Public Comment

MORE INFORMATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Kudos to Richard Brenneman for his clear, precise articles on development and sales of the new apartment buildings in Berkeley. But there’s always a bit more I am craving to know—what size are the rooms? What is the rental or condo price for apartments of various sizes? What is considered low-income rentals? Are they the same size apartments as the others? What are the occupancy/vacancy rates in the newer and older buildings? Who pays what kind of taxes on these building? And finally, who lives in them? 

I know many others who read the Planet would like to know these details. 

Joan Levinson 

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JOHN DENTON 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On behalf of the Bay Area Hispano Institute for Advancement (BAHIA Inc.), I would like to express our sadness in the passing of John Denton. As a councilmember and then as a retired community advocate, John Denton was always an advocate of our program that provides bilingual child care development services to low income families in Berkeley. Our organization celebrates 32 years of service this year on April 25, a milestone for a Latino non-profit organization. We will always remember our dear friend John Denton as helping us make the dream come true of serving families and their young children and providing this service bilingually. 

On many occasions John and Ruth spoke fondly of their summer or winter travels to Ajijic, Mexico where they had a community and an adopted family. They would drive to Mexico in a very beat up station wagon with piles of clothes and supplies to give to needy families in their town. They enjoyed living and immersing themselves in Mexico, speaking Spanish, eating tortillas, frijoles and chile, this was their diet and their sustenance in more ways than one. Together they had a passion and a mission to represent and serve the underserved communities, be that on a reservation, the other side of the border or within their own community. John Denton was a loving and kind advocate for the community. We will miss John very much as we miss Ruth. Together they will remain in our memory as the “abuelos” (grandparents) of our organization for generations to come.  

Beatriz Leyva-Cutler 

Executive Director, BAHIA, Inc. 

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U.S. INTERVENTIONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Conn Hallinan’s April 10 column assumes that just because we might strongly disapprove of the violent history, contemptuousness, and opinions of Elliot Abrams, we should oppose his endorsement of U.S. military intervention in Darfur (or anywhere else that Eliot Abrams advocates U.S. military intervention). 

Unfortunately, Hallinan’s article provided no other strategy for intervention in Darfur, no clear arguments that the human rights abuses there will stop without some kind of intervention, and no discussion of the fact that there are people on the left who share the desire to see U.S. or U.N. military intervention there and that the Christian Right is joined by many on the left in urging a U.S. recognition of the genocide and an active response. 

I think it is a little overblown to attack Abrams for “levering U.S. forcing policy away from a concern for poverty toward a focus on “religious persecution” in Abrams’ capacity as the director for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (CIRF). From the title of the agency, it sounds like Abrams was doing his job. 

I’m looking for a more informative discussion of the situation in Sudan and Darfur than that presented by Hallinan. I understand the situation is horrible there, and has gone on too long and, up until this point, has not been resolved internally in any humane or stable way (i.e. the mass killings continue). What should be done? 

Bob Sarnoff 

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NO RESPONSE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In late March, I wrote to Betty Olds’ office to report an impassible section of sidewalk in her district, which had resulted in me being overturned in my wheelchair. The street, Euclid, is divided at that point, so crossing the street is not an option. Going out into the street, around the parked cars and into traffic moving fast behind me on the curves was not safe. I sent the location of the sidewalk and suggested that it be repaired. 

I received no response. Two days later, I resent the e-mail with a note stating that I had been amazed and disappointed not to have received confirmation of its receipt. I received no response. 

I wonder just whom Ms. Olds thinks pays her salary, and what she thinks her duties consist of? On the few occasions that I’ve written to my own council person, Laurie Capitelli, I’ve received from his competent office staff, prompt, polite and complete responses to my queries, and follow-up when necessary. 

I wonder, in general, what other people in the city expect from their elected representatives to the City Council, and whether they receive it? 

Susan Fleisher 

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BUS RAPID TRANSIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Ted Vincent makes an obvious logical error in his letter attacking Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). He says that some trips cannot conveniently shift to the bus—for examples, trips to buy groceries or drop off children—and so he concludes that no trips will shift to the bus. 

But their are also many trips that could conveniently shift to the bus and that would shift if there were better bus service—for examples, one-to-the car trips to work, to school and to appointments. We will have better numbers when the environmental impact report comes out, but the figure I have heard is that BRT will shift 10,000 trips per day from cars to the bus, reducing congestion through the East Bay and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 

Does Ted Vincent know that motor vehicles are California’s number-one source of greenhouse gas emissions? Does he know that Americans burn 45 percent of all the gasoline that is consumed in the world each year, almost as much as the entire rest of the world combined? Does he know that the recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, adopted by 130 nations, says that. unless we act dramatically to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, droughts will kill hundreds of millions of people during this century? 

I am sure Ted Vincent does not know that a recent study published in the Journal of Public Transportation found that, of all the possible investments we can make in transportation, the one that is most effective in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions is Bus Rapid Transit. 

Since motor vehicles are Berkeley’s our number one source of greenhouse gas emissions, and since BRT is the most effective investment we can make to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles, there is a clear moral imperative to support Bus Rapid Transit. 

Charles Siegel 

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IMMIGRANTS AND DEPORTATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As I read Judith Scherr’s article about the tragedy in the deportation of the Espinoza family, a parallel came to mind.  

The Espinozas, back in Mexico, live in a town with no gas and stagnant water. Their boys are sick. Scherr’s suggestion is that Berkeley be made a sanctuary city, or more sanctuaried, to allow more protection against deportation for the undocumented immigrants. The parallel that came to mind is the situation of a lost or feral pet..it no longer lives with the love of its owner, it is neglected, it may be sick and cold and lonely. Some people seeing this will gather all these lost animals up and keep them in their house. But one house cannot hold all these needy animals. Keeping too many of them in one place causes problems. Similarly with immigrants. Immigrants from the south have proved to so often be such diligent workers and friendly, beautiful people. It is the heart’s natural movement to want to help and protect them. But the condition of the house must be kept in mind as well. Only so many feral animals can be collected into one household before the whole atmosphere disintegrates into ferocity and squalor. Only so many refugees can be accepted into a refugee facility before the facility loses its ability to care for any of them.  

Are we concerned about the ecological, economic, sociological, psychological and other effects of overpopulation in this country? If we wish to take the stand that overpopulation is a serious problem, and that it matters how many people we crowd into our state, city, or apartment, then we have to draw lines somewhere, we can’t just allow anyone who walks across the border to set up house here. In my opinion, many of the undocumented immigrants would make much better citizens than some of those who’ve been here for generations. However, the many millions of Mexicans who have come here in disregard for the formal process of citizenship, now put pressure on our government, if it gives serious consideration to the problem of overpopulation within its borders, to exclude from potential citizenship more applicants from other nations than it would have formerly. This cannot be fair to those who desire to become citizens through legal means. If we were to naturalize many more individuals from Mexico than from anywhere else, that would also bring up questions of bias and racism, in that it would show an unacceptable preference to one group. In our process of naturalization, I believe that as a nation we can’t afford to be passive, handing papers to whoever decides to walk in, but ought to apply to the process of naturalization the wisdom of a larger view. What that wisdom ought to be, is rightly discussed among us all.  

While it is natural to want to help those who suffer, bringing them all into our house isn’t necessarily the best solution. Better would be to find ways of helping them where they live, so that our success as a nation doesn’t become our undoing when overpopulation finally frays too many nerves and causes too many other problems. We must accept the limits inherent in our ability to help, or else our limits will catch up with us.  

Deborah Cloudwalker 

Oakland 

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THE WAR PRESIDENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

President Bush has made it clear that there will be no compromise or negotiation with Democrats when it comes to his disaster in the desert. Bush got us into this mess in Iraq and now won’t let us extricate ourselves. 

Hell or high water, the “War President” is going to have it his way or no way. 

Here is a man who has lied and deceived Americans for the past six years—put impeachment on the table—democracy is not a one-man show. You will never appease this dogmatic ideologue set in his ways. 

Ron Lowe 

Grass Valley 

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WHO PROFITS? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In this land that prides itself on freedom of speech a few words spoken freely last week generated a five-day media whirlwind. 

No one wants sympathy, compassion, forgiveness or even tolerance for Mr. Imus and everyone with the briefest opportunity to speak has condemned, criticized, and cursed him. The whole country seems to have forgotten how harmless words are when compared to sticks and stones. 

Mr. Imus is very good at what he does; he insults people. That’s why he gets paid so handsomely. He a gifted equal opportunity verbal abuser. My peeve is not with this benighted, low-brow middle-aged white man but with his employers. Does anyone doubt that Imus, his critics and, of course, Rutgers but most of all the networks will come through this better off than before?  

Surely, the media moguls should not be allowed to increase their profits by hiring, suspending and rehiring anyone of Imus’ ilk. These moguls do not own the airwaves. We do. The networks may not use our space without permission and ought not use it any way they wish. We are to blame for allowing the broadcast of such uncivil, insensitive, uncouth, ill-mannered words.  

Marvin Chachere 

San Pablo 

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FATE OF PUBLIC ART 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In response to Becky O’Malley’s April 10 editorial, the decision to deaccession Wassilij Vereshchagin’s Solomon’s Wall was made, after a great deal of careful consideration, by the director and curators at the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA), with the unanimous support of the Board of Trustees and the university. 

While many have been able to enjoy the painting while it has been on long-term loan to the Magnes Museum, which is a private institution, our primary responsibility is to ensure that the university’s collections are utilized in a way that is of greatest possible benefit to the university, its faculty, staff, and students, and to the tens of thousands of local and international visitors who come to BAM/PFA each year. 

The deaccessioning of works of art from a collection is a difficult but necessary and responsible practice of museums around the world. In keeping with American Association of Museum policy, funds received from this sale must and will be reinvested back into the acquisition of art, ensuring the continued vitality and coherence of the museum’s overall collection. 

Since I began as BAM/PFA director in 2000, the museum’s acquisition program has been as active as any institution in the United States. Over the past seven years BAM/PFA has acquired more than 2,000 works of art, and 4,000 films and videos, ensuring our continuing excellence among university museums in the United States. Recent acquisitions have included an important collection of 50 Chinese paintings, part of an exceptional collection of more than 700 works of art from Tibet, and more than 900 photographs from the late nineteenth and early 20th century. Numerous gifts and acquisitions have followed our groundbreaking exhibition program featuring some of the most influential artists of our generation. In addition, funds have also been raised to establish the Edith R. Kramer Film Collection. 

We don’t take lightly our significant responsibility for stewardship of the university’s art collections. Let me assure you that our consideration of this matter has been sensitive to the sometimes competing interests of all who feel deeply about the university, its museums, and collections. We recognize and accept, with regret, that some will disagree with our approach. 

Kevin E. Consey 

Director, Berkeley Art Museum 

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ROSA PARKS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you for your recent coverage of kindergarten assignments in Berkeley. Our school, Rosa Parks, was featured in a positive light, finally. However, the article seemed to focus on the Dual Immersion Program as the only reason that parents would be happy with being assigned to Rosa Parks. Unfortunately, the wonderful English only program was not highlighted as equally rewarding. True, our school has had its ups and downs in the past. True, we have had to endure negative press and a negative reputation.  

Nevertheless, our school is a diverse environment where every child is equally rewarded with a wonderful education, whether in the Dual Immersion Program or in the English Only Program. As a parent of children in each program, I can attest that every part of our school is fantastic. We have amazing, experienced, and dedicated teachers, staff, and a Principal who have made all of Rosa Parks a great place to learn for all children. We look forward to more positive reporting in the future! 

Sally Torrez 

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WATER CHALLENGE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I recently attended the World Water Challenge meeting and was part of more than a hundred community members challenging the bottled water industry. I was delighted to hear that Mayor Newsom is supportive of the Think Outside the Bottle campaign and am grateful that he is protecting San Francisco’s public systems by moving the city away from bottled water. The keynote speaker, Jared Blumenfeld, presented extremely relevant points concerning our society’s massive necessity for water and alternatives in order to challenge the corporate takeover of water. Specifically, the companies Coke, Pepsi and Nestle are using their massive revenue to manipulate our society’s confidence in public water systems. 

It is mind boggling that we live in a city which offers some of the best drinking water in the nation, and yet Californians drink more than twice the national average in bottled water. If our water is safe and can be had for pennies to the gallon, why are we paying more for bottled water than we do for gasoline? 

Alison Bayley 

UC Berkeley student 

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SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

John Werner Kluge, the Metromedia billionaire, just gave $400 million to Columbia specifically for financial aid. This is in addition to his $100 million Scholars Program. Shouldn’t the corporations and private individuals who have bought UC’s research services be expected to donate generously to its scholarship programs and financial aid? Isn’t research a secondary purpose of a university? What ever happened to education as the primary purpose of a state endowed, publicly funded educational institution that obtains all kinds of benefits (like not having to pay property tax) from its status in the state? From what I have been reading in the news recently, the UC system is making lots of money by engaging in private enterprise schemes—like building hotels and bombs, making fuel from food, and hawking athletic performances while student fees keep going up, the cost of living in places like Berkeley has become prohibitive and the people who do the real educational work, like the teaching assistants, get peon wages. Isn’t this a bit like the tail waging the dog? 

Joanne Kowalski