I realize that many readers will be lost just on that concept alone. Therein lies the first reason as to why I think anyone considering one of these programs should be required to read and understand a set of disclosures using a 14-point font.  

The big print would clearly state how the monthly payment is less than the amount of interest due on the loan and that the difference between the monthly payment and the amount you actually owe will be added onto the principle balance of the loan each month. This means that as you make your payment each month, you now owe the lender more money than you did the prior month (you may want to read that sentence twice).  

This loan program has a feature called negative amortization and is not new. The program originated in the 1980s and has long been popular for large commercial properties since it gives the property owner a lot of flexibility over their cash flow. Since most commercial loans are adjustable-rate mortgages and property owners cannot raise rents every time interest rates go up, they need some stability in their cash flow and can use a loan like this to control cash flow until they can increase their income to offset their expenses.  

Also in the 1980s, the loan was introduced to homeowners as alternative financing at a time when rates were quite high. The results were fairly disastrous as market circumstances held home prices flat, the loan balances were growing, and many of these loans had balloon payments due in five years, meaning that the loan ends and needs to be repaid. The loan balances grew to equal or go beyond the value of the property and many homeowners lost their properties in foreclosure. 

The loans were then redesigned so the initial payments were at least the amount of interest due on the loan and after five years the loans were then re-amortized (a new payment schedule was established that required monthly principal reduction) and extended for an additional 25 years. Now however, in an effort to extend the low payments that had been in effect due to low interest rates, many of the safeguards have again been abandoned.  

My biggest objection to the service that this particular client experienced was that she was also sold a loan with a three-year pre-payment penalty. This means that if she refinances in the first three years she pays a penalty, which in her case is about $15,000. As a reward for selling the client this loan, the mortgage broker received a big commission from the lender. To add insult to injury, the client says that she told the mortgage person that she wanted a fixed rate loan but was told repeatedly how this loan was superior.  

There are certainly circumstances where this type of loan is the right choice. Since financing in general is sometimes a confusing subject, great care must be taken with any client considering this type of adjustable-rate mortgage. There are always choices and in my opinion, you need an objective advisor who discloses their fees (as required by law), and does not have a financial stake in your decision (one loan yields a higher commission than another).  

At this time, the interest rate market conditions are such that we have experienced a narrowing of the gap between the rate you can get on a fixed-rate loan and the rate you get on an adjustable-rate loan. In other words you can get a fixed-rate loan for almost the same interest rate as the adjustable-rate loan, making the fixed-rate loan easier to choose as well as easier to understand. 

Russ Cohn is president of Cohns Loans in Albany. 

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FRIDAY, MARCH 17 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Pierre Miege on “Social Pressures in China.” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. 665-9020.  

“Transparency in Government” A workshop for citizens on the Brown Act and the California Public Records Act from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at San Lorenzo Community Hall, 377 Paseo Grande, San Lorenzo. Sponsored by the Leagues of Women Voters of Alameda County. Cost is $20-$25. For reservations call 538-9678. lwvsun@comcast.net 

“Darfur Diaries” Film and discussion with filmmaker Adam Shapiro at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. Part of the Conscientious Projector film series. Donation $5 and up, no one turned away. 528-5403. 

Berkeley Chess School classes for students in grades 1-8 from 5 to 7 p.m. at 1581 LeRoy Ave., room 17. 843-0150. 

Berkeley Chess Club at 8 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. Players at all levels are welcome. 845-1041. 

Women in Black Vigil noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. 845-1143. 

SATURDAY, MARCH 18 

Kid’s Garden Club for ages 7-12 to explore the world of gardening, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 636-1684. 

Restore Rare Coastal Prarie in Richmond Volunteers are needed to assist in this on-going effort to restore a portion of West Stege marsh, its surrounding uplands, and adjacent grassland, on the University of California’s Richmond Field Station. To register and for directions call 665-3689. www.thewatershedproject.org 

Bay-Friendly Gardening Basics This workshop provides an overview of design and maintenance considerations to help you make smart choices in the nursery. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. Free, registration required. 444-7645. www.BayFriendly.org  

Berkeley Elementary School Resource Fair for parents at 10 a.m. at LeConte Elementary School, 2241 Russell St. Fair includes information about Berkeley summer camps, children’s sports leagues and financial aid, free consultations with lawyers and healthcare experts and information about Berkeley Special Education services. Spanish translation and refreshments provided. 883-5244. 

Shamrock Day at Habitot Children’s Museum Green art activities and a hunt for hidden pots of gold from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with music at 3:30 p.m. at 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111.  

“Tibet in Pictures” An educational presentation by Tamdin Wangdu of the Tibetan Village Project, at 3 p.m. at Tibet Books and Design, 1201C Solano Ave., Albany. Please RSVP as seating is limited. 525-1989. 

Lead-Safety for Remodeling, repair and painting of older homes. AHUD & EPA approved class held in Oakland from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. To register, call Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program 567-8280. www.ACLPPP.org 

East Bay Atheists meets to discuss “Fundamentalism and Communication” at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St., 3rd floor meeting room. 222-7580. 

Vegetarian Cooking Class Journey to India from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St. at Castro. Cost is $45. Register in advance online at www.compassionatecooks.com 531-COOK. 

“Breastapalooza” A Breast Health Fair for young women from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Alta Bates Summit Health Education Center, 400 Hawthorne Rd., Oakland. To register call 1-800-870-8705. 

Berkeley Alliance of Neighborhood Associations meets at 9:15 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Sproul Conference Room, 1st Floor, 2727 College Ave. www.berkeleycna.com 

“Real Estate Investing” A free seminar from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Berkeley Association of Relators, 1553 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

Berkeley Rep’s Teen Theater Conference from 1 to 5:45 p.m. at Berkeley Rep School of Theater, 2071 Addison St. 647-2971. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Spirit Walking Aqua Chi (TM) A gentle water exercise class at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley High Warm Pool. Cost is $3.50 per session. 526-0312. 

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Lama Palznag and Pema Gellek on “Cutting Off Negative Thoughts” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

SUNDAY, MARCH 19 

Brooks Island Boating Voyage Paddle the rising tides across the Richmond Harbor Channel to Brooks Island. For experienced boaters who can provide their own canoe or kayak, and safety gear. Parent participation required. Ages 14 and up. Cost is $20-$22. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Spring in the Garden Celebrate the season by preparing the garden for warmer weather and learn about local butterflies, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Richmond Museum of History inaugurates a new museum on board the Red Oak Victory Ship at 2 p.m. at the end of Canal Blvd, Richmond. Reception and tour of the ship included. Coast is $5. 222-9200. 

Berkeley Cyber Salon with bloggers and podcasters, moderated by Andrew Keen, founder of the AfterTV.com podcast, at 5 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Donation of $10 requested. 559-9774. 

Parent First Aid & Emergency Care for Babies at 4 p.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave. Cost is $30, $50 for couples. To register call 658-7853. www.bananasinc.org 

“Illustrating Nature” A family workshop on biological illustrattions from the exhibition “The Art of Seeing: Nature Revealed Through Illustration” from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“Phenomenal Photography” A family workshop on creating a photo transfer inspired by the exhibition of Edward Weston’s photography from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732.  

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

“Spinoza, Maria and Excommunication” a reading of Rabbi Milton Matz’s play at Kol Hadash Sunday Brunch at 10 a.m. at Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Donation of $5 requested. 

Alexander Technique for Pain Free Necks at 11:30 a.m. at 7:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Spring Into Wellness: A Healing Faire from 1 to 3 p.m. at Unity of Berkeley, 2075 Eunice St. 528-8844. unityberkeley.org 

Yoga and Meditation Every Sun. in March from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

MONDAY, MARCH 20 

Gold Star Mother Celeste Zappala from Philadelphia will speak at an Interfaith Service “Remembrance and Resistance: The Third Anniversary of the Iraq War” at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. 848-3696, ext 20. 

Spring Equinox Gathering at 5:45 to 6:45 p.m. at the Interim Solar Calendar, Cesar Chavez Park, Berkeley Marina. 

American Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at MLK Student Union, 5th Floor Tilden Room, UC Campus. To schedule an appointment call 1-800-GIVELIFE.  

“Using Nanoscale Tools, Can We Replicate the Sense of Smell?” with Dr. Arun Majumdar, Director, Berkeley Nanosciences & Nanoengineering Institute, at 5:30 p.m. at Florence Schwimley Little Theater, Berkeley High School, Allston Way between Milvia and MLK, Jr. Way. 486-7292.  

“How to Expand Your Mind- Body Connection” Bring your grocery receipts and learn how to phase in new eating habits at 5:30 pm. in the Rose Room at Mercy Retirement Center, 3431 Foothill Blvd., Oakland. Cos tis $30 or $120 for the entire series. 534-8547, ext. 666. 

World Affairs Discussion Group for seniors at 10:15 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center. Cost is $2.50.  

McGee Avenue Toastmasters meets at 7:30 p.m. at McGee Ave Baptist Church, 1640 Stuart St. 501-7005. 

Free Business Loan and Business Plan Writing Boot Camp Mon. and Fri. from 9 a.m. to noon at 519 17th St., 2nd Floor, Ste. 200, Oakland, through March 31. 395-6003. 

TUESDAY, MARCH 21 

Berkeley Garden Club “Native Plants for the Home Garden” with Glenn Keator, author and teacher, at 1 p.m. at Epworth Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 527-5641. 

American Red Cross Blood Services is holding a volunteer orientation from 6 to 8 p.m. at its Oakland office.For more information, please call 594-5165.  

American Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at MLK Student Union, 5th Floor Tilden Room, UC Campus, and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Mary’s College, 1294 Albina Ave. To schedule an appointment call 1-800-GIVELIFE. www.BeADonor.com 

Berkeley Salon Discussion Group meets to discuss “Living Poor with Style” from 7 to 9 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 601-6690. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Family Story Time at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Branch Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Free, all ages welcome. 524-3043. 

Brainstormer Weekly Pub Quiz every Tuesday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Pyramid Alehouse Brewery, 901 Gilman St. 528-9880.  

Stress Less Seminar at 6:30 p.m. at New Moon Opportunities, 378 Jayne Ave., Oakland Free, but registration required. 465-2524. 

“Hinduism: Yoga and Awareness of Divinity” with Swami Vedananda at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Buddhist Monastery, 2304 McKinley at Bancroft. 848-9788. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Free Handbuilding Ceramics Class 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. John’s Senior Center, 2727 College Ave. Also, Mon. noon to 4 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Materials and firing charges not included. 525-5497. 

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. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22  

Great Decisions Foreign Policy Association Lecture “Brazil” at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Cost is $40 for the eight lecture series. 526-2925. 

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds, who may be accompanied by an adult. We will learn about the weather from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 636-1684. 

“The Diablo Grand Loop” Learn the natural and cultural history of Mt. Diablo, including the rediscovery of Mt. Diablo buckwheat, presumed to be extinct, at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“Labor Unions and Worker-Managed Factories in Venezuela” with Luis Primo, a member of the Venezuelan National Union of Workers at 1 p.m. at 3335 Dwinelle Hall, office wing, level C, UC Campus. andeanproject@gmail.com 

World Social Forum Report “Another World is Possible” with Margot Smith and Bea Howard at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Gray Panthers, 1402 Addison St. 548-9696. 

“Rightful Resistance in Rural China” with Kevin J. O’Brien, Professor of Political Science, at 4:30 p.m. in the IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton St., 6th Floor. http://ieas.berkeley.edu 

Basic First Aid for Pets at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society, 2700 Ninth St. Donation of $10 requested. RSVP to 845-7735, ext. 22. www.berkeleyhumane.org 

“Sound and Fury” a film on one family’s struggle over whether or not to provide two deaf children with cochlear implants, devices that can stimulate hearing, at 7 p.m. in the Albany High School Library, 603 Key Route Blvd. in Albany. Free. Discussion follows the film. Sponsored by Embracing Diversity Films. 527-1328. embracingdiversityfilms.org 

Mind-Body-Spirit Causes of Chronic Fatigue A talk with Lisa Hartnett at 7:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6:30 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

Sing your Way Home A free sing-a-long at 4:30 p.m. every Wed. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720. 

Stitch ‘n Bitch Bring your knitting, crocheting and other handcrafts from 6 to 9 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198. 

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

vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, MARCH 23 

The Writer in the Digital Age A workshop offered by the National and Local Writers Union at 7 p.m. at the School of Journalism, Northgate Hall, UC Campus. 839-1248. www.writersunion.org 

Ask a Union Mechanic every Thurs. from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Parker and Shattuck, until the strike is settled. They will offer advice on all makes of car. 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

Historical & Current Times Book Group meets on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1249 Marin Ave. 548-4517. 

ONGOING 

Free Tax Help—United Way’s Earn it! Keep It! Save It! program provides free filing assistance to households that earned less than $38,000 in 2005. To find a free tax site near you, call 800-358-8832 or visit www.EarnitKeepitSaveit.org 

Albany Library Free Drop-in Homework Help for students in third through fifth grades, Mon. - Thurs. from 3 to 5:30 p.m. Emphasis is placed on math and writing skills. No registration is required. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Find a Loving Animal Companion at the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society Adoption Center (open from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday). 2700 Ninth St. 845-7735. www.berkeleyhumane.org  

Medical Care for Your Pet at the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society low-cost veterinary clinic. 2700 Ninth St. For appointments call 845-3633. www.berkeleyhumane.org  

CITY MEETINGS 

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board meets Mon. Mar. 20 at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Pam Wyche, 644-6128 ext. 113. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent 

Creeks Task Force meets Mon. Mar. 20, at 7 p.m. the North Berkeley Senior Center. Erin Dando, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/planning/landuse/Creeks/default.html 

City Council meets Tues., Mar. 21, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Berkeley Housing Authority meets Tues., Mar. 21, at 6:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. ww.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/housingauthority 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., Mar. 22, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/civicarts 

Energy Commission meets Wed., Mar. 22, 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. Mar. 22, at 6:30 p.m. at 2640 MLK Jr. Way, at Derby. Harvey Turek, 981-5213. www.ci.erkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/mentalhealth 

Planning Commission meets Wed., Mar. 22, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Janet Homrighausen, 981-7484. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed., Mar. 22 , at 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/policereview 

School Board meets Wed., March 22 at 7:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers. Queen Graham 644-6147 or Mark Coplan 644-6320. 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Mar. 23, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/zoning   

Parks and Recreation Commission meets Mon., Mar. 27, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Virginia Aiello, 981-5158. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/com 

missions/parksandrecreation 

Solid Waste Management Commission Mon., Mar. 27, at 7 p.m., at 1201 Second St. Tania Levy, 981-6368. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/solidwaste 

TUESDAY, MARCH 14 

FILM 

Vantage Points: New Documentaries by Women “States of UnBelonging” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“The Issue of Icons Once Again” with Prof. Constantine Scouteris, University of Athens, at 7:30 p.m. at Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute, 2311 Hearst Ave. 649-3450. 

Lola Vollen talks about “Surviving Justice: America’s Wrongly Convicted and Exonerated” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Orpheus Supertones with Walt Koken, Claire Milliner, Pete Peterson, and Kellie Allen at 8 p.m. in Berkeley near College and Ashby. Donation to performers $10-$20 sliding scale. For reservations and directions, please send an email to Cleoma@aol.com 

Creole Belles with Andrew Carriere at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Singer’s Open Mic with Ellen Hoffman at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Debbie Poryes & Friends at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

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

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

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15 

FILM 

Latino Film Festival “Habana, Havana” at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $6. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Film 50: History of Cinema “East of Eden” at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Edward Rutherford continues his history of Ireland in “The Rebels of Ireland” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Café Poetry hosted by Paradise at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Donation $2. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Joshua Beckman and Matthew Rohrer, poets, at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music for the Spirit with the Rimsky-Korsakov String Quartet at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Boradway. 444-3555. 

Dave Brubeck Quartet & Ramsey Lewis Trio at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $36-$72. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

“Beyond Words: An Interfaith Ritual for Peace” A dance performance that transcends the barriers of words and dogma at 7:30 p.m. at Congregation Beth El, 1301 Oxford St. 540-7227. 

Calvin Keys Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Ned Boynton Trio at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Whiskey Brothers, old time and bluegrass, at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Balkan Folkdance at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $7. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Blue Roots at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Girlyman at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

THURSDAY, MARCH 16 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Lost and Found” Wearable art made from found or recycled materials, by NIAD and Piedmont High students. Reception at 5:30 p.m. at the NIAD Art Center, 551 23rd St., Richmond. www.niadart.org 

FILM 

Film and Video Makers at Cal at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Nahid Rachlin, Iranian-born writer, reads from her works at 5:30 p.m. at Mills Hall, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. Part of the Contemporary Writers Series. 430-2236. 

Nomad Spoken Word Night at 7 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Greg Mortenson describes “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations One School at a Time” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

Word Beat Reading Series with Jamey Genna and Jeffrey Grossman at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave., near Dwight Way. 526-5985. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Jewish Music Festival with Paul Dresher, Daniel David Feinsmith, Sarah Cahill and John Schott at 7:30 p.m. at the Thrust Stage, Berkeley Rep. Tickets are $22-$26. 415-276-1511. 

The Black Brothers at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Cathy Felter Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

With River, Philip Rodriguez at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Glen Washington, reggae, at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $20-$22. 548-1159.  

Jonathan Alford Duo at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

FRIDAY, MARCH 17 

THEATER 

Central Works “Shadow Crossing” Thurs. - Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through March 26. Tickets are $9-$25. 558-1381. www.centralworks.org 

Impact Theatre, “Hamlet” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through March 18. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. www.impacttheatre.com 

FILM 

Asian American Film Festival “Letter from an Unknown Woman” at 7 p.m. and “Linda Linda Linda” at 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Tony Kushner in Conversation with Michael Krasney on Arthur Miller at 6:30 p.m. at Berkeley Repertory Theater, 2025 Addison St. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble and Combos Spring Jazz Concert at 7 p.m. at Florence Schwimley Little Theater, on the Berkeley High School campus. Tickets are $10, BHS students, teachers and staff free. 527-8245. 

Frederica Von Stade, mezzo soprano, with jazz pianist Taylor Eigsti at 8 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $125. Benefit for the Jazzschool. 845-5373. 

Junior Bach Festival at 7:30 p.m. at St. John’s, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $7-$12. 843-2224. 

Saoco, dance band mixture of reggae and ricos ritmos cubanos at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568.  

Blind Duck, traditonal Irish music at 7:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $4. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Hal Stein Quartet CD Release Party at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Stomp the Stumps Benefit for Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters with Gary Gates Band, Funky Nixons, Day Late Fool’s Band at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Blame Sally at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Darryl Henriques at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

George Cotsirilos Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Mariospeedwagon and Lemon Juju at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Instant Asshole, Skinned Alive, Dog Assassin at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Glen Washington, reggae, at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $20-$22. 548-1159.  

Loretta Lynch, Oaktown country, Bob Wiseman & Leah Abramson at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 644-2204.  

The San Pablo Project at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SATURDAY, MARCH 18 

CHILDREN  

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

East Bay Children’s Theater, “Cinderella’s Glass Slipper” at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m at James Moore Theatre, Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St. Tickets are $7. 655-7285. 

“Strega Nona Festival” and ice cream social presented by Stagebridge Senior Theatre Company, based on characters from Tomie dePaola’s books, at 3 p.m. Sat. and Sun. at Arts First Oakland, 2501 Harrison, at 27th St. Oakland. Tickets are $10 general, $5 children. www.stagebridge.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

New Works by Ben Belknap, Mike Simpson & Derek Weisberg. New expressions of the figure in ceramics, wood sculpture, and pen. Reception at 7 p.m. at M.C. Artworks Gallery, 10344 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 703- 6621. 

THEATER 

“Oracles From the Living Tarot” at 2 and 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2501 Harrison St., Oakland. Tickets are $20-$30. Benefit for Magical Arts Ritual Theater. 523-7754. www.ticketweb.com 

FILM 

Asian American Film Festival “Memories in the Mist” at 4:40 p.m., “Punching at the Sun” at 7 p.m. and “Citizen Dog” at 9:15 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Buddhism at Dunhuang” Panel discussions on the manuscripts and artifacts found at the cave site, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Toll Room, Alumni House, UC Campus. 642-2809. http://ieas.berkeley.edu/events/dunhuang 

Poetry Flash with Andrew Zawacki, Andrew Joron, Maxine Chernoff and Gelorge Albon and others at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Parlor Tango, Argentine Tango music composed between 1910 and 1950, at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. bet. Durant and Bancroft. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. http://trinity 

chamberconcerts.com 

Bach Collegium Japan at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. TIckets are $42. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Jillian Khuner, soprano, in a benefit recital for the Berkeley Community Chorus, at 8 p.m. at the Crowden School, 1475 Rose St. Tickets are $30, includes reception. 601-1718, 549-1336.  

Noitada Brasileira “The Carnivals of Brazil” with Dandara, Beto Guimaraes, and Bateria Lucha at 8 p.m. at The Beat, Eddie Brown Center for the Arts, 2560 9th St. Tickets are $15-$20. 548-5348. 

Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu at 2 and 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $20-$32. 642-4864.  

“Jazz at the Chimes” with Vince Wallace at 2 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Donation of $15 requested. 228-3207. 

Annie Sprinkle in “A Public Cervix Announcement” with drummers, dancers and singers at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $20-$35. 925-798-1300. 

Robin Gregory and her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Aux Cajunals at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Jesu Diaz y su QBA, Cuban Timba music at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Pillows, She Mob and David Enos at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 644-2204.  

The Ravines and Dave Lionelli at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Melanie O’Reilly & Aising Ghear at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Sol Bebelz, The Attik, Ill Adapted at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $10. 848-0886.  

Kudisan Kai at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Eric Muhler Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Steve Smulian at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Sonando Quintet An Afro-Caribbean Tribute to Stevie Wonder at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 19 

CHILDREN 

Charity Kahn & The Jamband at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054.  

“Illustrating Nature” A family workshop on biological illustrattions from the exhibition “The Art of Seeing: Nature Revealed Through Illustration” from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“Phenomenal Photogaphy” A family workshop on creating a photo transfer inspired by the exhibition of Edward Weston’s photography from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

THEATER 

Culture Clash’s “Zorro in Hell” A Benefit for KPFA and the Middle East Children’s Alliance at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Rep, 2025 Addison St., followed by reception. Tickets are $75. 548-0542. www.mecaforpeace.org 

FILM 

“China’s Contemporary Documentary Films” from 11:15 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $5 per screening. 643-6321. www.ticketweb.com 

Asian American Film Festival “Grain in Ear” at 4:45 p.m., “Walk Like a Dragon” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Java and Bali: Art, Religion, and Folk Tradition” A lecture with Joseph Fischer at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge. 981-6151. 

Poetry Flash with Kurt Brown and Geoffrey Brock at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852.  

Island Literary Series, jazz and poetry at 3 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $2-$4. 841-JAZZ. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Mozart and the Search for the Missing Children” a concert at 4 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Road, Kensington. Tickets are $15-$20. Benefit for Pro Busqueda, a non-governmental organization in El Salvador whose mission is to locate children who had been abducted by the Salvadoran military during the war, from 1980 - 1992. 650-579-5568.  

Junior Bach Festival at 3:30 p.m. at the Crowden Music Center and at 7:30 p.m. at St. John’s, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $7-$12. 843-2224. 

San Francisco Chamber Orchestra “Bernstein Bash” at 3 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way.  

Cantible Chorale “Mass Transit” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $6-$25. www.cantabile.org  

University Chorus and Chamber Chorus “St. Matthew Passion” at 5 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $$5-$15. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Organ Music with David Hunsberger at 4 p.m. at St. Johns, 2727 College Ave. Donation of $15 requested. Reception follows. 845-6830. 

Marvin Sanders, flute, Lena Lubotsky, piano at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Tickets are $10. 644- 6893. 

Dick Hindman, jazz pianist, at 5 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 201 Martina Ave., at W. Richmond Ave., Point Richmond. $10 suggested donation. 236-0527. www.pointrichmond.com/methodist 

Jewish Music Festival with Yahudice at 7:30 p.m. at the Thrust Stage, Berkeley Rep. Tickets are $22-$26. 415-276-1511. 

Jon Fromer at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $10-$20. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Tina Marzell and her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ.  

Four Schillings Short at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Bay Area Middle School Jazz Showcase at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $5-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Bob Marley Student Ensemble at 7:30 p.m. at the Jazz- 

school. Free. 845-5373.  

April Verch at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Look Back and Laugh, The Pedestrians at 2 p.m. and Park and Amity at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

MONDAY, MARCH 20 

THEATER 

Woman’s Will’s 24-Hour Playfest at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$25. 420-0813. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“China’s Contemporary Documentary Films” Panel discussion at 4 p.m. at IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton St., 6th Flr. 643-6321.  

Story Tells, a storytelling swap, at 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, Jack London Square, Oakland.  

Elizabeth Kolbert describes “Field Notes From a Catastrophe: Man, Nature and Climate Change” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Poetry Express with Tom Odegard at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Sista Kee aka Kito Gamble CD release concert at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s. Tickets are $10-$15. 238-9200.  

Zilber-Muscarella Quartet & Invitational at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Trovatore, traditional Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198. ª

You can buy a toy helicopter at the Dollar Store, but Ten Red Hen Productions has beaten that price and delivered the goods in the form of The 99-cent Miss Saigon at the Willard Middle School Metalshop Theater, with much, much more (although the program c over displays a tiny ‘copter propelled by big chopsticks into a wide-open mouth as its proud logo). 

“99-cent” refers to the stripped-down look of this splendid on-the-cheap production, not the suggested donation (a sliding scale that starts at movie rates but “no one turned away”). It has the feel, the real value of a rich, glitz-free show. “As a director of mostly experimental and community based theater, I wanted to see what would happen if I took a big musical and did it without even the pretense of production values,” writes Ten Red Hen’s Maya Gurantz in the program notes, “to do the Broadway musical without the Broadway.” To make it doubly problematic, Gurantz and her able cohorts have taken what’s “essentially, a splashy rockin’ musical about sexual exploitation during the Vietnam War,” and turned it into a running series of pointed, if unvoiced, questions about the spectacle of it all, without losing a penny of entertainment value. It’s great, heady fun, a showcase of talent and exuberance. 

The dozen-member cast troops through the sometimes cynical, sometimes maudlin Madame Butterfly story, which “veers from white male colonialist fantasy to fairly accurate social critiques and back again.” Some double as musicians in the on-the-floor “pit.” M usical Director and pianist Dave Malloy plays Chris, the male lead (a Marine from the American Embassy, who finds love—where else?—in a brothel), at one point playing the keyboard with one hand while pantomiming a phonecall to his buddy John (George Michael, an excellent vocalist.) He confesses to being bit by the lovebug, only to be told to hustle back to the Embassy as the capital falls to the North Viets. 

Brittany Bexton, a recent Pacific Conservatory graduate, ups the ante as a triple threat: a fine-singing Ellen (Chris’s stateside wife, clueless at first about Chris’s ‘Dalliance En Nam’), a clarinetist and a tap-dancing cheerleader during a fantasy song by The Engineer, a pimp played with gusto by Mark Romyn: “I’m too good for small-time hustles/Wha t’s that smell in the air?/The American Dream!” A brassy blonde, Fred Astaire and The Statue of Liberty on roller skates fill out this chorus extolling what The States holds in trust for the wretched of the earth. 

In the midst of a plethora of 99-cent ef fects, the lid of Malloy’s upright piano plays multiple roles. It serves as an elevated playing area, and then is slammed down for the sound of gunshots: the first when the heroine shoots, with pointed finger, her menacing cousin Thuy, played by Erick Ca sanova, who both sings and moves well as this pathetic villain who comes back to haunt in dreams. Finally, it’s the top to a cradle for the balloon-headed bundle that somehow perfectly signifies the love-child of Marine and bargirl. Later, there’s a rus h of balloons for all the children dashing hopefully to safety as the—yes—toy helicopter takes off with the Embassy’s charges.  

The biggest ovation by rights goes to lead Jane Chen, as Kim, the young woman fleeing her devastated village, lost in the ste ws of the big city, later transformed into a courtesan with an almost hieroglyphic leer, as she waits for word of Chris in Bangkok, caring for their son. A very talented comedienne, trained in physical theater, Chen toured the country with her brilliant o ne-woman show, The Chinese Clown Cabaret, also directed by Gurantz, her friend from Yale. In The 99-Cent Miss Saigon, she extends the deft touch she showed in comic vaudeville to an exceptional dramatic portrayal, singing and acting out a role that’s obse ssed her since seventh grade.  

“Jane found there was a difference between singing Kim’s songs, and having to play Kim, who is written so often as a stereotype,” comments Gurantz. “And yet...the possibilities of magic contained in the show kept me enthralled—I didn’t want to make it a satire. That would be too easy.” Chen ends the notes with, “What you see tonight is a combination of what we have found in the musical, and what we decided to make our own.” 

All this is staged with brio—very much their own—in the industrial multi-purpose room that was once Willard School’s Metalshop, which Ten Red Hen is helping to convert into a black box theater for school and community use: the Metalshop Theater Project (for info, contact drama teacher George_Rose@berkel ey.k12.ca.us). The program itself is worth at least 99 cents; the plot is clearly and helpfully laid out, followed by a cost breakdown: “How Much Does A 99-Cent Show Cost, Anyway?” 

“A lot, surprisingly,” is the answer (though special effects, “including, variously, beet juice and balloons,” came in at $100.) The conclusion: “it is more expensive to make a show ‘look’ cheap ... than to just have a mish-mash of some nice and some poor things ... brought in from cast and crew closets ...” As at least one R ed Hen from the fairy tale could tell you, sometimes the nicest gifts come in the plainest packages. 

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This year’s SFJAZZ Spring Season 2006, which jumps the gun on spring this Friday, March 17 and continues through June 17, offers nearly 50 imaginatively conceived programs in venues all over San Francisco. The events take place at beautiful locations like the Palace of the Legion of Honor’s Florence Gould Theatre where admission to the museum is included in the ticket price, Grace Cathedral, the War Memorial Opera House, the Masonic Center, the Great American Music Hall, the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, and Herbst Theatre with its magnificent autumnal (thus Herbst) murals by Sir Frank Brangwyn. Besides straight ahead musical performances that range through mainstream, New Orleans, avant-garde, Latin, African and Bulgarian music, there are also classes, pre-concert talks, jam sessions, films and cartoons that can broaden and enhance the experience of the music. The following eight shows are just the cream of a consistently great festival: 

Saturday, March 18, 8 p.m., Masonic Center: Eartha Kitt, a five-foot four-inch giant, was an illegitimate child from South Carolina who transformed herself into an international singing and dancing star. She made films, was friends with Orson Welles and James Dean, had hit records including “Santa Baby,” sang in a dozen languages, was the second Catwoman on television’s Batman, wrote three autobiographies with no ghost, and was twice nominated for Tony’s, most recently for her powerful performance in 2000 in The Wild Party based on the brutal poetic masterpiece by Joseph Moncure March. Never chary of offering her opinion, she found herself blacklisted in 1968 because of anti-war statements she made at a White House luncheon hosted by Lady Bird Johnson. Although she seemed to be going down in flames, she fooled everyone and persisted until she was reborn phoenix-like from those very flames. Still going strong at 79, she is a living legend. 

Saturday, April 1, 8 p.m., Palace of Fine Arts Theatre: Alto saxophonist, flutist and composer Henry Threadgill is the last survivor of the classic free jazz trio Air. His current group Zooid mixes jazz, blues, gospel, funk, marching band, Middle Eastern, classical and tango elements to address the mythic themes that inspire Threadgill to create his freely improvised but intricately structured pieces. This acoustic band includes guitar, cello, oud, tuba and drums plus Henry’s horns. Although his composition and playing is eccentric, it proceeds from a particularly interesting mind, one that can play at the edges of freedom and come back with something deliriously lyrical and timeless.  

Friday, April 28, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre: Randy Weston studied with Thelonious Monk at Monk’s apartment in the late 1940s. He plays closer to Monk’s manner than any other jazz pianist, but with his own personal rhythmic and harmonic take on that style. For the last 45 years he has applied it to his study and work with African musicians following a long residence in Morocco in the ‘60s and early ‘70s. To celebrate his 80th birthday, he brings the Gnawa Master Musicians of Morocco with him to this year’s festival to combine the power of Islamic Sufi mysticism with the jazz musicians’ voodoo mysticism.  

Sunday, April 30, 7 p.m., Herbst Theatre: Dewey Redman brings his quartet to town to help celebrate his 75th birthday. The big-toned Oklahoma tenor saxophonist became well-known as a sidekick of Ornette Coleman’s and solidified his position as a major player with his group Old and New Dreams. He also has a claim to fame as the father of tenor saxophonist Josh Redman. Like his old friends Charlie Haden and Don Cherry, he loves to bring together funky blues, muscular bebop and free-form jazz with innovative sounds from world music. 

Saturday, May 6, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre: Kenny Barron and Danilo Pérez offer up dueling jazz piano trios. In this corner, Danilo Pérez, 40-year old Panamanian piano wizard wearing maroon trunks; and in this corner, Kenny Barron, one of the greatest living jazz musicians who has spent the last half century playing with everyone from Lionel Hampton, Benny Carter, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimmy Scott, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Jimmy and Tootie Heath, John Lewis, Milt Jackson, James Moody, Benny Golson, Abbey Lincoln, Tommy Flanagan, Barry Harris, Roy Haynes, Johnny Griffin, Elvin Jones, Ornette Coleman, Charlie Haden, Marion Brown, John Hicks and Chico Freeman to Teresa Brewer, Maria Muldaur, Manhattan Transfer, Larry Coryell, Jane Monheit, Regina Carter, Paquito D’Rivera and Danilo Perez. The reason they all want to work with him is because he is remarkable. 

Sunday, May 14, 7 p.m., Herbst Theatre: Jimmy Scott has an intuitive mastery of phrasing the likes of which has not been heard since Billie Holiday or Mabel Mercer. The timbre of his unique voice drips with smoke, romance, heartbreak and androgyny. A perfect fit for Mother’s Day.  

Saturday, June 10, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Herbst Theatre: Savion Glover is the greatest living tap dancer because he is the most innovative and contemporary. The last time he was in the area, at the Marin Center Veterans Memorial Auditorium in November, he presented a program of tapping to the classics. This could easily have been effete, but Savion had me convinced during Mozart’s Divertimento in D major, K.136, that he was right and everyone else had missed Mozart’s rhythmic and percussive genius. His remarkable grace, energy and improvisational genius are not to be missed. 

Sunday, June 11, 7 p.m., Herbst Theatre: Alto saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera, a child prodigy in his native Cuba, went on to be a founding member of Irakere. After defecting in 1980, he moved to New York and was soon playing with Dizzy Gillespie, a musician who adored Cuban music and was adored in Cuba. Paquito, who brings his quintet to the festival, is certainly the greatest Latin alto player of all time, combining Cuban roots, bebop and his own personal lyricism.  

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A passion for beauty impels Changming Meng to create his ink paintings on paper, 20 of which are on view in the public areas of UC’s Institute of East Asian Studies through March 24. The overall effects of these expressive reductive works—in the artist’s 51st solo exhibition!—are twofold. They free viewers of their preconceptions, cleansing their eyes and spirits, and they nourish them with a fresh energy, not just for confronting art, but life, as well.  

Born in 1961, Meng began at the age of five to study traditional Chinese calligraphy. Later he simultaneously studied the disciplines of socialist realism and traditional Chinese painting at the Nanjing Art School. The curriculum, as a matter of course, also included calligraphy and martial arts.  

The profound spirituality that Meng experienced during a sojourn of six months in Tibet awakened in him a sense that here was the authentic source of Chinese culture. It also awakened him to the limitations of socialist realism, influencing him to abandon it as a mode of expression for himself while he painted two hundred abstractions. Of this period Meng comments that his response to Tibet was what he imagines Paul Gauguin must have felt when he visited Tahiti, feelings that the French artist conveys in Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? During the following years Meng traveled intermittently throughout China. “Your culture,” he learned, “runs in your blood.”  

The artist then spent two years (1987-1989) reading the works of weste rn philosophers and novelists, favoring, in particular, German philosophy and French literature. He waxes enthusiastic about philosophers Immanuel Kant and Friedrich Nietzsche and novelists James Joyce and Marcel Proust, as much for the challenges they po se to his own attitudes as for the insights they offer to the human condition. 

In 1990, Meng, having only three phrases in English and 80 dollars in his pocket, moved to the United States. Commercial success gave him the means to travel. Everywhere he we nt—Greece, Egypt, Russia, France, Israel, the United States, Kenya, Sudan, etc.—he visited art museums, adding to his personal visual encyclopedia. In America he was particularly drawn to the works of Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol.  

From 1996 to 20 00 he painted his Heaven and Earth series, which was characterized by eclecticism in materials, imagery and forms. He paused to reflect, concluding that the Heaven and Earth series was too philosophical. Simply put, “Art is not philosophy.” Its proper con cern is beauty and he wants to make art that is original with himself and organic in spirit. “There is too much mechanical stuff in contemporary art,” he says. 

He turned to the traditional materials, imagery and forms of his Chinese heritage. A solo exhi bition at the National Museum of China in Nanjing in 2001 at the age of 41 made him the youngest artist as yet so honored  

Upon entering the exhibition space, a visitor sees two vertical panels whose abstract forms, in black, gray and red on white repres ent lotuses and goldfish in a pond. An essential lesson, when looking at this art, is to recognize that white space is not empty. In these panels, as elsewhere, it is essential to the overall composition—as much as the white space on a printed page of a p oem by Stéphane Mallarmé. Symbolically, Meng uses red to represent human life, black to represent earth, and white to represent the sky.  

Happy Fish, for all the ostensible naïeveté of its title, is a compositional tour de force with vertical red strokes ascending the right-hand side of the panel—Meng painted them intuitively to suggest an infinite number of fish—and one black stroke in a broad band of white on the left-hand side. Painting it was “like writing a poem,” he says. As with his other works, i t told him “when it was finished.”  

In Lotus No. 4 fish appear to be channeling themselves between two black forms. The composition was not so important to Meng in painting this work as was the spirit of play. This spirit predominates in other works usin g abstracted fish imagery, as well. Two mostly black Ink Works, dating from 2004, though non-referential abstractions convey muscular tension, bringing to mind some of the works of Abstract Expressionist Willem de Kooning. Expressionism also characterizes Fish, a very complexly composed work in red, black, gray and white that looks like reductive music made visible. (Music of Mozart, in fact, accompanies Meng as he works in his studio.) In four works on view, Meng has appropriated images from Henri Matisse: an odalisque, of course; a woman in puffy sleeves; two women in a patio with a guitar; and a still life of fish bowls. The artist explains: “I want ordinary people to be able to enjoy what is in museums and private collections.” Other vertical panels, with the addition of green ink, suggest gourds and vines. The most mirthful painting exhibited is Crane No. 1 crowded with solid black images of long-necked waterfowl. Their startling red eyes are essential to the synesthetic experience of their squaking. It is no coincidence that the artist, his wife and two sons live near Oakland’s Lake Merritt. Thus the incidents of everyday life, unique and organic, nourish the inspiration of Changming Meng. ªt

TUESDAY, MARCH 14 

Empty Bowls Dinner Benefit for Alameda County Community Food Bank. Enjoy a bowl of soup and a handmade soup bowl to take home at 5:30 p.m. at at LOCATION. Tickets are $15, or $30 for a family of four. 653-3663, ext. 328. 

“The Invaded Estuary: Exotic Species in San Francisco Bay” with Andrew Cohen of the San Francisco Estuary Institute at 5:30 p.m. at the Goldman School of Public Policy, Room 250, corner of Hearst and LeRoy, UC Campus. 642-2666. 

“A Forgotten Resistance: The Mosque of Paris” A documentary by Derri Berkani at 7:30 p.m. in the Homeroom, International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. Dr. Annette Herskovits, who survived the holocaust as a child in France thanks to a clandestine rescue network, will present the film. 

“Guatemala: The Struggle to End Impunity” with Aisha Brown of NISGUA’s Guatemala Accompaniment Project at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St. Donation $5-$10, no one turned away. 415-924-3227. 

“Mental Training for the Endurance Athlete” with former professional triathlete Terri Schneider at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Design and Print T-Shirts Workshop with Alliance Graphics in conjunction with the Berkeley Youth Arts Festival from 3 to 5 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Also on Wed. Registration required. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

American Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at Tau Beta Pi, Leroy St., next to Soda Hall, UC Campus. To schedule an appointment call 1-800-GIVELIFE. www.BeADonor.com 

Berkeley School Volunteers Training workshop for volunteers interested in helping the public schools, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. 644-8833. 

Spring Decluttering Organize your mind, home, office and life at 7:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Family Story Time at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Branch Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Free, all ages welcome. 524-3043. 

Free Handbuilding Ceramics Class 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. John’s Senior Center, 2727 College Ave. Also, Mon. noon to 4 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Materials and firing charges not included. 525-5497. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll learn about the water cycle, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Bird Walk on Mt. Wanda led by Park Ranger Cheryl Able. Meet at 8:30 a.m. at the Park and Ride lot at the corner of Alhabra Ave. and Franklin Canyon Rd., Martinez. Wear sturdy shoes and bring water and binoculars. Rain cancels. 925-228-8860. 

Great Decisions Foreign Policy Association Lecture “Energy” with Prof. Daniel Kammen, UCB, at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Cost is $40 for the eight lecture series. 526-2925. 

Sugar Bowl Casino Public Hearing on the Draft EIS for the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indian Casino at Richmond Parkway at 6 p.m. at the Richmond Memorial Auditorium, 403 Civic Center Plaza, Richmond. This is a chance for all East Bay residents concerned about the impact of the casino to be heard. 271-0640, ext. 103.  

“Ommissions and Distortions in the 9/11 Commission Report” Films by David Ray Griffin at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation of $5. 

“Lead-Safe Painting & Remodeling” Free introductory class to learn about lead safe renovations for your older home, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Berkeley Tool Lending Library 1901 Russell St. Presented by Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. 567-8280. www.ACLPPP.org 

“Top Ten Healing Foods” a lecture, cooking demonstration and meal from 2 to 5 p.m. at Bauman College, 901 Grayson St., Ste. 201. Cost is $15. Registration required. 540-7041. 

American Red Cross Blood Drive from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Mills College Student Union, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. To schedule an appointment call 1-800-GIVELIFE. www.BeADonor.com 

Parents and Providers Childcare discussion at 6:30 p.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave. To register call 658-7853. www.bananasinc.org  

Basic Balkan Singing Workshop led by Juliana Graffagna, Wed. evenings in March at 7:30 p.m. at KITKA/Children’s Advocates, 1201 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, at 12th, Oakland. Cost for the series is $60. Registration encouraged. 444-0323. 

Berkeley Communicators Toastmasters welcomes curious guests and new members at 7:15 a.m. at Au Coquelet Cafe, 2000 University Ave. at Milvia. 435-5863.  

Entrepreneurs Networking at 8 a.m. at A’Cuppa Tea, 3202 College Ave. at Alcatraz. Cost is $5. For more information contact JB, 562-9431.  

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley BART. www.geocities. 

com/vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, MARCH 16 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll learn about the water cycle, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

“The Making of a Wildlife Refuge” Leora Feeney will describe the current efforts on the site of the former US Navy Air Station at the western end of Alameda. At 7:30 p.m. at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Sponsored by the Golden Gate Audubon Society. www.goldengateaudubon.org 

“Reflections Ten Years After the Vision Fire” at Point Reyes, with Jennifer Chapman of the National Park Service, at 12 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“Women’s Rights, Warlords and the US Occupation of Afghanistan” with 27-year old Afghan Parliamentarian, Malalai Joya at 4 p.m. in Room 270, Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. www. 

afghanwomensmission.org 

“China-Silenced” a KQED/ 

Frontline documentary on the Uighurs at 7:30 p.m. at International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. Cost is $5. 642-9460. 

Corporate Accountability International Tap Water Challenge Taste the difference between expensive between bottled water and tap water at 11 a.m. at Sproul Plaza, UC Campus. 310-562-5017. 

Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers, will speak to the striking workers at 5 p.m. at Berkeley Honda, Parker and Shattuck. 548-9334. 

LeConte Neighborhood Association meets at 7:30 p.m. in the LeConte School cafeteria. Agenda items include recent crime patterns and the new Community Crime View web site, Black & White Liquor restrictions and Neighborhood Watch. KarlReeh@aol.com 

Living with Ones and Twos at 7 p.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave. Donation of $4 suggested. To register call 658-7853. www.bananasinc.org  

“Benevolence, Compassion, Joyousness and Equanimity” with Mudagamuwe Maithri- 

murthi, Visiting Lecturer of Buddhist Studies, at 5 p.m. in the IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton St., 6th Floor. Sponsored by the Center for Buddhist Studies. http://ieas.berkeley.edu/ 

Berkeley Public Library’s Teen Services invite teen readers to come and discuss classic and contemporary science fiction and fantasy titles, at 4 p.m. at the Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6133. 

“Spice it Nice: Culinary Secrets” at 5:30 p.m. at Parmaca Integrative Pharmacy, 1744 Solano Ave. 527-8929. 

Historical & Current Times Book Group meets on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1249 Marin Ave. 548-4517. 

FRIDAY, MARCH 17 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Pierre Miege on “Social Pressures in China.” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. 665-9020.  

“Transparency in Government” A workshop for citizens on the Brown Act and the California Public Records Act from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at San Lorenzo Community Hall, 377 Paseo Grande, San Lorenzo. Sponsored by the Leagues of Women Voters of Alameda County. Cost is $20-$25. For reservations call 538-9678. lwvsun@comcast.net 

“Darfur Diaries” Film and discussion with filmmaker Adam Shapiro at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. Part of the Conscientious Projector film series. Donation $5 and up, no one turned away. 528-5403. 

Berkeley Chess School classes for students in grades 1-8 from 5 to 7 p.m. at 1581 LeRoy Ave., room 17. 843-0150. 

Berkeley Chess Club at 8 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. Players at all levels are welcome. 845-1041. 

Women in Black Vigi noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. 845-1143. 

SATURDAY, MARCH 18 

Kid’s Garden Club for ages 7-12 to explore the world of gardening, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 636-1684. 

Restore Rare Coastal Prarie in Richmond Volunteers are needed to assist in this on-going effort to restore a portion of West Stege marsh, its surrounding uplands, and adjacent grassland, on the University of California’s Richmond Field Station. To register and far directions call 665-3689. www.thewatershedproject.org 

Bay-Friendly Gardening Basics This workshop provides an overview of design and maintenance considerations to help you make smart choices in the nursery. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. Free, registration required. 444-7645. www.BayFriendly.org  

Berkeley Elementary School Resource Fair for parents at 10 a.m. at LeConte Elementary School, 2241 Russell St. Fair includes information about Berkeley summer camps, children’s sports leagues and financial aid, free consultations with lawyers and healthcare experts and information about Berkeley Special Education services. Spanish translation and refreshments provided. 883-5244. 

Shamrock Day at Habitot Children’s Museum Green art activities and a hunt for hidden pots of gold from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with music at 3:30 p.m. at 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111. www.habitot.org 

March and Rally “Stop the War on Iraq!” on the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq at 11 a.m. at San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza. 415-821-6545. www.actionsf.org 

“Tibet in Pictures” An educational presentation by Tamdin Wangdu of the Tibetan Village Project, at 3 p.m. at Tibet Books and Design, 1201C Solano Ave., Albany. Please RSVP as seating is limited. 525-1989. 

Lead-Safety for Remodeling, repair and painting of older homes. AHUD & EPA approved class held in Oakland from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. To register, call Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program 567-8280. www.ACLPPP.org 

Vegetarian Cooking Class Journey to India from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St. at Castro. Cost is $45. Register in advance online at www.compassionatecooks.com 531-COOK.  

East Bay Atheists meets to discuss “Fundamentalism and Communication” at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St., 3rd floor meeting room. 222-7580. 

“Breastapalooza” A Breast Health Fair for young women from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Alta Bates Summit Health Education Center, 400 Hawthorne Rd., Oakland. To register call 1-800-870-8705. 

Berkeley Alliance of Neighborhood Associations meets at 9:15 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Sproul Conference Room, 1st Floor, 2727 College Ave. www.berkeleycna.com 

“Real Estate Investing” A free seminar from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Berkeley Association of Relators, 1553 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

Berkeley Rep’s Teen Theater Conference from 1 to 5:45 p.m. at Berkeley Rep School of Theater, 2071 Addison St. 647-2971. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Spirit Walking Aqua Chi (TM) A gentle water exercise class at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley High Warm Pool. Cost is $3.50 per session. 526-0312. 

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Lama Palznag and Pema Gellek on “Cutting Off Negative Thoughts” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812.  

SUNDAY, MARCH 19 

Brooks Island Boating Voyage Paddle the rising tides across the Richmond Harbor Channel to Brooks Island. For experienced boaters who can provide their own canoe or kayak, and safety gear. Parent participation required. Ages 14 and up. Cost is $20-$22. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Spring in the Garden Celebrate the season by preparing the garden for warmer weather and learn about local butterflies, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Richmond Museum of History inaugurates a new museum on board the Red Oak Victory Ship at 2 p.m. at the end of Canal Blvd, Richmond. Reception and tour of the ship included. Coast is $5. 222-9200. 

Berkeley Cyber Salon with bloggers and podcasters, moderated by Andrew Keen, founder of the AfterTV.com podcast, at 5 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Donation of $10 requested. 559-9774. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732.  

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

“Illustrating Nature” A family workshop on biological illustrattions from the exhibition “The Art of Seeing: Nature Revealed Through Illustration” from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“Phenomenal Photography” A family workshop on creating a photo transfer inspired by the exhibition of Edward Weston’s photography from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

Parent First Aid & Emergency Care for Babies at 4 p.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave. Cost is $30, $50 for couples. To register call 658-7853. www.bananasinc.org 

“Spinoza, Maria and Excommunication” a reading of Rabbi Milton Matz’s play at Kol Hadash Sunday Brunch at 10 a.m. at Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Donation of $5 requested. 

Alexander Technique for Pain Free Necks at 11:30 a.m. at 7:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Yoga and Meditation Every Sun. in March from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

MONDAY, MARCH 20 

Gold Star Mother Celeste Zappala from Philadelphia will speak at an Interfaith Service “Remembrance and Resistance: The Third Anniversary of the Iraq War” at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. 848-3696, ext 20. 

Spring Equinox Gathering at 5:45 to 6:45 p.m. at the Interim Solar Calendar, Cesar Chavez Park, Berkeley Marina. 

American Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at MLK Student Union, 5th Floor Tilden Room, UC Campus. To schedule an appointment call 1-800-GIVELIFE.  

“How to Expand Your Mind- Body Connection” Bring your grocery receipts and learn how to phase in new eating habits at 5:30 pm. in the Rose Room at Mercy Retirement Center, 3431 Foothill Blvd., Oakland. Cos tis $30 or $120 for the entire series. 534-8547, ext. 666. 

World Affairs Discussion Group for seniors at 10:15 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center. Cost is $2.50.  

McGee Avenue Toastmasters meets at 7:30 p.m. at McGee Ave Baptist Church, 1640 Stuart St. 501-7005. 

Free Business Loan and Business Plan Writing Boot Camp Mon. and Fri. from 9 a.m. to noon at 519 17th St., 2nd Floor, Ste. 200, Oakland, through March 31. 395-6003. 

ONGOING 

Free Tax Help—United Way’s Earn it! Keep It! Save It! program provides free filing assistance to households that earned less than $38,000 in 2005. To find a free tax site near you, call 800-358-8832 or visit www.EarnitKeepitSaveit.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed., Mar. 15, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Katherine O’Connor, 981-6601.  

Commission on Aging meets Wed., Mar. 15, at 1:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. William Rogers, 981-5344.  

Commission on Labor meets Wed., Mar. 15 at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Delfina M. Geiken, 981-7550.  

Downtown Area Plan Advisory Commission meets Wed. Mar. 15 at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7487. 

Human Welfare and Community Action Commission meets Wed. Mar. 15, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Kristen Lee, 981-5427.  

Library Board of Trustees meets Wed. March 15, at 7 p.m. at South Berkeley Senior Center., Jackie Y. Griffin, 981-6195.  

School Board meets Wed., March 15, at 7:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers. 644-6320. 

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., Mar. 16, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7415.  

Disaster Council meets Wed., Mar. 16, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 981-5502.  

Fair Campaign Practices Commission meets Thurs., Mar. 16, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Prasanna Rasaih, 981-6950.  

Transportation Commission meets Thurs., Mar. 16, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7000. ª