On Wednesday the Planning Commission grappled with diverse recommendations on mixed-use and multi-family residential projects in Berkeley’s commercial districts from the city staff and the Joint Subcommittee on Density Bonus. The commission ultimately voted 5-4 to urge the City Council to take no action on any of the recommendations at this time. 

City staff and the subcommittee had agreed on five of the seven recommendations they passed along to the Planning Commission, but remained divided on the other two issues. They disagreed about the location of required open space and whether or not the construction of a fourth story on buildings in the San Pablo commercial district should require a use permit. 

While city staff agreed with standard planning guidelines and suggested that San Pablo would benefit from having high-density housing, the joint subcommittee argued that building high-density four-story buildings in an underdeveloped area like San Pablo, full of single-story buildings, would not be in keeping with the neighborhood’s character.  

Board member Susan Wengraf said she wanted to correct the misconception that the joint subcommittee had put forward these recommendations only in response to Proposition 90, the state measure on the November ballot that seeks to limit municipalities’ power to use eminent domain and limit development. 

“The City Council had asked the subcommittee to work on this a long time before we found out about Proposition 90 in August,” she said. “You can say that it is because of Proposition 90 that these recommendations are moving forward so fast.” 

Developers at the meeting vociferously defended their right to build high-density housing along San Pablo. The residential community was not well represented at the meeting. 

Laura Billings, a developer with a green condominium project on San Pablo, urged the commission not to pass the proposals because they would severely impact development in Berkeley.  

“Downzoning from five to four stories would complicate development and discourage developers from Berkeley,” she said. “It would also affect affordable units that are included in these buildings. We need to create some areas in Berkeley where high density housing is encouraged. We are excited about density. We are excited that we are able to create meaningful residences for young homeowners.” 

Bob Allen, a member of the Joint Density Subcommittee, said that the State Density Bonus Law had hijacked ZAB’s ability to enforce zoning laws in Berkeley. “The State Density Bonus Law allows the development community to ask for any modification on our zoning code as long as they can prove that it is required to make the project feasible. It is very poorly written,” he said.  

Chris Hudson, a developer, commented that it was not the state law but the city that was causing the problem. 

“Berkeley likes to control every aspect of everything that’s happening in the city,” he said. “Soon we will be talking about not just a 30 percent reduction in mixed housing but a 100 percent reduction. I have two pieces of land on San Pablo and I think it will be very unfair if the city starts exempting projects that are in the process. I have a project coming up at 1915 MLK and I don’t think we would have a project at all without the density bonus.” 

Charles Krenz, owner of 750 and 800 Potter street, the sites of Weatherford BMW and The Berkeley Iron Works, urged the board to reject the changes to the San Pablo zoning rules or to carve his property out of it. 

“I can see the city’s point that it might not feel right to have a 50-foot building adjacent to much smaller structures along San Pablo, but this is not the case between Ashby and Potter streets down near the freeway,” he said. “I am next to a 75-foot-tall existing structure. Other buildings in the area are typically greater than 50,000 square feet in area. In short our scale is already big, it should be allowed to stay that way.” 

Dana Ellsworth, who spoke on behalf of commercial property owners, also expressed concern at the fact that the entire process was being rushed. 

“If the subcommittee was working on this for so long, why weren’t commercial property owners notified about this before?” she asked. “It is important to listen to developers. We want to develop. We want to be in Berkeley and bring in more people to live, work and shop here.” 

Alexander Quinn, a resident of Sacramento Street, said that by decreasing housing units, people who wanted to buy homes in Berkeley were being pushed out to places such as Tracy and Vacaville. 

“If we are adding housing, we are encouraging people to live in Berkeley,” he said. “Let’s be a progressive leader and encourage housing on the transit corridor.” 

Jesse Arreguin, ZAB board member, said the Housing Advisory Committee had agreed with the joint subcommittee’s recommendations. 

“We need to look beyond the rhetoric of downsizing,” he said. “The subcommittee spent many months working on these recommendations and they are in the best interest of the city. These recommendations will allow both the ZAB and the City Council to have more discretion.” 

Board member Susan Wengraf said that while the city wanted to encourage development along its major transit corridors, it also wanted to protect its neighborhoods.  

Board member David Stoloff said that it was important to get feedback from the 3,500 residential property owners who were being affected by the downsizing.  

“It is unfortunate that the community is not being involved. It is very un-Berkeley,” he said. 

Helen Burke, chair of the Planning Commission, warned that if Prop. 90 passes, only the option of upzoning to allow for increased development would remain. “This is the last opportunity for the city to look at possible downzoning,” she said. “The city needs to retain its flexibility in this area.”

California law requires candidates periodically to report in detail where they get their campaign cash and what debts they’ve incurred. And Berkeley election law says candidates must make public copies of all election materials sent by mail to more than 200 Berkeley residents. 

District 7 candidate George Beier has been delinquent on both counts, a fact he now acknowledges. 

In June, Beier had an opinion poll conducted, but no record of the poll showed up on Beier’s Jan. 1-June 30 expenditure statement, filed, as required, on July 31. While he has acknowledged the oversight, Beier has not yet filed an addendum to his July 31 statement. 

And Beier mailed out three different campaign pieces to more than 200 people —one on crime issues, an invitation to a fundraiser and a post card directed to people in the Bateman neighborhood. The candidate filed copies of these mailings with the city clerk only after the Daily Planet raised the issue with him. 

The Berkeley Elections Reform Act defines a mass mailing as “two hundred or more identical or nearly identical pieces of mail” and says: “A copy of every mass mailing in support of or in opposition to a candidate or measure shall be sent to the (Fair Political Campaign Practices) commission. Such copies sent to the commission shall be public record.” 

“In my mind, a ‘mass mailing’ is a bulk mailing—I didn’t equate (mass mailing) with an invitation to a party,” Beier told the Planet. 

While he has run for office before and Beier said that although City Clerk Sherry Kelly must have explained the regulations, her counsel “went in one ear and out the other.”  

While declining to comment on the specific case, Pat O’Donnell, who serves on the city’s Fair Campaign Practices Commission, spoke to the need for campaign disclosure regulations. If they know where candidates get and spend their campaign funds, “voters are better informed and make better decisions,” he said. 

Addressing the question of unpaid bills, California Fair Political Practices Commission spokesperson Whitney Barazoto said, “If goods or services are received by a committee, they should be reported.” 

Not wanting to comment on a specific case, Barazoto referred the Planet to Chapter 7 of the FPPC’s Campaign Manual 1 which says: “An expenditure is ‘made’ on the date the payment is made or the date the committee receives the goods or services, whichever is earlier.”  

Beier was apologetic, but downplayed the importance of the lapses. “I think that rather than dotting every ‘i’ and crossing every ‘t,’ it is more important to come in with ideas on what to do with the district,” he said.  

Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who is being challenged by Beier for his council seat, said he has no plans to file a complaint with the city’s Fair Campaign Practices Commission or with the state over the matter. 

“I’m simply pointing out that these are illustrations of the kind of candidate he is, playing fast and loose with the rules, and the kind of councilmember he would make,” Worthington said. 

Candidates’ mass mailing filings and expenditure forms are posted on the city clerk’s web site at: www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/elections/ 

Some 60 UC Berkeley custodians and their supporters marched through campus Thursday afternoon to the chancellor’s office to present their applications for the newly created $282,000 per year post of Vice Chancellor of Equity and Inclusion.  

The goal of the action of the members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 was to point out to the university administration that they could not afford to live on the pay they earn at the university. 

Alicia Cesigui has worked at the university for 13 years and is at the top of the pay scale, earning $15.58 per hour, or $31,160 per year. A single mom who commutes to Berkeley from Pittsburg daily, she says she also cleans houses and does catering through her church to make ends meet. 

“Worst of all is after 20 years of service my wages have increased only $6 per hour,” added Carmen Aguilar, her sister, who has worked as a UC Berkeley custodian for 20 years and earns the same as Cesigui. 

The sisters were among the 10 or so custodians who filled out applications for the $282,000 job, which pays more than 9 times what Cesigui and Aguilar make. Applications were collected outside the chancellor’s office by Human Relations Director Debra Harrington. 

Paul Schwartz, UC spokesperson, said talking about the pay of custodians and the new vice chancellor post was like “comparing apples to oranges.” It’s about competition for talent, he said, referring to the $282,000 post. 

Aguilar disagreed: “It’s about making sure there is equality for all workers, not just those at the top,” she said.

As part of his effort to wrest the District 7 City Council seat from Councilmember Kriss Worthington, challenger George Beier has pledged his efforts to create a student-controlled council district.  

A large map depicting the proposal decorates the Telegraph Avenue door of the campaign office Beier shares with District 8 Councilmember Gordon Wozniak, who is running for re-election. It includes comments suggesting that the current district lines have deliberately disenfranchised students. 

“The students have no voice,” Beier told the Planet. “If that were any other minority in town, we would be taking steps to correct that problem.”  

However creating a new district would require citizens passing an initiative that would mandate a City Charter change. Such a change could not be made until the decennial redistricting process in 2011. 

While Worthington acknowledged that student representation in city government is important, he characterized Beier’s plan as a campaign stunt.  

The complex nature of carving out a student district was expressed in an Aug. 16, 2001 memo written by City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque in response to a similarly radically redrawn district proposed by students in 2001. 

“The City Charter requires that the council districts be as nearly equal in population as possible, and that any redistricting ‘shall preserve, to the extent possible, the council districts originally established herein,’” she wrote, indicating that the 2001 effort to significantly redraw the boundaries by ordinance was illegal.  

Beier’s proposal, which would seek a City Charter amendment rather than an ordinance, would redraw council districts 7 and 8, both of which are long, narrow strips, each with an approximate 50 percent student population. His proposal would radically change the configuration of both districts. 

District 7 stretches from slightly north of campus south to the Oakland border. The district is bordered roughly on the west by Ellsworth Street and on the east by Benvenue Avenue. District 8, where Counclmember Gordon Wozniak faces a challenge from student and Rent Board Commissioner Jason Overman, comprises a similar long, narrow strip, running east of District 7. 

This configuration doesn’t make sense to Beier. 

“The southern end of the district doesn’t necessarily have any concern for the northern end because they are completely different in character,” he said. “The neighbors in the southern end of the district have more clout that the students in the northern end of the district.”  

Beier’s proposal is based on his belief that a mostly-student district will bring more students into the local political arena. “The reason students aren’t involved in city politics is that they have no power,” Beier said.  

The proposal would take the population comprised mostly of students that live above College Avenue and north of Dwight Way out of District 8 and place them in District 7, leaving District 8 as a mostly long-term resident district and District 7 a mostly student district. 

Crediting Beier for the plan, which he calls a “good idea,” District 8 Councilmember Gordon Wozniak says it will benefit District 8 by creating a district in which the population is more homogenous by age, eliminating a large percentage of the students and gaining more long-term residents. Wozniak won his council seat four years ago in a run-off with then-student Andy Katz, who garnered 41 percent of the vote. 

Wozniak challenger Overman says he doesn’t “know anyone against the creation of a district that would have student representation.” 

He rejected Beier’s proposal and Wozniak’s support of it, however, as a campaign maneuver. “After three and one-half years of neglect, now (Wozniak) is making an attempt to appear appealing to the student community,” he said. 

Similarly, Worthington called the proposal an “unlikely trick to get a lot of students voting for (Beier).” Still, Worthington said if the students showed through the initiative process that they wanted a student district, he would support it, adding that the creation of a student district should be up to the students.  

Worthington pointed out that students have been voted into office as Rent Stabilization Board members and that he has appointed numerous students to commissions. He says he supports other ways of giving students more power in the electoral realm such as instant runoff voting: the clout of less-frequent voters, such as students, will grow under IRV, because they do not have to show up at the polls for a run off. 

Further, the incumbent said he thinks a student can win in a non-student district. “A hardworking student can appeal to tenants and homeowners and get elected,” he said. 

Rent Board member and student Jesse Arreguin opposes the creation of a student district, which he calls a “student ghetto.” The district could allow the other councilmembers to get away with ignoring student needs by saying the representative of the student district would take care of them, he said. 

Youth safety issues, diversion programs and a possible teen center on Center Street were some of the issues discussed at Tuesday’s meeting between officials from the city and the school board. 

The 2x2 Committee, comprised of two members of the school board and two members of the City Council, discussed youth safety in the community and how the city and school district can better work together.  

Laura Menard, a parent of a 15-year-old at Berkeley High School, said the district and city should do more to stop assaults by groups of teenagers in the city. 

“Schools and communities should start dealing with rat pack assaults by reporting them,” she said. “ Berkeley first needs to acknowledge that we have a problem with gang-related hate crime. Reporting them is the next important step.” 

Berkeley Chief of Police Doug Hambleton agreed with Menard and said reporting needs to be stepped up. “We need to work on increasing reporting because we do have a problem with it,” he said.  

Julie Sinai, senior aide to Mayor Tom Bates, spoke about revisiting the idea of distributing brochures or letters in Berkeley High School and the Alternative High School that would highlight incident reporting procedures.  

Detective Sergeant David White, who oversees the Berkeley police youth services department, agreed to work with the city and the school district on developing the concept. He also spoke about diversion programs. 

“Our philosophy is to divert as many kids away from the juvenile jail system as possible,” White said. “First time offenders are especially diverted. We also have youth courts where kids go and judge themselves. Sentences could vary from writing a letter of apology to community services. It’s pretty powerful because you are judging your peers.” 

Communication between the Berkeley school district and the Berkeley police was the key to ensuring safety for the students, White added. 

“We have a new school resource officer in Berkeley High School who provides mentoring to students if they need it and he is very approachable,” he said.  

White also told the Planet that rat pack assaults were usually reported to the police. “Even if it’s not the kid who’s reporting the incident, we do get to know about the fight from somebody,” he said. 

Discussions about a proposed teen center on Center Street drew interest at the meeting, but no plans have been agreed upon. If built, the center would be a partnership between PG&E and the Berkeley-Albany YMCA to transform PG&E’s vacant building on the corner of Center Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way into a place for teenagers. 

The PG&E Board of Directors are in the final stages of deciding whether to agree to the partnership with the YMCA for the center. If approved, the YMCA would own the building and partner with city programs and other community organizations to operate it.

The Bateman Mall restoration group met with city officials on Tuesday to discuss a final restoration plan. Public Works engineer Lorin Jensen presented the group with a rough draft of the mall restoration design. 

Alta Bates Hospital will start the restoration of the grassy mall as soon as the current hospital construction is completed and two-way traffic is opened on Colby Street.  

Both city officials and the hospital are hoping to start construction between Oct. 1 and Oct. 15 at the latest and complete it within two weeks. 

The city’s associate traffic engineer, Peter Eakland, told the group that the encroachment permit for the closure of Colby Street for construction through Nov. 1 would be reissued on Wednesday. The permit is subject to the following conditions: 

• The contractor shall install a 10 mph speed limit zone at the Colby section leading southbound to the medical office parking lot driveway from Webster and a diamond-shaped sign with the legend “Traffic Fines Doubled in Work Area.” These signs are in addition to the “No Outlet” Sign that already exists. 

• Alta Bates shall provide weekly updates on construction to key persons in the adjacent area as identified by the city. 

• Alta Bates shall install at two clearly visible locations a notice providing both city and Alta Bates daytime and emergency telephone numbers for each of the following issue areas: noise, traffic, drainage, and general work site conditions and operations. 

• Alta Bates agrees that Colby Street will be open to two-way traffic, 24 hours a day, south of Webster Street no later than Oct. 15. 

• Restoration of Bateman Mall will begin as soon as two-way traffic begins on Colby Street no later than Oct. and be completed within two weeks from the start of construction. 

• The encroachment permit will be extended to Nov. 1, as work will be required within the city right-of-way not required for opening of two-way traffic.

With the Laney College Children’s Center infant and toddler program closed for the 2006-07 school year, at least, Laney students and faculty continue to press Peralta Community College District officials to get it re-opened. 

Last May, the Planet reported that Peralta was closing the Laney infant and toddler child care program due to budget problems, with the pre-school portion of the children’s center program remaining intact. 

While housed at Laney, the program is run by the Peralta district office. At the time of the announcement, the Laney College Children’s Center was serving 48 children between 3- and 5-years-old, 16 toddlers between 2- and 3-years old, and 11 infants under 2-years-old. While the parents of many of those children were Laney College students, the center was open to the general public for enrollment. 

Since that time, however, Peralta has instituted a program to give priority placement at the center to children of Laney students. 

Tuesday night at the Peralta Community College District Trustee meeting, Mahasin Moon, a San Francisco State student whose children began attending the children’s center while Moon was attending Laney College, turned in the latest of more than 1,100 petition signatures asking Peralta to reinstate the infant and toddler’s program. 

The petitions say, in part, that Peralta made the decision to close the program “without proper consultation with the students, faculty, administrators and classified staff of Laney College. 

It also noted that “access to convenient, affordable, quality child care (such as that provided by the Laney Children’s Center) allows students who are parents to attend Laney College and succeed with their educational and career goals.” 

The petitions are being circulated by the Laney Task Force to Save the Laney Children’s Center, the Laney College Faculty Senate, Laney College Classified Senate and Associated Students of Laney College. 

Following a July trustee meeting in which faculty, students and staff spoke up for the day care program and the first of the petitions were turned over to trustees, Peralta Chancellor Elihu Harris set up a District Task Force on Childcare, headed by Peralta Vice Chancellor Margaret Haig and Harris special assistant Alton Jelks. 

Haig said on Tuesday that the task force has met twice over the summer “with the goal of trying to make the availability of child care accessible for all of the district students. However,” she added, “we have had somewhat limited success with the population we were trying to attract.” 

Calling the program closure an “atrocity” in her remarks to the trustees prior to Haig’s report, Moon criticized the fact that Peralta was opening an infant and toddler program at Merritt College at the same time it was closing the one at Laney. “We need our center open,” she said. “This is affecting the college and professors as well as the students. Some students are being forced to bring their children to class with them because they have no other place to put them.” 

Merritt’s infant and toddler day care program opened this year as part of the college’s child care teacher training curriculum, with students providing the teaching staff for the children participating in the program. Peralta officials say they plan to expand the curriculum to Laney sometime in the future, if possible, allowing the Laney infant and toddler program to reopen. 

In addressing the proposed program closure last spring, Vice Chancellor Haig told trustees that the closures were necessary because of mounting deficits of Peralta’s three children’s centers, including Laney, College of Alameda, and Merritt College. Haig said that the centers lost $100,000 in fiscal year 2003, $200,000 in fiscal year 2004, and were projecting a $400,000 deficit in the current fiscal year. 

Following this week’s board meeting, Laney Faculty Senate President Evelyn Lord said that “our shared governance community has not given up on reopening these programs this year,” adding that the coalition is seeking alternate funding for the program. 

She promised in an email to day care program supporters last summer that the coalition “will continue our petition drive until we have a firm commitment from the district to find the money and keep the Laney Children’s Center infant, toddler and pre-school programs open.”

The Peralta Community College Board of Trustees and the presumed incoming California assemblymember representing Oakland have joined the growing chorus of public officials calling for a halt to the proposed sale of the Oakland Unified School District downtown properties. 

California Superintendent for Public Instruction Jack O’Connell is currently negotiating with the East Coast development team of TerraMark/UrbanAmerica for the proposed sale of 8.25 acres of OUSD property bordering the Lake Merritt Channel. 

The property contains the district administration building, three schools and two early education institutions. O’Connell has authority to sell the property under the 2003 state legislation that authorized the state takeover of the Oakland Unified School District. 

On Tuesday night, Peralta trustees voted 6-0, with one abstention, to support trustee Nicky Gonzalez Yuen’s resolution condemning the sale until local control is restored to the Oakland schools. 

Among other things, the resolution indicated that “the proposed development will likely have considerable negative impacts on the quality of life at Laney College and the surrounding greenbelt spaces being improved by Measure DD funds.” 

Laney College, which is administered by the Peralta district, borders on the proposed OUSD sale lands. Measure DD was the 2002 bond measure passed by Oakland voters that will, in part, fund the opening up of the public land bordering the Lake Merritt Channel. 

The Peralta resolution said that “as long as the OUSD is governed by a temporary state administrator, there is no consistent and reliable system of governance that can take long-term responsibility for the project, … nor is there a way to create the systems of feedback and accountability that will insure that this project does not become [a] boondoggle that benefits private interests and leaves the public stripped of even more resources than it started with.” 

In addition, the resolution said that “when OUSD went into receivership, the goal was not that the people of Oakland would be stripped of their democratic rights inherent to them as citizens of the United States.” 

Trustee Alona Clifton abstained on the resolution, stating afterwards that “there is some disagreement over this issue on the Oakland Unified School District Board.” 

Clifton added that she only received a revised version of the resolution shortly before Tuesday’s trustee meeting and said she would have wanted to check the language with OUSD Board members—particularly Greg Hodge—before voting on it. 

Meanwhile, interviewed at a downtown political event later in the week, District 16 California Assembly nominee Sandré Swanson said, “I’m going with the school board on this one. The sale ought not to go through until there is a return to local control.” 

Swanson also said that the district should not spend the remainder of the $100 million state line-of-credit until the school board resumes its full powers. In his last days in office earlier this summer, former OUSD state administrator Randy Ward transferred the final $35 million of that $100 million line-of-credit to OUSD’s account. 

Swanson, who won the Democratic primary in June for the heavily-Democratic 16th Assembly District seat, has only token opposition in the November general election. 

Meanwhile, state politics could play a factor in state Superintendent O’Connell’s decision on the proposed land sale, with a Southern California political columnist reporting this week that the politically ambitious O’Connell is already making plans for a run for the California governor’s office in 2010 should current Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger win re-election in November for his second and final term. 

“Jack O’Connell intends to be a candidate for governor in 2010,” if Democratic challenger Phil Angelides loses to Schwarzenegger, Ventura County Star Timm Herdt wrote on Wednesday of this week. “‘That’s where my interest is,’ O’Connell told me. ‘There’s still a lot of things I want to do, and the best way to do them is as governor.’” 

O’Connell’s long term gubernatorial ambitions have come under attack in recent week by Oakland activists opposed to the land sale. At last week’s hearing in which the OUSD board went on record opposing the sale, Henry Hitz, one of the leaders of the Ad Hoc Committee seeking to restore local control to the Oakland schools, reminded O’Connell, “If you want to be governor, you need to listen to Oakland. We are saying no to any development of school district property without input from the citizens of Oakland. The road to the governor’s office does not lead through a rebellion in Oakland.” 

School Board trustee Greg Hodge, said flatly that O’Connell would not get Oakland votes “if the superintendent goes through with the sale.” O’Connell was not present at the school board hearing.

By Jonathan Wafer 

Special to the Planet  

1. Where were you born and where did you grow up, and how does that affect to how you regard the issues in Berkeley and in your district? 

I grew up on a farm in Missouri. I was born in 1920 and I lived through the Great Depression. It’s made me pretty conservative from the standpoint of expenditures. I grew up in a small community and went to a school of 5 students. My high school had only 42 students. So I wasn’t exposed to the big world until I went off to college at the age of 16. 

2. What is your educational background, and how did that help prepare you for being a council member? 

In the day that I was ready for college most woman took home economics. It never occured to women that they could take all these other things. So we were really kind of stuck with that. My mother was one of the first college graduates in her class at Kansas State College. So I went there and took home economics and my twin brother started at the University of Missouri. And my mother asked me to transfer there which I did. Then I learned at that school that the outstanding school for home economics was Iowa State. So I transferred there for my last two years and graduated in 1941. 

3. What are the top three most pressing issues facing your district?  

Fire safety is a very important one. Because we live right next to Tilden Park; and the history has been that if there’s a terrible fire it will probably come out of the park. So we’re very concerned with fire stations and fireman and keeping brush cleared back. 

The second issue, probably, is crime. We’re very fortunate that we don’t have really bad crime in our district. We do have a lot of home break-ins and car break-ins and car thefts. People, like they are everywhere, don’t know how terrible it can be so they’re very concerned about what we do have. It’s hard to convince people that they need to lock their cars because the police are not going to be driving up the hill and see somebody in the process of stealing cars. 

The third issue is parking. Many of the hill streets are narrow and there is parking on one side. So we do have parking laws or wars at times, but not often. Since there are no sidewalks, that also means that we can’t have the streets swept. So we do have a problem with a lot of debris on streets such as dust and leaves. 

4. Do you agree with the direction the city is heading in? Why or why not?  

Mostly I agree with it. I’m very concerned about the fact that we’re making the city so dense. And I think it’s time for us to stop and realize that not everybody who wants to live in Berkeley can live here. 

The very things that have attracted people to Berkeley are going to be lost in the process of building up all the blocks with housing, so that the problem of cars, transportation and just the density of the city increasing at such a rate, to me, is not a good thing. 

5. What is your opinion of the proposal to develop a new downtown plan and the settlement with the University of California over its LRDP? 

Well, I don’t think we will settle the downtown problem until we have something downtown for people to come to. When we first moved to Berkeley, and we’ve lived here for 53 years now, we had Hinks, which was a huge department store. And if they didn’t have it at Hinks they had it at a department store nearby. So we don’t have any of that now. 

There’s really nothing downtown that I can think of except the library. And the parking is so difficult that I wouldn’t dream of going to the main library. I go out to the North Berkeley Branch library. 

So there are two problems. The first problem is there is a perceived lack of parking. And I think that it’s a very real problem. Until they solve that, the kind of businesses I think we need to create a good downtown are not going to come. 

6. How do you think the mayor is doing at his position? Are you considering running for mayor, and if so, what changes would you try to make?  

Hardly, at age 85. I think he’s trying to do, as all mayors do, a good job. Mostly he is. I certainly support him in most of his endeavors. It’s a pretty thankless job. Every mayor needs the support of his council and he is really fortunate that he has it because some don’t. 

7. Has Berkeley’s recent development boom been beneficial for the city? What new direction, if any, should the city’s development take over the next decade?  

I think we need to slow down on housing. Nobody else agrees with me. I think that you can get to the point of no return. I’m not going to name any particular projects because they’re still in the works and it would not be fair to them. But we need to think very seriously about how crowded we want the city to be. 

8. How would you characterize the political climate in Berkeley these days?  

It’s just like it always was. It’s contentious. It’s always been that way and it always will be. I think it’s a good thing that the citizens are so concerned about their city. It’s certainly not true of a lot of places. I am bothered by the fact that so many of the homes that are sold now are sold for such a high price that the husband and wife have to have jobs away from home. So when people come home so worn out and tired, going to a city council meeting is pretty low on their list of things to do. So I’m wondering if people will show less interest in city politics. Then we will have a changed climate. I doubt it because taxes are extremely high and most people try and protect themselves from having their taxes increased. We will see. 

9. What is your favorite thing about Berkeley? 

I think my favorite thing about Berkeley is just the way people are in Berkeley and what our values are. The university, of course, is important even though it’s a problem. I live in the hills and I love the views of the Bay and the terrain. It’s wonderful. I think Berkeley has some of the best people I’ve ever met. 

10. What is your least favorite thing about Berkeley? 

Again, the fact that we’re trying to make it so dense it’s not going to be livable.

A black acacia tree in Live Oak Park, nearly 100 years old and for years home to a family of Cooper’s hawks, was removed Saturday as neighbors looked on. 

“Park users liked to come watch the hawks,” said William Clark, who has lived across the street from the tree for 20 years, and watched as it came down. “It was a real attraction.” 

The 80-foot-tall tree shaded the northwest corner of the park, its branches extending over Shattuck Avenue. The tree had been dead for more than a year, and scheduled for removal since the spring. 

“We were concerned about it structurally,” said Jerry Koch, senior forestry supervisor for the City of Berkeley, who estimated the tree’s age. “It had a lot of internal decay.”  

But city officials postponed removing it to allow the Cooper’s hawks time to nest in the tree one last time. When the fledglings left in August, the city scheduled Saturday’s work. 

Allen Fish, director of the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory, had monitored the hawks for three seasons, but said residents reported seeing the birds there for as many as ten years. Clark said the birds had nested there for at least seven years.  

“Neighbors often know more than biologists,” said Fish. 

Cooper’s hawks, which are common in the area and native only to North America, typically do not return to the same tree to nest. “They’ll often build a nest in the same territory, but not in the same tree,” said Fish. “It’s a mystery why they kept coming back to this tree.” 

But according to Fish, the acacia was an ideal habitat. “If I were gardening for Cooper’s hawks in Berkeley,” he said, “I would create a place that looks a lot like Live Oak Park.”  

Berkeley has the highest density of Cooper’s hawks ever recorded, said Fish. Cooper’s hawks also nest in oaks, elms, sequoias and redwoods, all of which are found nearby. 

On Saturday, a crew of three from West Coast Arborists spent most of the day removing the tree. From the basket of a boom-truck, one worker sawed away the limbs and secured them in the grip of a 25-ton crane, which lowered them to the street. There, a chipper truck ground the tree down to sawdust. 

During the removal, part of one lane of traffic was blocked on Shattuck Avenue between Eunice and Berryman. Zach Campbell, the crane operator, said the job proceeded without incident. 

Workers recovered the hawks’ nest, a tangle of small twigs and grasses. It will go to the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory for use in an educational display. 

“When we talk about urban trees, it’s a continual process,” said Koch. “We remove dead trees all the time, and plant at least as many every year.” 

But the city doesn’t plant acacias, which are among the most problematic urban trees, said Koch. Their shallow root structure, he said, makes them prone to collapse.  

A few years ago, Clark said he watched as another acacia in the park fell into Shattuck Avenue, crushing two cars. “Since this one’s dead,” he said, “It’s a good thing they’re taking it out.”  

Live Oak Park covers five and a half acres of north Berkeley between Shattuck Avenue and Oxford Street. Cordonices Creek runs through the park, and large stands of evergreens surround a grassy field. The tallest tree in the park, according to Koch, is a multi-trunk cypress nearby the removed acacia. 

Fish said he expects the hawks to return to the area between January and March. “I believe we’ll see next year’s Cooper’s hawks somewhere near Codornices Creek,” he said. 

Clark also expressed hope that the hawks will return. “They could nest in the deodara cedar behind my house,” he said. 

A member of the Oakland coalition that sought a citizen referendum on the controversial Oak to Ninth project says that the group “is, of course, planning a legal challenge” to an Oakland city attorney’s ruling throwing out referendum petitions. 

Oakland preservationist Joyce Roy, who represents the executive committee of the Northern Alameda County Group of the Sierra Club on the Oak to Ninth Referendum Committee, said details of the legal challenge will be released in the near future. 

Roy is a co-plaintiff in a lawsuit already challenging the proposed development under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). In addition, a second, related lawsuit has been filed by the Oakland Heritage Alliance in an attempt to save the Ninth Avenue Terminal Building which would be all but destroyed in the proposed Oak to Ninth development. 

Oakland City Council approved an agreement last June and July with developer Oakland Harbor Partners for a 3,100-residential unit, 200,000-square-foot commercial space development on the 64-acre parcel of land on Oakland’s estuary south of Jack London Square. 

Last month, Oak to Ninth Referendum Committee members submitted more than 25,000 signatures on petitions calling for a referendum on the development proposal. 

Last week, however, Oakland City Attorney John Russo threw out the petitions, saying, in part, that the development agreement that petition signers were asked to approve or disapprove was not the final agreement voted on by City Council. 

“The California Elections Code requires that the referendum contain the ‘text of the ordinance … that is the subject of the referendum,’” Russo wrote in his denial letter. “A cursory review of the Oak to Ninth petition reveals that the wrong draft of the ordinance was attached. Petition supporters attached an outdated version of the ordinance.” 

Russo added that “the error [of the petition] is underscored by the nature of some of the information not included with the petition,” including two maps attached to the final ordinance that showed the amount of public access to the open space in the project. 

“Without these maps,” Russo wrote, “a prospective signer who was interested in the actual amount of public access in the plan area would have had great difficulty in making a fully informed decision on whether to sign the petition.” 

Russo’s ruling came in response to Harbor Partners’ appeal of the petitions. 

The problem, according to Roy, is that the copy of the ordinance included with the petitions was given to the referendum committee by the Oakland City Clerk’s office as the official version of the ordinance. 

“By law, someone challenging a city ordinance only has 30 days to submit a petition once the ordinance is passed,” Roy said. “We went to the City Clerk’s office the day after the final vote [on July 18] to get a copy of the ordinance, but the clerk told us that all of the amendments had not yet been put into the final version.” 

Roy said that after referendum committee member James Vann went to the city clerk’s office on Friday, July 21, “the clerk downloaded the ordinance from her computer, and that’s what was used in the petitions.” 

The Oakland City Clerk’s office could not be contacted by press time to verify this account. The final version of the document was still not readily visible on the city’s website as of Monday. 

The front page of the official City of Oakland website has an “Oak to Ninth” link that connects to a page operated by the Planning and Zoning Division of the Oakland Department of Community and Economic Development. The page contains dates of various city actions on the project, along with links to related documents, concluding on June 20, under the heading of the City Council/Redevelopment Agency. The 118-page development agreement between the city and Harbor Partners linked to this page is still listed as “City Council Draft of 6/8/06.” No final draft is yet available on the Internet. 

Both Telegraph Avenue area candidates, incumbent Kriss Worthington and challenger George Beier, wrap themselves in the “progressive” mantle, but the two are distinguished by their support within the community and by their approaches to issues affecting students, particularly public safety and housing. 

While 11-year District 7 incumbent Worthington puts public safety on a par with housing and student representation, Beier, president of the Willard Neighborhood Association and a waterfront commissioner, says housing and representation are important, but public safety takes precedence. 

Students comprise about 50 percent of registered voters in District 7, according to both candidates, although they tend to vote less than others in the district. 

Public safety 

The Telegraph Avenue area’s high rate of property crime compared to the rest of the city and the impact of crime on student life and on the commercial strip, whose revenue at $98 million has declined over the last decade, thrusts the question of public safety into the election spotlight. 

Both incumbent and challenger say additional services for homeless people, more lighting and more policing are key. 

Beier focuses on changes in People’s Park he says is a haven for drug dealers and users. “They’ve found 1,000 needles in People’s Park in the last eight months,” he said. 

A member of UC Berkeley’s People’s Park Advisory Board—the university owns the park—Beier chairs its Usage Committee and points to his success in getting the university to put $100,000 into a redesign study for the park.  

Consultants will determine the redesign. Beier said he hopes it will include more open space, as in Willard Park, and putting a café at one end of the site. 

“The key is usage,” Beier says. “We need people in and out.” 

In an earlier interview, Beier advocated installing cameras in the park to catch drug dealers, but has had second thoughts. “That remains to be seen,” he said. 

Worthington’s platform has called not only for more police—reinstatement of those lost to budget cuts—but for better, more targeted policing.  

“I led the fight against taking the police and social workers off of Telegraph Avenue” when there were budget cuts a few years ago, Worthington said. He also led the charge to put the police and mental health services back on the avenue, for which he got full cooperation from the council after the closing of Cody’s Books pointed up the need. 

Worthington is also calling for better use of police. They should prioritize arrests, he said. People found with small amounts of marijuana should be left to themselves, but those dealing hard drugs should be prosecuted.  

“There’s a fine line, a balancing act—how do you stop the hard drug dealing, without cracking down on every single student who ever tried a joint?” he asked. 

Pedestrian lighting is part of the package of Telegraph Avenue improvements passed by the council in the spring—not more street lighting, Worthington explained, but lighting that illuminates sidewalks. Beier is also calling for more lighting, but it should be on side streets as well as Telegraph, he says. While Worthington says that is a good idea, he says the expense makes it prohibitive. 

Worthington would like to initiate a 24-hour-a-day pager service for the use of students, businesses and residents with problems. The person on duty who responds to the page would decide whether a social worker, a police officer or someone from public works was needed. The city should fund the service, Worthington said. 

“The business district has nearly $98 million in sales per year. Can’t we afford the cost of a pager and a person?” Worthington asked. He said he won’t introduce the plan to council until he has a sense that his colleagues will pass it. 

Beier is calling for additional emergency call boxes near campus. 

Student housing 

Worthington says his record shows strong advocacy for student housing—working both for more units and for better quality.  

After a fire in which a student died, Worthington went to the city Housing Advisory Commission with students and got a rental housing safety inspection program created, a coordinated effort between the city of Berkeley’s planning and housing departments, he said. 

And in 2000, Worthington says he wrote letters, rallied with students, and even camped out as part of student protests pressuring the university to build 900 new units of housing. 

Beier also says habitability is high on his list of priorities. In his role as Willard Park Association president, he’s called for CAL Housing (ASUC City Affairs Lobby and Housing Commission) to fund a website where students can “rate the landlord.” Does he empty the dumpster? Does he have a manager on site? Has he tried to evict a tenant without good cause? 

“Hopefully we’ll get that done in the spring,” he said. 

Worthington points up his housing credentials with his support for pro-tenant slates for the Rent Stabilization Board as opposed to landlord-backed slates. He says contributions to Beier’s campaign show that he’s supported by landlords, citing Beier contributors Ed Munger, who Worthington said fought to wipe out commercial rent control, and Michael Wilson, president of the landlord group Berkeley Property Owners Association. 

Beier would also like to see more housing for long-term residents on Telegraph itself, with quality apartments or “workforce” condominiums, especially for people in careers such as teaching who could not otherwise afford to own their home.  

“We need more eyes on Telegraph,” he said.

Just because you don’t plunk down 50 cents for your Daily Planet or your Daily Cal, that doesn’t mean free newspapers are without value. That’s the basis of AB 2612, authored by George Plescia (R-San Diego) and signed by the governor. 

If you pick up more than 25 copies of a free newspaper, you’ll face a $250 fine; and you could get a $500 fine on the second offense and 10 days in jail. 

The bill, sponsored by the California Newspaper Publishers Association, primarily targets thieves who pick up the newspapers to sell for recycling, according to Morgan Crinklaw, spokesperson for Plescia.  

But it also has First Amendment implications, Crinklaw said. 

In Berkeley, four years ago, Mayor Tom Bates, then a candidate for mayor, trashed some 1,000 copies of the Nov. 4 Daily Cal because he was unhappy with the paper’s editorial position supporting rival then-mayor Shirley Dean. 

The City of Berkeley passed a similar local ordinance after the incident. 

“I’m very happy to see it pass,” Bates told the Daily Planet on Monday. “It was an irrational action on my part—the stupidest thing I’ve ever done in my life.” 

San Francisco also has a comparable ordinance, passed in 1992 after Police Chief Richard Hongisto was accused of ordering the theft of 2,000 San Francisco Bay Times newspapers. Hongisto was fired after the incident. 

The bill was necessary because “law enforcement did not have the tools to prosecute offenders,” Crinklaw said. 

Negotiations over the sale of 8.25 acres of Lake Merritt area Oakland Unified School District property will be extended for another 90 days, according to a representative of the East Coast developers involved in the negotiations. 

TerraMark principal Reggie Livingston said in a telephone interview today that the TerraMark/UrbanAmerica partnership and the office of California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell “have agreed to at least a 90-day extension” in the negotiations, pushing the deadline to mid-December. 

Under the original Letter of Intent between the developers and O’Connell, TerraMark/UrbanAmerica’s exclusive negotiating rights to purchase the property would have expired on or around Sept. 15. 

Livingston stressed the “at least” portion of the agreement, and said that negotiations could conceivably extend beyond the mid-December date. 

State Superintendent O’Connell’s public information officer said this week that “we are reviewing the developer’s request for a 90-day extension of the contract negotiations. We don’t have any firm objections to an extension. But we have not yet reached a final agreement on the timetable.” 

Word of the negotiation extension first appeared late last week on the Oakland/Berkeley NovoMetro blog. 

Last week, elected members of the Oakland Unified School District Board of Trustees—an advisory body only since the 2003 state takeover of OUSD—rejected a resolution by Trustee Kerry Hamill calling for a 60-day extension of the negotiations, with trustee Dan Siegel saying, “I don’t think we need further time to say no to this project.” 

Trustee Greg Hodge, who voted with Hamill for the extension, said, “I don’t think it hurts us to get 60 more days to get more information.” However, Hodge later sided with five other trustees to support trustee Noel Gallo’s motion to put an education/administration center on the property site instead of selling it to the developers.  

At the same meeting in which trustees took that vote, Interim OUSD State Administrator Kimberly Statham announced that she was recommending a 60-day extension. 

At least one other trustee indicated at last week’s meeting that at least as far as trustees had a voice, the development proposal should not be a done deal. 

“The deal that has been presented to us is not a good deal,” trustee Alice Spearman said. “But I’m not opposed to selling off a part of the land. I’m willing to listen.” While voting against the 60-day delay herself, Spearman said that she “was encouraging Statham to seek a 60-day extension and see what comes up.” 

Meanwhile, with incoming Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums not scheduled to return to the city until mid-October, there is no word yet whether he will join the chorus of Oakland officials opposing the proposed sale. 

Last July, OUSD trustee Greg Hodge told a Metropolitan Greater Oakland Democratic Club forum that he had talked with the incoming mayor, and that Dellums “told me that he will fully support whatever position on the sale is taken by the elected school board.” 

When it was announced by Henry Hitz of the Ad Hoc Committee to Restore Local Control/Governance to Oakland Schools at last week’s school board meeting that a press conference on the proposed sale would be held the next day at Oakland City Hall “to include elected representatives,” it was widely speculated that Dellums would release his anticipated public statement at that time. 

However, the ad hoc committee canceled the Thursday press conference, saying only that the cancellation was “due to some errors in communication within our ad hoc coalition.” 

In addition to six of the seven members of the OUSD trustee board supporting an education center on the property instead of high-rise residential development, all eight members of the Oakland City Council have called for a halt to the property negotiations. 

TerraMark/UrbanAmerica is proposing putting five high-rise luxury condominiums on the OUSD site, which currently houses the OUSD Paul Robeson Administration Building, one elementary school, two specialty high schools, and two early childhood learning centers. The developers originally proposed purchasing the entire property, with the administration building and schools to be relocated to other sites. 

After widespread complaints from parents and staff from the five education institutions on the site, TerraMark/UrbanAmerica modified their proposal to include two of the schools—La Escuelita Elementary and MetWest High School—on a one-acre site on the property.  

Pacific Steel Casting handed over their emissions inventory report to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District early last week, according to PSC spokesperson Elizabeth Jewell. 

The recently released emissions inventory report contains raw data from in and around Pacific Steel Casting (PSC) which is being reviewed by the air district, she said. The report was prepared by environmental scientists on behalf of Pacific Steel. 

“Pacific Steel is very pleased that the report has gone to the air district and has complete faith in its findings,” said Jewell, a partner of Aroner, Jewell and Ellis. 

The report however is not complete, according to officials at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Data for June and July was not provided as required by the district. 

PSC was sued by the air district on Aug. 14 for “failure to meet statutory deadlines for reporting air emissions, and for violating the schedule contained in a recent settlement agreement designed to resolve an ongoing series of air quality complaints.”  

“PSC has submitted their test reports to the air district for review and approval,” confirmed Brian Bateman, director of the engineering division of the air district. “The emissions inventory report is however missing source testing reports for June and July which need to be there for the test reports to be complete.” 

Bateman said that when the district receives the complete emission report from Pacific Steel it will make it available to the public. 

“We will also be running a parallel review ourselves,” he said. “Only after the complete emissions inventory report has been finalized will the heath risk assessment report be prepared.” 

Bateman added that PSC was in the process of putting together the remaining source testing reports which would be submitted soon. Pacific Steel will be getting together with the air district today (Tuesday) to discuss the report and other relevant matters. 

The report measures toxic substances that leave the factory unfiltered. 

“These are the actual raw toxic materials. Some of the materials that were found were Chromium 6, Antimony, Lead, and Cadmium,” Jewell said, adding that the amounts shown for each are infinitely small. 

“The amounts of the toxic substances that were found present do not violate the limits established in PSC’s permit to operate which was granted to them by the air district,” she said. “In reality, if you are driving a car you are emitting the same amount of these toxic substances.” 

Jewell said that it was difficult to draw any conclusions about the possible health effects with the current raw data. 

“It is important to consider PSC’s immediate environment,” Jewell said. “It has a refuse center, Berkeley Asphalt, railroad traffic and eight lanes of very congested freeway traffic with diesel exhaust. All in all PSC is located in a densely industrial area.” 

Pacific Steel has agreed to come back to the City of Berkeley for independent review. The city has hired the private firm TetraTech to review the emissions inventory report. 

Jewell also lauded the progress report on the Carbon Absorption Unit which would be constructed on PSC’s Plant 3. 

“The Carbon Absorption Unit will significantly reduce odor,” she said. “We have received the building permit for this from the City of Berkeley and will be starting to build as soon as possible. We are hoping to complete it within 30 days.” 

The lawsuit filed by BAAQMD against Pacific Steel alleges that PSC violated the settlement agreement by not building the Carbon Absorption Unit in time. Jewell said that the delay in building was due to the city withholding the building permit for more time than had been expected by PSC. 

“When we first came up with the idea of the carbon absorption unit, we were not even aware that we were required to have a building permit for it. So we were not expecting any delays,” she said. 

Jewell added that PSC would be responding to the lawsuit within the 30-day time period it had to do so.  

The hearing for the Communities for Better Environment lawsuit against PSC will come up on Sept. 20 in San Francisco federal court. The lawsuit alleges that PSC violated the air district’s permit with respect to the amount of emissions from the steel foundry in Berkeley. 

“We are looking for a denial from the judge on the basis of the findings in the Emissions Inventory Report which clearly show that the emissions are well within the allowed limits,” Jewell said.

“Day to day we all get along,” assures community leader Arturo Ybarra, unintentionally alluding to Rodney King’s famous post-riot plea, “Can we all get along?” 

Ybarra, a gentle, dark-complexioned man in his early 60s, is president of the Watts/Century Latino Organization (WCLO), the most visible Latino association in Watts.  

He has lived in his neighborhood since 1969 and seen changes that have unnerved the thousands of black residents who have moved out to the calmer suburbs.  

If Ybarra can’t help sounding slightly apprehensive it’s because the bitter national quarrel over immigration has struck a discordant note in Latino and African American relations, and he lives in a neighborhood shared, sometimes warily, by both communities.  

“There are problems,” Ybarra admits, “but we’re not always at each other’s throats like the general impression.” 

Columnists and radio and television commentators have grimly warned of impending conflicts between the two communities, ever since U.S. Census data declared Latinos to be the nation’s new largest minority. Forty million Latinos now make up 14.5 percent of the population. African Americans make up 12.8 percent. 

With the fierce debate on immigration being framed as what to do with the 12 million mostly Latino undocumented immigrants and how to control the flow of newcomers, black-brown friction has become an undercurrent in the national debate. Pundits both black and white charge that the huge pro-immigration marches last spring were preempting blacks’ struggle for equality and social justice. 

South Los Angeles, formerly known as South Central, has been an obvious locus for news reports that mine current black-brown relations for cautionary themes.  

Last July, a triple killing shook a South L.A. neighborhood when two gunmen described as blacks shot three Latinos, including a 10-year-old boy, on a sidewalk.  

A month later, four members of a Latino gang in northeast L.A. were convicted of federal hate crimes for a spree of racial assaults and killings, from 1995 to 2001, aimed at pushing blacks out of a predominantly Latino neighborhood. This marked the first conviction of a Latino gang under hate crime laws usually employed against white supremacist groups like the Klu Klux Klan.  

These narratives of urban distress, however, often underestimate the voices and experiences of people like Ybarra, who has stayed put in his Watts neighborhood, reconciled with both the frictions and promises that rapid demographic change brings.  

There are many like him, African American and Latino community leaders in South L.A. and all over the country, who insist that ethnic harmony is possible.  

But are these organizers strong enough to serve as shock absorbers and bridges of communication while group interests bump up against each other?  

A look at their experience shows how old-fashioned community organizing can be an antidote to communal conflict in places that have been suddenly altered by immigration, like South Los Angeles. Nationwide, the work and influence of such largely self-designated community stewards will be crucial in bolstering Americans’ ability to get along. 

Microcosm of urban America 

South Los Angeles, a 22-square-mile district of Los Angeles, is urban America writ small.  

What happens here won’t stay here, especially as the country—from coast to coast, from North Carolina to Illinois—is swept by what the Brookings Institution’s study of the 2000 Census calls “an explosion of diversity” through immigration. 

South L.A. also occupies a unique place in America’s pantheon of social unrest as the site of the Rodney King riots, or uprising, or unconventional shopping spree, depending on who’s talking. 

Once synonymous with the black inner city memorialized by gang-genre movies like Boyz N the Hood and Menace II Society, today, South L.A.’s 383,166 residents are predominantly Latino—62 percent; blacks are 33 percent. This is a startling change from 1980, when blacks were 64 percent of residents. The transition hasn’t been smooth, as Arturo Ybarra tells anyone who asks. 

An influx of Mexican and Central American immigrants dislocated by economic globalization or fleeing political violence coincided with the deep recession of the 1970s and ’80s and with corresponding cuts in government social spending.  

The end of the Cold War shrank the once-mighty aerospace industry. Heavy manufacturing plants, oil, tire and car parts production moved abroad. South Los Angeles lost an estimated 75,000 jobs between 1970 and 1980 alone.  

Along with deindustrialization, the crack epidemic and gang wars of the ’80s and ’90s triggered the exodus of middle-class blacks. Latino immigrants took their place, drawn by low-paying manufacturing jobs in apparel, textiles, food processing and furniture work, or in the burgeoning service sector.  

These enterprises replaced the heavy industries that once created the district’s middle class. They are similar to the jobs that are now drawing immigrants to cities and towns in the American Midwest and the South. 

Arturo Ybarra and many South L.A. activists have persistently navigated these rough waters, condemned inept or unjust official policies, challenged parochial political agendas and jealousies and created alternatives to the nihilistic culture of the mean streets. 

Some of these activists were schooled in the politics of the Civil Rights and Antiwar Movements of the ’60s and ’70s, or have imbibed lessons and values from that past. 

The visions they carried over from earlier decades-including the recognition of African Americans’ and Latinos’ shared status as society’s underdogs—have helped preserve oases of interethnic solidarity in neighborhoods that could have been torn apart. 

Cynics inside and outside their communities often dismiss them as “politically correct” dreamers for being forever loyal to the grand vision of a strategic Latino-African American unity and for rejecting the inevitability of ethnic balkanization. 

Next Part: It’s Not a Zero-Sum Game  

Rene P. Ciria-Cruz, a NAM editor, wrote this story as a Racial Justice Fellow of the USC Annenberg’s Institute for Justice and Journalism.  

Many readers requested contact information for the Berkeley Cooperative Grocery, following the article in the Sept. 8 issue. The website for the co-op is www.berkeleycog.org.

Sept. 1 was a day of victory for environmentalists, organic farmers, and local government around the state, as a bill that would have barred cities and counties from passing laws that restrict genetically modified foods (GMOs) did not come to a vote in the State Senate, effectively killing the bill. 

“In the absence of statewide safeguards, local governments have stepped up to the plate and taken the precaution of restricting GE crops,” said Lisa Bunin, a member of the Santa Cruz County Public Health Commission GE Subcommittee. “With the passage of local GE-free laws, these governments have sent a clear message that the state needs to act not only to protect the state’s diverse agriculture, but also public health and the environment.” 

The bill, SB 1056, authored by Senator Dean Florez (D-Shafter) and backed by Monsanto, a major producer of GMO seeds, would have prohibited cities or counties from instituting local limitations on GMO production. 

“This one piece of legislation has probably received more calls and emails than any bill I’ve ever carried,” Florez said. 

In September 2005, the Berkeley City Council passed a unanimous resolution calling on local representatives, Assemblywoman Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) and State Senator Don Perata, to oppose the bill. The bill was co-sponsored by Councilmember Dona Spring and Councilmember Kriss Worthington. 

“It’s not a massive, gigantic victory because these companies are going to come back and try to restrict local control,” said Worthington. “However, it’s a good sign that the Legislature was not willing to give in so easily. If more cities or counties adopt restrictions, it will create momentum for positive state law, instead of a negative state law.” 

On Aug. 24, SB 1056 passed the Assembly floor by a vote of 51-24. Assemblyman Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez voted in favor of the bill, while Hancock and Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) voted in opposition. 

The Daily Planet could not reach Monsanto or the California Seed Association, the proponents of the measure, for comment. 

“By not even bringing SB 1056 to a vote, the Senate sent a clear message that enacting pre-emption before state legislation is bad policy,” said Renata Brillinger, Director of Californians for GE-Free Agriculture. “We commend Senate leadership, and look forward to moving ahead with discussions on effective state laws to address the problems associated with genetic engineering of crops and food.”

Could you imagine being a student who didn’t have a math class for five days? Could you imagine being a student desperately trying to switch out of a class of 50 students? Could you imagine being a student who signed up for Latin 5/6, but ended up in Spanish 1/2? 

These questions that have been posed have become reality for many Berkeley High School (BHS) students. While students have been frantically trying to meet with their counselors to change their schedules, the counselors have not been as helpful as they could be. 

They closed the doors to the counseling office and put parent volunteers out to guard the doors at the main office. The administration’s response is that schedule changes will be handled as quickly as possible, but that priority to meet with counselors is given to new students. This is understandable. Students who don’t yet have schedules, which was at around 180, should get first priority. 

School started on Aug. 13. However, many students had to wait around in their classes against their own wishes, hoping for a schedule change in the near future. 

Just last Thursday, the administration finally allowed students to make appointments, which was a big relief. 

A large number of students are requesting schedule changes. However, it is ridiculous that more than a week after school had started, the wishes of students had not been honored. 

Countless numbers of students have been going through this dilemma. They just sat in the classes they got, not paying attention, because they thought that they could switch out of them. High school isn’t supposed to be this stressful. Students have enough to deal with through classes, parents, extra-curriculars, social issues, et cetera. To laden the students with so much more stress is unthinkable and wrong. 

BHS seems to have a lack of counseling staff to deal with schedule change requests. Perhaps they should hire more counselors so that students can be served better. At any rate, BHS should come up with a better solution to schedule changes, so that students next year won’t have to deal with the same dysfunctional system that students have had to deal with this year. 

This year has been by far the slowest in processing schedule changes since this writer came to Berkeley High School in 2004. Usually, the turn-around is a couple of days. Sweeping change is needed and it’s needed fast. 

Most of the publications I read regularly (the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Nation) have had back-to-school stories carrying on at length about a perceived crisis in childhood nutrition. This year’s version is anxiety about obesity in children—a few years ago the same kinds of articles were being written about anorexia and bulimia, but this year it’s obesity. I’ll leave it to Malcolm Gladwell and Michael Pollan to determine if the epidemiology justifies the perception of crisis, but I can’t help being bemused by the discussions of remedies in these articles, all written for the consumption of the chattering classes, though coming from various points in the left-right spectrum. 

Berkeley figures largely in these stories. The world outside the Berkeley Bubble is mightily impressed that a foundation started by local hashslinger Alice Waters is paying the tab to hire a gourmet chef for our school lunch program, who commutes every day all the way from Half Moon Bay just to minister to the benighted babes of Berkeley. It’s of course seriously unfair to comment on the success of the program without sitting in on a few school lunchrooms myself, but I’m going to do it anyway.  

As a grandmother, I’m far away from the time when school lunches were something I had to face every day. When my kids were little, the school lunch program was in its infancy, if it existed at all. It wasn’t an option for most kids, which is why the biggest success the Black Panthers ever had was their program of serving breakfasts for hungry students.  

Most kids brought their own lunches in brown paper bags. Shocking as it may seem in these food fetishist days, my kids had (and wanted) the same thing almost every day. To be completely truthful, I must confess that their father made most of the school lunches for years. As a scientist and engineer, he didn’t mess around with unnecessary frills. This is what he did: He took a loaf of sliced commercial whole wheat bread and laid it out in rows. He spread peanut butter on half the slices, jelly on the other half, stuck the two halves together, put each sandwich in a baggie and stuck the lot in the freezer. Then each day he put one frozen sandwich in each paper bag, including one to take to his lab for himself, and added fruit in season, usually an orange or an apple from the A&P. The kids bought subsidized milk in cartons at school (no soft drinks, however). That’s it. We got our green vegetables at dinner.  

And the kids turned out fine, healthy even. One’s a bit of a non-fanatical foodie, one’s a save-the-planet vegetarian, and one’s an omnivorous musician who has a cheese sandwich for lunch every single day in order to have more time for practicing.  

All the carrying on about gourmet cooking in order to tempt the precious tiny appetites seems more than a bit silly to me. I sometimes cook for my grandkids now, and I can report that children’s tastes haven’t changed much. They still want simple familiar foods cooked plainly, and not mixed together at all. Every parent has seen at least one child who can’t stand even letting different foods touch on the plate. It’s an enormous waste of time to think that spicing up the offering will make children like nutritious food better. Maybe today’s students who come from spicier cultures might like more seasoning that the mostly European-and-African-American kids who were in school with our kids, but salsa and hot sauce on the table can do a lot. 

I’m amazed that the celebrity chefs featured in the articles (one was in New Jersey, I think) weren’t briefed before they were hired on the politics of the commodity program. It’s a huge problem for school lunches: The government buys up farm surplus food and re-sells it cheap to bulk up school lunches, largely for the benefit of agribusiness. But it’s by no means a new problem. “Should the government continue to support farm prices?” was my high school debate topic in the fifties. No amount of clever cuisine can disguise that rubberized cheese which was created to support dairy farmers. 

The place the Berkeley schools ought to look for pointers on cooking nutritious food for groups on a budget are the programs in town that have been doing it successfully for years. We had dinner on Sunday with the Berkeley Food and Housing Project’s quarter meal program, which feeds the homeless on a regular basis, and the cooks, Jamie Boreen and Todd Fortune, served a simple but delicious dinner featuring a big helping of fresh green beans, a small piece of nicely cooked tender chicken, rough-mashed potatoes and both green and fruit salads. Granted, it was a company meal, and daily fare may not be as fancy, but any child I’ve ever known could relate to that kind of cooking. The meals served at the New Light Senior Lunches are another example, with menus, standards and recipes meticulously conceived by former Councilmember Maudelle Shirek and now executed under the supervision of long-time community activist Jacqueline DeBose.  

Produce which is both delicious and organic (though expensive) is widely available in Berkeley, and should be used for school lunches when possible. But there’s a truism I remember from the software development world that should be considered: “The Best is the enemy of the Good.” Insisting on offering ideal food to kids means missing opportunities simply to improve what they eat. Supermarket house-brand frozen green beans, if the price is right and the kids will eat them, might be better than arugula pizza with balsamic vinegar, which is more expensive, has fewer vitamins and is often left on the plate.  

Once I overheard a couple of junior high girls at the Farmer’s Market talking longingly about a pile of rosy pears which were $3 a pound, or about 75 cents each. “They’re organic, and I know they’re really good,” one girl said, “but I only have 35 cents left today.” I didn’t push my way into their conversation to tell her that she could buy very nice pears at the supermarket for $1.50 a pound, but I wish I had. Eating a well-washed non-organic pear is better than not eating a pear at all, a point for the Berkeley Unified School District and the Chez Panisse Foundation to ponder.  

—Becky O’Malley

The Planet has received a second commentary (opinion essay) from Kurosh (Cyrus) Arianpour, a student who is Iranian by nationality, Zoroasterian by religion, used to live in Berkeley and is currently studying physics in Bombay and learning English. Publication of his first letter upset many Planet readers and others who saw it quoted elsewhere. Since his second letter is substantially similar to the first one, we will not print it in full. In summary: he says he’s outraged by Israel’s actions in Lebanon and in Gaza, and that many others throughout the world are also angry. He thinks critics of the Planet’s printing his first letter should instead be condemning Israel because of the civilian deaths in Lebanon. He quotes a writer who believes that Zionists are controlling Americans. He repeats the charges from his first letter: that Israel’s current policies are characteristic of the behavior of what he calls “Jews/Zionists” throughout history and around the world, and as such are the cause of anti-Semitism. We’d like to take the opportunity now to set him straight about a few of his most egregious misconceptions: 

Dear Kurosh, 

As you might know from reading the Planet on the Internet, we have indeed gotten a lot of criticism for printing your first letter, as you suggest in your latest commentary. There’s a big campaign underway to persuade our advertisers to cancel their ads. It threatens to shut down the paper.  

Nevertheless, we still believe in the American principle of freedom of speech and the press, as guaranteed in the First Amendment to our Constitution, and in the right of citizens to hear all points of view. We’re not going to print your second commentary, since it’s substantially the same as your first one. But I think this is a good opportunity for me and our readers to tell you and people like you that blind hatred of all Jews, commonly called “anti-Semitism,” is the wrong response to disliking Israel’s policies. Please read all of the comments our readers have written about this in the last month so that you can see what they think you’ve gone wrong.  

Since you’ve told me that you’re still a student of the English language, I can see one obvious thing I think is wrong with what you say in your letters. You are confusing a lot of different terms, combining them into one category, perhaps because you genuinely don’t understand how they’re used in American English.  

First, you should never use the term “Jews/Zionists” because all Jews are not Zionists, and all Zionists are not Jews. The very term “Jews/Zionists” is an insult to the memory of Rachel Corrie, who was a Jew and perhaps even a believer in the existence of the state of Israel in some form, yet opposed the current policies of the current government of Israel.  

Name-calling is never rational argument. Someone can even be a Jewish/Zionist/Israeli and still oppose some policies of the state of Israel. We have a saying in this country: “two Jews, three opinions,” because American Jews are famous for their lively disagreements with each other about politics and other things. And not all Israelis support the present policies of their government—a growing number, including many Jews, are vocal dissenters. If you want to learn more about the dissent in Israel, you can read the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz on the Internet.  

Here are some more explanations of the meaning of the English words you use incorrectly: 

”Jews” are people who follow the religion of Judaism or whose ancestors did, though there’s a lot of discussion over who qualifies to be “a Jew.” Some Jews do not support the existence of the modern state of Israel; many others do.  

“Zionists” are people who do support the existence of the state of Israel (even some who are not Jewish). “Zionist” is a political term, and does not describe religion, or citizenship. A person can be a Zionist and still think that the government of Israel is doing everything wrong at the moment.  

“Israelis” are citizens of Israel. Most Israelis are Jewish, but some are Christians or Muslims or Druze, and some are not religious at all.  

What has made many of our Jewish readers and others extremely unhappy is the way you keep trying to blame all Jews or even all Israelis for the actions of the government of Israel which you don’t like. That’s called “anti-Semitism”—the name that is given to the practice of blaming all Jews for the deeds or opinions of some individuals. People like me, even though we believe in free speech, hate anti-Semitism because it’s unfair and inaccurate, and was used as the excuse for the Nazis’ mass killings of Jews in the 20th century.  

There’s no such thing as any whole group throughout history being guilty of anything—that’s a category error, and if you’re really a physics student you should be too smart to make that kind of mistake. And by the way, anti-Semitism isn’t the only example of a category error. In the United States, we’re even more likely to hear untrue blanket categorizations of African-Americans or Muslims, and they’re always wrong by definition. 

Your statement that “Jews/Zionists” have been the most hated throughout history is just nonsense. You need to spend more time studying history. Hatred between groups is part of the history of the whole human race, unfortunately—it’s not a special problem about Jews. Christian sects in Europe had bloody wars against one another for centuries. Jews had nothing to do with the recent bloody conflict between groups in ex-Yugoslavia, or with the genocide in Ruanda. I don’t know much about the history of Iran/Persia, but I do know that various religious groups there, including Zoroasterians, have had conflicts throughout history too. Many people from the Bahai faith came to California in the twentieth century because they were persecuted in Iran, and the problem continues. I also know that Jews lived peacefully in Iran for centuries even while they were being persecuted by Christians in Europe.  

I’m glad you’ve learned to appreciate a free press. I hope that you try to make sure that whatever country you end up living in has a free press. India has a lively one which I read on the Internet. I don’t think Iran has a free press at this time, though since I don’t read Farsi I can’t be sure. One of the countries with a very free press is—surprise—Israel. If you are lucky enough to have access to getting your opinions published in a free press, you have a special responsibility for making sure that what you write is fair and accurate.  

As a young person and citizen of the world, you have an opportunity to change the pattern of groups hating groups. You can unlearn your anti-Semitism by getting to know some real Jewish people. You can learn—now—that humans are humans, and they can learn to get along with one another regardless of historical disputes among their ancestors or their governments. Please try.

A CORRECTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing in response to your editorial “Unlearning anti-Semitism.” First of all, I want to thank you for distinguishing between Israelis, Jews and Zionists and pointing out that there are many Jews, indeed many Israeli Jews, who don’t consider themselves Zionist and that there are those that do consider themselves Zionist (Jews or non Jews) who resist the policies of the Israeli government. These are distinctions that are often blurred and I was grateful you addressed them. 

However, I want to point out a factual error in your editorial. You wrote, “The very term ‘Jews/Zionists’ is an insult to the memory of Rachel Corrie, who was a Jew and perhaps even a believer in the existence of the State of Israel in some form, yet opposed the current policies of the current government of Israel.” 

Rachel Corrie was many things; a daughter, a sister, a human rights activist, a writer, an artist, but she was not, actually, Jewish. She was raised by her parents, Cindy and Craig Corrie, with a great awareness of and sensitivity to historical suffering of Jewish people and this, I believe, might have helped to shape her belief about the necessity of resisting oppression and violence in all its different forms. In fact, in My Name is Rachel Corrie (a play culled by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner from her diaries and e-mails growing up), there is a passage she wrote describing her fear as a non-Jew engaging in activism around Palestinian human rights that she would be labeled anti-Semitic. 

I thank you for wanting to honor the memory of Rachel Corrie. As someone who worked to allow her words and writings to be heard in the United States at a time when they were threatened with being silenced, I strongly believe that her memory and legacy should be treasured. But not for religious belief, or because of what she may or may not have believed about the existence of the state of Israel. Rachel should be honored and remembered as a compassionate human being; one who questioned the use and abuse of power in many forms, one who stood (literally) to protect the lives of vulnerable human beings, and one who had an incredible gift of writing, which she used to ponder the deeper questions of existence as well as using it to describe the horrible violations of human rights that she was witnessing in Palestine. 

Jen Marlowe 

EDITOR’S NOTE: More letters on the Middle East can be found on our website: www.berkeleydailyplanet.com. 

• 

THE POLICY WE DARE NOT MENTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I enjoyed the commentary titled “The Policy We Dare Not Mention” and agree that a gas tax is an effective way to reduce congestion and address a raft of other issues. However, one of your assertions about raising the gas tax, that it will economically benefit most low-income people, is not necessarily true. Whether we like it or not. The structure of our communities make many places inaccessible by transit. Many of these places inaccessible to transit are also where good jobs are. By pricing lower income people out of cars, you essentially stratify the job market and restrict the access to goods and services. Lower fuel prices benefit mostly the poor by increasing their mobility. A gas tax is therefore a regressive tax. There are ways to address this, but the statement by the Daily Planet is misleading. Having said that, I do agree that increasing the price of fuel is the most efficient way to reduce congestion and pollution. The economic benefits are less clear for lower income people. 

Another statement is also misleading: 

Why not look to the future and embrace the “hydrogen highway”? Fuel cell vehicles cost $250,000 and up, 30 percent of the hydrogen leaks out of current generation tanks while they are sitting in the garage, the hydrogen fueling stations don’t exist, and the best current hydrogen source is natural gas. So let’s look to the future, but in the meantime.... 

Thirty percent of the gas does not leak out. This is grossly misleading and the way you phrase it makes it seem like it is leaking into your garage. This is definitely not the case. Perhaps for liquid hydrogen there would be leakage outside the garage, but not many companies are seriously considering liquid because of the planned leakage. Most companies are considering only compressed gas. In that case, the gas stays right in the tank until you use it. 

Michael Nicholas 

• 

TWO THINGS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

There are two things this week I would like to comment on. 

Brit Harvey would like there to be a federal policy change, what he calls a “tax shift,” that he claims would have multiple nation and world-wide benefits. Brit cites several needed changes that this tax measure would potentially help to make. Among others, the stand-outs were reduced smog, traffic congestion, oil dependency, suburban sprawl, national debt, and foreign oil dependency. 

This tax shift is describes as increasing the state gas tax by X amount and reducing other taxes to match. How this policy change was described as “Federal” in the beginning of the piece, and “State” at the end, I don’t know. In this case I will assume it to be a state tax measure. My only question is, once there are more hybrids on the road, more EVs, less oil consumption, and hence less tax revenue as a result of this policy change... What then? A large decrease in state tax revenue would damage infrastructure. Do you think that Californians would really approve a huge non-gasoline tax cut one year, and then the Newtonian (equal and opposite reaction, I mean) tax increase a few years following? 

Secondly, Richard Brenneman’s recent article on Prop. 90 was more op-ed piece than article. I agree with him that voting no on prop 90 would be the way to go. However, the article was so biased I had to laugh. The attempted smear of Prop. 90 proponents, casting them as money grubbing bourgeoisie. The portrayal of the opposition as benevolent yet downtrodden environmental heroes. The implication that the evil greedy developers were only able to raise more money than the “NO” organizations by soliciting right-to-lifers and other right wing zealots. Oh the poor, poor proletariat that is the Sierra Club and the League of California Cities! 

Come on Mr. Brenneman. I understand your passion, I do. But please make an effort to keep it a little more news stand and a little less soap box. 

Matthew Mitschang 

South Berkeley 

• 

PARKING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

If the Sharon Hudson and Brit Harvey positions can’t be realized, the banning of overnight street parking would tend to limit the auto and improve livability. 

Robert C. Chioino 

• 

AN OPEN EXCHANGE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Despite the fact I disagree with about half of the letters published in the Daily Planet, and am annoyed by 99 percent of Becky O’Malley’s editorials, I continue to be a loyal reader. The letters pages are a refreshing dose of Berkeley’s diverse points of view. They are entertaining to read, and it’s just the kind of open exchange our community needs. Keep up the good work. 

Dave Fogarty 

• 

UC TREES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It is with great sorrow that I have learned that the University of California is planning to cut down the oak grove at the stadium as part of the ill-conceived stadium building project. These trees are irreplaceable treasures. They should be protected, preserved and enjoyed by generations to come. As a child, I walked beneath these trees many times. As a student at Cal, I came home by way of the path that skirts them and enjoyed their shade. As a 68-year-old woman, I still enjoy walking beneath them. As the open spaces on the campus are steadily being filled, this has remained a quiet shady place. How can the University be so short sighted and arrogant as to believe that one football coach is worth breaking the law and sacrificing these ancient trees. This is the final straw in a really inappropriate plan to upgrade the existing stadium. A new site should be found that does not sit on an earthquake fault, where there is more space, where it does not so negatively impact the surrounding residential neighborhood, where it is more accessible to people who are driving or riding public transportation and where an ancient grove of California oaks is not thriving. The coach in question will probably get a better offer and leave before the stadium project is done anyway.  

Lucy Ratcliff Pope 

• 

BACK IN THE MIX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I must admit that I took a break from local news and the Daily Planet this summer—so much passion, so much detail, so many people venting at each other in the letters columns. Overwhelmed, I disconnected from my community. 

Alerted by a friend as to the controversy around the Planet and the Chronicle hit piece and curious about the Cody’s story, I picked up the Sept. 8-11 edition and felt as if I had rejoined the world, or at least my part of it. The local news and local activism were presented clearly and compassionately, the cartoon was great and the letters lively, and Becky O’Malley’s editorial “Singing the Blues About Cal Dems” and Zoia Horn’s op-ed “Sunshine is the Best Antidote for Bigotry” were outstanding. 

Thank you for a local treasure, a paper dedicated to free speech, social justice, and a good life for everyone in the Berkeley-Oakland-Albany area. 

I would love to see an article about the why our majestic native sycamore trees have been slowly dying for several years and what, if anything, can be done to save them. To put it anthropomorphically, they look like they are writhing in agony and flayed alive, with all the torments of Job and then some, and mirror the tortured unraveling of our social, political, and environmental fabric. The lack of concern for them (we are all too preoccupied to mention them, we see them suffering on our streets, no one speaks up for them publicly) bespeaks a resignation to the collapse of yet another species, a resignation that is close to despair . . . or indifference, which is even worse. 

Jeanie Shaterian 

• 

TELEGRAPH AVENUE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was born and raised in Berkeley and would like to try and tell the story of what the reality of the Cody’s situation and “The Ave.” in general. It all started in the 1960s as is well chronicled. I remember all the happy hippies running around without a care in the world. Then time past and the happy hippy began to get into the highs too much. Then the hippies got to smelling badly for lack of a care in the world. Then came the realization that the hippy ideas sounded great (still do), but, are not livable in reality. 

The ACLU and other off-shoots were all about letting mental patients to have freedom as long as they were not going to injure themselves or others. Boy how great it would be for these people who are unable to care for themselves or do anything without proper supervision and medication to run around freely. The ACLU sure did win a big one there! 

So the owner of Cody’s is at fault? So he hoses people sleeping (as well as lord knows what else) to remove them/there mess from in front of his business? Who is really at fault here? 

It all goes back to the idea of some kind of Utopia existing in Berkeley. To think that Berkeley cannot live by what every other city does to remain viable still is not working. The only thing that I really miss about Berkeley and Telegraph is the bubble lady. The rest of the hangers on need to try and become more real than fantasy. 

Chris Fuller 

• 

BACK IN THE MIX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have lived in District 7 for seven years. I love my neighborhood and my neighbors, but unfortunately I have seen the quality of our lives deteriorate over the past seven years. Our neighborhood has the highest crime rate in the city, businesses along the once proud Telegraph Avenue are closing down and moving out, and homelessness has increased significantly. Our police and city staff have performed admirably, but the problems stem from a lack of leadership at the elected level. We need leaders with a vision for a safe and prosperous District 7, leaders who can conceive of and implement solutions to the problems we face. As president of the Willard Neighborhood Association, George Beier has demonstrated that he has the vision, the experience, and the character to improve the quality of our lives in District 7. Berkeley is changing rapidly. Let’s make sure it changes for the best. I support George Beier for City Council. 

Rich Walkling 

• 

INANE COMMENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Only in Berkeley would a columnist offer the inane comment, as Bob Burnett did, that “where al Qaeda has a long history of terrorist attacks, Hezbollah does not....” 

According to the BBC, Hezbollah has been “synonymous with terror, suicide bombings and kidnappings.” Wikipedia notes that Hezbollah’s acts have included multiple kidnappings, murders, hijackings, and bombings.” 

Of course, mostly Hezbollah just kills Jews, and for many Berkeley lefties that is quite acceptable. 

Mark Johnson 

• 

THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The New Light Senior Center wishes to thank those of you who were so generous and helpful in our struggle to remain open. Your gifts and donations for our lunch program for at risk seniors made it possible that on three days each week we can serve and deliver hot nutritious meals. The New light Staff, Board members, Volunteers and lunch buddies want to say thanks a million for caring and sharing. 

Jacqueline DeBose 

Executive Director, 

New Light Senior Center 

• 

COOPERATIVE GROCERY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In response to Rev. Pondurenga Das’ Sept. 12 letter to the editor, we would like to clarify some key points under which the newly forming Berkeley Cooperative Grocery is operating. If readers will visit our website, they will discover that we are interested in offering only organic, sustainable, and whenever possible, local products for sale at the CoG. We believe, as Rev. Das observes, sustainability is a crucial element for the success of our communities, both large and small.  

As a non-profit, we do not intend to “compete” with either Berkeley Bowl or local Farmer’s Markets. Indeed, many farmers who sell here have contacted us, eager to be able to distribute their goods through a small, cooperative setting. For those of you who shop at Farmer’s Markets, you might agree that saving money is not the primary motivator for shopping there. It is, rather, the sense of community that permeates the market that is so satisfying. Berkeley Bowl (as well as Monterey Market and Berkeley Natural Grocery, for that matter) are all lovely, family-run or worker-owned Berkeley institutions at which many of us regularly shop. The Cog will be a true alternative to all of these. By opening a non profit, working member co-op, we will be offering a way for members to save money on the organic and sustainable products they purchase by offering their labor to the cooperative. By saving on labor, we will be able to lower the markup that many stores must add.  

As we mentioned in the article, for many people, time is something they have less of than money, and the cooperative model will simply not work for them. But for many others in this area, trading labor for less expensive organic and sustainable products is something that might make it possible to be able to purchase those products in the first place. That’s precisely our main goal: to provide access to what are typically regarded as elitist products to more members of our community, and at the same time, build community. The CoG will belong to its members. Indeed, the fact that nearly 300 members have joined in the first month of going public truly speaks to how ready the East Bay is for this kind of endeavor.  

Serving “high-end consumers” we will leave to others; the CoG will be for ordinary folk who are looking for a way to participate cooperatively, make more sustainable purchasing choices, and save some money doing it. We invite you to learn more about us. Please visit our website at www.berkeleycog.org. 

Julia Carpenter 

• 

FLAWED HEADLINE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding last week’s headline, “Hawk Habitat Destroyed,” you completely missed the boat on the power and importance of this story. The City of Berkeley waited six months to take down a dead tree in order to give a family of Cooper’s hawks a chance to fledge their young. That’s the story! And for a supposedly environmentally conscientious community and newspaper, what a story to be proud of. 

As it was written, the headline is a slap in the face of city workers, particularly Jerry Koch, who has been deeply and personally committed to preserving opportunities for nesting hawks in our city. Even the article’s writer, David Gelles, e-mailed an apology for the flawed headline. 

In addition, I was misrepresented as saying that acacia is an ideal habitat for Cooper’s hawks. Acacia is a tree, not a habitat. For the record, Berkeley Cooper’s hawks seem to be able to use many species of native and non-native trees, none obviously better than another. For more info on Berkeley’s Cooper’s hawks, visit www.ggro.org/CHINSforWeb.pdf. 

Allen Fish 

• 

DOWNTOWN PARKING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

This letter is in response to Phyllis Orrick’s Sept. 12 letter to the editor. In it she states that Donald Shoup who spoke at the DAPAC/Transportation Commission meeting thought that making parking in downtown Berkeley more expensive would help solve the parking problem. (I was not at the meeting so am relying on the letter writer’s summary.) If this is an accurate summary of his message, it sounds to me like Mr. Shoup doesn’t understand the point of having parking available.  

Most people who patronize businesses downtown get there by automobile and therefore need a place to park. They occupy their parking spaces for only as long as it takes to do their business whether it is to eat a meal, watch a movie, shop, or visit a city office. No one occupies a parking space longer than he or she needs to just because it is not that expensive. People factor the cost of parking and the convenience of finding a parking place near their destination into their decision where to take their business. As the cost of parking downtown and the difficulty in finding a place to park increase, people will go where they can do the same thing with less inconvenience and cost. 

Our family used to go to the movies in downtown Berkeley. But now that a number of the parking lots have disappeared, in particular the Hink’s garage (where parking cost more than on the street but it was always available), we drive to Emeryville where parking is either free or at most $1 and available near the theaters when we want to see a movie. As a matter of fact I do find that the lack of parking in downtown Berkeley has made it inhospitable and inconvenient.  

Mary Oram 

• 

PRISON POLICY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Come on now—that was surely meant in jest only. The same for the quote: “It’s a struggle, and I hope the Legislature will reconsider and help us find some immediate relief." Reconsider what? Building more prison beds when it is very obvious that more county jail beds, not prison beds, are needed? 

I guess he must be new to Corrections. Everyone who has been involved with corrections anywhere for more than 10 minutes knows that all Correctional agencies routinely deal with overcrowding by tinkering with inmate length of stay (LOS) so you have sufficient capacity to meet inflow. If the Department of Corrections (DC&R) had not implemented the Good Time Credits system to reduce LOS there would probably be a prison population of 250,000 or more. Counties release about 20,000 inmates monthly to make room for incoming inmates. Reagan simply ordered the release of all inmates a little early. Why would anyone ever consider closing prisons to new commitments and risk creating real crises?  

The DC&R is supposed to tell the Governor and Legislature what minor law change is needed to reduce inmate LOS so that capacity matches inflow. Its not complicated.  

Rich McKone 

Lincoln, Calif.  

• 

MLK WAY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

P.M. Price got it almost right in her Sept. 8 “View from Here” column. 

Shrinking MLK back to what it was when the streetcars took up the middle is a fine idea, but don’t stop at Dwight! Take it six blocks or so farther north—to Center, say, or Allston. I live on MLK opposite BHS, between Bancroft and Allston, and we’ve got all those same auto-related miseries up at this end, too. I regularly walk my bicycle to one end of the block because the traffic past my house is so heavy and freeway-like that I can’t ride out of my own driveway. I quit smoking in 1965, but when I look at the grime on the curtains, or anything kept outdoors, and realize that I’m breathing in that same stuff, I sometimes wonder why I bothered. MLK needs traffic calming big time, and it needs it now! 

David Coolidge 

• 

THE GREEN MACHINE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Green Machine has certainly made a difference, and I think there are way fewer aphids dropping goo. (I’m a street craftsperson and have been for —whoa!—30 years, so I’m under the trees.) I hope they keep after the aphids. 

I have a suggestion about the parking problem that does not involve any construction or destruction. The yellow zones are posted “Loading Zone at all times.” The look on the faces of people who get a ticket on Sunday or after 6 p.m. says, “I’ll never shop there again.” Not much is being loaded anyway. My suggestion is at least to make the hours of enforcement like those for yellow zones everywhere else. Better yet would be to paint them green and make them 30-minute areas so people could grab a pizza or do quick errands without the worry of a ticket. The current bizarre and erratic enforcement is more like harassment than law enforcement and serves mainly to alienate people. 

Ruth Bird 

• 

CODY’S AND TELEGRAPH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thanks for running Carol Denney’s commentary on Cody’s. Carol, thanks for telling it like it is. The homeless are the last group that it seems to be OK to trash in our politically correct city—it’s all their fault, seems to be the story, and besides, they’re responsible for their sorry situation. Try substituting African Americans in that argument— are you still PC? 

Oddly enough, crowds of people from Orinda and Lafayette and Walnut Creek and points east and south still crowd Telegraph on the weekends. They don’t seem to be scared to come here, and they come for the stuff they can’t get at malls: atmosphere, street vendors, specialty stores. Maybe Cody’s didn’t do well for the more obvious reasons—the convenience and deep discounts of Internet bookstores, the parking (yes, parking) and amenities at chains such as Barnes & Noble and Borders, changes in the interests and activities of students. Cody’s always had that “we’re an icon we don’t have to be friendly” vibe—it was often difficult to catch a staffer’s eye at the customer service counter. It would also not have killed Andy Ross to provide a few chairs among the shelves (no one is asking for syrupy coffee drinks here!)—sitting on the floor to read a book isn’t fun even when you’re young, and a whole lot less fun when you’re old and creaky. Small independents usually make up for higher prices and smaller inventory by being extra service-oriented—try Analog Books on Northside to see what I mean. Not so with Cody’s. 

So, as the PR (sorry, Green) Machines scoot unnecessarily down the sidewalks of Telegraph at taxpayer expense, Cody’s has been sold to a Japanese company, but no, it’s not returning to Berkeley—crocodile tears all around, even by the new owner. Don’t blame the homeless, blame greed. 

Aija Kanbergs

As a sometime contributor to the Daily Planet who knows its executive editor and publisher pretty well, I’m perplexed by the recent fireworks on these pages over the paper’s own past Middle East commentary. 

I was as surprised as anyone by the Aug. 8 material that kicked off this controversy. But I’m floored by some people’s baseless inferences about the editor’s motives, and by absurd suggestions that the hotbed of raging tolerance currently in your hands (or browser) is some eager accessory to bigotry. 

I’m also mystified by how so many far-flung people find so much time for extended, and often factually flawed, dissection of a community paper’s public and private communications. To the exclusion, mind you, even of the underlying Mideast issues. If we’re going to leave any ink in the wells for our grandchildren—let alone achieve world peace—we all need to draw some lessons from this episode and move on to more substantive things. 

First, the Planet’s Aug. 8 commentary page had more than one problem. As the paper has already admitted, Howard Glickman’s commentary was mistakenly given an inflammatory headline that didn’t reflect its contents. And agree or disagree with Mr. Glickman’s own arguments, he’s a strong debater and a Berkeley resident. 

Kurosh Arianpour’s adjacent commentary, however, rapidly degenerated into a repellent anti-Jewish screed that was entirely disproportionate (a word I’ll revisit) to Mr. Glickman’s piece. And what really baffled me was its basic “standing” to appear in the Planet. Mr. Arianpour was credited as an Iranian student studying in India. 

Such remote outsourcing raises the question: Couldn’t the Planet find an anti-Semitic rant from a Berkeley resident? As a Jewish guy, I guess I should welcome the possibility that local anti-Semites aren’t teaching their goon squads to write (entirely likely), or literate locals aren’t anti-Semitic (ditto), or maybe there aren’t many local anti-Semites at all (fine by me). 

Still, I worry that offshoring anti-Semitic rants to low-wage countries might inflame the very resentments that provoke bigots. (And please tell me that Mr. Arianpour isn’t an illegal immigrant anywhere—that really sets off the Yahoos.) This being Berkeley, I hope the Planet will ensure that any future anti-Semitic rants imported from offshore are Fair Trade-certified. 

Second, I’m amazed that anyone has inferred that Mr. Arianpour’s piece reflected the leanings of Becky O’Malley, or anyone else at the Planet. Anyone who knows Becky knows she’s an extremist—but only about free speech. 

Long before she and her husband Mike resurrected this newspaper, Becky regularly surprised some of us squeaky wheels by putting us directly in contact with people we had bad-mouthed. Her philosophy was that direct, unmediated discussion was the best way to resolve festering resentments. Like it or not, she’s run the Planet’s opinion pages on a “common-carrier” basis that’s entirely consistent with how she’s always run Berkeley’s most interesting e-mail relay. 

Furthermore, some of Becky’s best friends are...free-speech fundamentalists who make her look moderate by comparison. These are people who fought good fights in the ’60s, prospered in the technology industry, and today have gray ponytails of wisdom, plus the time and financial security to take highly principled stands. 

I remember one of Becky’s friends denouncing activists whose promised demonstrations had provoked Henry Kissinger and Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel local speeches. I’d thought the old warlords were just chicken, but he made a strong case that they were actually the victims in that episode. 

And in fact, anyone who’s attended any of the O’Malleys’ frequent salons knows that they’re at least as happy hanging out with Jewish people as with anyone else. That’s true of a lot of gentiles, of course—and at the risk of overgeneralizing, I think it reflects well on us as well as them. We tend to be just a little bit more fun than your average bear. 

And not just Jews, but non-Jews with roots in Middle Eastern cultures. When we’re not killing each other with ordnance, we’re often killing each other (or you) with warmth and kindness. 

Get us out of the Middle East itself—a place with too little land, water, and shade, and too much history—and all of this flowers. Like a lot of Jewish Bay Area residents, I buy my bagels at a Palestinian-owned coffeehouse, and often pick up late-night groceries at an Arab-owned corner liquor store. All pleasantly contradictory, and that’s the way it should be. Salaam alechem, l’chaim, and who doesn’t like falafel? 

Which brings me to my last point: Berkeley is the last place I expect to find people digging themselves into sterile, old blood-based divides. This is a city of bridge-builders. Tikkun, Women in Black, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Jewish/Muslim dialogue efforts you’ve never heard of—all have roots or a strong presence here. 

If enduring peace ever comes to the Mideast, Berkeley will ultimately get credit for helping lead the way. Sure, it may take another 3,000 years to undo ancient rivalries; but circa 5,000 A.D., they’ll put a floating plaque beside the ruins of the Gaia Building’s elevator tower. 

This is why it’s so ironic that Berkeley’s little community paper long ago became a lightning rod closely monitored by certain people, throughout the Greater Berkeley diaspora, who are obsessed with cleansing any discussion—anywhere—of the Israel/ Palestine controversy. 

Today, while we’re spilling gallons of ink over Talmudic debates about who allegedly and unverifiably said what to whom, too damn much blood has been spilled in Lebanon and Israel. And there’s the threat of more bloodletting to come. Iran wants to be the Mideast’s big gun, and Israel and the U.S. have each shot themselves in the foot. 

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad really said last October that Israel should be “wiped off the map.” He really has called the Holocaust “a myth.” Iran really is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. And if none of that worries you, former Iranian defense minister Ali Shamkhani really did describe American forces in Iraq as Iran’s “hostage.” 

America’s march into Saddam’s quagmire destroyed our country’s image, goodwill, and leverage in much of the Islamic world. And with Iran pulling the strings in an Iraq that’s now dominated by Shiites, the U.S. troops there are less hegemon than captive. 

So much for the U.S. neocons’ triumphant “transformation of the Middle East.” And Israel’s U.S.-supplied attempt to transform Iran-supplied Hezbollah  

didn’t work out any better. 

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have each accused Israel of war crimes for its conduct in Lebanon. And if you don’t like those messengers, any  

8-year-old watching TV news could have told you the same thing. 

Killing hundreds of Lebanese civilians, and displacing a quarter of that nation’s residents, was a massively disproportionate response to...what? Essentially, Hezbollah’s kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers—a non-lethal assault on a military target. 

Now spare me the old blood libel that anyone criticizing the worst outrages of the worst Likud-spawned thugs is “anti-Israel,” let alone “anti-Semitic.” Published debate among Israeli Jews regularly makes anything that appears in this newspaper look tame. 

Redestroying southern Beirut and much of southern Lebanon was a desperate attempt by a weak Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, to save his own political skin. He’s one particularly chicken warlord. Who gambled wrong. Even if you’re inclined to defend the Lebanon invasion on moral grounds—a sucker’s bet—there’s broad consensus that it was a catastrophe in pragmatic terms. Israel has shattered its own vaunted deterrent: its image of military invincibility. And it has dramatically strengthened Hezbollah’s military reputation, legitimacy, and popular allegiance. 

Those grisly images of Lebanese civilian deaths, which horrified even American children, got replayed over and over on satellite TV throughout the Muslim world. This was a diplomatic and public-relations disaster for Israel and the United States alike. 

And disaster is cheap in the Middle East. Has anyone got a solution for that sad region’s underlying problems? If so, inquiring minds want to know about that—not about yellowing old opinion pages. 

Here’s my tiny contribution: Maybe we should all take a lesson from the rock-star PR success that Hezbollah’s and Hamas’ social-service arms have brought their parent corporations. Provide food and shelter to desperate people, instead of blockading and displacing them. Who doesn’t like falafel? 

Last year, I was delighted to make two modest donations for Pakistan earthquake relief through American Jewish World Service. I know the money wasn’t siphoned off to Al Qaeda. And with my Palestinian neighbors maintaining a bagel supply for folks like me, I liked the idea of Muslims receiving care packages through a Jewish charity. 

So where do I donate to rebuild Lebanon or feed Gaza? 

Let’s keep our eyes on the prize: Let’s export world peace from Berkeley. Let’s not import fossilized animosities. Remember, around 5,000 A.D., our great-great-great-great-grandrobots will thank us. 

Michael Katz is a Berkeley resident. 

The Daily Planet’s Sept. 12 article, “Pacific Steel Emission Reports Turned Over to Air District,” was missing several important facts. If you take a look at the article, PSC’s public relations firm is the most common source for information (and reminds us all of the questionable and sad transformation from public servant to public relations consultant for Dion Aroner and company) 

Here is what’s missing: 

1. There has been no comprehensive off-site testing of the air AND the particulate matter in the neighborhood surrounding PSC, even though the community has made requests to PSC, BAAQMD, and the city for years. 

2. There has been no study of the health impacts of living with such poor quality air in West Berkeley. No testing of workers. No testing of residents. No community survey. No data collection regarding birth defects, reproductive disorders, cancer rates, asthma, breathing disorders, immune disorders, etc. 

3. PSC continues to pump known carcinogens, heavy metals, volatile organic compounds and particulate matter into the air, unfiltered, untreated, and deadly, every single day they operate. Deadly! 

4. PSC has withheld data from BAAQMD and the public that would allow the community to measure the health risks of living near the factory. 

5. PSC would NEVER be allowed to operate the kind of dirty business they operate if they moved to the neighborhood today. Why should they be grandfathered in? 

Here is what the article got wrong. 

1. Public relations PSC spokesperson Jewel states “In reality, if you are driving a car you are emitting the same amount of these toxic substances.” That’s just bad science, wrong, and terribly misleading. Bad science, but very good PR. No normal car produces the same kinds and amounts of the toxic substances produced by PSC. If HER car is producing that stuff in those amounts, I hope she is using public transportation to shuttle back and forth to and from PSC. 

2. “When we first came up with the idea of the carbon absorption unit, we were not even aware that we were required to have a building permit for it. So we were not expecting any delays,” she said. That’s just plain goofy. Of course you need a permit to make a major change in the physical structure of your facility. PSC had added this equipment before, although it has been unsuccessful at eliminating the terrible odors. 

Here is what’s missing. 

1. When is PSC or their consultants going to admit that the air is terrible in the neighborhood, that PSC is a huge source of the problem, and that PSC will stop poisoning the air? 

2. When will BAAQMD or the city of Berkeley step up and begin to protect the residents and workers who have lived with this notorious pollution for decades? Is it because the neighborhood is relatively poor, or doesn’t “look” like the kind of people who matter? 

3. PSC has generated hundreds of air quality complaints from the community, but so little has been done to stop them? Who’s in bed with whom? Why are the people who can do something about it so afraid to speak up! Good jobs are important. Safe air is a matter of life and death. It is wrong to pretend we have to decide between them. Our community wants them both. 

Andrew Galpern is a Berkeley resident. 

Berkeley, California has long been America’s leading municipal incubator of progressive social change. Berkeley was the home of the nation’s first alternative, listener-sponsored radio show (Pacifica), and was the first city to ban Styrofoam and disinvest from South Africa. Berkeley was the first city west of New York to enact rent control (in 1973), it is the home of the visionary and politically powerful MoveOn.org, had the first gourmet coffeehouse in Peets, and its Chez Panisse invented what became known nationally as “California cuisine.” The Berkeley Free Speech movement in 1964 legitimized campus protests across America, and Berkeley’s congressmembers have been the leading opponents of America’s military industrial complex. Yet Berkeley has become so desirable that those who made it an activist stronghold can no longer afford to live there. There is no better evidence of Berkeley’s political decline than the current mayor’s race, where incumbent Tom Bates is assured of re-election despite maintaining a record that would have him on the political ropes elsewhere.  

Berkeley politics has long been divided between conservative-moderates in the Berkeley Democratic Club (BDC) and progressive-leftists in Berkeley Citizens Action (BCA). Current Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates was strongly identified with BCA throughout his long state Assembly career, and was the group’s choice in his successful 2002 mayoral race against longtime BDC favorite, incumbent Shirley Dean.  

But in a signal of where Berkeley politics now stands, Bates overwhelmingly won the endorsement of the BDC, the city’s most anti-rent control and politically conservative club. Bates, the husband of Assemblymember and former Berkeley Mayor Loni Hancock, is also expected to get BCA’s endorsement.  

If Bates had done a great job during his first term as mayor, such broad support would be understandable. But Berkeley’s downtown and Telegraph Avenue have greatly deteriorated in the past four years, and Bates is so out of touch that he recently stated that he “loved” the idea of a Walgreens opening on Telegraph.  

A mayor that sees Walgreens as a great economic development opportunity fits the stereotype of Walnut Creek, not Berkeley. And since Bates took office the most recognizable name in the city is that of “Gordon”—the real estate company whose signs fill the vacant storefronts that dominate downtown Berkeley and much of the rest of the city.  

Bates also failed to address the never-ending expansion plans of the University of California. Bates vowed to strongly protect the city’s interests against the school’s unceasing lust for land, but once elected became a pushover.  

Early in his term the university unveiled its latest “Big Idea”: the construction of an upscale hotel in downtown Berkeley that would take up a block where the Bank of America plaza now sits at Center and Shattuck. The project had no educational purpose and clearly had to comply with the city’s planning code. It also would directly compete with existing hotels in the area. Nevertheless, Bates enthusiastically embraced the hotel, sending a clear signal that he would ensure its approval.  

When the university refused to discuss how it would fairly compensate the city for massive development projects associated with its Long Range Development Plan, Bates and the City Council sued the university over this non-disclosure. Unfortunately, the former Cal football star turned mayor then punted rather than try to score a touchdown. He engineered a secret deal with the university that ended up putting the city in a worse position than if the suit had not been filed. This bizarre action led many to wonder which team Berkeley’s mayor is playing on.  

Bates’ chief problem is that he is not a proactive mayor. Rather, any development scheme, no matter how ill conceived, attracts his attention. He gave initial support for a plan to build primarily market-rate housing on the Ashby BART station, and then had to pull back in response to community resistance. Nor does he try to galvanize public support for innovative land use or economic development plans, which would at least get people believing that Berkeley would not simply continue to be a victim of corporate economic decisions.  

Bates is a “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” kind of mayor. When the Clif energy bar company announced it was leaving for Alameda, Bates said this was understandable, as Berkeley was a “ business incubator” city. So much for fighting to keep the tax revenue that Berkeley’s social service agencies so desperately need.  

Despite the historic contentiousness of Berkeley politics, there were no protests in the streets over Bates’ lack of leadership. Few Berkeleyans are politically involved in the city, and few of those active are under 40. Until recently, Berkeley had more City Council members over 80 than under 40, and had only one under 50 years of age among the Council’s nine members.  

What happened to Berkeley’s young activists? Two things. First, they have been priced out of the Berkeley housing market. While San Francisco’s real estate boom for the past decade got most of the attention, Berkeley’s single-family home prices rose to the stratosphere.  

Berkeley’s progressive policies created such a great quality of life that apolitical types who once feared the community are eager to move there for the great views, restaurants, book stores, and its classic brown shingle and Mediterranean-style homes. Once affordable homes in West Berkeley now sell for over $500,000, and there is almost no neighborhood remaining that is affordable to the working-class homeowners who once forged a critical part of the city’s activist base.  

Second, as was commented upon when Cody’s on Telegraph closed in July after 50 years, Cal’s student population has changed dramatically since Prop 209 abolished affirmative action. UC Berkeley is no longer an activist campus, and it does not produce many students who stay involved politically in the city after graduation.  

Bates has been helped by the lack of organized opposition. Because he is a strong housing advocate, some progressives are loath to criticize him for fear of empowering the city’s outspoken anti-housing constituency. Criticizing Bates also risks jeopardizing relations with his Assemblymember wife, and if you want something done locally or through the state Legislature alienating both officials is not a good idea.  

Bates’ chief opponent is former Planning Commission Chair Zelda Bronstein, who has never held elected office. Bronstein has scored points against Bates’ record on land use and economic development issues, but is perceived by some as anti-business.  

Bates has already locked up the endorsements of nearly all the council, and will also win the support of his longtime allies in labor and the environmental community. So there is really no space for Bronstein to break through to win an electoral majority.  

This mayoral election is only for a two- year term, and many believe Bates will join Hancock in political retirement. Whether the prospect of an open mayor’s seat can revive Berkeley’s local political life is unclear, but if declining tax revenue leaves the city unable to maintain services, residents may again mobilize.  

Randy Shaw is a Berkeley resident and the editor of BeyondChron.org, where this first appeared.

The Planning Commission caved to a posse of developers Wednesday evening: They left the meeting jubilantly. The commission voted to make no recommendation to the city council on the subcommittee’s recommendations on density bonus. The most important stakeholders in this issue, the homeowners and tenants whose homes are directly affected, were not notified that the issue was coming up. The one citizen who spoke against the developers and in favor of the recommendations said she was there only because she always comes to these meetings. She characterized the developments that have proliferated in Berkeley as providing substandard housing, impinging on neighbors’ light and air, and being ugly; “looks like a prison,” she said of one building. 

The commission seemed to head in the right direction, to implement the recommendations with a “sunset” clause, to revisit the issue after the fate of Proposition 90 is known. Then someone worried about the developers’ projects, which would be put on hold for a few months, one developer shouted “Moratorium” and that was the end of it. If the developers weren’t making money, there wouldn’t be so many of them. 

If the people who oppose the densification of Berkeley as well as its unfettered growth UP had been notified of this “public” hearing, they might have been there. There was a lone, articulate voice. I was there, with my husband, to support the second action item, the recommendations for amendments to major residential additions: another issue where the interests of property owners, many who have lived in Berkeley for many years and appreciate its texture, seem vulnerable to the interests of those who would allow unlimited, unregulated growth. One self-identified architect announced that Berkeley must grow up, because it has nowhere else to go. Do Palo Alto, Mill Valley, even San Francisco subscribe to this notion? Why does Berkeley HAVE to grow? Another homeowner argued that he and all the people he knows at Totland should be allowed to expand their two bedroom, one bath bungalows in any direction they want, because today’s families need more space. I know where they can find it, in San Ramon and similar communities. Some of us treasure our little craftsman bungalows and work to preserve them, from the ravages of time and poorly-intentioned remodelling, as well as from the encroachment of “stucco warts” and view, light, and air blocking additions. On our block, I can point to two well designed, architecturally pleasing second story additions, and two box-on-top-of a box second story additions with no architectural merit. One of these, next door to our house, blocked our views and the more stunning views of at least two other neighbors. Those people wanted to build up, because they wanted the view, while stealing views from other people. As another speaker on this item pointed out, this sets neighbor against neighbor and damages the fabric of our community. 

Joan Strand is a Berkeley resident.

Concerning the debate about land use and density in Berkeley, I believe it is helpful to keep in mind the strong link between housing supply and the price of housing. Most of us who have lived in Berkeley for a few decades (I arrived in 1979 for grad school) long for the days when it didn’t take being a millionaire to buy a modest home in a nice neighborhood close to shops. What has happened, simply put, is that the available stock of single-family homes has barely changed since 1980, while the demand to live in Berkeley (which we all agree is one of the best places to live in America) has soared. Combined with historic low mortgage rates, this has lead to a situation where even homes in “less desirable” neighborhoods go for half a million or more. 

On the rental side, the situation is rather different. While historically rent control was an important factor in keeping rents low, in the past decade most rents in Berkeley have come close to market levels. Yet rents have been fairly stable in recent years, especially compared to the price of single-family homes. Various factors account for this divergence, but one of them is that the supply of rental housing has expanded significantly in the past five years. 

Given the coming growth in northern California’s population, the scarcity of attractive places to live, and the vibrancy of the Bay Area, increasing demand for housing in Berkeley is pretty inescapable. It’s hard to see how the number of single-family homes in Berkeley could increase very much, at least not until after the big earthquake provides an opportunity for a new approach (such as co-housing “villages”). On the rental and condo side, however, the existing plan for new development along key transit corridors (University, Shattuck, and San Pablo) and in the downtown is a sensible way to provide more housing. If well-designed, such development can enhance the living quality of the surrounding neighborhood rather than detract from it. Here we run into the problem I raised in an earlier letter: the combination of current city and state policies, along with ill-conceived design of some developments, results in buildings that are too bulky and in site plans lacking in any amenities that would serve the neighborhood.  

Current efforts to reconsider the density bonuses awarded developers are a much-needed step in the right direction. Changes in the state law regarding density bonuses would be even more helpful. In addition, I believe the current city policy of requiring developers to include below-market units, while well-intended, has had negative effects that more than outweigh the meager benefits of having a few more ‘cheap’ apartments and condo units. Finally, we need to give some thought to the pace of residential and commercial development, including that of the university. “Too much too fast” makes many long-time residents (myself included) uneasy, and it strains the ability of the city government and its citizens to provide the oversight needed if new development is to enhance the quality of our community. 

Steve Meyers is a Berkeley resident.

The following are letters to the editor commenting on the Middle East and the Arianpour commentary that we haven’t yet had space to publish. Some of them may yet appear in our print edition. 

By now many people have written to object to Kurosh Arianapour’s Aug. 8 commentary, “Zionist Crimes in Lebanon.” It’s a poorly reasoned piece of hate speech that spreads no light on the subject of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and stops less than a inch short of condoning all the various slaughters of Jews since 539BC. The fact that the Daily Planet elevated the letter to a commentary leaves some question as to whether the paper considers this a legitimate opinion.  

Becky O’Malley’s editorial defending the piece as a Free Speech issue is a red herring. It’s really a just a case of sloppy editing. There are lots of ways to stimulate dialog that would have been more likely to illuminate the issues surrounding this ugly war. At the very least, an introduction explaining the papers purpose in publishing the piece would have been in order. Or a Jewish leaders could have had a chance to rebut the piece in the same issue. 

It appears to me that the O’Malley is confusing Free Speech with sloppy editing. I don’t think many readers will view this episode as enhancing the paper’s credibility and I don’t think it will extend the reach of the paper. Which is unfortunate, as I support O’Malley’s call for a open and vigorous discussion of the issues, and I fear a world where only Rubert Murdoch and his ilk have a voice. But I think that every publication that calls itself a newspaper has an obligation to present opinions in a responsible manner.  

I read the Daily Planet to get local news, and sometimes to get a local slant on World news. So what most offends me, as both a reader, and an advertisier, is that the DP chose to publish Arianapour, a Iranian student studying in India. Why Arianapour? We don’t get the benefit of a informed writer who lives in the region that is at war, nor do we have a writer that is a member of the local community. Wasn’t the Palestinian Ambassador to the UN in town during the first week of August? And there must be many Palestinian and Iranian students right here in Berkeley willing to talk about the conflict. 

Please don’t publish any more hate rants from outside of our community. 

Bruce Kaplan 

Looking Glass Photo 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am amazed at the considered response of the Jewish community to the anti-Semitic diatribe that you published. Many of us in the Jewish Community were against the Lebanon invasion. Our synagogue sponsored a talk by the PLO ambassador. Reconciliation is, admittedly, a long hard road. But it get longer and harder with such hateful tripe like the article you published. The only difference between you and Mel Gibson is that he was drunk. It’s time you stopped lying to yourselves that you are “peace advocates.” Such a belief has as much validity as Bush’s “No Child Left Behind.” 

Albert Greenberg 

Oakland 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Even for a precious PC Berkeley left-lib you outdid yourself in sheer intellectual gooniness today, Becky. 

First, since all Arabs are semites while many Jews are not, the very term “anti-semitism” is questionable. 

Second, it is the organized Jewish community, the ADL, AIPAC, AJC, JDL, etc., that have repeatedly made Israel and Zionism synonymous with being Jewish. If Arianpour doesn’t understand this distinction he’s got plenty of company. 

Third, most Jews are not religious in the US and do not follow Judaism. Most Jews I know regard themselves as part of a distinct ethnic group. 

Fourth, how can Israel be a “Jewish State” when 25 percent of its citizens are non-Jews?  

Fifth, American Jews are NOT famous for great division of opinion on Israel. There are dissenters like Alfred Lilienthal, Noam Chomsky and others but this is very much a minority viewpoint among Jews. 

Sixth, Israelis should be held responsible for the actions of their government as we urge Americans to be responsible for our particular political criminals. To the extent that many, yes, many American Jews give a blank check to Israel they should be held responsible too. 

Seventh, let’s deal with this issue of blanket characterizations. Funny, I’ve noticed that when people praise whole groups of people, say Jews or Blacks or anyone but whites, no one objects to that kind of racism. So if airport security profiles Saudis more closely than Swedes that would be a rational decision based on past history. Very recent past history at that. 

So in fact we all deal in blanket assertions every day and as long as we recognize that not every member of a particular group is the same it is totally defensible. 

Eighth, spare us the self-serving crap about the free press here. It is free if you happen to own one and I think that’s okay. If everyone really had an obligation to make sure that what they wrote was factually accurate most of the media here would be out of business. 

Ninth, maybe Arianpour did meet a number of Jews while at UCB and that is the source of his anti-Jewish feelings. Reiterating that old hippy dippy Berkeley Let’s all love one another line doesn’t cut in 2006 America. 

Time to turn off KPFA, cancel The Nation sub and grow up, Becky ! 

Michael Hardesty 

Oakland 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a graduate of Stanford’s M.A. program in Communication, I wish journalism schools everywhere had access to your Sept. 12 editorial as an example of how to get several important things right. 

Foremost, perhaps, is the editorial’s recognition that the Daily Planet is a force for influencing thought and action, not merely an unfiltered channel for ill-thought-out prejudices masquerading as free debate. 

Thank you for sparing all of us a second helping of the views of Kurosh Arianpour. Those of us who ingested the first serving trust your summary of the latest one. 

Thank you expressly saying what many progressives seem oblivious to, “that blind hatred of all Jews...is the wrong response to disliking Israel’s policies.” 

Thank you for having the courage and integrity to use words like “wrong” and “never” with regard to name-calling and hatefully fuzzy word usage. 

Thank you for describing me accurately as a Jew. I am also a Zionist, and while I recognize that Israel’s leaders are human and flawed, when I recognize Israel is reacting to 80 years of homicidal hate I compare Israel’s critics to Gov. Gray Davis when he denied parole to a woman who killed her husband in self-defense. 

Thank you especially for noting there’s no such thing as a group being guilty of anything. This is particularly healing in contrast to an anonymous piece you published years back asserting the Jews were “not impeccable” in Pilate’s decision to execute Jesus. 

Thank you for the call to “spend more time studying history.” We are all young enough to benefit from that. 

Thank you for acknowledging Israel’s freedom of the press. The heat of some of Jerusalem journalists’’ anti-government rhetoric would amaze even Arianpour. 

Many practicing Jews believe in a concept that in Hebrew is called “teshuvah". Usually translated as “repentance", it is more accurately “return to the healing and spiritual path". Many of us believe that every moment is an opportunity to act in partnership with God to help improve the world (which I DON’T think gives me license to tell you or anyone else what to do). 

Thich Nhat Hanh, in his remarkable book Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames, teaches that the excrement of life can be transformed into fertilizer. 

The unrepentant racist and imperialist fanatic Woodrow WIlson once noted that an educated person strives to add light, rather than heat, to a discussion. 

Thank you for using Kurosh as fuel for all of us to grow better. 

Namaste. 

David Altschul 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I applaud your decision to publish Mr. Arianpour’s commentary and the letters of readers who disagree with him. Throughout this whole debacle, I’ve found your recent editorial “Unlearning Anti-Semitism: A Few Pointers” to be most disturbing for the following reasons. First of all, you and published letter addressed Krisha in an editorial, editorials are normally addressed to all readers of the newspaper, so its hard to imagine that this is for another use besides putting Mr. Arianpour on the spot, in other words, to point out his mistakes in such a way to leave an emotional impact on him. Further evidence for this is provided by your use of condescending terms to address Mr. Arionpour. For example, you say “if you are really a physics student, you should be too smart to make that mistake". Physics students whether they are “smart” ones or not, do make mistakes, and I can not imagine how his generalization about Jews throughout history has to do with physics. Second of all, you seem to use your editorial space to criticize a letter that the public has not seen. You claim that Mr. Arianpour uses the term “Jews/Zionists", I have scoured the commentary of his that you did publish (“Zionist Crimes in Lebanon”) and cannot find one instance of the term “Jews/Zionists.” In fact, his statement “Even some Jews are condemning the atrocities of the Zionist regime” makes a clear distinction between Jews and Zionists, suggesting that he may in fact agree with you, maybe there is a more clear-cut confounding of the two terms in the second letter that the readers have not seen. 

After reading your article, I’ve seen that you made sure the public now knows that Mr. Arianpour is not a master of the English language, he is young, he has things to learn that you are trying to teach him, and that he might not be the brightest person to write to your paper. One of the greatest things a newspaper can do is to point out mistakes for all to see, I only wish you could have explicitly addressed his mistakes to us, instead of making it personal, and provided more substantiation for your claims that he made factual errors.  

Saul Crypps 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thanks for Becky O’Malley’s piece “Unlearning Anti-Semitism: A Few Pointers.” 

It is sad that people still have to write such explanations, but clear that they do, and good that Becky O’Malley did so, and so very well. On the other hand, such articles (and presumably the letter which motivated it) take up space on paper and in people’s minds which might better be used to analyze the problems that, presumably, motivated the original writer, Kurosh (Cyrus) Arianpour. 

The United States and Israel have (as we used to say in another context) “given themselves permission” to destroy water delivery systems, electricity generating and delivery systems, bridges, and, of course lots and lots of people, all in the name of national defense. This seems excessive to some, and “disproportional” in a legal sense (that is, such destruction, being disproportional to the things [claimed] to be being responded to, constitute, so it is reasonably claimed, war crimes). 

We’ve gone beyond mere “might makes right” (already a noxious doctrine) to a new doctrine that “possession of military might allows, perhaps even requires, the most outrageously destructive exercise of that military might.” ("If you’ve got it, flaunt it” is all very well in its place, but really.) 

And, of course, we’ve learned that the Bush administration had planned to attack Iraq long before 9/11, and Israel had planned to crush Lebanon long before Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers. So these “responses” are not only not proportional to the claimed provocations, they are not even responses to the claimed provocations. 

So, O’Malley is right. Enough of name calling. Let’s look at the realities and call them by their names. 

Peter Belmont 

Brooklyn 

(Born in Berkeley, resident from 1938-1945) 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Becky O’Malley: Well now, you’re a person of integrity and fair ply as well as nerve. So you would have no problem, in fact I guess you would jump at the chance, publishing an article about the crimes against civilians that radical Islam has committed over the generations. Am I right?? The content of “Zionist Crimes in Lebanon” strays far from its promise, wouldn’t you say? So Becky, this URL might be a good place to start (www.hvk.org/letters/let2.html); however, really all you have to do is google muslim crimes or Islam crimes and you will find an abundance of articles that should fulfill your penchant for this sort of honest, in-depth, provocative publishing Looking forward to the next Daily Planet. My guess is you don’t have the cajones because you know what will happen.  

Tom Bray 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Kurosh Arianpour’s letter from India in the Berkeley Daily Planet which rants about why Jews should be exterminated is fascinating.  

Among other things, Arianpour wants the reader to ignore the fact that (a) his country, Iran, is currently at the top of the pariah list in the world, even using the United Nations as a reference point; (b) his national leader has repeatedly called for the destruction of a whole country; (c) a majority of his fellow countrymen are utterly incapable of choosing leaders who actually represent them; and (d) thousands of years of Persian splendor has resulted in an oil-rich nation led by a bunch of twisted 7th Century minds and soon, nuclear weapons. 

What’s wrong with this picture? Nothing except that it’s much too easy to blame the Jews for everything, including anti-Semitism, than to employ rational analysis. 

If Arianpour really wants to torment people in the West, many Jews included, he should become a Dell support technician while living in India. Then he can do some real damage. 

Desmond Tuck 

San Mateo 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Editor and owner Ms. O’Malley seems to be catching on to the good old American way of promulgating her newspaper: ie, “push hot buttons.” Example, the “free-speech” publication of “Jews have always been the problem,” and most recently entering the “keep the BUSD free from foreign interlopers.” What next, Becky, “create a war” a la W.R Hearst?  

Robert Blau  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On the issue of the anti-Semitic commentary: I would have had no problem if you published it as a letter to the editor. That seems to be a section where you are willing to have anything expressed—as if it were a posting on a message board. But you put the text on the Commentary page, which I have always assumed carries more significance, credibility, and substance. Maybe it would be helpful if you could explain the difference between letters and commentaries. 

Regarding your use of the term refugees in the story about Katrina: I am amazed that you do not understand the implied racism of that word. More than enough media attention has been given to Rev. Jesse Jackson and others to this issue. It is well covered in Spike Lee’s recent documentary on HBO. I can only assume you reject the argument that the term is racist because I just cannot believe you are not aware of the issue around the use of the word.  

Elevating the status of hate-speech and using racist terms are not what I’d expect of a progressive paper. 

Steven Robbins 

San Francisco  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Is the question anti-Semitism or is the question free speech or is it perhaps a question not yet addressed? Following contemporary guidelines for what is called “full disclosure” (another analogue for “fair and balanced” which is mostly an analogue for passing the buck when it does not rise to the level of “what me worry?") let me note at the outset that I am a middle-aged white male. Further I am an American and I am Jewish. I don’t believe in god, God, Allah, Yehova, Krishna, Jesus, or that Mormon guy from my natal state of Illinois. But I do believe in anti-Semitism, for the simple reason that there is good historical proof aplenty. 

Unlike many dead historically documented events and facts, anti-Semitism is--alas--alive and sick in India, in Britain, in Russia, in France, in Senegal, and hey, space is expensive and you can go Google every damn country and don’t forget, right here in River City. This is not news, this is not shocking, and according to more than one opinion, anti-Semitism is alive and well in the person of one Becky O’Malley, the editor who prints “a diversity of ideas” according to Chip Johnson of the Chron. Well don’t count me in the line forming to make that accusation. (Which is not to say that I might not if I knew more about her opinions, but I don’t and I won’t). 

I will however take an early ticket and bring my sleeping bag so that I can be near the front of the line of those who think Ms. O’Malley has the editorial intelligence and judgment of what is mostly known as a horse’s ass. In the lingo or my native city and perhaps yours, she “don’t know expletive deleted from Shinola.” According to that usually careful reporter, Chip Johnson, Ms. O’Malley’s reasons for publishing Kurosh Aranapour’s street stupid anti-Semitic and pointedly racist, hateful, anti-Jewish diatribe, was because it (again, according to Johnson) “was representative of a lot of people around the world......I want to hear everyone’s voice. It makes for a more interesting paper and a more social dialogue.” Becky O’Malley has the Constitutional right and I might add the moral and intellectual right to publish whatever she damn well pleases including this. However, rights are not a substitute for judgment. Simply because Mr. Aranapour’s (poor Aryan anybody?) vulgar and crude racism reflects what “people say and think” (show me documentation please) is not, I would suggest, a reason for publication. There are racist newsletters and newspapers aplenty, not to mention their exponentially exploded numbers on the web who might well be happy to spread more anti-Semitic Kudzu. Here in beautiful Berkeley, home to a great University, many people believe in astrology, in having their Chakra’s re-aligned, in Bessarabian herbal therapy, and in every and any manner of nareshkeit (silliness) and mishegas (tom foolery). Belief is beautiful, but only for the believer. 

For the rest of us swimming in the uncertainty of principle, discourse is hard enough without what once was the legitimacy print offered being given to cranks who had pamphlets (or the pulpit) and now have the web. One more thing, Ms. O’Malley: what prey tell--in English--is “social dialogue"? 

Richard Gordon 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’m a Jew, and here’s what I find offensive about the Aug. 8 regarding Zionist: 

1. Anti-Israel “pundits” everywhere will use the term “Zionist Regime,” “Zionist Entity” etc. rather then using the word Israel. Translation: Israel does not have a right to exist.  

a. "All around the world, there have been demonstrations and protests against the genocide of civilians and children in the hands of Israeli forces.” – All over the world? I must have missed it.  

b. “Genocide of civilians” - Israel announces where it is fighting, drops leaflets, and avoids civilians. Their enemy targets civilians.  

2. “Have you not seen the photos coming from Lebanon?”—The “news agencies” in the Middle East will show photos over and over again. Especially if they can get a shot of innocent civilians. While it is an unfortunate tragedy that civilians are hit, it is unavoidable. Need the author be reminded that Hezballah began this conflict by breaching a recognized border and attacking soldiers? What the author fails to point out is the celebrations and cheers that are shown when they show shots of Israeli civilians being hit. After all, that is Hezballahs stated goal.  

3. “Some 800 Lebanese, mostly civilians and children, have been killed, compared to 80 Israelis” - that is only because Hezballah missed. But I wonder, does the author think Hezballah committed any crimes?  

4. “You mostly find irrelevant stories, such as same-sex marriage, drunken Mel Gibson, etc., in the U.S. media”—I would like anyone, Arab, Jew, American—read any Arab paper. You will have a hard time finding a SINGLE Arab paper that does not mention Israel or the Jews on the first page, and often several times. THEY ARE OBSESSED WITH US. The Arab world is over a billion people – you have to wonder why they think about a few million Jews so much? You also have to wonder how many of them ever met a Jew.  

5. The author wants to blame the Jews for their own hardships (Babylonia, Egypt, Germany, etc)—What is his opinion of the Palestinians? I’d guess he’d blame the “Zionist Entity” for their woes (I won’t even talk about the millions of Palestinians in “camps” in Arab countries!). And what about hate crimes against such as the murder of someone because of their race or religion—were they “asking for it” too?  

6. The author cites Hugo Chavez as if he were an “expert” on human rights and world politics—why not cite Merkel from Germany, Chirac from France? You can’t just pick and choose you’re experts because they agree with you.  

7. “The Middle Easterners believe that the U.S. brand of democracy is nothing but, hegemony, oppression, murder, destruction, and rape.”—While a true democracy is not perfect, it is the best system around. You’ll never know how much murder or rape is committed in the Arab Middle East because you’re newspaper are so obsessed with Israel and the United States they don’t have time to report it. There is a reason wealthy Arab’s send their children to the west for education, medical operations, etc, isn’t there? 

My advice to the student author—issue have at least two sides, don’t be afraid to look at them.  

Robby Brodsky 

San Jose 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Hallinan bandies the word, “illusion,” all over the place as a rhetorical weapon in his most recent article, “The Aftermath of Lebanon: Myths and Dark Plans." This one word must substitute for serious analysis. One core “illusion,” according to Hallinan, is that Hizbollah is a front for Syria or Iran. Say it ain’t so. Then where did all those Syrian, Iranian, and Russian missiles come from, jihadi Paradise? And what about motive? Syria is aggrieved at Israel for holding on to the Golan Heights and Iran is aggrieved at Israel for simply existing. According to the millennial views of Iran’s president and many of the mullahs, the 12th Imam (messiah) will not come until Israel is destroyed. If Hizbollah were acting on behalf of Lebanon it would not have attacked Israel, since it has no separate beef. After all, Israel did not occupy one square inch of Lebanon. In fact, Israel occupied Southern Lebanon until 1990 precisely because of its fear that Hizbollah would threaten its peaceful northern border if it left. It took a courageous gamble on the part of then prime minister, Ehud Barak, to leave Southern Lebanon. I supported him at the time. However, as many warned, Hizbollah immediately moved into the vacuum, built a hardened military infrastructure under the very noses of a token and impotent UN force, and in the fullness of time, launched attacks on Israel, making the most recent war an inevitability. If that weren’t bad enough, the Palestinians used Hizbollah’s “success” as a model for their violent second intifada. In short, Barak’s gambit failed miserably.  

Hallinan suffers from chronic illusions himself. Take for example his claim that Hizbollah remains intact. Errant nonsense. Hizbollah’s entire infrastructure in Southern Lebanon was overrun and destroyed. It lost most of its long range missiles and hundreds of its best fighters. Its headquarters and bunkers in the Shiite suburbs of Beirut lay in ruins. Much of their leadership is dead, and their supreme leader, Hassan Nazrallah, is hiding more deeply than Osama Bib Laden (my guess is that he is in the basement of the Iranian Embassy in Beirut). I doubt he will dare come out to the light of day any time soon. If the Israelis don’t whack him, Lebanon’s own people will. Hizbollah, is now vastly unpopular in Lebanon, and is desperately trying to buy back its lost influence with the help of Iranian cash. If that’s “intact” I have a broken record I would like to sell Hallinan. 

Speaking of broken records, what happened to Becky O’Malley’s recent pledge to leave the Middle East alone? She is like an addict who swears the substance off every Tuesday only to relapse by Friday. 

John Gertz 

Berkeley 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Any credibility that Conn Hallian may have once had was eviscerated by the years he spent as a stooge for the Communist Party when editing its newspaper. Alas, the old lefty still can’t eschew fabrication, as witness his columns in general and his mindboggling recent delusional rant that Hezbollah is neither a creation of Iran nor beholden to weaponry and monies allocated by the theocracy in Teheran. 

From where, pray tell, does Hallinan think the thousands of rockets Hezbollah used in its war against Israel came from? Perhaps he believes that Allah delivered them so that these fine Islamofacists could smite the scourge of Zionism. 

As for his regular appearance in the Daily Planet, it’s an embarrassment to see Hallinan’s nonsense appear in our so-called community newspaper. Or maybe not, for the Daily Planet is, in itself, as much as an embarrassment to Berkeley as is Radio Jihad, KPFA, our local disinformation station. 

Chip Johnson in Friday’s Chronicle put it well in his column wondering why owner/editor Becky O’Malley would publish such missives of hate and fabrication when she decided to print the Iranian’s anti-Semitic tract. I would say the same to O’Malley for her continual need to demonize Israel either by proxy via Hallinan, merchants of hate such as Arianapour, or her own absurd editorials. 

In sum, considering the above, I would apply to O’Malley the words the great defense attorney Joseph Welch directed to Joseph McCarthy: “At long last, Ms. O’Malley, have you no sense of shame?” 

Dan Spitzer 

Kensington 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I Live In The USA but I have a Palestinian neighbor. 

I needed room for my swimming pool so I went over to my Palestinian neighbor’s house and killed his entire family, I bulldozed his house and put in my pool. Ah ! So nice and cool! 

I was arrested and brought to court but the Judge threw the case out of court because it is perfectly legal in the USA, Ah ! So nice and cool ! Shortly afterwards some of my previous Palestinian neighbors relatives and friends started to terrorize the courthouse and killed the Judge. I built a 50 foot wall around my house for protection but the rockets could enter over the top. 

So I placed a cement cieling over my entire house and pool. I now live in a coffin ! 

Greg Smith 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Hi Becky O’Malley: I’m not enough of a student of world history to know if the Jews have had more problems getting along with other tribes, or whether they’re “no different from the rest of humanity in that regard.” Certainly, humanity in general doesn’t have much in the way of bragging rights in the “getting along” department. That said, considering the Jews “long and often tragic history”: The Jews have been kicked out of Palestine, kicked out of Egypt, kicked out of Spain, kicked out of England, kicked out of France, kicked out of Germany, as well as suffering countless pogroms and persecutions in many other burgs they’ve inhabited. Considering what a small tribe the Jews are—they really make up a minuscule fraction of the world’s population—they have certainly had their fair of problems as actors on the world stage. At the very least, no tribe in history has gotten more mileage out of PUBLICIZING their problems with other tribes. In fact, as far as I know, its unprecedented that they’ve coined a specific term—“anti-Semitism”—just to define all the problems that other people have had with relating to them. Its also worth noting, too, that they’ve had a remarkable, and possibly unprecedented history of successes on the world stage also. And one only has to consider names such as Jesus, Einstein, Marx, Freud, Hollywood, etc. to realize the strong impact the Jews have had on so many facets of world history. 

At any rate, keep up the great work with the DAILY PLANET. It is truly a fiesty li’l zine.  

Peter Labriola 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In this era of continuing disharmony over wars, elections, free speech, and local development, I find myself longing for the type of letter that once graced the pages of the London Times. 

In that spirit, I submit the following: As summer draws to a close, my stately backyard plum tree has yielded exactly 7,363 small, sloppy, inedible plums. My grateful thanks to Diane Davenport, Eli Joyce, and Jean Haseltine for both maintaining meticulous statistics and for their season-long efforts at ground clearance. 

Your obedient servant (another Times memory), 

Sayre Van Young 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Look, the reactionaries in the American and Israeli spy-agencies worked together to plan, execute, and sell the killings of Sept. 11, 2001. Since then, top Democrats in the United States have had a gun to their head to stay silent about the whole affair. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people tortured to death in the global War of Terror has blackmailed them into going along ever worse and more proudly broadcast atrocities. 

That’s the straight truth, and now is it’s moment, for Mayor Bates, Gavin Newsom, Phil Angelides, Barbara Lee, and every other high-level Democrat in the country. The stakes are the highest, and responsibility is everywhere, especially in the more powerful. 

Lies kill, the everyday social lies, and the high level lies, kill, big time, just as sure as gas and bullets. In fact, it is lies and lying that drive the bullets. It also drives 95% of teenage suicide. A lie, ANY lie about anything, is, quite literally, THE social nazification procedure. And those who most heavily promote those patterns in others, are the deadliest nazification militants of all. 

Which brings me to UC Berkeley. There will be no principled protest coming from the students there. That “university” turned Nazi-Republican once Schwarzenegger was made president of the UC Regents by Stanford’s Hoover Institution three years ago. Just sit in a student café around Berkeley and hear for yourself: “biology” and “public health” means pharmaceutical and biological warfare research, “environmental design” means high-profit development scams, and “history” means getting forced to lie about how current society is the only way people ever have or ever will live. 

Thank you, Daily Planet, for again accurately reporting the high-level principles of the Paradigm from California, www.imaginenine.com. You neglected to mention, however, that Bill and Hillary Clinton are the exclusive owners of the copyrights to all the charts and writings therein contained. And yes, indeed, it is the only cure for the human-harming human problem ever devised—and thereby, the only way out of this escalating, worldwide, and final Holocaust. To reduce the solution to one rule: One should encourage and enable others to accurately figure out whether or not any person is deliberately and consciously misreporting their own perceptions. (By the way, the main writer was Jewish, and you can read and hear his views on the Israeli State at www.BerkeleyMayor.org, in the paper “Accuracy-Based Politics") 

Christian Pecaut 

OFFER TO MEET IS STILL OPEN — WITH NO RESPONSE YET 

There’s still no response to our ongoing offer to meet with Jewish leaders and local politicians who criticized the Planet’s publication of an opinion piece from a reader which many considered anti-Semitic. The offer has continued to be open since we first made it public in our Aug. 11 issue and we have repeated it several times thereafter. Our advertisers are still being contacted by persons who urge them to boycott the paper because of this controversy, and several have cancelled their ads. If you’ve been out of town, you can find a summary with links to the articles and letters in question at berkeleydailyplanet.com/controversy.

PARKING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Having just returned from Donald Shoup’s parking seminar delivered to an overflow crowd of transportation graduate students and faculty at the Bechtel Engineering Building, I was glad to see the Planet had covered his Wednesday night presentation to the Berkeley Transportation Commission (“DAPAC Talks Parking Issues,” Sept. 8). Shoup’s message is simple: As long as on-street parking is priced too low, people will find it worth their while to cruise for spaces, and parkers will overstay, creating congestion, pollution and the impression that a downtown shopping district is inhospitable and inconvenient. Just to show how far we need to go before people fully grasp the logic behind Shoup’s theory, in that same issue, a letter ran from Caribbean Cove owner David Howard blaming higher meter rates on his lack of business. Clearly, we need Shoup to make several return trips to spread the word further. 

Phyllis Orrick 

• 

COMMEMORATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Why commemorate 9-11? That was the day we were sucker-punched, flat-footed, after our president spent a month vacationing in Texas instead of heeding intelligence warnings about Osama Bin Laden. Instead, let us remember that glorious day in May when our president’s jet landed on an aircraft carrier and out he popped, bedecked in his flight suit, to announce “Mission Accomplished.” Mission Accomplished Day! On that day, more than 90 percent of our solders who have since died in Iraq were still alive. On that day, we were proud to be American! 

Bruce Joffe 

Piedmont 

• 

SCHOOL ADMISSION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I feel obliged to answer the anonymous letter from an Oakland resident justifying false registration into Berkeley schools. Everyone makes choices and I’m in no position to judge yours. However when so many people reproduce your choice and recognize Berkeley schools as uniquely unguarded and better, can you understand that this becomes a matter of public policy? Berkeley taxpayers have heavily given and expect service that false enrollment precludes. 

It is not good progressive politics for Berkeley to ignore millions of dollars of fraud against its residents. The original progressives stood devoutly for honest government. We must work together for a different system that rebuilds Oakland’s schools. Berkeley for its part gives a disproportionate share of its seats as valid transfers as compared to other successful districts. Please consider applying for such a slot. While however you are cheating the system, please at least try to make sure that your kids do not contribute to the at-risk rate by doing all you can to oversee their homework and actively parenting them to pass all the state tests. If out-of-district students were not exacerbating the achievement gap the consequences of running an invalid registration system would be far less. 

David Baggins 

Candidate for School Board  

• 

THE MACHINE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I find it hard to believe that even Ms. O’Malley seriously believes there is a Perata-Bates machine. It is my recollection that Tom Bates endorsed Ron Dellums, who will shortly become the next mayor of Oakland, a fact that Ms. O’Malley has obviously and conveniently overlooked.  

It also seems her vendetta against Mayor Bates continues with praise for shop-worn, opinionated so-called progressives (better name would be “tiresome political hack aspirants for attention”). It is an unfortunate tradition in Berkeley that this kind of squeaky wheels get a lot of attention. In the present case, Ms O’Malley’s support of this negativism and the lack of regard for workable and progressive solutions is truly sad. While I now live in Albany, I still love Berkeley and wish better for this lovely city. 

Nancy Snow 

Albany 

• 

NEW WRINKLE IN THE SILLY CYCLE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The silly season has returned but will end mercifully with nationwide mid-term elections on Nov. 7.  

Candidates of both parties, following their leaders’ strategy, have decided that they’re not going to talk about things that interest the voters but they’re going to get the voters interested in the things they want to talk about.  

Forget hostility abroad, torture of prisoners, illegal wire taps, immigration reform, global warming, corporate malfeasance, campaign finance, deficits, Katrina distress, gasoline prices, etc. Forget the death toll, scores of thousands permanently deformed. Forget the young, the infirm and the elderly. Forget the forty million unable to obtain medical care…and the poor.  

It’s the war on terror we have to talk about; we must defeat an ancient tactic resurrected as an evil enemy, Islamic fascism. No matter the cost, government must prevent another terrorist attack on the homeland… plus, of course, spread freedom and democracy.  

Because slaughter in the Middle East reinvigorates man’s inhumanity to man, recent silly seasons have delivered tears rather than laughter.  

This one, however, opens with a new beat. The administration demands that Congress make lawful things the world regards as unlawful. As a “nation of laws” the president must obey the Supreme Court’s ruling that struck down special military commissions. Accordingly, his attention fixed on the war on terror and with assurances by his lawyers that he has inherent authority to use any measures he deems necessary to deal with this “new kind of enemy,” Mr. Bush demands new legislation. They attack us unfettered by law so we must defend ourselves in like manner. Therefore, Congress must make it legal—a cynical extrapolation of the bible’s “eye for an eye” injunction. 

When the silly season ends there’ll be very few new members in the House and Senate and with few new members will come few new ideas. Will Congress then make wrong actions lawful?  

What worries me most is not the prospect of no new ideas but the evident demise of an old one, the one that holds an action to be wrong (or right), not because the gods (in this instance lawmakers) make it so, but the gods say it is right (or wrong) because it is.  

Marvin Chachere 

San Pablo 

• 

WEST CAMPUS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

For years now, I have been disgusted by the conditions of filth and deterioration at the BUSD West Campus property. Along with broken windows and a junk-piled interior, the disgustingly dirty, sticky, smelly, and stained entryways and sidewalks around it are an insult to those of us who live in the neighborhood. I can’t imagine any other university town, much less one that attracts visitors from around the world, allowing such appalling conditions to remain completely unabated for so many years—especially since it takes up a full block along University Avenue, the main entryway to Berkeley! As it is, passers-by get to see long-standing urban blight surrounded by knee-high weeds and strewn with garbage! There was a time when someone mowed the sports field every now and then, but even that small attention hasn’t been given to the property lately. At the very least, while the building’s future is still being planned, we need the place cleaned up. I estimate that it would be one day’s work for someone to get out there with a weed whacker, pick up the garbage, trim the bushes, and run a mower around the sports field. After that, the entryways and surrounding sidewalks need to be power-washed. Simply doing that would show a little self-respect as well as some respect for the local community and those who visit us.  

Nicola Bourne 

• 

WRONG HEADLINE! 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I must make a correction to the heading the Planet gave to my recent letter, “High Density is Bad for Urban Fabric” In fact, in numerous writings, including the letter in question, I have stated almost the opposite. I believe high density, or at least moderately high density (in Berkeley we don't have high density like the skyscrapers in parts of many cities, and I have not thought extensively on how to handle that circumstance) can most likely be fine and good in parts of Berkeley, if done right. My whole point is that Berkeley is not doing it right, and until we change our approach, added density will continue to be bad. 

Sharon Hudson 

• 

NEW COOP IN THE WORKS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Having participated in the demise of the previous Berkeley Consumers Coop, I am pleased but also concerned by the news that a new food cooperative is in the works.  

Berkeley Community Development Project Coordinator Dave Fogarty is quoted as saying: “In general, the situation in Berkeley is that we have a market that’s dominated by higher-priced kind of gourmet grocery stores, Andronico’s and Whole Foods.” That is a strange view: If Berkeley Bowl is not a dominant force Berkeley, what are those mobs of customers doing there? Any new food coop will have to provide some advantages over Berkeley Bowl and the farmer’s markets—unless they intend to only serve the high end consumers.  

Maybe serving the wealthy is the answer to founding a viable new food coop, but I doubt it. I think coops started in the days of company towns where workers had to buy from high-priced company owned stores. Their purpose was clear. What will be the purpose of a coop competing against the very reasonable prices of Berkeley Bowl and no-middle-man farmer’s markets? 

At this time, I do not see a clear sense of purpose. However, a very real need for cooperative food purchasing is likely to arise in the near future due to three trends: 

1. Oil prices will skyrocket as China and India compete with the United States for the shrinking, non-replaceable supply of petroleum. One of the major effects will be to make American large scale farming prohibitively expensive. This farming is done with petroleum-based chemicals and heavy machinery, and the product has to be shipped out in large trucks. A coop could develop the purchasing power to contract with small farms for reliable, low-cost produce. 

2. A major U.S. export is American jobs. An increasing population of unemployed and under-employed people will need help reorganizing their eating habits and methods of purchasing to maximize the efficacy of their spending.  

3. All the deregulated non-military aspects of our lives are subject to sudden unpleasant changes—e.g., home foreclosures have suddenly jumped. Informed cooperation could be a bulwark against the shock and awe of rampant capitalism. A cooperative movement that called on our finest thinkers to develop workable new strategies could become indispensable.  

Rev. Pondurenga Das  

• 

FIVE YEARS AGO 

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following letter appeared five years ago in the Daily Planet: 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We all have the power and responsibility in our hands to stop the perpetuation of the cycles of violence and the economics of exploitation that create unspeakable suffering or we can continue on with the politics and economics that lessen and cheapen our human condition. Our political agenda from local to global, must move from provocation and the hubris that our fast track corporate globalization is the way to go with its extracting the energy and even blood of many to keep an economic machine going that few are actually benefiting from. Too many are being pushed to the edge along with the very ecosystems of life that support us. Financially and emotionally there is suffering as people have to keep cutting back—financially and in time we spend in building a supportive community while corporate profits obscenely rise.  

We here in the industrialized north live a lifestyle that has become the anomaly in a world where three quarters of the world’s population do not get enough to eat. We live in a world where corporate dream schemes are forcing people off their land and have the gall to patent the genes of plants, seeds and life itself.  

I still hold the vision that we can turn this around peacefully and not fall into the divisions caused by blaming and hate that comes after tragedy. I deeply hold the hope that we do not go along with the fear that is being generated to continue down the same path of bullying be it with words, economic or with nuclear threats. I hold a prayer that we can each look deeply into our own hearts, whether we are a governmental employee or work in the trades, whether we are a bus driver, a deli clerk, student or in scientific research—no matter what we do for a living – and ask what are we willing to do to take the higher ground, and to use our precious words to speak and teach a new vision that holds the value of the humans spirit and the earth as a sacred trust and not a commodity of economic profit schemes. How can we bring honor back to our daily relationships with each other?  

Instead of taking part in speculations about today’s horrible tragedy (where terrorism is daily life for many around the world) I found a quiet space and turned to some readings that I found solace from including:  

“The only way to have peace is to teach peace. By teaching peace you must learn it yourself, because you cannot teach what you still dissociate from. You can’t teach peace with a barrel of a gun.” As Gandhi said an eye for an eye and we all become blind. Gandhi also said “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.”  

Redwood Mary  

Co-Founder, Co-Director, 

Women’s Global Green Action Network 

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OCT. 5 PROTEST 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Recently on “Meet the Press,” Sen. Santorum (R-Pa) and his Democratic challenger Bob Casey Jr. engaged in a “debate” that allegedly outlined the differences between Republicans and Democrats vying for Congressional seats in November.  

While Santorum defended Bush and Casey attacked the president, on fundamental issues of keeping troops in Iraq and rejecting a troop withdrawal deadline, as well as targeting Iran with brutal sanctions in advance of war, there was basic agreement. And while they differed on the recent FDA decision to allow over-the-counter sales of Plan B, they both oppose legal abortion in most instances. 

With candidates such as these two, no matter who wins in November the people will lose unless there is a drastic shift in the whole political discourse. We must change the terms of debate from which candidate and party will be the most resolute in pursuing empire under the guise of the “war on terror” and curtailing basic rights at home to halting this course that more and more people recognize is a disaster. This can only be done by mass political protest in the streets. 

Groups such as The World Can’t Wait! Drive Out the Bush Regime! are building just such protests. This group and others are calling for a day of mass protest on Oct. 5.  

There are millions who are deeply distressed over the direction in which the Bush regime is dragging the world. People are outraged over the way this regime is arrogantly seeking to bludgeon into submission people in the Middle East, and throughout the world, while trampling on the rights of the people in the U.S. Millions care about the future and recognize the many ways in which the regime is increasingly posing a dire threat to the very survival of humanity and the planet. There are people who are stirred with a profound restlessness by these feelings but are held back by the fear that they are alone. Many say that they wish something could be done to reverse this whole disastrous course, but nothing will make a difference. Others hope that somehow the Democrats will do something to change this but everyday it becomes clearer that they will not. 

The Santorum-Casey exchange was just one indication of what’s in store if we do not act on Oct. 5. It is more urgent than ever to drive out the Bush regime. See worldcantwait.org for more information. 

Kenneth J. Theisen 

Oakland 

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HOUSING AUTHORITY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The members of Save Berkeley Housing Authority (Save BHA) offer our gratitude and thanks to the Berkeley Daily Planet for covering the issue of the troubled Berkeley Housing Authority (BHA). 

Through the years there has been no accountability placed on BHA director Steve Barton during the four years of failure while the BHA has been listed as a troubled agency, and it may be time to call for his resignation. 

It’s as though city officials have turned a blind eye to this disaster thats been taking place. We can do better! 

The disabled and elderly community in Berkeley have been getting the short end of the stick when it comes to budget funding policies of the City of Berkeley, and this has all been lurking under the radar screen of peoples awareness for some time. 

The budget cuts made to the camp for the disabled, compared to the millions being lavishly spent for budget policies regarding bicycles, has shed light on the priorities of Berkeley’s city officials. 

The resignation of BHA Director Steve Barton would go a long way to show that the City of Berkeley has become somewhat more responsible to housing it’s disabled and elderly community in the BHA’s housing assistance programs, and could make way for a new and better future to save the BHA. 

Community members will be appearing at the next 6 p.m. City Council meeting on Sept. 19, at the Old Berkeley City Hall, and the subject of Barton’s resignation will be on the minds of many. 

Lynda Carson 

Oakland 

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LEGALIZED BRIBERY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Becky O’Malley’s depressing overview of California Democrats (“Singing the Blues about Cal Dems,” Sept. 8) evidences the underlying weakness—on all levels—of a political system founded upon legalized bribery. It is insane to suppose that politicians are not influenced by political contributions, yet demanding this human impossibility is what we do—unless voters come to their senses and back Proposition 89 which will free politicians on a state-wide level from donors, and make them responsible solely to their constituents (who, under the current system, contribute an average of only 1 percent of the money politicians use to get elected). 

Tom Miller 

Oakland 

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SCHOOLS FOR DEAF AND BLIND 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A few decades ago, under pressure from UC Berkeley, the Caifornia Schools for the Blind and Deaf were moved from what is now the Clark Kerr Campus of UC to Fremont. 

At the time there was a good deal of opposition on the grounds that there was a large support system for the schools nearby, including UC volunteers and interns. 

The online earthquake hazard and shaking maps set up by ABAG now seem to show us that the schools were moved from one of the safest places in the East Bay to one of the most hazardous. It would be interesting to have the commentary of one of the UC seismic experts on this fact, which may or may not have been known at the time. 

Susan Tripp 

• 

REACTIONARIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The political atmosphere for the last six years has been rife with labels and name calling. This particularly on the part of Republicans. The administration calls itself “conservative” when it, and its cohorts, are really reactionaries. It doesn’t sound as good. but truth is good. 

My understanding is that a conservative wants to keep things as they are. This would include the environment, Medicare, Social Security, etc. Reactionaries want to turn the clock back and get rid of the programs that are not in their particular interest. 

We have been dealing with a reactionary administration, Congress, and Supreme Court. 

Harry Gans

History was made in the California State Legislature last month when it sent SB 840 to the governor’s desk! Sen. Sheila Kuehl’s single payer health care bill would extend coverage to all California residents for less than what is spent collectively now by employers, consumers and local, state and federal government. Patients would choose their own doctors or providers, pre-existing conditions would be covered, all needed services, drugs, hospital stays, therapies and medical equipment would be covered, and there would be no co-pays or deductibles for at least the first two years.  

How can universal health insurance cost less than what is being spent now on health care in California? Single insurer systems spend far less on administrative costs than do insurance companies — for example, Medicare, a single insurer system, keeps administrative costs under 5 percent. The Veteran’s Administration is another single insurer.  

Kaiser uses a single insurer plan to cover its members. SB 840 costs are also projected at under 5 percent, in contrast to the 25-30 percent administrative costs of the insurance industry.  

Single insurer systems use their purchasing power to cut prescription drug and medical equipment costs—SB 840 is projected to save the state as much as $5 billion per year. By taking the profit out of health care coverage, it is possible to extend complete benefits to all state residents at no additional cost.  

A single payer system would actually improve the business climate by controlling health care costs and leveling the playing field. With SB 840 all employers will pay an affordable health insurance premium and all employees would contribute their fair share (labor agreements specifying no or minimal employee contributions would stay in place).  

This arrangement should end the current race to the bottom that occurs when large employers reduce health coverage for their workers in order to stay competitive with employers that don’t offer such benefits.  

However, the governor has announced that he won’t sign SB 840! Even if he did, the insurance industry would mount a huge fight against implementation, perhaps going to the initiative process to overturn it, as they did with Burton’s SB2. That’s where the OneCareNow 365-City Campaign comes in. We are building a grassroots movement up and down the state in support of universal health coverage to defend ourselves against the special interests who profit from the current inequitable system. Community action teams in more than 365 California cities are conducting grassroots educational and public awareness events—one event per day, in a different city, for one year - to demand passage of landmark legislation that would transform our wasteful, costly and unjust health care system.  

What can you do to help?  

Join the OneCareNow 365-City Campaign, which started Aug. 12 in Morro Bay. Sept. 8 was Albany’s day! The Albany City Council passed a resolution last week endorsing SB 840, and last Friday activists tabled in the afternoon in front of the Albany Library with a petition and leaflets in support of the bill to bring attention to Albany’s efforts to support a better health care system. Albany is the first of 14 cities and towns in Alameda County in which OneCareNow events are being organized; the next local event will be in San Lorenzo, Oct. 23. The 365-City campaign will close with the Los Angeles event, with a huge rally planned for Sacramento a week later next August, 2007.  

This campaign is very ambitious with local committees forming throughout the state to plan events, get signatures on petitions, and enlist the support of local government bodies and grassroots organizations. In the Bay Area Albany has joined Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco and Alameda County, along with the Central Labor Councils of Alameda, Santa Clara and San Francisco Counties as endorsers of SB 840. The California Nurses Association, SEIU and other statewide unions are sponsors of SB 840, which has also been endorsed by the California Federation of Labor and the League of Women Voters (for a complete list of endorsers check the OneCareNow.org website).  

The OneCareNow campaign is being sponsored by Health Care for All-California, the League of Women Voters, Health Access, the California Association of Retired Americans, and others. At the local level, the SB 840 East Bay Coalition includes Vote Health, the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, California Physicians Alliance, the Oakland LOWV, Hayward Demos, and several unions. Our next big event is a benefit Oct. 5 at the Grand Lake Theatre screening a new film, “The Healthcare Solution: California OneCare” to raise funds for the OneCareNow campaign.  

To join in the campaign, check the OneCareNow.org website to find the contact persons for your area! Or call Vote Health for further information at 832-8683.  

Kay Eisenhower is the chair of Vote Health and the SB 840 East Bay Coalition. Robert Lieber, RN, is an Albany City Councilmember.

This is Berkeley’s season for political endorsements. But there is only one group which is actively inviting all progressives to attend, to debate and to vote, and that is the Berkeley Progressive Coalition. All are invited to the candidates convention from 2-5:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16 at Washington School at MLK and Bancroft. 

We are going to be endorsing candidates for mayor, four for City Council, up to three for School Board, and we are going to make recommendations on Berkeley measures and state initiatives. 

If you agree with our mission statement that “We seek to promote a more equitable economic and social life in our city, and to enhance social justice, ecological sustainability and democratic co-operation on every level,” then you are welcome. 

To start our convention, we will consider one state initiative and two Berkeley Measures. State Proposition 89, public financing for elections, is already part of our “Platform and Principles,” voted on in May and June. (If you want to read the entire 19 pages, go to www.createpeaceathome.org, or pick up a hard copy at the convention.) We have also frontloaded Berkeley Measure H to impeach Bush and Cheney (that should get the blood moving) and Measure I, which will, “increase annual condominium conversions from 100 to 500 units and increase the ability to evict tenants of converted units,” according to the Voter Handbook. 

Measure I has already been opposed by 120 people at the convention of the Committee to Defend Affordable Housing, which has also nominated our Rent Board candidates. If the Berkeley Property Owners’ Association succeeds in passing Measure I this November, thousands of Berkeley tenants will be priced out of town, and we will lose most of the diversity which has defined our city. Measure I, and related housing issues, therefore, may be one of the questions which you may want to put to candidates. You might also want to ask about Measure A, school parcel tax consolidation; Measure F, greenhouse gas reduction, or Measure J, the landmarks preservation measure. Or you might want to talk about the Downtown Plan agreement with the university. It’s up to you. Except for the recommendations of the Committee to Defend Affordable Housing, our organizing committee has no official preferences. We do hope, however, that our questioning will be economical and disciplined, so that we will have some time at the end to begin to build campaign structures. 

When you come to this convention you will be voting not only for candidates and propositions, but for the future of a progressive community in Berkeley which is both open and united. In keeping with the spirit of the California Constitution, which declares city elections to be non-partisan, we welcome candidates from any and all parties. If, as is now the case, there are endorsement meetings from many organizations, there is always the danger that progressive candidates will defeat each other, although this year there is probably more clarity than there has been in the past. With your help, we hope not only to field a winning slate of candidates this year, but to build ever greater progressive co-ordination and unity. An ongoing project, but worth the effort. 

Hope to see you on Saturday. 

Laurence Schechtman is a member of the Organizing Committee of the Berkeley Progressive Coalition.

A recent regional study by the Bay Area Council contains some eye-opening statistics about Berkeley working and commuting patterns. According to the BAC, of Berkeley’s 71,172 jobs in 2005, only a third (33.1 percent) were held by Berkeley residents, meaning two-thirds commuted to work here, while more than half of the city’s 54,421 employed citizens (56.7 percent) commuted to jobs out of town. Taken together, this means that nearly 78,500 workers—not counting students—commute into or out of Berkeley every workday. And the large majority of them still do so by private automobile. 

As we look forward to passing our feel-good greenhouse gases initiative in November, let’s keep in mind that these commuters are by far the largest single category of contributors to the greenhouse gases we are pledging to reduce. There are only three things to do:  

1. Press for less-polluting, energy-efficient vehicles and more responsive public transit. 

2. Encourage Berkeley employers to hire Berkeley residents and pay them a Berkeley-livable wage. 

3. Increase our housing stock, especially in transit-friendly locations, until we decrease upward market pressures on housing prices and rents. 

Only the third of those tasks is controversial, because of some citizens’ perception that we’re already building “too much new housing.” The BAC data illuminates that contention: in 1999-2005, when residential construction was more active than in any other period since the 1960s, Berkeley added exactly 1220 new residential units, an average of 175 per year, many of which are housing students. At that rate, we were increasing housing stock and population at the fearsome rate of 0.4 percent a year. From being so “excessive,” Berkeley’s population would actually double—by about the year 2180.  

For housing affordable by the average worker we did far worse: Only 374 of our new housing units (31 percent, or 53 a year) were classed as affordable. In other words, for seven years we have been giving one in-commuting worker a week a chance to move into a new affordable place in town, out of the 47,000 who might like to. How much more “excessive” could we get? 

So before you vote to feel good about being green, think of what we are committing to get done in years to come: drastically change an embedded pattern of un-green commuting in favor of a “village Berkeley” model that takes care of our own in a more proactive and responsible way. 

The Bay Area Council’s interesting report is at http://tinyurl.com/nvn7y. 

Alan Tobey is a retired technologist and has lived in Berkeley since 1970.

The images most Americans have of the recent war in Lebanon are of shattered cities, dead civilians, and terrified people bunkered down in basements or picking their way through blasted streets. The carnage of modern war draws the media as ancient battles called forth the Valkyries.  

But there are other images—and voices—that most of us do not see or hear on the six o’clock news or read in our newspapers. 

Like the following: 

Yonaton Shapiro, a former Blackhawk pilot and co-founder of Combatants for Peace, telling the Aug. 6 Observer that in his conversations with Israeli Air Force F-16 pilots: “Some told me they have shot at the side of targets because they are afraid people will be there, and they don’t trust any more those who give them the coordinates and the targets.” He said he urged the pilots to refuse to fly, “in order to save our country from self-destruction.” 

Uri Avnery, founder of Gush Shalom (Peace Bloc) addressing 5,000 people packed into Magen David Square Aug. 5: “We are the few facing the masses that thirst for war, but next month, or next year, every one of us will proudly proclaim: I was here! I called for a stop to this accursed war. And thousands who are cursing us now, next month, next year, will claim that they, too, were here.” 

Yana Knopova, a Ukrainian immigrant, and Khulood Badawi, an Israeli Arab, at an Aug. 11 rally in Tel Aviv leading anti-war chants in three languages, Arabic, Russian and Hebrew: “Salaam Na’ami! Kharb La! (Peace ye, war no) Voine Nyet! (No war)” 

The 34-day war did more than smash up infrastructure, it blew up a lot of assumptions and accepted truths as well: the invincibility of the Israeli Army; the illusion that wars can be controlled—Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah now admits he would never have captured the two soldiers if he had known how Israel would respond. 

It has also reinvigorated the Israeli peace movement with some very new elements. 

The names “Konpova” and “Badawi” are a case in point. 

Yana Knopova, age 25, left the Ukraine in 1995 as a young Zionist. She is currently a psychology major at Haifa University and the coordinator of the Coalition of Women for Peace. Badawi, age 30, is the former chair of the Association of Arab University Students in Israel, who now works for a civil rights group. 

In an interview with Lily Galili in the Aug. 10 Ha’aretz, the two talked about what motivates them to try to stop the war, and how feminism influences their views. 

“The police see Khulood as a natural enemy,” says Konpova, “while in the exact same situation, the police refuse to see me as an enemy. They also live with the stereotype that there are no Russians in the left. Khulood is always dangerous, I am never dangerous; Khulood is a demographic time bomb, I am a demographic hope. This is an approach that regards the wombs of us both in the service of the state, and we will not give them this pleasure.” 

According to Galili the traditional peace movement was dominated by Ashkenazi men [Central and Eastern European Jews], but that the current anti-war protests are largely being led by women. 

“All the elements of this war bring the issues together,” says Knopova, “feminism, social justice, class distinctions, the environment and the occupation. Women make this connection” 

And as the chants suggest, more and more Russian immigrants—normally associated with the hard right—are involved in the peace movement. 

What is also different is that Arab citizens of Israel have shown up in Tel Aviv in large numbers. Badawi sees this participation as a way of healing the deep wound of October 2000, when Israeli police opened fire on peaceful Arab demonstrators and killed 13 of them. After the massacre, Arab-Israelis stayed away from peace protests in Tel Aviv. 

“The age is over when we would accept Jewish partnership at any price,” she says. “Today the connection is genuine, with Jewish activists paying the price of their participation by demonstrations against the wall in Bil’in, refusal to serve in the military, and activism at checkpoints. We have a common fate, but it is different than in the past. These demonstrations can help us out of the severed relations of October 2000. Now the Arab-Jewish partnership is egalitarian.” 

Badawi told Ha’aretz, “When we speak from the stage—Yana in Russian, I in Arabic—that in itself is a political message. It also conveys to the Arab world that the claims by Israel and the U.S. that Jews and Arabs cannot live together is a false message.”  

There is also a growing movement among soldiers—particularly reservists—who refuse to serve in the occupied territories or take part in the invasion of Lebanon. 

The oldest of these organizations is Yesh Gvul, formed in 1982 during the first Lebanon invasion. But it has now been joined by a number of new organizations, like Combatants for Peace, all tied together by the Refuser Solidarity Network. Their slogan is “You can’t have a war if the soldiers stay home.” 

Yesh Gvel organizers say they have been contracted by dozens of officers and solders who say they will refuse service in Lebanon. Among them is Reserve Captain Amir Paster, sentenced to 28 days for refusing to serve in Lebanon, and Staff Sargent Itzik Shabbat, who refused to serve in the occupied territories because it would free up regular solders to fight in Lebanon. 

While new groups are springing up, Gush Shalom is still the activist backbone of the Israeli peace movement. Formed in 1993, it calls for returning all the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem, a right of return for Palestinians “without undermining the foundations of Israel,” and mutual security between Israel and Palestine. 

The organization has no paid staff and no funding to speak of, and an “in your face” street theater edge to it. It rebuilds houses destroyed by Israeli occupation forces, fills in trenches dug by the army to isolate Arab villages, break through closure barriers, and harvests olives for Palestinians barred from their land by the army or settlers. 

Gush Shalom was the principle organizer of the Megan David Square rally that also drew the Coalition of Women for Peace, Ta’ayush (an organization that fights to release the more than 10,000 Palestinian detainees), Yesh Gvul, the Israeli-Palestinian Forum of Bereaved Families, Anarchists Against Walls, plus political parties like Hadash, Balad, and the United Arab List. 

Conspicuously missing was any formal representation from the leftist Meretz Party, which splintered over support for the war. However, many Meretz members marched, including former Knesset members Naomi Hazen and Ya’el Dayan. And while 5,000 seems small, a comparable demonstration in the U.S. would number 200,000. 

In his closing remarks, Avnery talked about the bright potential that smashing “accepted truths” can create: “When this madness is finally over, we shall struggle together—Israelis and Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese, Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel—so that we can live a normal life, each in his free state, side by side, in peace.” 

Readers might want to check out the following websites. This is not an exhaustive list: http://gush-shalom.org; www.refusersolidarity.net; http// coalitionofwomen.org; www. jewishvoiceforpeace.org www.peace-now.org; www.taayush.org; www.yeshgvul.org.

Sometime around 10 o’clock in the evening on June 25, 2005, an Oakland police officer pulled over a van near the corner of Havenscourt and Bancroft, in the heart of the city’s so-called “sideshow zone.” Telling the van’s African-American driver and two passengers that the stop was part of a “sideshow sweep” that night, the officer did a search of the car and its contents, including the backpacks of the two passengers. The officer then announced that he was citing the driver for a sideshow violation and having the van towed under Oakland’s sideshow abatement ordinance. Unwilling to wait for the tow truck, however, the officer eventually got into the van and drove off, leaving the driver and the two passengers standing on the sidewalk, trying to figure out how they were going to get home. 

That in itself ought to have constituted a violation of several constitutional clauses, city ordinances, and common sense. The details make it even worse. 

As we have spoken about in this column before, Oakland’s “sideshow zones” are loosely defined designated geographical areas in the East Oakland flatlands between High Street and the San Leandro border where Oakland police use “focused” or “increased” traffic enforcement in ways that are not used in other parts of the city. Officially called STOP (Special Traffic Offender Program), the practice was explained in a Jan. 10, 2006, OPD report presented to the Public Safety Committee of Oakland City Council: 

“The STOP program was re-established in April 2005, to address public safety problems resulting from reckless driving and exhibitions of speed, as well as unlicensed and impaired motor vehicle operation,” the police department reported to the City Administrator and Councilmembers. “STOP derives funding from an increase in administrative release fees paid for vehicles towed under authority of the program … The program mandates that fees collected are returned to the Police Department to fund overtime STOP operations. … A majority of the funds will be used to offset overtime costs associated with the Department's effort to address the reckless driving, exhibitions of speed, unlicensed and impaired vehicle operations, such as the ‘Sideshow.’ The Department will also conduct STOP operations in other parts of the City where traffic safety is an issue.” 

Under this East Oakland-based police enforcement program, a “sideshow”—even under the city’s loose definitions of the events—does not have to be taking place for cars to be cited under this program. Officers from the Special Operations Division Traffic Section make a sweep of the areas they call “sideshow zones” (places where they say sideshows are “likely” to take place) using a checklist to see if a driver can be cited for participating in “sideshow-related activities. Among these offenses are the playing of loud music. As we said, no actual sideshow has to be taking place. But under the STOP program, the cars can be towed at the officers’ discretion, with a mandatory $250 fee to get it returned from A&B Auto over on G Street. 

A careful reading of the Jan. 10, 2006 report shows that the STOP program is operated on an overtime basis, with the overtime fees paid for by the fines levied from the tows. The more cars that are towed, therefore, the more money that is available for overtime. What officer would not want to make a little (more) overtime giving out traffic tickets? This is a prescription for abuse, and in the June 25, 2005 stop on Havenscourt and Bancroft, there was clearly abuse of the officer’s discretion. 

The driver of the van, it turns out, was not anyone remotely resembling a sideshow participant. Instead, he was 41-year-old African-American Oakland resident Eugene Davis, coach of a local basketball team, who had been driving two of his players home from a game in Berkeley. The officer, Mr. Davis said, trailed him from Havenscourt and Foothill, finally stopping him at Havenscourt and Bancroft and telling him that his music was too loud, “which the officer said was an offense under Oakland’s sideshow ordinance.” After being left out on the street, Mr. Davis was able to get his van returned the next day, but only after paying a $250 release fee, $145 for the traffic ticket, and $126 to A&B Tow.  

“Basically,” he said, “I got jacked for $500.” 

“You don’t have to be doing anything, you just have to be there,” Mr. Davis explained. “It’s like martial law. People are afraid to come out.” Mr. Davis, a resident of the Laurel district in the Oakland foothills just north of the “sideshow zones,” said “I don’t come out in East Oakland any more, and that shouldn’t have to be.” 

Mr. Davis decided to protest and publicize the incident, eventually getting the attention of Oakland’s PUEBLO organization, which monitors the Oakland Police Department and advocates for police reform. PUEBLO helped Mr. Davis get a meeting with OPD Chief Wayne Tucker, who agreed that a wrong had been done, and helped Mr. Davis get part of his money back, and publicly admitted at a March 4 PUEBLO police forum that “we have made a number of mistakes in the STOP program. Some people who are getting caught up in it should not have gotten caught up in it,” and promised a full review of the program itself. 

One of the results of that review was an issuance of Special Order 8098 on police towing procedures by Chief Tucker in December 2005, specifically designed to address the issue of police leaving drivers and passengers out on the street after an auto tow. “When towing a vehicle,” the chief ordered, “an officer shall be mindful of the occupant(s)’s safety. The officer shall not expose such persons to an unreasonable risk of harm when determining whether to leave the vehicle’s occupant(s) at the area of the tow without a means of transportation. If the officer determines leaving the occupants in the area of the tow is unsafe, the officer shall assist the occupant(s) in relocating to a safe location…” 

Is that new policy now being followed by the Oakland Police Department? You be the judge.  

If the Oakland Tribune is to be taken at its word in a Sept. 11 article entitled “Two Shot During Sideshow In Oakland,” this is what happened to five Sacramento Latino teenagers in East Oakland early last Sunday morning. “The car they were in was towed by police shortly before 3 a.m. Sunday,” the Tribune reported, “after it was seen doing ‘doughnuts’ in a sideshow near Havenscourt and Foothill boulevards. Dozens of police were in the area writing tickets, towing cars and making arrests. After their car was towed, the five were walking west in the 5800 block of Foothill when they passed a parked sport utility vehicle with several men inside. Police said the women in the group were wearing Norteño attire, but the men were not. …[S]omeone inside the SUV asked them where they were from… [P]olice suspect the men in the SUV were either Sureños or Border Brothers, both deadly rivals of Norteños. When someone in the group responded ‘West Sac,’ someone inside the SUV got out and began shooting at them. Someone inside the SUV also fired at them, police said.” 

Three of the Sacramento teenagers were hit with the spray of bullets. One of them, a 16-year-old from Elk Grove, was shot three times and was in critical condition in a local hospital as of the Tribune report. Because of their age, none of the teenagers were identified by the paper. 

Significantly, the five Sacramento teenagers were cited at exactly the same location—Havenscourt and Bancroft—where Coach Eugene Davis’ van was originally followed by the Oakland police a year before. 

We don’t know exactly what the Sacramento teenagers were doing before their car was towed by Oakland police. We only have the OPD statements to the Tribune as to what happened, so there is no way, yet, to make an independent judgment. But whatever it was they may have been doing, was our city made safer by dumping out-of-city teenagers out on Oakland streets at 3 in the morning? Did their offense—whatever it may have been—justify the danger they were put in by Oakland police? Did Oakland police actions lead directly to an Oakland shooting and, if it did, will any of the officers suffer consequences, and will city policy be actually changed? Did the dump-and-tow of the teenagers’ car directly violate Chief Tucker’s December 2005 Order? Or is the Tribune article wrong, and the circumstances different from what was reported? 

We wait, patiently, for answers from Chief Tucker, the representatives of Oakland City Council, and Mayor Jerry Brown, wherever around the state he may be campaigning these days on his platform of law … and order(s). 

If one were to choose a building most likely to survive the ages in San Francisco—or any other place, for that matter—it would seem unlikely that a structure made primarily of glass and fragile wood could top the list. 

But there it is, in the green heart of Golden Gate Park—the Conservatory of Flowers, now some 127 years old and well prepared for the 21st century. 

This time of year seems an especially good time to visit. Not only is there a butterfly exhibit through Oct. 29, but the vicinity is sparkling with seasonal outdoor Victorian horticultural displays.  

Built in 1878-79 of materials purchased by civic-minded San Franciscans from the estate of James Lick, the conservatory has recovered from fires, a boiler explosion, earthquake, storms, and periodic closings. 

General deterioration and wind damage in 1995 forced closure for several years of multi-million dollar reconstruction. It reopened in 2003 with new features and plantings well integrated with the old. 

The Conservatory of Flowers—essentially a huge, ornate, public greenhouse—is a singular survivor of the dozens of similar structures that populated California’s public spaces and private estates in the 19th century. 

19th century conservatories housed rare botanical specimens, particularly tropical and subtropical plants “discovered” in and brought back from the increasingly explored and colonized Third World, as well as seasonal displays of tender plants.  

There were once local conservatories built to house orchid collections, ferns, begonias, palms, camellias, gardenias, and practically anything else living that might need to permanently or temporarily shelter under glass in the periodically chilly Bay Area. 

These were truly unusual and exotic places in an era before central heating allowed anyone with a sunny windowsill to successfully grow tender tropicals indoors. 

The Conservatory of Flowers is zoned into five sections, each with its own climate and character. 

Enter through the central, high-domed, Lowland Tropics exhibit, complete with palms and exuberant undergrowth, but also featuring an enormous philodendron, well over a century old, that twines its way nearly to the roof.  

The walls have small, bright, stained glass inserts that cast changing rainbows of color across the foliage. A small, rocky, waterfall chatters away. 

Turn right (east) and you’re in a cooler room with plants from the highland tropics.  

Two ornate wooden and wire cases contain a changing array of rare orchids in bloom. Look down into the central planter area for the red, pink, or orange blooms of vireyas, tropical rhododendrons. 

Beyond, in the aquatic plant room, two large pools form a figure-8, linked by a glass bridge across the narrow neck. The upper pool is slightly raised and has a curved glass side at child’s-eye level where one can see directly into the greenish underwater depths.  

Water cascades over a glass lip to the lower pool. Tropical water lilies with dazzling flowers share surface space with the enormous ribbed pads of the Giant Waterlily, Victoria amazonica, first displayed here in the 1880s. 

Around the pool perimeter are potted and hanging plants, including large carnivorous species. There’s a bench in one bright corner, often occupied by book-reading visitors. 

After soaking in the atmosphere, head back through the Palm House and west into a room decorated with a wooden Japanesque gazebo, beautiful planters, and perfect display specimens of tropical and semi-tropical plants in pots. 

Beyond is a room for changing exhibits. It currently features “The Butterfly Zone: Plants and Pollinators”, with butterflies in two stages of life. 

When we last visited, the species included black and white striped Zebra butterflies, fawn brown California Buckeyes, translucent White Peacocks, vibrant Orange Julias, and Queens.  

You’re asked not to touch the butterflies, but you can watch and photograph them up close, from inches away, as they flutter around you, nectar on flowers or bask on leaves or the conservatory glass. 

There’s a central display where the chrysalides of butterflies are hung in rows and you can observe the adults emerging from their hard cases and spreading their wings.  

Docents in the room answer questions and point out special features. 

This is a striking place to see butterflies, but I’m always a bit ambivalent about this particular approach.  

Since these species aren’t allowed to reproduce in the exhibit, there are no “host plants” for caterpillars. Thus, the egg-laden females in the exhibit seek in vain for a place to safely deposit the next generation. 

Also, while some of the species—particularly the tropicals—seem content to lazily flutter about the room, others just want to escape. The clear glass of the south facing emergency doors is patterned with butterflies trying to get into the open world beyond, and butterfly bodies litter the floor beside the doors. 

Throughout the conservatory, informational panels augment the botanical displays.  

You’ll also find some small exhibits on the history of the building and on the methods and motivations of 19th century botanical collecting that brought unusual treasures to places like the conservatory.  

Admission tickets and souvenirs are sold in two small, contextual, kiosks flanking the main entrance.  

Elaborate, patterned, displays of bedding plants—currently blue, orange, and red—look like gigantic carpets spread on the pristine lawns in front of the Conservatory.  

East of the conservatory and down a set of steps is a large, oval, dahlia garden maintained by volunteers, that can be a blaze of colorful, bowl-sized, blossoms.

“We never wasted anything. We worked hard, had a starvation life. We didn’t have much but we enjoyed life. How did we quilt? We cut blocks. Put the blocks together. Think in your mind, um, I can do it. We sew the blocks together.” 

—Nettie Young 

These simple words document a life of hardship and joy and the simple formula for making a quilt. Four generations of the women from Gee’s Bend and their extraordinary collection of quilts is the subject of the fine exhibit at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. 

While the quilts are expertly hung in all their artistic and functional glory, it is the 42 women that remind us of the strength of the human spirit. Through the black and white portraits, faces’ reflecting joy and hardship; personal narratives and gospel music, the viewer is invited into a living history sharing in their families, religion and feelings about their art. 

The story begins in Gee’s Bend, Alabama, land formed by a loop in the Alabama River, described as “home to the richest soil and the poorest people” in the United States. The isolation caused by geography, poverty and indifference also gave rise to cultural and artistic continuity, as evidenced by the body of work produced by the women of this town. 

As early as the 1800’s slave women of the Pettway plantation began the process of “piecing up,” using rags to create bedspreads. In the early 1900s slavery had been abolished but quilting continued by necessity as a means of providing warmth in drafty wood houses. Nothing was wasted or thrown out—worn work clothes, shirt and dress tails, out grown garments, fabric from the clothing of loved ones. Cotton sheeting, denim, flour and sugar sacks and later, double knits and corduroy—all found second and third lives as quilts. 

On display are no ordinary, strictly utilitarian quilts; they’re artistic expressions in the fullest. Vibrant with life and energy, the bold geometric shapes are arranged in small and large scale resembling a finely tuned yet free-wheeling improvisation. The unusual patterns, colors and textures hold your eye and draw you in.  

Using basic patterns as a springboard, each quilter proceeds to piece her quilt “My Way”, developing her own style. Regardless of age, she lays out her pieces in a way to express her own personality. What made these elders so wise as to recognize the importance of promoting creativity within the safety of a supportive community? Their motto of “Piece by yourself, quilt together” speaks volumes. 

The earliest Work Clothes Quilts take the viewer back to the 1930s, the apex of poverty in America. Lucy Mooney’s Blocks and Strips presents large pieces in faded lavender, peach, tan, black and blue with flowing lines of curved stitching flowing across. Missouri Pettway constructed a quilt from her deceased husband’s old torn up work clothes, holding his memory in the warmth the quilt provided. Both are still-life portraits of hard, yet joyful lives. 

During the video, The Quilts of Gee’s Bend, we meet Loretta Pettway, a woman whose character is etched in her face and words. She describes her hard life—in the field all day, then home to do the chores for her family. Only then does she turn to quilting, staying up until 2 or 3 a.m. She quilts out of necessity, rather than desire, yet her artistry is striking. A color photograph shows Loretta framed in the window of her house. The lovely colors of turquoise and tan from the wood planks and window trim are repeated in her expressive Housetop Quilts, where somber strips are added around a solid central block. 

The Housetop pattern is repeated often in the exhibit. One of the oldest quilts shown is that of Rachel Carey George. Old dress fabric and printed feed sacks are arranged in concentric strips. In Rachel’s narrative we learn how every scrap was used and reused no matter how faded or worn. Lillie Mae Pettway’s Housetop sports vibrant colors that jump out in spirited celebration. 

More recent works continue the “nothing goes to waste” philosophy. When sent a supply of double knit leisure suits that residents were too savvy to wear, Mary Lee Bendolph transformed them into vibrant quilts. In the 1970s Sears contracted with the women to make corduroy pillow shams. The scraps from this new medium, soft, hefty and reflective, were not wasted. Arcola Pettway’s Lazy Gal Bars displays full width strips in bold earth tones, exuding warmth and comfort. 

Mary Lee Bendolph, the elder, loves what she makes, the women with which she quilts and the gospels they sing. Her age entitles her to only do what she wants, and she chooses to quilt. Her daughter, Essie Bendolph Pettway, makes quilts as a way of getting old clothes out of the house. In the video she muses on the good feeling she gets from hanging her quilts on the fence along the highway, their colors taking her attention from everything else. She expresses pride that someone would want to purchase one and hang it on the wall.  

There is no pretension to these women. Annie Mae Young puts their artlessness into perspective. “You just put the pieces together like a puzzle, nothing fancy. What’s it called? Quilt.” She doesn’t want to do anything else. At the entrance to the exhibit hangs her Center Medallion, a center of bright orange, yellow and brown strips surrounded by bands of blues in varying hues. Big pieces and long strips, pulsating with energy yet so deeply moving that you’ll want to take the image home. 

World events may cause us to despair, as countries struggle and acts of violence never seem to abate. Gasoline prices soar while we melt the ice caps and destroy habitat. Spending an hour with the women of Gee’s Bend and their artistic expressions won’t alter the state of the world, but will rejuvenate your spirit. Their lives were harder than most of us can ever imagine, but they were able to find joy and fulfillment expressing themselves in their quilts. Their strength is contagious and heart warming. Stare into their faces, read their words, rejoice in their work.

I’ve passed Green Jeans at about 65 mph dozens of times, and never stopped to have a look until this month. For a plant lover who had a secret girlhood crush on Mister Green Jeans, Captain Kangaroo’s gardening neighbor, this is an inexplicable lapse. 

Perhaps I’m still in subconscious shock from the day I read the credits and discovered the guy’s name was really “Lumpy” Brannum, which may or may not have also been the first time I saw him take off his hat.  

Or perhaps I’m merely eyes-front on that rather busy bit of 101 in Mill Valley. But if you’re there, just north of all that bridge-and-tunnel stuff and the hill around Sausalito, take a jog off the Seminary Drive exit and along the frontage road on the inland side. 

You’re halfway past Green Jeans’ parking lot entrance before you spot it, but there’s plenty of streetside parking. 

Aside from the usual entertaining nursery assortment—quirky geraniums, grasses, annual color, stuff with interesting red or gold or chartreuse foliage—Green Jeans has rather a lot of tropical stuff. Bamboos, including big timber types, occupy one corner patch by the parking lot; there are more gingers, cannas, ornamental taro, and the like up against the hill that borders the narrow lot.  

The best is behind a fence that’s almost right against the hill. There’s a hidden entrance to this space, near the office/houseplant shop. Most of it is shaded by a grand live oak whose trunk is festooned with strings of tiny lights, and the theme is definitely Understory Wonderland. Ferns, including what’s labeled as “Hawaiian tree fern”—something unusual; the Aussie and New Zealand tree ferns are much more common, including (unfortunately) in Hawaii.  

There’s an appropriate mushroom motif here, including an impressive metal morel sculpture and a wooden table and stools with a toadstool look. There’s also a bit of Lost World going on; one amusing if impractical set of cast cement steppingstones resembles the tracks of a Malagasy elephant-bird—or a mid-sized therapod. Maybe they work for people with good balance or very small feet. I’ve neither, but I coveted them all the same. 

Plants aside, the place has some striking outdoor art. A local artist makes the giant arthropods—ants, a spider, a marvelous stained-glass dragonfly perched on a ten-foot cattail, yard-wide butterflies, at least one of them a solar-powered battery lamp whose colors shine after dusk. It’s a trick to pull off something this unabashedly colorful without being tacky, but go see ‘em.  

Stainless steel hori-hori “mushroom knives” and Felcos, including replacement parts; greenmanure seeds and soil amendments by the scoop as well as the bag; seeds by the teaspoon in an antique wall cabinet. Check it out. 

In the middle of the spaghetti-farm lot is a little hut, Kelly’s Edge Sharpening, where the affable Mr. Kelly can hone your kitchen and garden tools (including flat powermower, but not reel mower, blades) and even hairdressing shears. You’ll be greeted by his equally affable dog. The dog’s name is Rexie or maybe Rexy; alas, in my extensive interview with Rexi I failed to ascertain the spelling.  

I am not a high tech guy. Ask anyone who knows me. I like technology. I respect modern whiz-bang innovation but, personally, I’m very slow to adopt anything newer than about 1965. In many ways I’m slower to adopt anything newer than the 18th century. I was listening to Linda Ronstadt interviewed on the radio the other day and she said that she really liked 19th century songs and that after about 1910 they just lose her. I’m like that. One reason is that Old is time tested; crushed, run over and aged some more. If it still works, well then you’ve got something. So when I say that there is a new technology that’s worth looking at (here it comes) I do it with some impunity. So here’s what’s new. Ready. Sewer pipes. Bet I surprised you. 

Sewers in our old housing stock are about as advanced as the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse. No moving parts and almost nothing you couldn’t make with a bunch of Hittites and a mud oven.  

The sewer pipes that run from our houses out to the street have largely been made, during the last century of clay, simple terra cotta. In fact they look just like the tiles on our roofs except that they’re tubular rather than hemi-cylindrical. These pipes, buried between the house and street are usually fitted “bell and spigot” lengths, packed at the joints with mortar. 

Bell and spigot fittings are ones where one end swells to be able to accept the insertion of the small end of another. This is what most cast-iron piping has looked like over the last century as well, although cast-iron bell and spigot was packed with a fibrous material called oakum as a backing and then filled with molten lead (leading to the slow death of many a plumber. Thank goodness we stopped doing that). 

The part of your waste water system that we’re talking about here is distinct from the DWV (Drain, Waste and Vent) piping inside your house (including the basement or crawlspace). It’s the part that’s outside the house and runs from the house (usually along the side) out to the street. The rules for these have long differed from the inside part and it is here that we experience the most serious problems. Some of these come from the primitive manner of construction but there are an attendant array of nasty failings that can descend upon thy pipes as well. They include root intrusion, breakage and dislocation as well as the usual blockages. 

Plants like to be watered and roots follow the water just as surely as Woodward and Bernstein follow the money. Roots have a wonderful methodology for destroying clay pipe. They enter at cracks or loose joints as tiny tendrils looking for a drink (lots of nutrients there too) and slowly grow bigger and bigger, thus cracking and splitting the pipes. 

They can also fill the interior of a pipe so densely that the flow of solids becomes nearly impossible. For nearly a hundred years, we’ve been using metal “snakes” with bladed heads to help cut these out but the roots keep coming back. 

Cracks in the piping can come from soil movement or pressure applied to piping near the surface. A truck backing up over your driveway can do this so try to keep the big trucks off your property. Locally, we have quite a bit of soils migration and hillside creep (not me). 

Both of these things can crack, dislocate and separate old clay (as well as newer cast iron) pipes. Therefore, I give special attention to these “sewer laterals” when looking at steep lots, wet lots or ones that show other evidence of soils movement or settlement. If the foundation is cracked and settled, I assume, generally, that the shallowly buried sewer can’t be very different, especially if it’s clay. 

Now, other materials have been used in the last 50 years or so (although clay is still used to some degree to my head-shaking amazement) and these others are far preferable but the failings I’ve noted can still occur, especially when soils movement is prevalent. 

The difficulty with this array of possible defects is that they’re so hard to diagnose, or, at least, have been for most of my life as a result of the inaccessibility of the buried pipe. In the past, we could only respond to clogs or obvious leaks (Eeeeeeewww) by calling someone to either snake out the pipe or dig it up. This might mean the replacement of a concrete pathway, sidewalk or driveway. 

A backhoe might be digging a swath through the narcissus and overall, these repairs were ungainly, expensive and destructive, but Technology is here to save the day (and a whole lotta money). We’re really lucky because we have two technologies here and they work together beautifully. The first is diagnostic and the second is surgical.  

There is no way that one can avoid comparing a sewer video camera with a colonoscopy (for o’ so many reasons) but that’s basically what it is. The system has, just as in the O.R., a camera mounted on the end of a long snake-like semi-rigid cable and a TV at the other end. There are also some cool features with some of these like the ability to “right” the image, since they tend to put you upside down as you’re watching. A flush of the toilet cleans the lens (Eeeeewwww) and you can then see all the cracks, bellies (where the water sits) and offsets (where the pipes don’t meet straight in line). 

You can also easily see the roots and other clogs prior to taking any action. Information is power and this thing leaves you without any question, so it is a very powerful tool. 

Most operators will give you a video copy of the inspection as a part of the inspection and you can expect to pay anywhere from $50-$250 for the service. But if you consider the cost of digging up a pipe, just to examine it, it’s an incredible bargain. The devices also come with a locator system that allows a break in a pipe to be pinpointed with great accuracy (depth too). 

Be sure to pop that video in at your next dinner party just before the appetizers (Eeeeewwww). 

The surgical technology that marries with the previous one so nicely is also nothing less than astounding and I mean that in a very fundamental sense since it changes the way we not only look at these system but removes a great body of distress that was formerly common to any work on these systems. 

It is a system that replaces buried pipe without trenching. Holes do need to be made where the pipe replacement begins and ends but no other digging is usually needed (though sometimes, thing don’t work out so well, right). 

A cable is run through the old broken piping from one hole to the other and a powerful winch is set down inside one hole. A heat-fused, continuous length of polyethylene piping is then pulled from one end to the other. 

It is not pulled through the piping, rather it replaces the former by “bursting” or splitting the old pipe out of the way, as the new one is pulled along. A bullet-shaped device with a cutting fin is pulled by the cable and the new pipe is fused to the back end. 

This means that a 4” pipe can be replaced with a 4” pipe and since the new pipe has no tiny breaks, roots can’t start to grow at all. Furthermore the very thing we hate about plastic, the fact that it doesn’t biodegrade, is precisely what we can love about it in this situation. This is what plastics are good for. Lastly, the piping is flexible and can stretch and bend as the earth moves and in my never humble opinion, I would guess that these laterals will outlast almost all the houses they’re installed at.  

This technology makes the work so much faster and easier than the old trenched jobs that the cost of a replacement has dropped by at least 100 percent since they’ve come along. If you were formerly looking at replacing a driveway to repair the sewer, you could be saving 300-500 percent. 

In real dollars I used to see (this is 1980’s dollars) $5,000-$15,000 on lots of these jobs and now we’re usually looking at $1,000-$4,000, so it’s time to stop paying the rooter guy to come every six month for ever (say it like a teenaged girl. I am soooo sure). 

Now here’s the part you need to pay attention to and I apologize for putting it at the end but I felt it was important to lay the groundwork, as it were, in advance. 

If you live in many of our east bay cities and you’re getting ready to sell your house, you’re going to need to have an inspection of your system done. In Alameda, you’ll have to do a wet test in which your entire system (up to the top of the foundation) is filled with water and shows almost no leakage in a 15 minute period. This may involve putting in a special fitting at the sidewalk which can be blocked by a plug. 

If you’re in Albany, Richmond, El Cerrito, Kensington and parts of West CoCo County you’ll need to complete a video camera inspection prior to transfer of the property. Almost any sign of failure in this examination will require a repair of the affected area. If your lateral is clay, you’ll almost certainly be required to replace all of it (and good riddance, I say). 

As of Oct. 1, Berkeley joins this club, so those of you now looking to buy or sell here should be prepared to get the test and negotiate the results. I believe Oakland will follow suit in the near future and eventually, I’d guess that this will come to all sewer districts. 

I’d like to thank my buddy Paul at Central Plumbing and Rooter in Alameda for taking time away from the kiddies to answer so many of my questions. 

Nobody likes to go to the doctor but we all go because we’re rather face the news sooner and have the time to take action. Now, take a deep breath. This won’t hurt a bit.

Retrofits – A Deep, Dark Secret? 

Are you one of those folks who think that a retrofit is this huge, complicated project which involves re-building your foundation and making major structural changes under your house?  

If so, think again. In the majority of cases, a retrofit is really a pretty simple process that involves three basic stages:  

1) The bracing of the cripple walls with plywood. 

2) The bolting of the braced cripple walls to the foundation. 

3) The attachment of the floor of the house to the braced cripple walls. 

All three of these must be done properly for the retrofit to be effective in a serious quake.  

To learn more about the terminology and the steps involved, go to the best website I’ve ever seen on retrofits: www.bayarearetrofit.com 

Remember, when the Hayward fault ruptures, there will be around 150,000 homes which will be uninhabitable. Don’t let yours be one of them. 

Larry Guillot is the owner of QuakePrepare, an earthquake consulting, securing and kit supply service. Contact him at 558-3299 or see www.quakeprepare.com to receive semi-monthly e-mails and safety reports.  

The phone rang, as it always does on Sunday afternoon. “Susan,” said the voice on the other end of the line, “this is your mother.”  

“I know that,” I said.  

“Just calling to check in,” she said.  

“I know that, too,” I answered. “But I can’t talk now. I’m trying to write a column.”  

“What about?” she asked.  

“That’s the problem. I don’t have a theme yet. I want to write something profound about—”  

“Don’t try to be profound,” advised Mom. “It doesn’t work. No one in our family has ever been profound regarding anything.”  

“Yeah” I said, “but—”  

“Why don’t you write about Mr. Peanut?”  

“Mr. Peanut?”  

“Yes,” she said. “In July a statue of Mr. Peanut, delivered by the Nutmobile, was installed on the Atlantic City boardwalk. A few days later someone vandalized him.”  

“You’re kidding,” I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.  

“I’m not,” said Mom. “They removed the small finger on his right hand. He’s been sent away for repairs.”  

“That’s a shame,” I said. “But not profound.”  

“Of course it’s not profound, but I thought it might interest you.” 

“Yeah, well—”  

“Remember when you danced with Mr. Peanut in front of Planter’s Peanut Shop?” said Mom. “You must have been three or four years old and—”  

“Mom,” I said. “I gotta go.”  

“Wait, you’re father wants to speak with you.”  

Before I could stop her she put the phone down. “Dewey” I heard her shout, “it’s your daughter and she’s trying to be profound.”  

“You’re trying to be profound?” asked Dad when he picked up the receiver. “Don’t bother. Nobody in this family is—”  

“I know, Dad, but I’ve got to come up with a topic and—”  

“How about that moron judge who put the thing-a-ma-jig on his you-know-where and was doing you-know-what under his desk while presiding over trials? What about that for a column?”  

“I don’t think so,” I said.  

“Did you hear about Mr. Peanut?”  

“Yes,” I said. “Mom just told me.”  

“Big news around here. Some son of a you-know-who ripped the poor bastard’s pinkie off. They’ve gotta ship him back to the factory and solder the damn thing on. Can you believe it?”  

After we said good-by, I googled the past week’s news headlines searching for weighty subject matter, but nothing inspired me—not Paris Hilton’s DUI, or Lindsay Lohan’s lost designer pocketbook, or the rumors that Baby Suri was wearing a toupee during her Vanity Fair photo shoot.  

My housemate Andrea offered advice. “Why don’t you write about how Noonie lost her house and all her furniture was stolen by the landlord?”  

I tried to reply, but Andrea was on a roll.  

“Write about Curtis’s car breakin’ down again and the police stoppin’ him and sendin’ him back to jail cause Noonie put some of her stuff in his trunk and he didn’t know about it and—”  

“I—”  

“Why don’t you write about how my feet are all swelled up and I’m always tired and—”  

“I—”  

“Write about Ralph. People are always complainin’ you don’t write enough about him and you’re always sayin’ you gotta write what you know, and—”  

“Okay” I said. “I get your point. Leave me alone so I can let the creative muse gel.”  

“You need to put some of that creative muse on your head and comb that hair of yours,” she sniffed as she left my room. “No wonder you can’t think of nothin’ to write about.”  

I went downstairs to talk with Ralph. He was in his hospital bed, staring at the computer monitor. Above him, a television screen showed Annika Sorenson missing a long putt.  

“Got any ideas for a column?” I asked.  

I waited while he placed his mouth stick into a small tube on the hospital tray in front of him. I watched him struggle, but I didn’t offer to help. Ralph likes to do things for himself.  

When the stick was finally in place he turned his head and looked at me. His blue eyes were clear and bright. He smiled.  

“The A’s won again!” he shouted. “I’m a happy man.”

By Joe Eaton 

Special to the Planet 

It’s an odd kind of distinction, having your name attached to a plant or animal. Cartoonist Gary Larson says he considered it an extreme honor when a new species of louse was christened Strigiphilus garylarsoni—a reaction I can understand perfectly. 

Long after his work has been forgotten, his name will endure--at least among a small subset of entomologists who specialize in the parasites of owls. Who remembers Poinsett, Dahl, Zinn, Forsyth, or Wistar? But botanists and gardeners invoke them all the time. 

I recently picked up a wonderful book called Audubon to Xantus, by Barbara and Richard Mearns: a series of short biographies of the men and women for whom North American birds were named.  

Audubon everybody knows: he got an oriole, a shearwater, and a warbler (the last now considered just a subspecies of the yellow-rumped warbler). Xantus was a Hungarian exile and compulsive fabulator who collected birds at Fort Tejon and Cabo San Lucas in the 1850s. A murrelet and a hummingbird bear his name. 

Somewhere between Audubon and Xantus comes William Hutton, of Hutton’s vireo. Hutton’s vireo is one of our more obscure songbirds: common in California oak woodlands (C. C. Van Fleet called it “the spirit of the live oak tree”), but inconspicuous in appearance and retiring in habit. And I suspect even a lot of birders misidentify these birds as ruby-crowned kinglets. 

Both are small greenish-gray birds with white wingbars and nervous, twitchy demeanors. But the vireo has a heavier bill and slightly different facial and wing patterns, and it doesn’t twitch quite as much as the kinglet. Its call is also quite different: a whining, raspy “rheeee,” as opposed to the kinglet’s “che-dit.” 

Vireos are a strictly New World family, related, according to genetic studies, to the corvids (crows, jays, magpies) and shrikes. They’re feisty as small birds go. Birding maven Rich Stallcup says you can always tell whether the bird you’ve trapped in a mist net is a vireo or a warbler by its attitude. Warblers go limp; vireos will try to bite you. 

Most vireos are some shade of green, with white accents: eyestripes, spectacles, wingbars. Their vocal performances tend toward the monotonous. 

The song of the eastern red-eyed vireo—the “preacher bird”—has been represented as “First on the one hand, then on the other,” repeated indefinitely. With one partial exception, all the North American forms are migratory. That exception is the Hutton’s, or at least the California population of the Hutton’s; some interior populations do move south for the winter. 

Hutton’s has other quirks. For nest construction, it favors the hanging lichens—lace lichen, beard lichen—that festoon California oak trees. In winter, both California residents and those that winter in western Mexico join mixed foraging flocks: bands of chickadees, kinglets, warblers, and woodpeckers that roam the woods, apparently taking advantage of additional eyes to spot predators. The Mexican flocks may be composed of 18 or more species, but they almost always include a Hutton’s vireo or two.  

There’s a lot ornithologists still don’t know about this bird: its territorial behavior, whether it’s single- or double-brooded, its migratory movements. The most recent studies of nesting in California were published in 1919. 

And since the vireo’s nesting season begins early, it tends to be overlooked in breeding bird surveys. But we know a great deal more about Hutton’s vireo than we know about William Hutton. The Mearnses, who appear to be dogged researchers, were unable to determine when or where he was born, or when or where he died.  

We know that he collected the vireo near Monterey in 1847 and sent its remains back east, where it came into the hands of John Cassin (Cassin’s auklet, finch, kingbird, sparrow, vireo), then working on a book about western birds. Hutton may have been a friend or protégé of Spencer Fullerton Baird (Baird’s sandpiper and sparrow) at the Smithsonian Institution, who asked Cassin to name the new species for him. Cassin was unenthusiastic: “This kind of thing is bad enough at best, but to name a bird after a person utterly unknown is worse than that,” he wrote to Baird. But he eventually gave in. 

Correspondence between Cassin and Baird suggests Hutton was in the San Diego area around 1851. Then the flow of specimens stopped. Hutton may have been abandoned bird-hunting for gold-hunting; he may have returned east in time to be killed in the Civil War; he may have disappeared into Mexico, like Ambrose Bierce. It’s anyone’s guess. 

An obscure bird with an even more obscure namesake, and even that tenuous claim to fame may soon be gone. The California and interior populations of Hutton’s vireo, separated by miles of desert, turn out to be genetically distinct. 

Each may deserve separate species status. If the species is split, it’s likely that the old name will be dropped and each of the new forms will be rechristened, as happened when the plain titmouse was separated into oak titmouse and juniper titmouse.  

William Hutton, whoever he was, will be consigned to taxonomic limbo. That’s immortality for you. 

FRIDAY, SEPT. 15 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “The Foreigner” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at 1409 High St, Alameda, through Oct. 1. Cost is $12-$15. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Aurora Theatre “Salome” at 8 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. and runs Wed. - Sun. through Oct. 1. Tickets are $38. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley High “I Love You, Your’re Perfect, Now Change” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., through Sept. 16 at the Schwimley Little Theater, 1930 Allston Way. Tickets are $6-$20. 

California Shakespeare Theater “As You Like It” at the Bruns Amphitheater, 100 Gateway Blvd., Orinda. Tues.-Thurs., 7:30 p.m., Fri.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m. through Oct. 15. Tickets are $15 and up. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org 

Encore Theatre Company and Shotgun Players “The Typographer’s Dream” at 8 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through Sept. 17. Tickets are $15-$30. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

Masquers Playhouse “Diary of a Scoundrel” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. and Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond across from the Hotel Mac. Through Sept. 30. Tickets are $15. 232-4031. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“The Face of Poetry” Photographs by Margaretta Mitchell on dispaly at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St., through Oct. 30. 981-6100. 

“Looking for Hope” Photograhs by Matt O’Brien with text by students in the Oakland Public Schools opens at the Peralta Hacienda Historical Park Museum Gallery, 2465 34th Ave. Artist talk at 6 p.m. Gallery open Thurs.-Fri. 4 to 6 p.m. and Sun. noon to 4 p.m. 532-9142. www.peraltahacienda.org 

“Textures of Space” new paintings by Michael Shemchuck and Mel Davis. Reception at 6 p.m. at Cecile Moochnek Gallery, 1809-D Fourth St. Exhibition runs through Oct. 29. 549-1018.  

“Educate to Liberate: A Retrospective of the Black Panther Community News Service” Exhibition in honor of the 4)th Anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party, on diplay in the Oakland History Room at the Oakland Main Library, 125 14th St. 238-3222. www.oaklandlibrary.org 

Trent Burkett “New Work in Salt and Wood” Opening reception at 5 p.m. at Trax Ceramics Gallery, 1812 Fifth St. Exhibition runs to Oct. 15. 540-8729. www.traxgallery.com 

“Horses in the Trees” works by Mark P. Fisher at Alta Galleria, 2980 College Ave. #4. Exhibition runs to Oct. 7. 421-1255. 

FILM 

Arab Film Festival with 45 films from 12 countries, through Sun. at the California Theater, 2113 Kittredge St.TIckets are $8-$10, festival pass $60-$100. 415-564-1100. www.aff.org 

Friends of African Film “One Evening in July” by Raja Amari, Tunisia, and “Riches” by Ingrid Sinclair, Zimbabwe, at 7:30 p.m. at 464 Van Buren, at Euclid. friendsofafricanfilm 

@yahoo.com 

Global Lens Film Festival “Stolen Life” at 7 p.m., “Thirst” at 9:30 p.m. at Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland. www.globalfilm.org 

Ali Kazimi: A Commitment to Justice “Runaway Grooms” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Susan Page discusses “Why Talking is Not Enough: Eight Loving Actions That Will Transform Your Marriage” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Los Utrera in a celebration of Mexican Independence at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $13-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Suzhou Kun Opera Theater of Jiangsu “The Peony Pavilion” Fri,. and Sat. at 7 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $30-$86. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Berkeley Old Time Music Convention with new Lost City Ramblers, Stairwell Sisters at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Rep’s Thrust Stage. Cost is $25.50-$26.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Pigeon John, hip hop at noon at Lower Sproul Plaza, UC Campus. 

Upsurge Jazz & Poetry Sextet, in a benefit for library literacy programs, at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Aphrodesia and guests from Ghana, Kusun Ensemble, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Dance workshop at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Tesse Loehwing, jazz, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Ned Boynton Quintet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Jaia Suri and Fernando Tarango at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Sorrow Town Choir, Trailer Park Rangers, Lansdale Station at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Risky Business, Wake Up Call at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

Shotgun Wedding Quintet, Dynamic at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $7. 548-1159.  

Human No Longer at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Larry Harlow and the Latin Legends at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, SEPT. 16 

CHILDREN  

Madeline Dunphy introduces children to the planet’s major ecosystems and the interdependence of wildlife in her books, at 11 a.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“Chroma” works by artists of the Chroma Collective. Reception at 2 p.m. at the Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Exhibition runs to Oct. 1. 848-1228. 

“Gods and Aeroplanes” mixed media by Sally Rodriguez. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Float Art Gallery, 1091 Calcot Place, Unit # 116, in the front of the historic cotton mill studios, Oakland. 535-1702. www.thefloatcenter.com 

FILM 

Arab Film Festival with 45 films from 12 countries, through Sun. at the California Theater, 2113 Kittredge St. Tickets are $8-$10, festival pass $60-$100. 415-564-1100.  

Global Lens Film Festival “Almost Brothers” at 2 p.m., “The Night of Truth” at 7 p.m., “Stolen Life” at 9:30 p.m. at Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland.  

Ali Kazimi: A Commitment to Justice “Continuous Journey” at 6:30 p.m. and “Narmada: A Valley Rises” at 8:45 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“A Fictional History of the United States with Huge Chunks Missing” with Daniel Alarcón, Adam Mansbach and T Cooper at 2 p.m. at Oakland Public Library, 125 14th St. 238-3134.  

Tom Hartman introduces “Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class” at 6 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

“Aging Artfully” reading with Amy Gorman at 2 p.m. at Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave. 527-4977. 

“Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India” Panel discussion at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Benefit Concert to Restore the 1909 Steinway at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall, with rock and folk favorites at 6 p.m. at 1924 Cedar at Bonita. Donation $5. 841-4824. 

Zorina London, Huntley Brown and Heavenly Melody Choir at 7:30 p.m. at Black Repertory Theater, 3201 Adeline St. Tickets are $15. 562-2120. 

Araucaria, traditional Chilean music and dance, at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568.  

Robin Gregory and her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Berkeley Old Time Music Convention Square Dance with Squirrelly String Band, Uncle Wiggley, Adam Rose Band, at 7 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $5-$15. 525-5054.  

John Richardson Band with Hudson Bunce and John Shinnick at 9 p.m. at the Circus Pub, 389 Colusa Ave, Kensington. 

Ellen Honert and TC at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Slapshaw’s Latin Tryout at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Neydavood Ensemble, classical Persian music, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

The Sick, Insolence, Re Ignition at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

Ben Goldberg Quartet at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. 

Josh Workman Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

George Cotsirilos Jazz Group at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

John Howland Trio, Peter Maybarduk, Steve Taylor at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082.  

Shinoubu, The Queers, Groovie Ghoulies at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, SEPT. 17 

EXHIBITIONS 

New Works by Kazuyo Sato-Leue, abstract expressionist. Reception at 2 p.m. at Westside Barkery Cafe, 250 Ninth St., and runs through Dec. 31. www.studiokazuyo.com 

“Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India” Guided tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. 

FILM 

Arab Film Festival with 45 films from 12 countries, at the California Theater, 2113 Kittredge St. Tickets are $8-$10, festival pass $60-$100. 415-564-1100. www.aff.org 

Global Lens Film Festival “Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures” at 2 p.m., “Global Shorts” at 7 p.m., “Stolen Life” at 9:30 p.m. at Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland. www.globalfilm.org 

The Unsilent Film: “The Sentimaental Bloke” at 5 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Creative Aging Film Fest at 7 p.m. at JCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $10. 848-0237. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Folk and Fine Arts Flux in India Today” Gallery talk with Joanna Williams at 3 p.m. at at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808 

“Building a Jewish Collection” with Alla Efimova, Karen Levitov and George Krevsky at 2 p.m. at Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. Cost is $10-$12. 549-6950.  

S. Beth Atkin talks about “Gunstories: Life-Changing Experiences with Guns” at 4 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Robin Morgan and Helen Zia discuss “Fighting Words” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Novello Quartet performs works of Haydn and Mozart at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Cost is $9-$10. 644-6893.  

Jazz at the Chimes with Stephanie Bruce “Peace: An Invocation” at 2 p.m. at 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Cost is $10, includes reception. 288-3207.  

Zorina London, Huntley Brown and Heavenly Melody Choir at 4:30 p.m. at Black Repertory Theater, 3201 Adeline St. Tickets are $15. 562-2120. 

Bearfoot Bluegrass, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Nuccia Focile, soprano at 3 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $48. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Americana Unplugged: Old-Time Cabaret from 3 to 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 655-5715. 

Peter Apfelbaum, The New York Hieroglyphics and Abdoulaye Diabate at 8 and 10 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $18-$20. 849-2568.  

Ricardo Peixoto & Marcos Silva Duo, Brazilian classics, at 4:30 at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15-$18. 845-5373.  

Jason Armstrong & Joe Kenny at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Lethal Agression, Security Threat, Ill Content at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

MONDAY, SEPT. 18 

FILM 

Global Lens Film Festival “Stolen Life” at 7 p.m. at “In the Battlefields” at 9:30 p.m. at Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland. www.globalfilm.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Sunnylyn Thibodeaux and Julien Poirier at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Brian Copeland presents the book version of the one-man show he took to Broadway “Not a Genuine Black Man” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Anthony Horowitz, children’s fiction author, at 4 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Poetry Express with Jannie Dresser at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

Mary Gaitskill reads from her new novel “Veronica” set in Paris and Manhattan in the 1980s at 7 p.m. at Cody’s on Fourth St.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Khalil Shaheed, all ages jam, at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Trovatore, traditional Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Aaron Goldberg Trio at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com  

TUESDAY, SEPT. 19 

FILM 

Global Lens Film Festival “Thirst” at 7 p.m. at “Stolen Life” at 9:30 p.m. at Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland. www.globalfilm.org 

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

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Aging Artfully” with Amy Gorman at 1:15 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst. 981-5190. 

Michael Zielenziger speaks on “Shutting Out the Sun: How Japan Created Its Own Lost Generation” at 5 p.m. in the Women’s Faculty Club Lounge, UC Campus. 642-2809. 

Jeffrey Meyers on “Modigliani: A Life” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Kelly Link describes “Magic for Beginners” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Bruce and Lloyd’s Tri Tip Trio at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Ellen Hoffman and Singers’ Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Kelly Joe Phelps at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Different Strokes at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Eldar, jazz pianist, at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 20 

EXHIBITIONS 

East Bay Women Artists “On the Move” Paintings by Nancy Pollack, Paula Powers and Rita Sklar. Reception at 4 p.m. at the LunchStop Cafe, Joseph P. Bort Metro Center, 101 Eighth St., Oakland. Hours 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays to Nov. 30.  

FILM 

Palermo Hollywood: A Tale from Buenos Aires at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $6. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Global Lens Film Festival “Max and Mona” at 7 p.m. at “The Night of Truth” at 9:30 p.m. at Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland. www.globalfilm.org 

Pirates and Piracy “Anne of the Indies” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

T Cooper and Adam Mansbach read from their new anthology, “A Fictional History of the United States with Huge Chunks Missing” at 7 p.m. at Diesel Bookstore, 5433 College Ave. 

“Strange Travel Suggestions” tales by Jeff Greenwald at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Philip Jenkins discusses “The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert, with vocal music by African-American composers at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Whiskey Brothers Old Time and Bluegrass at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Calvin Keys Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com

For most Americans, the impact of Washington politics and policy does not intrude much on everyday life. Unless you happen to be a member of a particularly demonized minority, or have a loved one on the front lines in Iraq or Afghanistan, it can be all too easy to go through life blithely unaware of the consequences of public policy and legislated morality.  

The tenth annual Arab Film Festival, which comes to Berkeley’s California Theater this weekend, presents portraits of people who do not have that luxury, people who live with the unavoidable consequences of conflicts, both political and moral, that leave a indelible mark on their everyday lives.  

Kiss Me Not on the Eyes (Sunday 4:15 p.m.) is the story of Dunia, a young student and bellydancer who walks a fine line in modern-day Cairo between the traditional notions of womanhood and her desire for love, beauty, sensuality and freedom. It is an engaging examination of the intersection between the personal and the political, putting a human face on the conflict between the individual and the mores of the society in which she lives.  

The film evinces much of what originally made motion pictures such a potent art form early in the last century: In the words of Sunset Boulevard’s Norma Desmond, “They had faces!” The first few minutes of the film—before the characters have been established, before the plot has been articulated—the beautiful and expressive face of Hanane Turk, as Dunia, hooks the viewer with its intelligence, sensitivity, sensuality and charm. Before she has danced a step, before she has revealed a single thought or emotion, her eyes communicate all we need to know to take an interest in her plight.  

Occupation 101: Voices of the Silenced Majority (Friday, 7 p.m.) takes a different approach to that intersection, exploring the Israel-Palestine conflict from a distinctly Palestinian perspective, one not often explored in American mainstream media.  

The film is something of a polemic along the lines of the rash of left-leaning documentaries to hit American theaters over the past few years in the wake of Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. It does not present a quiet, measured documentation of a debated topic, but rather a case for one side. It is a film that is more likely to reinforce the viewer’s opinions rather than alter them. 

Which is not to say the film doesn’t back up its case; the filmmakers have plenty of facts, statistics, anecdotes and analysis, and they make their arguments forcefully. But the overwrought tone of the film, with its dramatic cuts, gratuitous reverb effects and ubiquitous, ominous music, unfortunately undermines much of the film’s power.  

The same themes and perspectives are portrayed more artfully in another of the festival’s documentaries, Goal Dreams.  

Goal Dreams (Friday, 9 p.m.) follows the Palestinian national soccer team as they prepare for a qualifying match for the 2006 World Cup. In just one month they will play a decisive match against Uzbekistan; if they win, they will continue to fight another day, but if they lose or draw they will be eliminated. Along the way, the team faces myriad obstacles, setting up a series of metaphors by which to examine the theme of Palestinian identity. 

For instance, the coaches have difficulty selecting players because Palestine has no professional league from which to draw. They don’t even have a home field, but must instead travel to Egypt for a suitable facility. And the best Palestinian players are scattered across the globe, setting up barriers of playing style as well as language—a problem only exacerbated by the fact that the coach is Austrian.  

And this leads to the team’s most debilitating obstacle: Once the players have been selected it proves nearly impossible to assemble them, for half of the players come from the West Bank and Gaza and cannot make it to Egypt unless the Israeli military opens the border. Five times the players travel to the border and wait for hours, only to learn they will not be allowed to pass through after all. By the time they arrive the team has only about two weeks to prepare and train.  

When the team appeals to FIFA, the sport’s international governing body, asking that the match be postponed until they’ve had time to prepare, FIFA denies the request, preferring not to get involved in “political matters.” 

But this is a region where political matters are difficult to ignore. The film doesn’t dwell on the politics or the history of the situation, but merely provides a portrait of a unique group of men forced to struggle with its everyday consequences.  

The Austrian coach puts it best when he says that he came to Palestine simply to coach soccer and did not want to get involved with the political situation. “But once you are here,” he says, “you are automatically involved.”

Students of the Berkeley High School Drama Department have been invited to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland next summer and are staging a set of fundraiser performances this weekend to help get there. 

The benefit performances of the recent Broadway musical I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, will be staged at 8 p.m. tonight (Friday) and Saturday at the Schwimley Little Theater on campus. 

Tickets are $6 for students and seniors Friday, and on Saturday (a gala with food provided) $10 and $20. Information and reservations are available through Jordan Winer, head of the Drama Department, 332-1931.  

The students applied to the American High School Theatre Festival, part of the larger Edinburgh Fringe, last year, sending videos and photographs of productions. They received an invitation in April to participate and decided to produce Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation of The Arabian Nights. 

To defray expenses—about $4,500 per person—for the 24 students and three adults scheduled to go next August, the program has been putting on what Winer referred to as a “fundraising ballet,” with raffles of season tickets donated by local theater companies and the students rehearsing during their summer vacation to put on the musical comedy as a benefit. 

“Depending on family income, some parents are able to come up with all the expenses, some with half, some much less or none at all,” Winer said. “We’re allowed one free chaperone per 15 kids; I’m trying to recruit more adults. But there’s been great participation by the community, especially the local theater companies—Berkeley Rep, Shotgun Players, CalShakes, A.C.T.—in donating season tickets to raffle. And people preparing food for the Saturday night gala. We hope everybody can feed off the excitement.” 

Mark Coplan, Berkeley school district spokesperson, said the drama program deserved a spot in the prestigious international arts festival. 

“The difference between going to A.C.T. and seeing a show at Berkeley High is that these kids are the kids the people in A.C.T. were in high school,” he said. They’ve directed their own productions. They can do it all!” 

If one were to choose a building most likely to survive the ages in San Francisco—or any other place, for that matter—it would seem unlikely that a structure made primarily of glass and fragile wood could top the list. 

But there it is, in the green heart of Golden Gate Park—the Conservatory of Flowers, now some 127 years old and well prepared for the 21st century. 

This time of year seems an especially good time to visit. Not only is there a butterfly exhibit through Oct. 29, but the vicinity is sparkling with seasonal outdoor Victorian horticultural displays.  

Built in 1878-79 of materials purchased by civic-minded San Franciscans from the estate of James Lick, the conservatory has recovered from fires, a boiler explosion, earthquake, storms, and periodic closings. 

General deterioration and wind damage in 1995 forced closure for several years of multi-million dollar reconstruction. It reopened in 2003 with new features and plantings well integrated with the old. 

The Conservatory of Flowers—essentially a huge, ornate, public greenhouse—is a singular survivor of the dozens of similar structures that populated California’s public spaces and private estates in the 19th century. 

19th century conservatories housed rare botanical specimens, particularly tropical and subtropical plants “discovered” in and brought back from the increasingly explored and colonized Third World, as well as seasonal displays of tender plants.  

There were once local conservatories built to house orchid collections, ferns, begonias, palms, camellias, gardenias, and practically anything else living that might need to permanently or temporarily shelter under glass in the periodically chilly Bay Area. 

These were truly unusual and exotic places in an era before central heating allowed anyone with a sunny windowsill to successfully grow tender tropicals indoors. 

The Conservatory of Flowers is zoned into five sections, each with its own climate and character. 

Enter through the central, high-domed, Lowland Tropics exhibit, complete with palms and exuberant undergrowth, but also featuring an enormous philodendron, well over a century old, that twines its way nearly to the roof.  

The walls have small, bright, stained glass inserts that cast changing rainbows of color across the foliage. A small, rocky, waterfall chatters away. 

Turn right (east) and you’re in a cooler room with plants from the highland tropics.  

Two ornate wooden and wire cases contain a changing array of rare orchids in bloom. Look down into the central planter area for the red, pink, or orange blooms of vireyas, tropical rhododendrons. 

Beyond, in the aquatic plant room, two large pools form a figure-8, linked by a glass bridge across the narrow neck. The upper pool is slightly raised and has a curved glass side at child’s-eye level where one can see directly into the greenish underwater depths.  

Water cascades over a glass lip to the lower pool. Tropical water lilies with dazzling flowers share surface space with the enormous ribbed pads of the Giant Waterlily, Victoria amazonica, first displayed here in the 1880s. 

Around the pool perimeter are potted and hanging plants, including large carnivorous species. There’s a bench in one bright corner, often occupied by book-reading visitors. 

After soaking in the atmosphere, head back through the Palm House and west into a room decorated with a wooden Japanesque gazebo, beautiful planters, and perfect display specimens of tropical and semi-tropical plants in pots. 

Beyond is a room for changing exhibits. It currently features “The Butterfly Zone: Plants and Pollinators”, with butterflies in two stages of life. 

When we last visited, the species included black and white striped Zebra butterflies, fawn brown California Buckeyes, translucent White Peacocks, vibrant Orange Julias, and Queens.  

You’re asked not to touch the butterflies, but you can watch and photograph them up close, from inches away, as they flutter around you, nectar on flowers or bask on leaves or the conservatory glass. 

There’s a central display where the chrysalides of butterflies are hung in rows and you can observe the adults emerging from their hard cases and spreading their wings.  

Docents in the room answer questions and point out special features. 

This is a striking place to see butterflies, but I’m always a bit ambivalent about this particular approach.  

Since these species aren’t allowed to reproduce in the exhibit, there are no “host plants” for caterpillars. Thus, the egg-laden females in the exhibit seek in vain for a place to safely deposit the next generation. 

Also, while some of the species—particularly the tropicals—seem content to lazily flutter about the room, others just want to escape. The clear glass of the south facing emergency doors is patterned with butterflies trying to get into the open world beyond, and butterfly bodies litter the floor beside the doors. 

Throughout the conservatory, informational panels augment the botanical displays.  

You’ll also find some small exhibits on the history of the building and on the methods and motivations of 19th century botanical collecting that brought unusual treasures to places like the conservatory.  

Admission tickets and souvenirs are sold in two small, contextual, kiosks flanking the main entrance.  

Elaborate, patterned, displays of bedding plants—currently blue, orange, and red—look like gigantic carpets spread on the pristine lawns in front of the Conservatory.  

East of the conservatory and down a set of steps is a large, oval, dahlia garden maintained by volunteers, that can be a blaze of colorful, bowl-sized, blossoms.

“We never wasted anything. We worked hard, had a starvation life. We didn’t have much but we enjoyed life. How did we quilt? We cut blocks. Put the blocks together. Think in your mind, um, I can do it. We sew the blocks together.” 

—Nettie Young 

These simple words document a life of hardship and joy and the simple formula for making a quilt. Four generations of the women from Gee’s Bend and their extraordinary collection of quilts is the subject of the fine exhibit at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. 

While the quilts are expertly hung in all their artistic and functional glory, it is the 42 women that remind us of the strength of the human spirit. Through the black and white portraits, faces’ reflecting joy and hardship; personal narratives and gospel music, the viewer is invited into a living history sharing in their families, religion and feelings about their art. 

The story begins in Gee’s Bend, Alabama, land formed by a loop in the Alabama River, described as “home to the richest soil and the poorest people” in the United States. The isolation caused by geography, poverty and indifference also gave rise to cultural and artistic continuity, as evidenced by the body of work produced by the women of this town. 

As early as the 1800’s slave women of the Pettway plantation began the process of “piecing up,” using rags to create bedspreads. In the early 1900s slavery had been abolished but quilting continued by necessity as a means of providing warmth in drafty wood houses. Nothing was wasted or thrown out—worn work clothes, shirt and dress tails, out grown garments, fabric from the clothing of loved ones. Cotton sheeting, denim, flour and sugar sacks and later, double knits and corduroy—all found second and third lives as quilts. 

On display are no ordinary, strictly utilitarian quilts; they’re artistic expressions in the fullest. Vibrant with life and energy, the bold geometric shapes are arranged in small and large scale resembling a finely tuned yet free-wheeling improvisation. The unusual patterns, colors and textures hold your eye and draw you in.  

Using basic patterns as a springboard, each quilter proceeds to piece her quilt “My Way”, developing her own style. Regardless of age, she lays out her pieces in a way to express her own personality. What made these elders so wise as to recognize the importance of promoting creativity within the safety of a supportive community? Their motto of “Piece by yourself, quilt together” speaks volumes. 

The earliest Work Clothes Quilts take the viewer back to the 1930s, the apex of poverty in America. Lucy Mooney’s Blocks and Strips presents large pieces in faded lavender, peach, tan, black and blue with flowing lines of curved stitching flowing across. Missouri Pettway constructed a quilt from her deceased husband’s old torn up work clothes, holding his memory in the warmth the quilt provided. Both are still-life portraits of hard, yet joyful lives. 

During the video, The Quilts of Gee’s Bend, we meet Loretta Pettway, a woman whose character is etched in her face and words. She describes her hard life—in the field all day, then home to do the chores for her family. Only then does she turn to quilting, staying up until 2 or 3 a.m. She quilts out of necessity, rather than desire, yet her artistry is striking. A color photograph shows Loretta framed in the window of her house. The lovely colors of turquoise and tan from the wood planks and window trim are repeated in her expressive Housetop Quilts, where somber strips are added around a solid central block. 

The Housetop pattern is repeated often in the exhibit. One of the oldest quilts shown is that of Rachel Carey George. Old dress fabric and printed feed sacks are arranged in concentric strips. In Rachel’s narrative we learn how every scrap was used and reused no matter how faded or worn. Lillie Mae Pettway’s Housetop sports vibrant colors that jump out in spirited celebration. 

More recent works continue the “nothing goes to waste” philosophy. When sent a supply of double knit leisure suits that residents were too savvy to wear, Mary Lee Bendolph transformed them into vibrant quilts. In the 1970s Sears contracted with the women to make corduroy pillow shams. The scraps from this new medium, soft, hefty and reflective, were not wasted. Arcola Pettway’s Lazy Gal Bars displays full width strips in bold earth tones, exuding warmth and comfort. 

Mary Lee Bendolph, the elder, loves what she makes, the women with which she quilts and the gospels they sing. Her age entitles her to only do what she wants, and she chooses to quilt. Her daughter, Essie Bendolph Pettway, makes quilts as a way of getting old clothes out of the house. In the video she muses on the good feeling she gets from hanging her quilts on the fence along the highway, their colors taking her attention from everything else. She expresses pride that someone would want to purchase one and hang it on the wall.  

There is no pretension to these women. Annie Mae Young puts their artlessness into perspective. “You just put the pieces together like a puzzle, nothing fancy. What’s it called? Quilt.” She doesn’t want to do anything else. At the entrance to the exhibit hangs her Center Medallion, a center of bright orange, yellow and brown strips surrounded by bands of blues in varying hues. Big pieces and long strips, pulsating with energy yet so deeply moving that you’ll want to take the image home. 

World events may cause us to despair, as countries struggle and acts of violence never seem to abate. Gasoline prices soar while we melt the ice caps and destroy habitat. Spending an hour with the women of Gee’s Bend and their artistic expressions won’t alter the state of the world, but will rejuvenate your spirit. Their lives were harder than most of us can ever imagine, but they were able to find joy and fulfillment expressing themselves in their quilts. Their strength is contagious and heart warming. Stare into their faces, read their words, rejoice in their work.

I’ve passed Green Jeans at about 65 mph dozens of times, and never stopped to have a look until this month. For a plant lover who had a secret girlhood crush on Mister Green Jeans, Captain Kangaroo’s gardening neighbor, this is an inexplicable lapse. 

Perhaps I’m still in subconscious shock from the day I read the credits and discovered the guy’s name was really “Lumpy” Brannum, which may or may not have also been the first time I saw him take off his hat.  

Or perhaps I’m merely eyes-front on that rather busy bit of 101 in Mill Valley. But if you’re there, just north of all that bridge-and-tunnel stuff and the hill around Sausalito, take a jog off the Seminary Drive exit and along the frontage road on the inland side. 

You’re halfway past Green Jeans’ parking lot entrance before you spot it, but there’s plenty of streetside parking. 

Aside from the usual entertaining nursery assortment—quirky geraniums, grasses, annual color, stuff with interesting red or gold or chartreuse foliage—Green Jeans has rather a lot of tropical stuff. Bamboos, including big timber types, occupy one corner patch by the parking lot; there are more gingers, cannas, ornamental taro, and the like up against the hill that borders the narrow lot.  

The best is behind a fence that’s almost right against the hill. There’s a hidden entrance to this space, near the office/houseplant shop. Most of it is shaded by a grand live oak whose trunk is festooned with strings of tiny lights, and the theme is definitely Understory Wonderland. Ferns, including what’s labeled as “Hawaiian tree fern”—something unusual; the Aussie and New Zealand tree ferns are much more common, including (unfortunately) in Hawaii.  

There’s an appropriate mushroom motif here, including an impressive metal morel sculpture and a wooden table and stools with a toadstool look. There’s also a bit of Lost World going on; one amusing if impractical set of cast cement steppingstones resembles the tracks of a Malagasy elephant-bird—or a mid-sized therapod. Maybe they work for people with good balance or very small feet. I’ve neither, but I coveted them all the same. 

Plants aside, the place has some striking outdoor art. A local artist makes the giant arthropods—ants, a spider, a marvelous stained-glass dragonfly perched on a ten-foot cattail, yard-wide butterflies, at least one of them a solar-powered battery lamp whose colors shine after dusk. It’s a trick to pull off something this unabashedly colorful without being tacky, but go see ‘em.  

Stainless steel hori-hori “mushroom knives” and Felcos, including replacement parts; greenmanure seeds and soil amendments by the scoop as well as the bag; seeds by the teaspoon in an antique wall cabinet. Check it out. 

In the middle of the spaghetti-farm lot is a little hut, Kelly’s Edge Sharpening, where the affable Mr. Kelly can hone your kitchen and garden tools (including flat powermower, but not reel mower, blades) and even hairdressing shears. You’ll be greeted by his equally affable dog. The dog’s name is Rexie or maybe Rexy; alas, in my extensive interview with Rexi I failed to ascertain the spelling.  

I am not a high tech guy. Ask anyone who knows me. I like technology. I respect modern whiz-bang innovation but, personally, I’m very slow to adopt anything newer than about 1965. In many ways I’m slower to adopt anything newer than the 18th century. I was listening to Linda Ronstadt interviewed on the radio the other day and she said that she really liked 19th century songs and that after about 1910 they just lose her. I’m like that. One reason is that Old is time tested; crushed, run over and aged some more. If it still works, well then you’ve got something. So when I say that there is a new technology that’s worth looking at (here it comes) I do it with some impunity. So here’s what’s new. Ready. Sewer pipes. Bet I surprised you. 

Sewers in our old housing stock are about as advanced as the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse. No moving parts and almost nothing you couldn’t make with a bunch of Hittites and a mud oven.  

The sewer pipes that run from our houses out to the street have largely been made, during the last century of clay, simple terra cotta. In fact they look just like the tiles on our roofs except that they’re tubular rather than hemi-cylindrical. These pipes, buried between the house and street are usually fitted “bell and spigot” lengths, packed at the joints with mortar. 

Bell and spigot fittings are ones where one end swells to be able to accept the insertion of the small end of another. This is what most cast-iron piping has looked like over the last century as well, although cast-iron bell and spigot was packed with a fibrous material called oakum as a backing and then filled with molten lead (leading to the slow death of many a plumber. Thank goodness we stopped doing that). 

The part of your waste water system that we’re talking about here is distinct from the DWV (Drain, Waste and Vent) piping inside your house (including the basement or crawlspace). It’s the part that’s outside the house and runs from the house (usually along the side) out to the street. The rules for these have long differed from the inside part and it is here that we experience the most serious problems. Some of these come from the primitive manner of construction but there are an attendant array of nasty failings that can descend upon thy pipes as well. They include root intrusion, breakage and dislocation as well as the usual blockages. 

Plants like to be watered and roots follow the water just as surely as Woodward and Bernstein follow the money. Roots have a wonderful methodology for destroying clay pipe. They enter at cracks or loose joints as tiny tendrils looking for a drink (lots of nutrients there too) and slowly grow bigger and bigger, thus cracking and splitting the pipes. 

They can also fill the interior of a pipe so densely that the flow of solids becomes nearly impossible. For nearly a hundred years, we’ve been using metal “snakes” with bladed heads to help cut these out but the roots keep coming back. 

Cracks in the piping can come from soil movement or pressure applied to piping near the surface. A truck backing up over your driveway can do this so try to keep the big trucks off your property. Locally, we have quite a bit of soils migration and hillside creep (not me). 

Both of these things can crack, dislocate and separate old clay (as well as newer cast iron) pipes. Therefore, I give special attention to these “sewer laterals” when looking at steep lots, wet lots or ones that show other evidence of soils movement or settlement. If the foundation is cracked and settled, I assume, generally, that the shallowly buried sewer can’t be very different, especially if it’s clay. 

Now, other materials have been used in the last 50 years or so (although clay is still used to some degree to my head-shaking amazement) and these others are far preferable but the failings I’ve noted can still occur, especially when soils movement is prevalent. 

The difficulty with this array of possible defects is that they’re so hard to diagnose, or, at least, have been for most of my life as a result of the inaccessibility of the buried pipe. In the past, we could only respond to clogs or obvious leaks (Eeeeeeewww) by calling someone to either snake out the pipe or dig it up. This might mean the replacement of a concrete pathway, sidewalk or driveway. 

A backhoe might be digging a swath through the narcissus and overall, these repairs were ungainly, expensive and destructive, but Technology is here to save the day (and a whole lotta money). We’re really lucky because we have two technologies here and they work together beautifully. The first is diagnostic and the second is surgical.  

There is no way that one can avoid comparing a sewer video camera with a colonoscopy (for o’ so many reasons) but that’s basically what it is. The system has, just as in the O.R., a camera mounted on the end of a long snake-like semi-rigid cable and a TV at the other end. There are also some cool features with some of these like the ability to “right” the image, since they tend to put you upside down as you’re watching. A flush of the toilet cleans the lens (Eeeeewwww) and you can then see all the cracks, bellies (where the water sits) and offsets (where the pipes don’t meet straight in line). 

You can also easily see the roots and other clogs prior to taking any action. Information is power and this thing leaves you without any question, so it is a very powerful tool. 

Most operators will give you a video copy of the inspection as a part of the inspection and you can expect to pay anywhere from $50-$250 for the service. But if you consider the cost of digging up a pipe, just to examine it, it’s an incredible bargain. The devices also come with a locator system that allows a break in a pipe to be pinpointed with great accuracy (depth too). 

Be sure to pop that video in at your next dinner party just before the appetizers (Eeeeewwww). 

The surgical technology that marries with the previous one so nicely is also nothing less than astounding and I mean that in a very fundamental sense since it changes the way we not only look at these system but removes a great body of distress that was formerly common to any work on these systems. 

It is a system that replaces buried pipe without trenching. Holes do need to be made where the pipe replacement begins and ends but no other digging is usually needed (though sometimes, thing don’t work out so well, right). 

A cable is run through the old broken piping from one hole to the other and a powerful winch is set down inside one hole. A heat-fused, continuous length of polyethylene piping is then pulled from one end to the other. 

It is not pulled through the piping, rather it replaces the former by “bursting” or splitting the old pipe out of the way, as the new one is pulled along. A bullet-shaped device with a cutting fin is pulled by the cable and the new pipe is fused to the back end. 

This means that a 4” pipe can be replaced with a 4” pipe and since the new pipe has no tiny breaks, roots can’t start to grow at all. Furthermore the very thing we hate about plastic, the fact that it doesn’t biodegrade, is precisely what we can love about it in this situation. This is what plastics are good for. Lastly, the piping is flexible and can stretch and bend as the earth moves and in my never humble opinion, I would guess that these laterals will outlast almost all the houses they’re installed at.  

This technology makes the work so much faster and easier than the old trenched jobs that the cost of a replacement has dropped by at least 100 percent since they’ve come along. If you were formerly looking at replacing a driveway to repair the sewer, you could be saving 300-500 percent. 

In real dollars I used to see (this is 1980’s dollars) $5,000-$15,000 on lots of these jobs and now we’re usually looking at $1,000-$4,000, so it’s time to stop paying the rooter guy to come every six month for ever (say it like a teenaged girl. I am soooo sure). 

Now here’s the part you need to pay attention to and I apologize for putting it at the end but I felt it was important to lay the groundwork, as it were, in advance. 

If you live in many of our east bay cities and you’re getting ready to sell your house, you’re going to need to have an inspection of your system done. In Alameda, you’ll have to do a wet test in which your entire system (up to the top of the foundation) is filled with water and shows almost no leakage in a 15 minute period. This may involve putting in a special fitting at the sidewalk which can be blocked by a plug. 

If you’re in Albany, Richmond, El Cerrito, Kensington and parts of West CoCo County you’ll need to complete a video camera inspection prior to transfer of the property. Almost any sign of failure in this examination will require a repair of the affected area. If your lateral is clay, you’ll almost certainly be required to replace all of it (and good riddance, I say). 

As of Oct. 1, Berkeley joins this club, so those of you now looking to buy or sell here should be prepared to get the test and negotiate the results. I believe Oakland will follow suit in the near future and eventually, I’d guess that this will come to all sewer districts. 

I’d like to thank my buddy Paul at Central Plumbing and Rooter in Alameda for taking time away from the kiddies to answer so many of my questions. 

Nobody likes to go to the doctor but we all go because we’re rather face the news sooner and have the time to take action. Now, take a deep breath. This won’t hurt a bit.

Retrofits – A Deep, Dark Secret? 

Are you one of those folks who think that a retrofit is this huge, complicated project which involves re-building your foundation and making major structural changes under your house?  

If so, think again. In the majority of cases, a retrofit is really a pretty simple process that involves three basic stages:  

1) The bracing of the cripple walls with plywood. 

2) The bolting of the braced cripple walls to the foundation. 

3) The attachment of the floor of the house to the braced cripple walls. 

All three of these must be done properly for the retrofit to be effective in a serious quake.  

To learn more about the terminology and the steps involved, go to the best website I’ve ever seen on retrofits: www.bayarearetrofit.com 

Remember, when the Hayward fault ruptures, there will be around 150,000 homes which will be uninhabitable. Don’t let yours be one of them. 

Larry Guillot is the owner of QuakePrepare, an earthquake consulting, securing and kit supply service. Contact him at 558-3299 or see www.quakeprepare.com to receive semi-monthly e-mails and safety reports.  

FRIDAY, SEPT. 15 

Gary Hart “The Courage of Our Convictions: A Manifesto for Democrats” at 12:30 p.m. at The African American Museum & Library at Oakland, 659 Fourteenth St. Free, but please RSVP to 637-0200.  

“Building Peace” A panel discussion with Blue Star Mom Laura Monroe, Brigadier General Ralph Marinaro, General Paul Monroe, Gold Star Mom Nadia McCaffrey and Peoples Lobby Executive Director Dwayne Hunn at 6 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. $20 donation requested, students, low-income $5. 528-5403. 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Benjamin Griffin, Editor, The Mark Twain Collection. Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. 526-2925.  

“Berkeley in the 60s” film showing, with Liberation News Service shorts from the 1960s, followed by a discussion about Berkeley's radical history at 7:30 p.m. at Long Haul Infoshop, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

Friends of African Film “One Evening in July” by Raja Amari, Tunisia, and “Riches” by Ingrid Sinclair, Zimbabwe, at 7:30 p.m. at 464 Van Buren, at Euclid, Oakland. friendsofafricanfilm@yahoo.com 

Movies that Matter “The Whale Rider” at 6:30 p.m., followed by discussion of the spiritual aspects of the film. Call for location 451-3009. 

Alexander Technique for Pain Relief and prevention at noon at the Herrick Campus of Alta Bates Hospital, 2001 Dwight Way, Berkeley, Maffly Auditorium. Free. 644-3273. 

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

SATURDAY, SEPT. 16 

Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day Meet at 9 a.m. behind the Seabreeze Market at the corner of University and Frontage Rd. to sign waivers, get trash/recycle bags, pencils, tally cards and a map of the areas we need to clean. 981-6720. 

The Natural History of Garbage Coastal Clean-up Day at Point Pinole from 9 a.m. to noon with Tara Reinertson, Naturalist. For information and meeting place call Tilden Nature Center, 525-2233. 

Creek to Bay Day in Oakland Volunteers needed at 9 a.m. at several creek sites to help remove litter and non-native invasive plants. Sites include Glen Echo Creek, Monta Vista Ave. at Piedmont Ave., Lake Merritt Boating Center, 568 Bellevue Ave., Oakland Estuary at Arrowhead Marsh, at the end of Swan Rd off Doolittle Rd., Temescal Creek at the Claremont DMV. For other locations call 238-7611. 

Richmond Coastal Cleanup Day Meet at 9 a.m. at Shimada Friendship Park, at the end of Marina Bay Pkwy. Free BBQ at noon. Sponsored by the Watershed Project. 665-3689. 

String Band Contest and Crafts Fair from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, Center St. at MLK, Jr. Way. 548-3333. 

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. 

“Megafollies: A Brief History of Bay Area HyperDevelop- 

ment Stopped by Citizen Activism” With Prof Gray Brechin, UCB, at 7 p.m. at the Home of Truth Center, 1300 Grand Street, Alameda. Sponsored by the Alameda Public Affairs Forum. www.alamedaforum.org  

Geology Rocks A short nature hike to discover the layers of our planet, for ages 9-12, at 10 a.m., at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $5-$7. 525-2233. 

Berkeley History Center Walking Tour “The New Berkeley City College” led by Charles Wollenberg and Shirley Fogarino at 10:30 a.m. Cost is $8-$10. for infromation call 848-0181. www.cityofberkeley.info/histsoc/  

Oakland Heritage Alliance Walking Tour of Mills College Campus Meet at 2 p.m. in front of Mills Hall. 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland “New Era/New Politics” highlights African-American leaders who have made their mark on Oakland. Meet at 10 a.m. at the African American Museum and Library at 659 14th St. 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

Berkeley Progresssive Coalition Candidates Convention at 2 p.m. at Washington School Auditorium, Bancroft between MLK & McKinley. Vote for Mayor, City Council candidates and Berkeley Measures. 540-1975. 

Benefit for the Hillside Club with plein air paintings on sale from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., at 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $10. All sales will benefit local artists and the Hillside Club, which is making renovations.  

“A Union Man: The Life and Work of Julius Margolin” Film showing with folk music concert afterwards at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, Bonita at Cedar. Donation $5-$10.  

Vintage, Rare and Collectibles Book Sale, also record sets, comic books and a Silent Auction, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany, 526-3720. 

Friends of the El Cerrito Library Book Sale Books on all subjects, books for children and large collections of books about quilting and cooking, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sun. from noon to 5 p.m. in the El Cerrito Library parking lot and basement, 6510 Stockton Ave. El Cerrito. www.ccclib.org/libinfo/branch.html  

New Spirit Community Church 6th Anniversary Gala with auction, clowns and jugglers, buffet and a dance, from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Parson’s Hall, 2450 LeConte Ave. Tickets are $36-$46. 704-7729. 

Vegetarian Cooking Class: Demystifying Tofu and Tempeh from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St. at Castro. Cost is $45 plus $5 food/materials fee. Registration required. 531-COOK.  

Ceremony for Healing & Peace at 7 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center, Yoga Room, 2640 College Ave. Cost is $25. Sponsored by the Hayehwatha Institute. 415-435-2255 

Gourd Crafting Techniques and Open House from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Caning Shop, 926 Gilman at 8th St. 1-800-544-3373.  

Painting Pots, a workshop with Keeyla Meadows at 3 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Piedmont Choir Placement Auditions New singers ages 6 to 10 welcome, no experience necessary. To schedule an appointment for Piedmont or Alameda call 547-4441.  

Chalk4Peace Global children’s art project from 10 am. to 2 p.m. at Cragmont Elementary School, Spruce and Marin. 526-5672.  

California Writers Club meets to discuss humor writing with Mary Hanna of the San Mateo County Times at 10 a.m. at Barnes & Noble, Jack London Square. 272-0120. 

Oakland Outdoor Cinema will screen “The Bourne Identity” at dusk on Ninth St., between Broadway and Washington. Limited seating, bring your own chair and blanket. 238-4734.  

Non-Anesthetic Teeth Cleaning for Pets from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at RabbitEars, 303 Arlington Ave. Call for appointment 525-6155.  

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Produce Stand at Spiral Gardens Food Security Project from 1 to 6 p.m. at the corner of Sacramento and Oregon St. 

Urban Releaf Tree Tour of Oakland and workshops in urban forestry that teach tree planting, maintenance, GIS/GPS systems, and community advocacy. 601-9062.  

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732.  

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755.  

Spiritwalking: Aqua Chi(TM) at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley High Warm Pool. Also Wed. at 3:30 p.m. Cost is $5.50, $3.50 seniors & disabled. Bring your own towels. 526-0312. 

Yoga for Peace at 9:30 a.m. at Ohlone Park, MLK at Hearst. Bring a yoga mat, warm blanket, and peace sign.  

Adult Fast Pitch Softball at noon. For location call 204-9500.  

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. 

SUNDAY, SEPT. 17 

How Berkeley? Parade up University Ave. at 11 a.m. followed by festival in Civic Center Park to 5 p.m. 644-2204, ext. 12. www.howberkeleycanyoube.com 

Sunday Morning Meditation Walk at 9 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Third Annual Fr. Bill O’Donnell BOCA Benefit with guest of honor and recognition of immigration rights attorney Mark Silverman from noon to 4 p.m. at Saint Mary Magdalen Church, 2005 Berryman St. 665-5821. berkeleyboca.org  

Incorporating Carnivorous Plants into the Garden with Stephen Davis, president of the Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Society and Judith Finn, horticulturist from 10 a.m. to noon at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $25-$35, registration required 643-2755. 

Family Day at the Magnes to see the exhibition “My America” at 11 a.m. at Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. Cost is $6-$8. 549-6950.  

Bike Tour of Oakland Explore Oakland and learn about the incredible history of Oakland and its visionaries and scoundrels. Meet at 10 a.m. at the 10th St. entrace of the Oakland Museum of CA, 1000 Oak St., Oakland. Participants must be over twelve years old and provide their own bikes, helmets and repair kits. Free. 238-3514. www.museumca.org 

Solo Sierrans Emeryville to Berkeley Waterfront Bike Ride An easy 4 mile round trip with no car traffic. Meet at 4 p.m. in front of the Watergate Clipper Club, 6 Captain Drive, Emeryville. RSVP requested 923-1094. 

Community Labyrinth Peace Walk at 3 p.m. at Willard Middle School, Telegraph Ave. between Derby & Stuart. Everyone welcome. Wheelchair accessible. 526-7377. 

The Misty Redwood Run A 10 K fun run through the redwoods in Redwood Regional Park at 8:30 a.m. at Redwood Gate entrance, 7867 Redwood Rd., Oakland. Cost is $20-$25. Register online at www.theschedule.com/eventinfo.cfm?eventID+10675 

Spinning a Yarn Watch the spinning wheel turn, try your hand carding wool and learn how to use a drop spindle at 1:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

10-year Anniversary Party for the Westbrae Neighborhood Commons from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Peralta Community Garden, on Peralta between Hopkins St. and Gilman St.Food music, tile painting and more. Wheelchair accessible. 527-6443. 

“There’s No Place Like Home: Exploring Animal Habitats” Take a discovery hike through the Natural Sciences Gallery and learn how animals meet their needs for food, shelter, water, and protection. From 1 to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of CA, 1000 Oak St., at 10th St., Oakland. Free with Admission. 238-2200.  

The Albany Library will be open on Sundays from 1-5 p.m. starting on Sept. 17 thanks to the successful passage of Measure G. Celebrate with a ribbon-cutting at 1 p.m. followed by music and refreshments, at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720. 

Sycamore Japanese Church Bazaar from noon to 5 p.m. at 1111 Navellier St., El Cerrito. Japanese music, food, handcrafts and games for children. 525-0727. 

Mad Hatter Jam ‘n’ Tea Party from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Kensington Farmers’ Market, 303 Arlington Ave. kensingtonfm@yahoo.com  

Queer Contra Dance with Mavis McGaugh calling to Band du Jour at 6 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Everyone welcome. Cost is $10 or pay what you can. 430-2833. 

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 

Ancient Tools for Successful Living Workshops in Meditation, the I-Ching, and Qi Gong begin at 5272 Foothill Blvd. Oakland. Cost is $8 per class. 536-5934. 

Kickabout at Codornices Park Soccer for all, skill and talent not required. For more information contact cambour@hotmail.com  

Balinese Dance Class with Tjokorda Istri Putra Padmini at 11 a.m. at Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 237-6849. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Ken McKeon and Tom Morse on “Freedom from Knowledge” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, SEPT. 18  

Lead Abatement Repairs Find out about funding for lead hazard repairs for rental properties with low-income tenants or vacant units in Oakland, Berkeley or Emeryville, from 4 to 6 p.m. at 2000 Embarcadero, #300, Oakland. Sponsored by Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. 567-8280. 

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group for people aged 60 and over meets at 9:45 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. Donation $3. 524-9122. 

Zen Buddhist Meditation for Everyday Life An introduction at 6:45 p.m. at Bay Zen Center, 315 Alcatraz near College Ave. Suggested donation $10, no one turned away. Register in advance. 596-3087. www.bayzen.org 

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

TUESDAY, SEPT. 19 

Berkeley Garden Club “Dry Gardening” with Richard Ward, owner of The Dry Garden Nursery in Berkeley, at 2 p.m. at Epworth Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 524-7296. 

“Making a Difference in Africa” with environmental justice activist Frank Muramuzi on big dams in Africa at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2501 Harrison St., Oakland. Sponsored by the International Rivers Network, 848-1155. 

Strike at Half Dome with Bob Madgic, author of “Shattered Air: A True Account of Catastrophe and Courage on Yosemite’s Half Dome” at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“Aging Artfully” with author Amy Gorman and music from Greg Young’s CD “Still Kicking” at 1:15 p.m. at the North berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst. 981-5190. 

WriterCoach Connection seeks volunteers to help students improve their writing and critical thinking skills. Training session from noon to 3 p.m. and also 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. For information call 524-2319. www.writercoachconnection.org  

Torture Teach-in and Vigil every Tues. at 12:30 p.m. at the fountain on UC Campus, Bancroft at College. 

American Red Cross Blood Services is holding a volunteer orientation in Oakland from 6 to 8 p.m. Various East Bay opportunities available. Advanced sign-up is required. 594-5165.  

Workshop on Wills for Parents with Paula Liebovitz, attorney and tax specialist at 7 p.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave., Oakland. Limited, on-site child care available. 658-7353. www.bananasinc.org 

Discussion Salon on How to Stay Young at 7 p.m. at JCC, 1414 Walnut.  

Handbuilding Ceramics Class from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. John’s Senior Center, 2727 College Ave. Also Mon. from noon to 4 p.m. and Wed. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, Ashby at Ellis Sts Free, except for materials and firing charges. For information call Diana Bohn, 525-5497. 

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 

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, SEPT. 20 

Walking Tour of Oakland Chinatown Meet at 10 a.m. at the courtyard fountain in the Pacific Renaissance Plaza at 388 Ninth St. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

“The Motherhood Manifesto” A documentary on the lack of support for families in the U.S. at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Donation $5. Free for children. www.momsrising.org 

“Powerdown” a documentary on resource depletion and population pressures at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., between Broadway and Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. www.HumanistHall.net 

Spirited Child Series Learn how temperament affects children’s behavior and how to best live and work with inborn traits at 7 p.m. at Bananas. To register call 752-6150. If you need child care, at $5 per child, call 658-7353.  

Prostate Cancer Screening from 7:45 -11:15 a.m. and Thurs. from 1:45 to 5:15 p.m. at Markstein Cancer Center, Peralta Pavilion, 450 30th St., Oakland. Free, but appointments required. 869-8833. 

New to DVD: “An Inconvenient Truth” at 7 p.m. at JCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $3-$5. 848-0237. 

Current Events Discussion Group meets on Wed. at 7 p.m. at the Niebyl Proctor Marxist Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave. Oakland. 597-4972. 

“Believing the Bible in a Global Context” with Philip Kenkins at the GTU Convocation, at 3:30 p.m. at 1798 Scenic Ave. Reception to follow. 649-2440. 

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. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. 548-9840. 

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 

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

THURSDAY, SEPT. 21 

Berkeley Path Wanderers Berkeley After the “Big One” with local historian Richard Schwartz speaks on how the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake changed Berkeley, at 7 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. 848-9358. www.berkeleypaths.org 

“Maquilopolis” City of Factories A documentary by Vicky Funari and Sergio de La Torre at 7:30 p.m. at Grand Lake Theater, Oakland. Benefit for the Wellstone Democartic Club and Global Exchange. Tickets are $10, available from 415-255-7296. 

LeConte Neighborhood Assn. meets at 7:30 p.m. in the LeConte School Cafeteria, Russell St. entrance. The agenda includes a candidates’ forum for District 7 between George Beier and Kriss Worthington, and other items on the Nov. 7 ballot. 843-2602. karlreeh@aol.com 

Diversity Films presents “Homeless in Paradise” at 7 p.m. at Ellen Driscoll Theater, Frank Havens School, 325 Highland Ave., Piedmont. Free. www.diversityworks.org 

“Ready or Not: The Consequences of a Pandemic Flu” with Dr. Arthur Reingold, M.D. and disaster planning expert, at 7:30 p.m. at The College Preparatory School, 6100 Broadway, Oakland. Tickets are $12.50-$15. www.college-prep.org/livetalk 

Stress Reduction for Health and Peace of Mind an 8-week course at 7 p.m. in Berkeley. For information call 524-8833. MindfulnessforHealth.com.  

Community Peace Vigil on the United Nations International Day of Peace at 7 p.m. at Indian Statue Park in downtown Point Richmond. 236-0527. 

Poetry Workshop with Donna Davis from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Offered by the Berkeley Adult School. 644-6130. 

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 

CITY MEETINGS 

Creeks Task Force meets Mon. Sept. 18, at 7 p.m. the North Berkeley Senior Center. Erin Dando, 981-7410.  

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon. Sept. 18, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St. 981-6900. 

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board meets Mon. Sept. 18, at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Pam Wyche, 644-6128 ext. 113.  

City Council meets Tues., Sept. 19, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900.  

Berkeley Housing Authority meets Tues., Sept. 19, at 6:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers. 981-6900.  

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed., Sept. 20, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Katherine O’Connor, 981-6601.  

Downtown Area Plan Advisory Commission meets Wed., Sept. 20, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7487. 

Commission on Aging meets Wed., Sept. 20, at 1:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. William Rogers, 981-5344.  

Commission on Labor meets Wed., Sept. 20, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Delfina M. Geiken, 981-7550.  

Human Welfare and Community Action Commission meets Wed. Sept. 20, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Kristen Lee, 981-5427. 

Library Board of Trustees meets Wed., Sept. 20, at 7 p.m. at South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6195.  

Berkeley Unified School District Board meets Wed. Sept. 20 at 7:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers. Mark Coplan 644-6320. 

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., Sept. 21, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Anne Burns, 981-7415.  

Fair Campaign Practices Commission meets Thurs., Sept. 21, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6950

TUESDAY, SEPT. 12 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Flowers and Foliage” watercolors by Joanna Katz on display at Back in Action Chiropractic Center, 2500 Martin Luther King Jr Way, to Oct. 13.  

FILM 

Global Lens Film Festival “The Night of Truth” at noon, “In the Battlefields” at 2 p.m. at Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland.  

Alternative Visions: “Lunch with Fela” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Myra MacPherson on her biography of I. F. Stone, “All Governments Lie,” at 5:30 p.m. at North Gate Library, Hearst at Euclid Ave., UC Campus. 643-3840. 

Michael Chorost reads from “Rebuilt: How Becomming Part Computer Made me More Human” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. 

“Writers on Reading” with Jon Carroll, Maxine Hong Kingston and April Sinclair, in celebration of Rockridge Library’s 10th Anniversary at 7 p.m. at 5366 College Ave.  

Joan Roughgarden discusses “Evolution and Christian Faith” at 7:30 p.m. in the Large Assembly Room, First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Donation $10. 559-9500. 

“True Admissions” College essays by Berkeley High Students at 7 p.m. at JCC, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Courtableu at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

Old Blind Dogs, Scottish acoustic, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

Ellen Hoffman Trio and Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Oliver Mtukudzi, African pop, at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $24, fundraiser for Zimbabwe AIDS Relief. 238-9200.  

Debbie Poryes & Friends at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 13 

THEATER 

California Shakespeare Theater “As You Like It” at the Bruns Amphitheater, 100 Gateway Blvd., Orinda. Tues.-Thurs., 7:30 p.m., Fri.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m. through Oct. 15. Tickets are $15 and up. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org 

FILM 

Global Lens Film Festival “Max and Mona” at 7 p.m., “Almost Brothers” at 9:30 p.m. at Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland.  

Pirates and Piracy “The Pirate” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Words Upon the Waters” A Poetic Response to Hurricane Katrina at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Fundraiser for Biloxi, MS. Cost is $5-$20. 849-2568. 

Michael Pollan discusses “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Lisa Jervis and Andi Zeisler celebrate “BITCHfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism from the pages of BITCH Magazine” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert, clarinet concertos at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864.  

“The Art of Fugue” in math, music, and art, a concert and discussion with harpsichordist Davitt Moroney, printmaker Elizabeth Harington, and mathematician Robert Osserman at 5:30 p.m. in Chern Hall’s Simons Auditorium, Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, 17 Gauss Way, near the intersection of Centennial Drive and Grizzly Peak Blvd. www.msri.org 

Christy Dana Quintet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $6. 841-JAZZ.  

Walter Strauss, blues, folk, rock, at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

Vission Latina at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Rachel Efron at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Old Blind Dogs, Scottish acoustic, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

Peter Barshay Trio at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Oliver Mtukudzi, African pop, at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s. Cost is $24, fundraiser for Zimbabwe AIDS Relief. 238-9200.  

THURSDAY, SEPT. 14 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India” Guided tour at 12:15 and 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. 

FILM 

Global Lens Film Festival “In the Battlefields” at 2 p.m., “Stolen Life” at 7 p.m., “Almost Brothers” at 9:30 p.m. at Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland. www.globalfilm.org 

Ali Kazimi: A Commitment to Justice Conversation with the filmmaker at 5:30 p.m. “Shooting Indians” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Hillside Club Arts and Crafts Lecture “Arts and Crafts Furniture Design” A lecture by Debey Zito at 8 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $10. www.hillsideclub.org 

“Signature Architects of the San Francisco Bay Area” with author Dave Weinstein, at 7:30 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Cost is $5-$15. 763-9218.  

Amy Goodman and David Goodman talk with Pratap Chatterjee and Michael Shenoda about “STATIC: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders and the People Who Fight Back” at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. Tickets are $10-$15 at Cody’s. 559-9500. 

Cecil Brown, musicologist and historian of African-American culture reads from “I Stagolee: A Novel” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Summer Noon Concert with Rhonda Benin and Soulful Strut at the Downtown Berkeley BART station. Free.  

Charming Hostess music salon at 6:30 p.m. at Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. Cost is $6-$8. 549-6950.  

Berkeley Old Time Music Convention with Ginny Hawker, Jody Stechner & Hank Bradley at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Joe Beck & Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $8. 841-JAZZ. 

Houston Jones at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Stigma 13, Year of the Wildcat, Charlie Roman and the Teenage Werewolves at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. 

Uncle Buzzy’s Hometown Variety Show at 8 p.m. at Spud’s Pizza, 3290 Adeline.  

Larry Harlow and the Latin Legends at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

May Pole, Dora Flood, The Waxfire, indie rock, at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. 451-8100.  

FRIDAY, SEPT. 15 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “The Foreigner” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at 1409 High St, Alameda, through Oct. 1. Cost is $12-$15. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Aurora Theatre “Salome” at 8 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. and runs Wed. - Sun. through Oct. 1. Tickets are $38. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley High “I Love You, Your’re Perfect, Now Change” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., through Sept. 16 at the Schwimley Little Theater, 1930 Allston Way. Tickets are $6-$20. 

California Shakespeare Theater “As You Like It” at the Bruns Amphitheater, 100 Gateway Blvd., Orinda. Tues.-Thurs., 7:30 p.m., Fri.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m. through Oct. 15. Tickets are $15 and up. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org 

Encore Theatre Company and Shotgun Players “The Typographer’s Dream” at 8 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through Sept. 17. Tickets are $15-$30. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

Masquers Playhouse “Diary of a Scoundrel” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. and Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond across from the Hotel Mac. Through Sept. 30. Tickets are $15. 232-4031. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“The Face of Poetry” Photographs by Margaretta Mitchell on dispaly at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St., through Oct. 30. 981-6100. 

“Looking for Hope” Photograhs by Matt O’Brien with text by students in the Oakland Public Schools opens at the Peralta Hacienda Historical Park Museum Gallery, 2465 34th Ave. Artist talk at 6 p.m. Gallery open Thurs.-Fri. 4 to 6 p.m. and Sun. noon to 4 p.m. 532-9142. www.peraltahacienda.org 

“Textures of Space” new paintings by Michael Shemchuck and Mel Davis. Reception at 6 p.m. at Cecile Moochnek Gallery, 1809-D Fourth St. Exhibition runs through Oct. 29. 549-1018.  

“Educate to Liberate: A Retrospective of the Black Panther Community News Service” Exhibition in honor of the 4)th Anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party, on diplay in the Oakland History Room at the Oakland Main Library, 125 14th St. 238-3222. www.oaklandlibrary.org 

Trent Burkett “New Work in Salt and Wood” Opening reception at 5 p.m. at Trax Ceramics Gallery, 1812 Fifth St. Exhibition runs to Oct. 15. 540-8729. www.traxgallery.com 

“Horses in the Trees” works by Mark P. Fisher at Alta Galleria, 2980 College Ave. #4. Exhibition runs to Oct. 7. 421-1255. 

FILM 

Arab Film Festival with 45 films from 12 countries, through Sun. at the California Theater, 2113 Kittredge St.TIckets are $8-$10, festival pass $60-$100. 415-564-1100. www.aff.org 

Friends of African Film “One Evening in July” by Raja Amari, Tunisia, and “Riches” by Ingrid Sinclair, Zimbabwe, at 7:30 p.m. at 464 Van Buren, at Euclid. friendsofafricanfilm 

@yahoo.com 

Global Lens Film Festival “Stolen Life” at 7 p.m., “Thirst” at 9:30 p.m. at Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland. www.globalfilm.org 

Ali Kazimi: A Commitment to Justice “Runaway Grooms” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Susan Page discusses “Why Talking is Not Enough: Eight Loving Actions That Will Transform Your Marriage” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Los Utrera in a celebration of Mexican Independence at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $13-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Suzhou Kun Opera Theater of Jiangsu “The Peony Pavilion” Fri,. and Sat. at 7 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $30-$86. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Berkeley Old Time Music Convention with new Lost City Ramblers, Stairwell Sisters at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Rep’s Thrust Stage. Cost is $25.50-$26.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Pigeon John, hip hop at noon at Lower Sproul Plaza, UC Campus. 

Upsurge Jazz & Poetry Sextet, in a benefit for library literacy programs, at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Aphrodesia and guests from Ghana, Kusun Ensemble, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Dance workshop at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Tesse Loehwing, jazz, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Ned Boynton Quintet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Jaia Suri and Fernando Tarango at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Sorrow Town Choir, Trailer Park Rangers, Lansdale Station at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Risky Business, Wake Up Call at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

Shotgun Wedding Quintet, Dynamic at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $7. 548-1159.  

Human No Longer at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Larry Harlow and the Latin Legends at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, SEPT. 16 

CHILDREN  

Madeline Dunphy introduces children to the planet’s major ecosystems and the interdependence of wildlife in her books, at 11 a.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“Chroma” works by artists of the Chroma Collective. Reception at 2 p.m. at the Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Exhibition runs to Oct. 1. 848-1228. 

“Gods and Aeroplanes” mixed media by Sally Rodriguez. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Float Art Gallery, 1091 Calcot Place, Unit # 116, in the front of the historic cotton mill studios, Oakland. 535-1702. www.thefloatcenter.com 

FILM 

Arab Film Festival with 45 films from 12 countries, through Sun. at the California Theater, 2113 Kittredge St. Tickets are $8-$10, festival pass $60-$100. 415-564-1100. www.aff.org 

Global Lens Film Festival “Almost Brothers” at 2 p.m., “The Night of Truth” at 7 p.m., “Stolen Life” at 9:30 p.m. at Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland. www.globalfilm.org 

Ali Kazimi: A Commitment to Justice “Continuous Journey” at 6:30 p.m. and “Narmada: A Valley Rises” at 8:45 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“A Fictional History of the United States with Huge Chunks Missing” with Daniel Alarcón, Adam Mansbach and T Cooper at 2 p.m. at Oakland Public Library, 125 14th St. 238-3134.  

Tom Hartman introduces “Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class” at 6 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

“Aging Artfully” reading with Amy Gorman at 2 p.m. at Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave. 527-4977. 

“Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India” Panel discussion at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Benefit Concert to Restore the 1909 Steinway at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall, with rock and folk favorites at 6 p.m. at 1924 Cedar at Bonita. Donation $5. 841-4824. 

Zorina London, Huntley Brown and Heavenly Melody Choir at 7:30 p.m. at Black Repertory Theater, 3201 Adeline St. Tickets are $15. 562-2120. 

Araucaria, traditional Chilean music and dance, at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

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 

Berkeley Old Time Music Convention Square Dance with Squirrelly String Band, Uncle Wiggley, Adam Rose Band, at 7 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $5-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

John Richardson Band with Hudson Bunce and John Shinnick at 9 p.m. at the Circus Pub, 389 Colusa Ave, Kensington. 

Ellen Honert and TC at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Slapshaw’s Latin Tryout at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Neydavood Ensemble, classical Persian music, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Sick, Insolence, Re Ignition at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Ben Goldberg Quartet at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazz- 

school.com 

Josh Workman Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

George Cotsirilos Jazz Group at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

John Howland Trio, Peter Maybarduk, Steve Taylor at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Shinoubu, The Queers, Groovie Ghoulies 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. 

SUNDAY, SEPT. 17 

EXHIBITIONS 

New Works by Kazuyo Sato-Leue, abstract expressionist. Reception at 2 p.m. at Westside Barkery Cafe, 250 Ninth St., and runs through Dec. 31. www.studiokazuyo.com 

“Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India” Guided tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. 

FILM 

Arab Film Festival with 45 films from 12 countries, at the California Theater, 2113 Kittredge St.TIckets are $8-$10, festival pass $60-$100. 415-564-1100. www.aff.org 

Global Lens Film Festival “Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures” at 2 p.m., “Global Shorts” at 7 p.m., “Stolen Life” at 9:30 p.m. at Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland. www.globalfilm.org 

The Unsilent Film: “The Sentimaental Bloke” at 5 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Creative Aging Film Fest at 7 p.m. at JCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $10. 848-0237. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Folk and Fine Arts Flux in India Today” Gallery talk with Joanna Williams at 3 p.m. at at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808 

“Building a Jewish Collection” with Alla Efimova, Karen Levitov and George Krevsky at 2 p.m. at Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. Cost is $10-$12. 549-6950.  

S. Beth Atkin talks about “Gunstories: Life-Changing Experiences with Guns” at 4 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Robin Morgan and Helen Zia discuss “Fighting Words” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Novello Quartet performs works of Haydn and Mozart at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Cost is $9-$10. 644-6893. berkeleyartcenter.org 

Jazz at the Chimes with Stephanie Bruce “Peace: An Invocation” at 2 p.m. at 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Cost is $10, includes reception. 288-3207.  

Zorina London, Huntley Brown and Heavenly Melody Choir at 4:30 p.m. at Black Repertory Theater, 3201 Adeline St. Tickets are $15. 562-2120. 

Bearfoot Bluegrass, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Nuccia Focile, soprano at 3 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $48. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Americana Unplugged: Old-Time Cabaret from 3 to 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 655-5715. 

Peter Apfelbaum, The New York Hieroglyphics and Abdoulaye Diabate at 8 and 10 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $18-$20. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Ricardo Peixoto & Marcos Silva Duo, Brazilian classics, at 4:30 at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Jason Armstrong & Joe Kenny at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Lethal Agression, Security Threat, Ill Content at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

MONDAY, SEPT. 18 

FILM 

Global Lens Film Festival “Stolen Life” at 7 p.m. at “In the Battlefields” at 9:30 p.m. at Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland. www.globalfilm.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Sunnylyn Thibodeaux and Julien Poirier at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Brian Copeland presents the book version of the one-man show he took to Broadway “Not a Genuine Black Man” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Anthony Horowitz, children’s fiction author, at 4 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Poetry Express with Jannie Dresser at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

Mary Gaitskill reads from her new novel “Veronica” set in Paris and Manhattan in the 1980s at 7 p.m. at Cody’s on Fourth St.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Khalil Shaheed, all ages jam, at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Trovatore, traditional Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Aaron Goldberg Trio at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com  

By Ken Bullock 

Special to the Planet 

“Bring to me, on a silver charger ...” The story of Salome is familiar enough. From a few terse words in two of the Gospels, in which an unnamed step-daughter of Herod, the Tetrarch of Judea, pleases him with her dancing—and as reward, asks for the head of John the Baptist—the image of Salome as temptress, lovelorn pagan, searching soul in the midst of archaic social decadence, has inspired religious and profane art for centuries. 

The Aurora Theatre’s currently producing Oscar Wilde’s Belle Epoch stage play of the legend, “slightly adapted” and directed by Mark Jackson, whose Death of Meyerhold, which he wrote and directed, was a great success for Shotgun a few years back. 

Probably Wilde’s Salome is more familiar to current audiences through the Richard Strauss opera and the pre-Expressionist, pre-Surrealist, extravagantly stylized illustrations to the book by Aubrey Beardsley. 

Wilde wrote the play in French; it was originally translated into English by Lord Alfred Douglas (there’s no translation credit in the Aurora program), the “Bosie” whose relations with Wilde would lead to the notorious libel suit against Bosie’s father, the Marquis of Queensbury, then Wilde’s trial shortly after Salome’s publication which resulted in Wilde’s imprisonment, the ruin of his career and his legend as a kind of “Poet Maudit” of England, homosexually debauched, artistically effete and grandiosely self-regarding.  

The real intent of Wilde’s writings for both page and stage is another story. But unfortunately director Jackson chooses to confabulate Wilde’s myth with contemporary preoccupations and abandon the dramaturgy of Wilde’s work. 

Wilde’s mother was an ardent Irish nationalist. In his university days and after, he never forgot he was something of an exotic dinner guest at the imperial British table, and he played the part to the hilt. Like a court jester, he wittily impugned the corruption he saw around him, most memorably in bon mots tossed off as if careless, carefree witticisms. They pepper his plays and other writings, besides being a staple of his act of man-about-town, of-the-world. 

Salome seems like an anomaly to all of this. Sometimes dismissed as an over-the-top wallowing in purple verse, it harkens back to Wilde’s close reading of the classics and of scripture at Oxford. Victorian society was much taken up with the notion of its origins in the two opposing traditions of the Greek and the Hebraic—Athens and Jerusalem. 

Thomas Hardy, among others, worked up this opposition of Grecian Beauty versus Judaic Morality into full-blown (and censured) attacks on the hypocrisy and repression of British society and its cultural and moral pretensions. Salome wasn’t produced in Wilde’s lifetime due to a prohibition on plays with biblical personae, not because of its sexual implications  

Wilde’s play takes the story of Palestine under Roman rule, rife with rebels and prophets, and puts it together for the stage in the form of a Greek tragedy, with its chorus opening the play quietly (here more declamatory), gossiping about events already unfolding and about “the Quality” (Herod and his family), utilizing a broad dynamic of voice registers. The chorus of servants and functionaries (Joel Rainwater, Beth Wilmurt, Deontay Wilson, Trish Mulholland) comes from all across the Empire in what should be a range of social mannerism in Tragic speech ignored by most modern translators and adapters, Ezra Pound a notable exception.  

The action develops as Salome (Miranda Calderon) enters, peeling off from a banquet, complaining that Herod keeps looking at her and asks to see Iokannan (John, played by Mark Anderson Phillips) the prophet, whose prophetic outcries from the dungeon fill the palace. She confronts that “voice crying in the wilderness,” makes advances on him--and is spurned. 

Herod (Ron Campbell) and his consort (who is Salome’s mother by Herod’s brother), Herodias (Julia Brothers—splendid throughout), enter, with Herod later requesting for Salome to dance (Herodias protesting). Then comes the dance—and Salome’s own, ghastly request in return (with Herodias, taking Iokanaan’s prophecies of doom as personal libel, approving, to Herod’s dismay), her revenge on the one man who wouldn’t look at her. 

Herod’s offer of all the jewels in his treasury, if Salome will relinquish her grisly request, glitters with their names. Wilde here (and elsewhere) poses the erotically poetic language of the Old Testament’s “Song of Songs” (which became an anthem to European nationalism when translated into the vernaculars) against the stark, spare New Testament admonitions of Iokanaan. Ron Campbell, a talented if problematic comic actor, fiddles so much with gestural and vocal schtick (sometimes palletizing and nasalizing from a whisper up to a scream) that the audience loses the hypnotic language, and the meaning and direction, of the text.  

Wilde’s original is a seductively subversive attack on the English dysfunctional family, via this caricaturish Roman “royal” family of a colonial viceroy and his menage, sunk in decadent and corrupt luxury, strangely fascinated by their “fundamentalist” prisoner, who prophecies of the coming of a new order, of redemption—and judgment. 

With all the recent crop of movies, in particular, that use the Middle American dysfunctional family to criticize the national sense of mission to democratize the world, it’s hard to see how a production of Wilde’s very theatrical rhetoric against the crown of that Empire “on which the sun never set” couldn’t be posed so as to find a contemporary voice, at least vibrate some resonance. 

But Jackson’s sense of Salome as a “coming out” play, a tale of “paedophilia” (though Salome seems to be of marriagable age, if still young), makes this show an awkward manifestation of tabloid aestheticism, taking Wilde’s disguise(s) for the substance of his art. 

The production, with its tiled and marble set, with a metal cage like a lift suspended above (designed by Mikiko Uesugi), and sumptuous costumery (Callie Floor) is irrelevantly relocated to Art Deco New York. And there’s none of the dreamlike grotesquery or strange timelessness of the Aubrey Beardsley figures, just a parody of pantomime instead of stylization, gestures with locked musculature that look like neo-Reichian exercises. 

Salome’s dance itself turns out to be the best thing in the show, choreographed by Chris Black, with Calderon as a kind of Electra of the Discos (Wilde’s Salome reminds one alternately of Electra and of Hamlet with their incestuous familial predicaments), doing a wild combo of Mideastern and Interpretive Dance (and Campbell’s lascivious onlooking finally hits the mark). But lights and sound, even here, are Disneyish illustrations of the action, the stage bathed in red when “blood” is mentioned, wind whistling when Herod alone hears a breeze—and much over-projection by the cast in a small auditorium. 

Sadly, Oscar Wilde’s reputation is built on mostly cheap sensationalism. This production passes up the chance to explore a seldom-produced work, to reveal the face of the artist—and its true expression—behind the rather louche grimace of his mask. 

Salome 

Through Oct. 1 at the Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison St. $38. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org.

By Joe Eaton 

Special to the Planet 

It’s an odd kind of distinction, having your name attached to a plant or animal. Cartoonist Gary Larson says he considered it an extreme honor when a new species of louse was christened Strigiphilus garylarsoni—a reaction I can understand perfectly. 

Long after his work has been forgotten, his name will endure--at least among a small subset of entomologists who specialize in the parasites of owls. Who remembers Poinsett, Dahl, Zinn, Forsyth, or Wistar? But botanists and gardeners invoke them all the time. 

I recently picked up a wonderful book called Audubon to Xantus, by Barbara and Richard Mearns: a series of short biographies of the men and women for whom North American birds were named.  

Audubon everybody knows: he got an oriole, a shearwater, and a warbler (the last now considered just a subspecies of the yellow-rumped warbler). Xantus was a Hungarian exile and compulsive fabulator who collected birds at Fort Tejon and Cabo San Lucas in the 1850s. A murrelet and a hummingbird bear his name. 

Somewhere between Audubon and Xantus comes William Hutton, of Hutton’s vireo. Hutton’s vireo is one of our more obscure songbirds: common in California oak woodlands (C. C. Van Fleet called it “the spirit of the live oak tree”), but inconspicuous in appearance and retiring in habit. And I suspect even a lot of birders misidentify these birds as ruby-crowned kinglets. 

Both are small greenish-gray birds with white wingbars and nervous, twitchy demeanors. But the vireo has a heavier bill and slightly different facial and wing patterns, and it doesn’t twitch quite as much as the kinglet. Its call is also quite different: a whining, raspy “rheeee,” as opposed to the kinglet’s “che-dit.” 

Vireos are a strictly New World family, related, according to genetic studies, to the corvids (crows, jays, magpies) and shrikes. They’re feisty as small birds go. Birding maven Rich Stallcup says you can always tell whether the bird you’ve trapped in a mist net is a vireo or a warbler by its attitude. Warblers go limp; vireos will try to bite you. 

Most vireos are some shade of green, with white accents: eyestripes, spectacles, wingbars. Their vocal performances tend toward the monotonous. 

The song of the eastern red-eyed vireo—the “preacher bird”—has been represented as “First on the one hand, then on the other,” repeated indefinitely. With one partial exception, all the North American forms are migratory. That exception is the Hutton’s, or at least the California population of the Hutton’s; some interior populations do move south for the winter. 

Hutton’s has other quirks. For nest construction, it favors the hanging lichens—lace lichen, beard lichen—that festoon California oak trees. In winter, both California residents and those that winter in western Mexico join mixed foraging flocks: bands of chickadees, kinglets, warblers, and woodpeckers that roam the woods, apparently taking advantage of additional eyes to spot predators. The Mexican flocks may be composed of 18 or more species, but they almost always include a Hutton’s vireo or two.  

There’s a lot ornithologists still don’t know about this bird: its territorial behavior, whether it’s single- or double-brooded, its migratory movements. The most recent studies of nesting in California were published in 1919. 

And since the vireo’s nesting season begins early, it tends to be overlooked in breeding bird surveys. But we know a great deal more about Hutton’s vireo than we know about William Hutton. The Mearnses, who appear to be dogged researchers, were unable to determine when or where he was born, or when or where he died.  

We know that he collected the vireo near Monterey in 1847 and sent its remains back east, where it came into the hands of John Cassin (Cassin’s auklet, finch, kingbird, sparrow, vireo), then working on a book about western birds. Hutton may have been a friend or protégé of Spencer Fullerton Baird (Baird’s sandpiper and sparrow) at the Smithsonian Institution, who asked Cassin to name the new species for him. Cassin was unenthusiastic: “This kind of thing is bad enough at best, but to name a bird after a person utterly unknown is worse than that,” he wrote to Baird. But he eventually gave in. 

Correspondence between Cassin and Baird suggests Hutton was in the San Diego area around 1851. Then the flow of specimens stopped. Hutton may have been abandoned bird-hunting for gold-hunting; he may have returned east in time to be killed in the Civil War; he may have disappeared into Mexico, like Ambrose Bierce. It’s anyone’s guess. 

An obscure bird with an even more obscure namesake, and even that tenuous claim to fame may soon be gone. The California and interior populations of Hutton’s vireo, separated by miles of desert, turn out to be genetically distinct. 

Each may deserve separate species status. If the species is split, it’s likely that the old name will be dropped and each of the new forms will be rechristened, as happened when the plain titmouse was separated into oak titmouse and juniper titmouse.  

William Hutton, whoever he was, will be consigned to taxonomic limbo. That’s immortality for you. 

TUESDAY, SEPT. 12 

“All Governments Lie” with Myra MacPherson, journalist and author, who will discuss her new biography of I. F. Stone, at 5:30 p.m. at North Gate Library, Grad. School of Journalism, Hearst at Euclid Ave., UC Campus. 643-3840. 

WriterCoach Connection seeks volunteers to help students inmprove their writing and critical thinking skills. Training session from noon to 3 p.m. in Berkeley. For information call 524-2319. www.writercoachconnection.org  

Docent Training at the Regional Parks Botanic Garden Learn about native plants and then give something back to the community by leading tours. Twenty sessions on Tues. through Feb. from 9 a.m. to noon at the Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park. Course fee is $125. To register call 527-9802. gkeator@aol.com  

“New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina: Lessons for California’s Levees” with Ray Seed, Prof. Civil and Environmental Engineering, UCB, at 5:30 p.m. at 250 Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Campus. 642-2666. 

Discover Northern Arizona’s Redrock Country A slide presentation with geologist Jim Scheihing at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“Elderhostel: Adventures in Lifelong Learning” a video and talk by Margaret Hankle at 7 p.m. at El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito. 526-7512. 

Free Quit Smoking Classes on six Tues. evenings from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. Optional free acupuncture provided. Registration required. 981-5330. quitnow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Torture Teach-in and Vigil every Tues. at 12:30 p.m. at the fountain on UC Campus, Bancroft at College. 

Handbuilding Ceramics Class from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. John’s Senior Center, 2727 College Ave. Also Mon. from noon to 4 p.m. and Wed. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, Ashby at Ellis Sts. Free, except for materials and firing charges. For information call 525-5497. 

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. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991.  

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 13  

Lorin District Traffic Calming A community meeting at 7 p.m. at Spud’s Meeting Room, 3290 Adeline. 981-7130. 

Katrina Update Fundraiser at 7 p.m. at La Peña, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Donation $5-$20, no one turned away.  

“National Security and Intellectual Freedom” Panel discussion at 6:30 p.m. at the Free Speech Movement Cafe at Moffitt Undergraduate Library, UC Campus.  

Healthy Aging Fair, with information on services and resources and health screenings, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Centennial Hall, 22292 Foothill Blvd., Hayward. Sponsored by the Alameda County Commission on Aging. 636-0347. 

“The End of Suburbia” a documetary on oil depletion and the collapse of the American Dream at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., between Broadway and Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. www.HumanistHall.net 

East Bay Genealogical Society with Nancy Simons Peterson of the California Genealogical Society discussing her book, “Raking the Ashes: Genealogical Strategies for Pre-1906 San Francisco Research” at 10 a.m. in the Library Conference Room of the Family History Center, 4766 Lincoln Ave. Oakland. Guests are always welcome. 635-6692.  

Poetry Writing Workshop, led by Alison Seevak, at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

New to DVD: “Cache” at 7 p.m. at JCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $3-$5. 848-0237. 

Current Events Discussion Group meets on Wed. at 7 p.m. at the Niebyl Proctor Marxist Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave. Oakland. 597-4972. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome. 548-9840. 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6:30 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. 848-1704.  

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley BART Station. www.geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, SEPT. 14 

Amy Goodman and David Goodman talk with Pratap Chatterjee and Michael Shenoda about “STATIC: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders and the People Who Fight Back” at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. Tickets are $10-$15 at Cody’s. Benefit for KPFA and CorpWatch. 559-9500. 

Richmond Southeast Shoreline Community Advisory Group meets at 6:30 p.m. at the Bermuda Room, Richmond Convention Center, 403 Civic Center Plaza, at Nevin and 25th Sts, Richmond. 367-5379. 

Financial Management Information for Seniors at 10:30 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst. 981-5190. 

Natural Baby Care with pediatrician Dr. Alan Greene at 7:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Estate Planning Seminar for You and Your Pets with attorney Timothy H. Smallsreed at 7 p.m. at Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society, 2700 Ninth St. at Carleton. Free but RSVP requested, 845-7735, ext. 19. 

Poetry Workshop with Donna Davis from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Offered by the Berkeley Adult School. 644-6130. 

East Bay Macintosh Users Group, meets to discuss Concept Draw V, at 6 p.m. at Expression College for Digital Arts, 6601 Shellmound St., Emeryville. Free, all welcome. www.ebmug.org  

FRIDAY, SEPT. 15 

Gary Hart “The Courage of Our Convictions: A Manifesto for Democrats” at 12:30 p.m. at The African American Museum & Library at Oakland, 659 Fourteenth St. Free, but please RSVP to 637-0200.  

“Building Peace” A panel discussion with Blue Star Mom Laura Monroe, Brigadier General Ralph Marinaro, General Paul Monroe, Gold Star Mom Nadia McCaffrey and Peoples Lobby Executive Director Dwayne Hunn at 6 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. $20 donation requested, students, low-income $5. 528-5403. 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Benjamin Griffin, Editor, The Mark Twain Collection. Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020.  

“Berkeley in the 60s” film showing, with Liberation News Service shorts from the 1960s, followed by a discussion about Berkeley's radical history at 7:30 p.m. at Long Haul Infoshop, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751. www.thelonghaul.org 

Friends of African Film “One Evening in July” by Raja Amari, Tunisia, and “Riches” by Ingrid Sinclair, Zimbabwe, at 7:30 p.m. at 464 Van Buren, at Euclid, Oakland. friendsofafricanfilm@yahoo.com 

Movies that Matter “The Whale Rider” at 6:30 p.m., followed by discussion of the spiritual aspects of the film. Call for location 451-3009. 

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

SATURDAY, SEPT. 16 

Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day Meet at 9 a.m. behind the Seabreeze Market at the corner of University and Frontage Rd. to sign waivers, get trash/recycle bags, pencils, tally cards and a map of the areas we need to clean. 981-6720. 

The Natural History of Garbage Coastal Clean-up Day at Point Pinole from 9 a.m. to noon with Tara Reinertson, Naturalist. For information and meeting place call Tilden Nature Center, 525-2233. 

Creek to Bay Day in Oakland Volunteers needed at 9 a.m. at several creek sites to help remove litter and non-native invasive plants. Sites include Glen Echo Creek, Monta Vista Ave. at Piedmont Ave., Lake Merritt Boating Center, 568 Bellevue Ave., Oakland Estuary at Arrowhead Marsh, at the end of Swan Rd off Doolittle Rd., Temescal Creek at the Claremont DMV. For other locations call 238-7611. 

Richmond Coastal Cleanup Day Meet at 9 a.m. at Shimada Friendship Park, at the end of Marina Bay Pkwy. Free BBQ at noon. Sponsored by the Watershed Project. 665-3689. 

String Band Contest and Crafts Fair from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, Center St. at MLK, Jr. Way. 548-3333. 

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. 

“Megafollies: A Brief History of Bay Area HyperDevelop- 

ment Stopped by Citizen Activism” With Prof Gray Brechin, UCB, at 7 p.m. at the Home of Truth Center, 1300 Grand Street, Alameda. Sponsored by the Alameda Public Affairs Forum. www.alamedaforum.org  

Geology Rocks A short nature hike to discover the layers of our planet, for ages 9-12, at 10 a.m., at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $5-$7. 525-2233. 

Berkeley History Center Walking Tour “The New Berkeley City College” led by Charles Wollenberg and Shirley Fogarino at 10:30 a.m. Cost is $8-$10. for infromation call 848-0181. www.cityofberkeley.info/histsoc/  

Oakland Heritage Alliance Walking Tour of Mills College Campus Meet at 2 p.m. in front of Mills Hall. 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland “New Era/New Politics” highlights African-American leaders who have made their mark on Oakland. Meet at 10 a.m. at the African American Museum and Library at 659 14th St. 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

Berkeley Progresssive Coalition Candidates Convention at 2 p.m. at Washington School Auditorium, Bancroft between MLK & McKinley. Vote for Mayor, City Council candidates and Berkeley Measures. 540-1975. 

Benefit for the Hillside Club with plein air paintings on sale from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., at 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $10. All sales will benefit local artists and the Hillside Club, which is making renovations.  

“A Union Man: The Life and Work of Julius Margolin” Film showing with folk music concert afterwards at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, Bonita at Cedar. Donation $5-$10.  

Vintage, Rare and Collectibles Book Sale, also record sets, comic books and a Silent Auction, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany, 526-3720. 

Friends of the El Cerrito Library Book Sale Books on all subjects, books for children and large collections of books about quilting and cooking, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sun. from noon to 5 p.m. in the El Cerrito Library parking lot and basement, 6510 Stockton Ave. El Cerrito. www.ccclib.org/libinfo/branch.html  

New Spirit Community Church 6th Anniversary Gala with auction, clowns and jugglers, buffet and a dance, from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Parson’s Hall, 2450 LeConte Ave. Tickets are $36-$46. 704-7729. 

Vegetarian Cooking Class: Demystifying Tofu and Tempeh from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St. at Castro. Cost is $45 plus $5 food/materials fee. Registration required. 531-COOK.  

Ceremony for Healing & Peace at 7 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center, Yoga Room, 2640 College Ave. Cost is $25. Sposored by the Hayehwatha Institute. 415-435-2255 

Gourd Crafting Techniques and Open House from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Caning Shop, 926 Gilman at 8th St. 1-800-544-3373.  

Painting Pots, a workshop with Keeyla Meadows at 3 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Piedmont Choir Placement Auditions New singers ages 6 to 10 welcome, no experience necessary. To schedule an appointment for Piedmont or Alameda call 547-4441. www.piedmontchoirs.org 

California Writers Club meets to discuss humor writing with Mary Hanna of the San Mateo County Times at 10 a.m. at Barnes & Noble, Jack London Square. 272-0120. 

Oakland Outdoor Cinema will screen “The Bourne Identity” at dusk on Ninth St., between Broadway and Washington. Limited seating, bring your own chair and blanket. 238-4734.  

Non-Anesthetic Teeth Cleaning for Pets from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at RabbitEars, 303 Arlington Ave. Call for appointment 525-6155.  

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Produce Stand at Spiral Gardens Food Security Project from 1 to 6 p.m. at the corner of Sacramento and Oregon St. 

Urban Releaf Tree Tour of Oakland and workshops in urban forestry that teach tree planting, maintenance, GIS/GPS systems, and community advocacy. For information call 601-9062. www.urbanreleaf.org 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732.  

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755.  

Spiritwalking: Aqua Chi(TM) at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley High Warm Pool. Also Wed. at 3:30 p.m. Cost is $5.50, $3.50 seniors & disabled. Bring your own towels. 526-0312. 

Yoga for Peace at 9:30 a.m. at Ohlone Park, MLK at Hearst. Bring a yoga mat, warm blanket, and peace sign.  

Adult Fast Pitch Softball at noon. For location call 204-9500.  

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. 

SUNDAY, SEPT. 17 

How Berkeley? Parade up University Ave. at 11 a.m. followed by festival in Civic Center Park to 5 p.m. 644-2204, ext. 12. www.howberkeleycanyoube.com 

Sunday Morning Meditation Walk at 9 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Third Annual Fr. Bill O’Donnell BOCA Benefit with guest of honor and recognition of immigration rights attorney Mark Silverman from noon to 4 p.m. at Saint Mary Magdalen Church, 2005 Berryman St. 665-5821. berkeleyboca.org  

Incorporating Carnivorous Plants into the Garden with Stephen Davis, president of the Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Society and Judith Finn, horticulturist from 10 a.m. to noon at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $25-$35, registration required 643-2755. 

Family Day at the Magnes to see the exhibition “My America” at 11 a.m. at Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. Cost is $6-$8. 549-6950.  

Bike Tour of Oakland Explore Oakland and learn about the incredible history of Oakland and its visionaries and scoundrels. Meet at 10 a.m. at the 10th St. entrace of the Oakland Museum of CA, 1000 Oak St., Oakland. Participants must be over twelve years old and provide their own bikes, helmets and repair kits. Free. 238-3514. www.museumca.org 

Solo Sierrans Emeryville to Berkeley Waterfront Bike Ride An easy 4 mile round trip with no car traffic. Meet at 4 p.m. in front of the Watergate Clipper Club, 6 Captain Drive, Emeryville. RSVP requested 923-1094. 

Community Labyrinth Peace Walk at 3 p.m. at Willard Middle School, Telegraph Ave. between Derby & Stuart. Everyone welcome. Wheelchair accessible. 526-7377. 

The Misty Redwood Run A 10 K fun run through the redwoods in Redwood Regional Park at 8:30 a.m. at Redwood Gate entrance, 7867 Redwood Rd., Oakland. Cost is $20-$25. Register online at www.theschedule.com/eventinfo.cfm?eventID+10675 

Spinning a Yarn Watch the spinning wheel turn, try your hand carding wool and learn how to use a drop spindle at 1:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

10-year Anniversary Party for the Westbrae Neighborhood Commons from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Peralta Community Garden, on Peralta between Hopkins St. and Gilman St.Food music, tile painting and more. Wheelchair accessible. 527-6443. 

“There’s No Place Like Home: Exploring Animal Habitats” Take a discovery hike through the Natural Sciences Gallery and learn how animals meet their needs for food, shelter, water, and protection. From 1 to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of CA, 1000 Oak St., at 10th St., Oakland. Free with Admission. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

The Albany Library will be open on Sundays from 1-5 p.m. starting on Sept. 17 thanks to the successful passage of Measure G. Celebrate with a ribbon-cutting at 1 p.m. followed by music and refreshments, at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720. 

Sycamore Japanese Church Bazaar from noon to 5 p.m. at 1111 Navellier St., El Cerrito. Japanese music, food, handcrafts and games for children. 525-0727. 

Mad Hatter Jam ‘n’ Tea Party from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Kensington Farmers’ Market, 303 Arlington Ave. kensingtonfm@yahoo.com  

Queer Contra Dance with Mavis McGaugh calling to Band du Jour at 6 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Everyone welcome. Cost is $10 or pay what you can. 430-2833. 

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 

Ancient Tools for Successful Living Workshops in Meditation, the I-Ching, and Qi Gong begin at 5272 Foothill Blvd. Oakland. Cost is $8 per class. 536-5934. 

Kickabout at Codornices Park Soccer for all, skill and talent not required. For more information contact cambour@hotmail.com  

Balinese Dance Class with Tjokorda Istri Putra Padmini at 11 a.m. at Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. 237-6849. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Ken McKeon and Tom Morse on “Freedom from Knowledge” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, SEPT. 18  

Lead Abatement Repairs Find out about funding for lead hazard repairs for rental properties with low-income tenants or vacant units in Oakland, Berkeley or Emeryville, from 4 to 6 p.m. at 2000 Embarcadero, #300, Oakland. Sponsored by Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. 567-8280. 

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group for people aged 60 and over meets at 9:45 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. Donation $3. 524-9122. 

Zen Buddhist Meditation for Everyday Life An introduction at 6:45 p.m. at Bay Zen Center, 315 Alcatraz near College Ave. Suggested donation $10, no one turned away. Register in advance. 596-3087. www.bayzen.org 

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

CITY MEETINGS 

Berkeley Unified School District Board meets Wed. Sept. 13, at 7:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers. Mark Coplan 644-6320. 

Commission on Disability meets Wed., Sept. 13, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Don Brown, 981-6346. TDD: 981-6345.  

Homeless Commission meets Wed., Sept. 13, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jane Micallef, 981-5426.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Sept. 13, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7484.  

Police Review Commission meets Wed., Sept. 13, at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950.  

Waterfront Commission meets Wed., Sept. 13, at 7 p.m., at 201 University Ave. Cliff Marchetti, 981-6740.  

Commission on Early Childhood Education meets Thurs. Sept. 14, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5428.  

Community Health Commission meets Thurs., Sept. 14, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5356. 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Sept. 14, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. 

Creeks Task Force meets Mon. Sept. 18, at 7 p.m. the North Berkeley Senior Center. Erin Dando, 981-7410.  

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon. Sept. 18, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St. 981-6900. 

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board meets Mon. Sept. 18, at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Pam Wyche, 644-6128 ext. 113.