Posted Wed., March 12—Margaret Lowry—removed from her position as Willard Middle School vice principal last week—has resigned and will leave the district at the end of the school year. 

The district last week completed its investigation of Lowry for improper conduct involving two special education students at Willard. Parents of the students alleged that Lowry gave money to one of them to buy marijuana from the other.  

Lowry had been put on administrative leave during the investigation and had been placed on special assignment with the district’s central staff last week.  

On Tuesday, however, Lowry’s name appeared on a list of resignations for the Berkeley Board of Education to approve today (Wednesday).  

Although no resignation date is mentioned in the packet, district spokesperson Mark Coplan told the Planet that Lowry will resign at the end of the school year. He added that Lowry had resigned on her own account and was not asked to leave. 

School board president John Selawsky last week discounted reports that Lowry was attempting to set up a drug sting using the students. 

“Our investigation concluded that she did not put any child in harm’s way and that the allegations of her running a sting operation are inaccurate,” he said. 

Selawsky said Lowry would be reassigned to work on developing summer programs. 

“I don’t believe she will be working with children,” he said. “We want to reassure the public and parents that we are taking the allegations against her very seriously.”  

Selawsky said that the district had investigated Lowry for “heavy-handed use of authority and cutting corners on due process.”  

Berkeley Adult School Vice Principal Thomas Orput—who was vice principal at Willard before Lowry took over the position in 2006—will be interim vice principal at Willard for the remainder of the school year. Neither Orput nor Lowry have been available for comment. 

The Planet also reported several other complaints against Lowry from current and former Willard parents. They alleged that Lowry repeatedly mistreated students, forced students to write false statements by threatening to expel them and pressured students to inform on students to provide her with information.  

The parents told the Planet that although they had filed official complaints with the district almost a year ago, they had not received any response.  

District Superintendent Bill Huyett told the Planet in an earlier interview that the district would try to resolve the complaints. Neither Huyett nor Selawsky was available for comment Wednesday. 

Lowry’s resume—acquired by the Planet through a public records act request— confirmed that Lowry was assistant principal at Oakland’s Skyline High School from 2003 to June 2006. She also served as principal of Skyline’s summer school program from 2003 to 2006. 

After receiving her bachelors degree in science and her teaching credential from CSU Hayward in 1989, Lowry taught at James Logan High School in Union City from 1989 to 2002 and then joined Castro Valley Adult School as assistant director where she remained for a year. 

John R. Yeh, of Miller Brown Dannis, attorneys for the Berkeley Unified School District, said the school board would decide today (Wednesday) whether to disclose records of investigations involving Lowry in response to the Planet’s request. 

He said that the school board had “the discretion to determine, ‘on the facts of a particular case, [whether] the public interest ... served by withholding the records clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure.’”  

Adding fuel to a state agricultural department plan already under fire, spraying seven heavily populated northern California counties to eradicate the light brown apple moth (LBAM), a just-released report says the pest, present in New Zealand for 100 years, is controlled there by natural predators and that California should follow suit. 

“LBAM is considered a minor pest that does not cause economically significant crop damage or have detrimental effect on native flora,” says the study, “Integrated Pest Management Practices for the Light Brown Apple Moth in New Zealand: Implications for California,” authored by Daniel Harder, executive director of the Arboretum at UC Santa Cruz, where he is adjunct professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Jeff Rosendale, horticultural consultant in Watsonville. 

“Natural predators keep LBAM in check, and it is so rare in the wild that it requires a true expert and meticulous searching to even find any sign of it,” says the report. 

Harder and Rosendale spent three weeks in New Zealand in January carrying out the study, funded in part by the Arboretum and in part by Harder himself, Harder told the Daily Planet in an interview Friday.  

The study recommends that the California Department of Food and Agriculture suspend plans for aerial spraying—slated to resume in June in the Santa Cruz and Monterey areas and to begin in August in Bay Area counties—and adopt Integrated Pest Management practices that begin with “monitoring to determine the extent to which LBAM populations are being parasitized or destroyed by predators.” 

The CDFA says it can eradicate the LBAM in Northern California by using a pheromone–based spray called CheckMate, manufactured by Suterra in Bend, Ore. In nature, the pheromone is a scent released by female moths that attracts male moths. CheckMate uses a synthetic pheromone intended to confuse the male moths and disrupt reproduction.  

In CheckMate, a synthetic pheromone and other ingredients are enclosed in microcapsules. After Checkmate was sprayed by air in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties in September—the first time the product has been sprayed over an urban population—more than 600 people reported adverse health impacts, leading to the growing condemnation among citizens and legislators of aggressive efforts to eradicate the LBAM.  

Harder and Rosendale found in New Zealand the LBAMs are controlled in large part by natural predators and parasites, including birds, spiders, wasps, beetles, lacewings and earwigs. “Eighty to 90 percent of LBAM larvae are parasitized by natural predators before maturation,” the report says. 

CDFA spokesperson Steve Lyle disputes the findings and conclusions in the report. Among them is the notion that California could depend on natural predators to control the moth.  

“There are no natural predators in California,” Lyle said in a phone interview with the Planet on Friday. Because the moth is so recently arrived, predators have not developed, he said. 

A key issue that impacts eradication plans is the question of how long the LBAM has been in California.  

Lyle describes the arrival and spread of the LBAM in this way: In 2005 the CDFA set traps because they thought the moth might exist in California, but found none.  

Then, in 2007, a single moth was found in a Berkeley backyard by a retired entomologist. After that, the CDFA once again set out traps and, this time, found an “infestation.” 

“We didn’t detect the moth [earlier] because they weren’t there,” Lyle told the Planet. 

Then, comparing 2005 to the time there were no moths, to the present number estimated as a function of those trapped, the CDFA concludes there is an infestation and that the moth is reproducing so quickly, emergency measures must be taken to stop it. When an emergency is declared the state is permitted to intervene before completing a report on the environmental impacts. 

In an interview with the Planet, Harder referred to studies of James Carey, professor of entomology at UC Davis. Carey says the moth has likely been in California for decades. 

Bio controls in New Zealand include native and introduced wasps and native tachinid flies. “The key to effective control with predators and parasites is to encourage a range of insects attacking all life stages,” the report says. 

The “near-complete LBAM population suppression” by natural predators is encouraged by agricultural practices in New Zealand that include intercropping—cultivating two or more crops in the same space at the same time, the report says. 

New Zealand officials set traps and monitor the number of moths they find. When the numbers grow beyond a certain threshold, they use insect growth regulators (IGR), insecticides derived from natural sources. (This is done in large part because the U.S has imposed the more aggressive treatment of the LBAM on exports destined to the U.S.) 

The Harder report further says broadcasting pheromones by aerial spray will not eradicate the moth because males continue to find the females due to the wide dispersion of the synthetic pheromone.  

Lyle responded: “Our TWG [Technical Working Group on the LBAM] thinks it is possible” to eradicate the moth using aerial spray.  

“I’d be interested in seeing any hard data on it,” he added of the Harder report. 

Further responding to the report, Lyle noted that the authors spoke to scientists at HortResearch, the New Zealand government agency that researches agricultural techniques, but failed to speak to Max Suckling, who works at HortResearch and is a New Zealand member of the Technical Working Group, which advises the U.S. and California agriculture departments on the LBAM. 

In a further written response e-mailed to the Planet, Lyle quoted the TWG’s rationale for the spraying: The “pest threatens more than 2,000 different plants and, according to the USDA, has the potential to infest up to 80 percent of the continental U.S.” 

Lyle further writes that comparing impacts on the environments of New Zealand and California “is like comparing apples and oranges.” 

Lyle concludes: “CDFA’s mission and legislative mandate is to protect California from invasive species. The LBAM threatens the environment and our food supply. We developed our eradication program to respond to that threat and stand behind the sound science that is the foundation of the program.” 

More information on the Internet: 

Harder report and other anti-spray documents at www.stopthespray.org.  

CDFA documents at www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/PDEP/lbam.  

Meetings: 

March 12, 1:30 p.m., state Capitol, room 4202 Sacramento, Assembly Agriculture Committee Hearing on LBAM 

March 13, 1-3 p.m., Marin County Civic Center, 3501 Civic Center Dr., San Rafael, supervisors chambers 

State Senate Committee on Environmental Safety oversight hearing: “The LBAM: Planned actions, alternatives and public concerns.” 

April 7, 7 p.m., community meeting in El Sobrante: East Bay Waldorf School, 3800 Clark St. 

A community meeting Saturday focused on recent allegations of racism at Cragmont Elementary School. Organized by the People’s Institute of Survival and Beyond at its Bancoft Way office, the meeting was one of a series planned to bring together local activists, parents and teachers to discuss racism in the city’s schools. 

Rev. Daniel Buford, anti-racism educator and director of the People’s Institute West, described an incident that took place at Cragmont Elementary School last fall to highlight the lack of a racial incidents policy in the Berkeley Unified School District. 

According to Buford, a fifth-grade teacher at the elementary school castigated a 10-year-old African American boy in front of his class and accused him of being homophobic after the boy repeatedly used the word “fruity.” 

The remark was made as the student was responding to a passage in a classroom reading assignment. The teacher had read a quote from the scientist Gertude Bell saying, “I am so busy I need a wife to do the work,” Buford said. The boy had said of the quote, “That sounds quite fruity to me.” 

According to Buford, “the teacher told him that using the word ‘fruity’ was the same as her going to a black community and saying the n-word. And she didn’t just say the n-word, she said the word ‘nigger.’” 

Anthony Chavez, secretary of the Cragmont PTA, said the boy’s family had filed a formal complaint of racial harassment with the school district in December. He said that the family also filed a federal complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights last week. 

“The word fruity can mean many things, but there’s only one thing that the word nigger means,” Buford said. “It’s unfair that the boy would be held to a standard to understand the nuances of the quote. It’s really unfortunate that the district has no racial incidents policy or a human rights-based curriculum to address these issues.” 

District spokesperson Mark Coplan said the district had completed its investigation of the complaint and was satisfied with the way the principal had resolved the situation. 

“The teacher might not have used the best example but she didn’t do anything wrong or derogatory,” he said. “The efforts that we took were to make sure that the kids really understood what had happened. In the end they understood what the purpose of the teacher’s comment was, that it is not okay to use derogatory words. I am sure the teacher in the next situation will use a different example.” 

In a letter to the Cragmont community about the incident in January, Cragmont principal Don Vu said that the teacher had explained to the student that “both words were offensive and should not be used.” 

“She actually said the n-word in her explanation, and, unfortunately, this caused much confusion and hurt with some of the students and, ultimately some of the parents,” Vu’s letter stated. 

His letter also said that he had held several meetings between the teacher and concerned parents and students in the class to resolve the situation and “ensure that the class was able to heal and move forward. ... Through these meetings, the teacher has expressed her regret and has realized the hurt caused by her actions …There is a strong commitment to diversity and equity here amongst the staff and community and it is my hope that we can move forward to become a greater school.” 

In an e-mail to the Planet, Russell Bloom and Marsha Hiller, co-chairs of the Cragmont PTA Diversity Committee, said they supported their principal in his handling of personnel matters. 

“However, we think it is critical to continue creating an environment in which there is awareness of and attention to concepts of bias and racism and their effect on our children and ourselves,” the letter stated. “We aim to make Cragmont the type of school where students can feel safe from daily oppression(s). Until that idea becomes realized, the committee will, as part of its programmatic work, focus on creating policies that address accountability on an institutional level.” 

The committee recently formed a working subcommittee to investigate and analyze racial incidents policies in other communities and school districts in an effort to implement a similar policy at Cragmont. 

School board member Karen Hemphill told the Planet that although she could not comment on this particular incident, she supported more sensitivity training for teachers in the district. 

“It’s so sad we don’t have enough education for parents and teachers,” said Diana Dunn, director of the People’s Institute in New Orleans, who participated in the meeting. “The teacher could have used the word to teach about the use of words ... We want such incidents to bring us together and not drive us apart.”

For investors, biofuels and other green technology could be the Next Big Thing, Al Gore’s business partner told Berkeley faculty and students Friday.  

“We’re on the brink of something that’s bigger than the Internet,” said John Doerr, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), one of the nation’s leading high-tech venture capital firms. Gore joined the team in November, which also includes Colin Powell as a “strategic limited partner.” 

Equally bullish was Doug Cameron, chief scientist for Khosla Ventures, who joined the investment side of the biotech business from his previous post at Cargill, a giant of the agrobusiness world. 

Khosla and KPCB are throwing big dollars at biofuel—or agrofuel, as critics like UC Berkeley’s Miguel Altieri and Ignacio Chapela prefer to call them. 

Both KPCB and Khosla have placed bets on corporations created by the two men who head UC Berkeley’s biggest synthetic fuel programs, Chris Somerville of the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) and Jay Keasling of the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI). 

Both firms are backing the Somerville-created LS9, which has trademarked the phrase “the Renewable Petroleum Company,” and the Keasling-founded Amyris Biotechnologies. Doerr serves on the Amyris board, and Cameron briefly served as the company’s CEO. And according to the LS9 website, Keasling was also present at the meeting which resulted in the creation of that Somerville-founded company. 

Amyris and the Keasling-run JBEI have both leased space in the same new Emeryville lab complex. 

Another Somerville-created company, Mendel Biotechnology, is receiving funds from biofuel development funding from two corporate giants, Monsanto and BP—the latter, a British oil company, also being the source of the $500 million in funds for the Somerville-headed EBI. 

Mendel also owns the world’s largest collection of miscanthus germ plasm, the genetic code for the crop that EBI research is focusing on as a leading candidate as the perennial source for “feedstock” for fuel, thanks to its acquisition last March of Tinplant Biotechnick, a German company. That sale was announced two months after BP and UC Berkeley announced the award of the EBI grant. 

Madhu Khanna, a University of Illinois, Urbana-Campaign agricultural economist, said miscanthus is the most promising crop now under investigation at her school, which is a partner with UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in the EBI project. 

Mendel is also working with another major biotech firm, Bayer. 

Other players 

In addition to these deep-pocket investors, the UC Berkeley Energy Symposium brought together leading scientists and some political heavy hitters to address technologies that could transform the future of energy, ranging from nuclear to solar and building design. 

Politics entered the picture early on, with the keynote address from David Sandalow, chair of the Clinton Global Initiative’s Energy & Climate Working Group, a Brookings Institution Senior Fellow and former Assistant Secretary of State and Senior Director of Environmental Affairs for the National Security Council. 

“It is no accident we are fighting in the region that has half the world’s oil supply,” he said, before advocating getting cars off of petroleum and hooked up to the nation’s electrical grid. And while waste problems have yet to be resolved, he said, “closing the door on nuclear is a mistake.” 

Doerr trained as an electrical engineer, then earned a Harvard MBA. He joined KPCB in 1980. 

Articulate and comfortable with an audience, he devoted his time to fielding questions, starting with the obvious: What do venture capitalists look for on college campuses? 

“I’m a glorified recruiter,” he said. “The best thing I can do is find super-scientists at UC Berkeley working in synthetic biology under Jay Keasling,” then build a company to take the technology to market, while “making a great deal of money at the same time.” 

Doerr’s firm, KPCB, has helped build some of the best known of the nation’s new companies, including Amazon.com, Google, Palm, Genentech and Sun Microsystems. Gore joined the team last November. Earlier this month the company also announced a $100 million iFund to bankroll technology related to the iPhone and iPod. 

To build up a company like Amyris, Doerr said, may take an investment of $250 million, but the potential earnings of new energy companies could dwarf Internet giants, he said, with the value of the new generation of energy giants potentially ranking in the trillions of dollars compared to the billions of leading online firms. 

He said climate change is KPCB’s biggest-ever challenge, with investments to date of $300 million for the college and university endowment funds who invest with the company. 

Green tech is “the mother of all markets,” he said, and “going green should be the largest economic opportunity of the 21st century.” 

Doug Cameron is at home with biofuels, having earned a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a thesis on ethanol. 

One Khosla investment, Calera, is a start-up by a former Stanford professor which claims to have developed a process that will transform cement from a generator of seven percent of earth’s carbon dioxide emissions into a material that will actually grab the gas out of the air and sequester it, helping to reduce the level of planetary greenhouse gases. 

Khosla invests in a variety of biofuel ventures and is looking for more, he said. 

In addition to drawing fuels out of plants, Khosla has invested in companies that want to produce chemicals similar to those that constitute a small but profitable section of the output of today’s petroleum refineries, he said. 

One of the investment fund’s goals is to find and fund pathways to replace all petroleum by 2030 without using any more land that is used today to plant crops for ethanol, the leading biofuel currently in use. 

And while Khosla is a major funder of ethanol projects, the company is less excited about biodiesel, he said. 

Upbeat messages 

The upbeat messages of the investment bankers were echoed by speaker after speaker, fitting in with the message of local politicians like Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and others who are working to create an East Bay Green Corridor to rival similar efforts in Silicon Valley. 

Another bioboomer on hand in a disembodied electronic form was Sen. Barbara Boxer, who said in a recorded message that she is “working hard to introduce global warming legislation” during the current congressional session. 

“I have no doubt the next administration will be far more friendly” to green tech initiatives, she said. 

Somerville appeared in the day’s final panel, offering an overview of the EBI project. 

He said the program received about 250 three-page research proposals, which were winnowed down to about 85, which were then submitted to an international team of academics who finally settled on about 50 for the initial funding phase, ranging from the design of farm implements to the social and political impacts of biofuel and other energy projects. 

EBI has cast a wider net than JBEI, which has been funded with $135 million Department of Energy grant, and has already teamed up with corporate partners, said Blake Simmons, who is in charge of the new lab’s deconstruction program. (Deconstruction here means molecular breakdown.) 

While EBI is looking at such issues as carbon sequestration, the use of genetically modified organisms to harvest hard-to-reach oil and to break down coal into fuels, JBEI is specifically tasked with developing non-petroleum fuel sources. 

The JBEI’s task is to conduct “high-risk, high-return research” leading to the “revolutionary breakthroughs needed to make cellulosic biofuels reach their full potential,” he said. 

Though the 61,000-square-foot Emeryville lab will be officially open for business in April, he said research is already under way. 

Unlike the EBI, which will have research efforts in Illinois and Berkeley, all the JBEI research will take place under one roof, he said, featuring scientists from UC Berkeley, UC Davis and three Berkeley-related national labs: Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore and Sandia. 

The upbeat mood at Friday’s symposium has been reflected more broadly in student enrollments in green tech programs, which a Haas Business School professor said is drawing “the best and the brightest.” 

Critical voices were virtually non-existent in sessions attended by one reporter, in part because of the self-selected nature of the audience. 

By the end of the day, there was little reason to doubt that UC Berkeley has set out to be one of the leading—if not foremost—of players on an issue where technology and big money are fusing with politics to back what believers have no doubt will be the first major boom of the new millennium.

Want to build green? The best way isn’t to build at all, but to retrofit an existing building, says architect and green building expert Sandra Mendler. 

“In general, it’s always better to reuse a building” than to tear it down and build a new one, Mendler said. 

The reason? Over a 30-year span, 20 percent of a building’s energy consumption is embodied in the building’s physical structure itself, she said. 

The San Francisco architect was speaking Friday as a member of a panel on Green Building and Development at the UC Berkeley Energy Symposium. 

The point she made reinforces a theme in the draft Downtown Area Plan prepared by a City Council-appointed citizens’ panel. 

During deliberations over proposed rules on new downtown construction, preservationists and environmentalists found common ground in urging adaptive reuse of existing buildings whenever possible instead of a more radical approach favored by a minority who sought a more aggressive demolition policy. 

The architect said that while older buildings are often less energy-efficient, retrofits can generally achieve the same levels of efficiency as new construction. 

Mendler was joined on the panel by Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Senior Scientists Steve Selkowitz and Charles Huizenga, an adjunct professor of architecture at the university, and Gail Brager, associate director of the university’s Center for the Built Environment. 

In an era where terms like “global warming” and “greenhouse gases” have entered everyday conversations, buildings are looming ever larger as source of planet-warming emissions and as major targets for energy conservation. 

“Buildings account for a third of energy consumption and carbon emissions,” Brager said. 

Selkowitz said 40 percent of the emissions of carbon dixoide—the leading greenhouse gas—stem from buildings, which also consume 71 percent of electricity used and 54 percent of natural gas consumption. 

As head of LBNL’s Building Technologies Department, Selkowitz said his goal is to create buildings that consume only as much energy as they can create, or zero energy buildings. 

Selkowitz and his team applied their skills to the new New York Times headquarters building, a billion dollar tower enclosing 1.5 million square feet. 

Mendler said buildings generate 20 billion tons of carbon dioxide, demanding an integrated approach to design that captures not easily controlled “low-hanging fruit” but captures even greater savings through integrated old and new technologies. 

An acknowledged leader in the sustainable architecture movement, Mendler sits on the board of the U.S. Green Building Council and is past president of the American Institute of Architects’ Committee on the Environment. 

Just last week she moved from the San Francisco office of HOK to a new position as a principal of the new San Francisco office of Seattle-based Mithun Architecture. 

Huizenga, who also conducts research at the Center for the Built Environment, is the founder of Adura Technology, which makes wireless lighting controllers for commercial buildings which, he said, can result in substantial energy savings in existing structures. 

Starting with experiments at the Marchant Building, Huizenga found that by allowing officer workers to control the lights in their own work areas, electrical use dropped 60 percent compared to the typical building, where large area lights are controlled by switches often placed in locked utility closets. 

The technology has since been applied to two campus libraries, Moffit and Doe, where lights had been left on around the clock. The net energy savings works out to 170 megawatt hours a year. 

Another architectural innovation can result in significant savings on new buildings, ostensibly designed for maximum energy efficiency, Mendler said. 

Called commissioning, the process brings in experts to see how effectively the designs have been implemented in practice. A study conducted of “green buildings” revealed that their actual performance was 30 to 40 percent worse than planned and improved significantly after the work of commissioning engineers. 

Mandler said that 90 percent of a building’s embodied energy derives from five material choices: framing (steel, concrete or wood), enclosure systems (glass, masonry or metal), flooring, roofing and partitions. 

As an example, she said, aluminum takes ten times the energy to produce as steel. 

One resource for builders who want to calculate just how green their projects are can be found on the website buildcarbonneutral.org, Mendler said.

It could take some 20 years and $31 million for the city to fully implement the Pedestrian Master Plan, a draft of which the transportation division delivered to the City Council this week. 

The item is on the council agenda tonight (Tuesday) as “information,” which means the council can either place the study on the agenda for discussion, or not. 

Tonight’s 7 p.m. agenda also includes an appeal to council of a zoning board decision allowing construction of a home at 161 Panoramic Way, developing a graywater permit process and asking staff to write a letter to Canadian officials requesting sanctuary for U.S. war resisters. 

The council will begin meeting as the Redevelopment Agency at 6:30 p.m. 

Pedestrian Plan 

The plan, part of a $145,000 study prepared for the city by Alta Planning and Design and paid for with grant funding, puts a favorable spin on the safety of city streets, despite recent pedestrian fatalities.  

“Berkeley … ranks as the safest city of its size in California for walking,” the report says, pointing out that the number is based on the rate of injuries per walker, not per capita, with 14.9 percent of Berkeley residents who report walking to work. 

Still, traffic injuries and deaths in Berkeley are significant. Four of the five traffic collisions in Berkeley in 2007 involved pedestrians, according to Sgt. Mary Kusmiss, police spokesperson, speaking to the Planet in January. 

Sandra Graber was the latest fatality. The psychiatrist with the city of Berkeley was struck and killed in January by a car as she was crossing Marin Avenue at Colusa Avenue. Erica Madrid was struck and killed while crossing Solano Avenue at Fresno Avenue the month before. In June Betty Jean Kietzman was also killed while crossing Solano at Fresno. Also in June, a pedestrian was struck at Telegraph Avenue. and Blake Street and died about 10 days later. 

Among the traffic elements addressed in the plan are improvements to the 30 most dangerous intersections in the city. University and Shattuck avenues ranks as the most dangerous, as it had in a previous study almost 10 years previous. 

Principal Planner Matt Nichols said this study, unlike previous ones, looks comprehensively at the city’s pedestrian needs. “It puts the information in one place and ranks the most important places to do the improvements,” he said. 

Some improvements have been done to the intersection over the last few years, Nichols said, such as adjusting the timing of the lights and the installation of a red-light camera. 

More could be done, possibly even turning the west side of Shattuck Square into a two-way street. 

Other priority intersections on the list include University Avenue from San Pablo Avenue to Seventh Street, which ranks No. 2 and the Ashby BART Station, which ranks No. 3. Corridor improvements to Solano Avenue ranks No. 20 and intersections at Telegraph and Parker and at Ashby and Telegraph rank Nos. 18 and 19. 

While the list is prioritized, rankings are flexible and improvements will not be made strictly following the ranked order, the report says. 

There’s a great deal of attention paid to intersections without traffic lights. Nichols pointed out that signalizing intersections is too expensive at $25,000 per signal, and does not solve the problem. Some possibilities are adding flashing lights, creating bulb-outs so that streets become narrower, improved signage and more. 

Some $7.5 million is available over the next 20 years to implement the program. However, staff is working to obtain more grant funding. 

The Berkeley Pedestrian Master Plan, available in libraries and on the internet at www.altaplanning.com/berkeley pedeestrianplan, will be discussed at a public workshop at the March 20 Transportation Commission meeting. Comments on the plan can be made in writing to Kara Vuicich, associate planner, City of Berkeley Transportation Division, Public Works Dept., 1947 Center St.  

The Transportation Commission will hold a workshop on the plan March 20 at its regular meeting. 

Resisters in Canada 

Often, progressive measures to support peace and justice issues are adopted by council on the consent calendar with no discussion.  

Several weeks ago, however, Councilmember Gordon Wozniak pulled an item written by Councilmember Kriss Worthington off the consent calendar and scheduled it for full council discussion, which will happen tonight. 

The item asks the council to send a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other Canadian government officials, asking them to provide sanctuary to some 200 military resisters living in Canada. 

Worthington told the Planet that just because there was one badly stated council item—the one from the Peace and Justice Commission talking about the Marine Recruiters as “unwelcome intruders,” that the council later changed to support of the troops—it seemed that some councilmembers are overreacting to other social justice measures.  

“We shouldn’t be ostriches because there was one poorly worded item,” Worthington said, adding that authoring this item did not stop him from working on strictly Berkeley issues such as economic development and transportation. “The lesson is not to abandon peace and justice measures,” he said. 

A tree-sitter in Sproul Plaza was not arrested Monday, though supporters said they were concerned about him when some eight UC Berkeley Police including the chief and assistant chief surrounded the tree. 

The tree-sitter, identified as Fresh, has been in two different central campus trees over a two-week period to protest the power of the unelected Regents of the University of California, according to Ayr, also known by only one name. 

“The regents are not accountable,” Ayr told the Planet, noting they are involved in weapons research and responsible for not releasing the bones of native people to their tribes. 

Ayr, a supporter of the tree-sit in the central campus area and on the hill near the Memorial Stadium, told the Planet that UC employees had brought in a ladder and a cherry picker at around 10:45 a.m. Monday, making it look as if an arrest was about to happen. 

As of around 4 p.m., Fresh remained in the tree, with police stationed nearby, Ayr said.  

Calls to UC Berkeley spokespersons were referred to the UC Berkeley police, who did not return the calls before deadline. 

Lawyers in the battle over the UC Berkeley Memorial Stadium-area projects will have their last courtroom say on Friday. 

That’s when attorneys representing the UC Board of Regents, the City of Berkeley, the California Oak Foundation, Panoramic Hill Association and other plaintiffs will gather in Alameda County Superior Court Judge Barbara J. Miller’s Hayward courtroom.  

The final session had been set for last Friday, but was continued for a week. 

Originally scheduled to end in December, the case was prolonged after Judge Miller agreed to take additional expert evidence on a key factual issue in the case: whether or not a planned high-tech gym next to the stadium is in fact an addition to the aging landmark. 

The ongoing tree-sit next to the stadium is being conducted in trees destined for the ax if the judge says the university’s plans are legal. 

But if she rules the gym is an addition or alteration to the stadium itself, as plaintiffs contend, then the project would be governed by the Alquist Priolo Act, which restricts construction within 50 feet of active faults. 

The university acknowledges the stadium itself sits directly atop the Hayward fault, which state and federal geologists say is the most likely source of the Bay Area’s next major earthquake. 

But if Miller rules the buildings are separate, the university could probably move forward with construction of the Student Athlete High Performance Center and other structures in what the school calls the Southeast Campus Integrated Projects, which are all covered in the same environmental impact report. 

The Oakland City Council At-Large race took an unexpected turn last week when incumbent Henry Chang opted not to file for re-election, and a major challenger, Oakland Unified School District Board member Kerry Hamill, delayed filing until this week. 

At the same time, the most anticipated races for state legislative offices remained unchanged. In the most anticipated June matchup, current District 14 Assemblymember Loni Hancock will face former District 16 Assemblymember Wilma Chan in the Democratic primary for the termed-out District 9 Senate seat of Don Perata.  

Four challengers have qualified for the Democratic primary for Hanock’s District 14 Assembly seat: Berkeley City Councilmember Kriss Worthington, former Berkeley City Councilmember Nancy Skinner, Richmond City Councilmember Tony Thurmond, and Berkeley physician Phil Polakoff. Sandré Swanson is unopposed for his Assembly District 16 seat. Barbara Lee is unopposed in the Democratic primary for her District 9 Congressional seat. 

Filing for most offices in the June 3rd election closed on Friday, but because no incumbent filed in Oakland at-large and Oakland School Board District 3, filing for those races were kept open by statute through Wednesday. Incumbent District 3 School Board member Greg Hodge is running for the District 3 City Council seat. 

“I just feel that 14 years is long enough for me,” the Oakland Tribune reported Chang as saying in giving reasons why he chose not to run after taking out filing papers. “There’s other things I want to do.” 

But sources who spoke with Chang, who has filled the Oakland At-Large seat since 1994 with the support of powerful Oakland political boss State Senator Don Perata, was reportedly upset because Perata is backing Hamill this time. 

Meanwhile, Hamill said her delay in filing is no big deal. 

“I called Henry on Friday morning to see if he was going to file and, if not, if he would sign my filing papers,” Hamill said by telephone on Monday afternoon. “When I found out he wasn’t going to file, I knew I had a few more days. It’s not any deeper than that. I’m filing tomorrow.” 

But Hamill’s delay was not the first time there was a twist in her At-Large candidacy. On Feb. 14, she told the Daily Planet that she was not running or considering running for Oakland City Council and was giving up her District 1 School Board seat so she could have more time to volunteer in her children’s schools. Four days later, she was sending out an email asking supporters to join her in announcing her at-large candidacy at a March 6 fundraiser sponsored by Perata. 

Friday’s last-minute filing activities left three filed candidates for Chang’s At-Large seat: AC Transit Director At-Large Rebecca Kaplan, former AC Transit Director Clinton Killian, and retired IT professional and Oakland Residents for Peaceful Neighborhoods co-founder Charles Pine. 

With the filing deadline extended, a fifth candidate—senior citizen activist and former Community Police Advisory Board member and retired U.S. postal worker Frank Rose—took out filing papers for the at-large council seat. 

In other local Oakland races, the filing deadline left the election matchups that had been anticipated for several weeks. 

John Russo, who lost to Sandré Swanson for the 16th Assembly District seat two years ago, is unopposed for re-election as Oakland City Attorney. 

In Council District 1, incumbent Jane Brunner will be challenged by public safety activist Patrick McCullough.  

In Council District 3, incumbent Nancy Nadel faces three challengers: school board member Greg Hodge, Covenant House director Sean Sullivan, and Africa Williams. Williams is a certified medical massage therapist and Community Building Coordinator for the City County Neighborhood Initiative of West Oakland and serves on the Board of Directors of the People’s Grocery healthy food nonprofit of West Oakland. 

In Council District 5, incumbent City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente faces three challengers as well: realtor Mario Juarez, former Councilmember Wilson Riles staff member David Wofford, and repeat candidate, small business owner Beverly Blythe. Blythe lost to De La Fuente in 2000, 62 percent to 26 percent, and failed to turn in enough signatures to challenge the council president in 2004. 

In council District 7, incumbent Larry Reid is being challenged by East Oakland neighborhood activist Clifford Gilmore, the son of Oakland’s first African-American Councilmember, Carter Gilmore. 

In Oakland Unified School Board District 1, parent Jody London and educational philanthropist Brian Rogers are competing for the seat left vacant by Kerry Hamill. Writer Tennessee Reed, the daughter of writer Ishmael Reed, had taken out filing papers in that race, but did not file. 

Incumbent Noel Gallo is unopposed for re-election to his School Board District 5 seat. In School Board District 7, incumbent Alice Spearman is being challenged by Acts Full Gospel Church Associate Pastor and Acts Christian Academy Principal Doris Limbrick, and by administrative assistant Beverly Williams. 

With filing extended through Wednesday in the School Board District 3 race, no candidates filed as of last Friday. Educational activist Jumoke Hinton-Hodge, the wife of the incumbent Greg Hodge, has taken out filing papers in that race, along with Oakland Community Organizations secretary Olugbemiga Oluwole Sr. 

There were also no surprises in candidate filings with the Alameda County Registrar of Voters. 

Incumbent Nate Miley faces retiree Steve White for his Area 4 Alameda County Board of Supervisors seat, while incumbent Keith Carson is unopposed for his Area 5 seat. 

With incumbent Gay Plair Cobb, the wife of Oakland Post publisher Paul Cobb, opting not to run for re-election to her District 2 Alameda County School Board seat, filing has been extended through Wednesday, with no candidates filing as yet. Author and Oakland Commission on Aging member Ernest L. Hardmon III and political newcomer Conchita Tucker have taken out filing papers for the position. 

A full 16 potential candidates took out papers for the vacant Alameda County Superior Judge Seat 9, but 12—including Deputy Oakland City Attorney Mark Morodomi—either withdrew or failed to qualify. Four candidates will face off in the June election: Dennis Hayashi (who lost to Sandra Bean 51 percent to 49 percent in 2006 for the Seat 21 judgeship), Dennis Reid, Victoria Kolakowski, and Philip Daly. 

The Berkeley Planning Commission faces a single issue on its Wednesday night agenda: the ever-controversial density bonus. 

Commissioners are weighing proposed rules that could limit the amount of increased size developers of multi-unit residential projects are allowed in exchange for providing affordable housing. 

The move to adopt regulations came from the Zoning Adjustments Board, after city staff insisted that the mixed-use project at 1885 University Ave. should be allowed to reach a size otherwise barred by city zoning ordinances. 

A ZAB subcommittee, expanded to include members of the Planning and Housing Advisory Commissions, voted to approve a set of recommendations which have been challenged by Deputy City Attorney Zach Cowan. 

A commission majority voted last week not to oppose Cowan’s opinion that the proposals were illegal because they limited the scope of ZAB’s authority. While a ZAB majority favors the subcommittee recommendations, the Planning Commission majority voted, on the initiative of chair James Samuels, not to go against Cowan’s advice. 

Commissioner Gene Poschman has cited ordinances in other California cities which he said include exactly the same kinds of recommendations Cowan has rejected. 

Wednesday’s meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave.  

Berkeley Unified School District’s kindergarten enrollment is on the rise. 

The district’s Office of Admissions and Attendance mailed out 660 assignments last weekend—100 more than were mailed out last year—according to Francisco Martinez, the district’s manager of admissions and attendance. 

“It’s definitely more than what I have seen during my eight years here,” he said. “I would like to think that our public schools are doing a very good job and that’s why parents want to enroll their children here.” 

He added, “We will see how many students actually start school in September.” 

Some parents suggested that rising tuition costs at private schools was one of the reasons for higher enrollment in the public schools. 

Martinez added that 77 percent of the families who had enrolled in kindergarten this year had received their first school choice and 8.5 percent had received their second choice. 

Parents who received their childrens’ assignments on Friday and Saturday had mixed reactions. 

Karen Sukenic, who had listed Jefferson Elementary School as her first choice, told the Planet that she was a bit disappointed by her son Ari’s assignment. 

“We did not get our first choice,” she said. “In fact, we got a choice we purposely did not put on the form because we didn't want to go to the school we were assigned—Rosa Parks. We're not thrilled with our assignment, as we have two other schools we put as our first and second choices that are in walking distance to our house. We prefer encouraging walking and riding bikes to school to having to drive.” 

Berkeley Unified is divided into three zones for elementary schools—central, northwest and southeast. 

Sukenic resides in the northwest zone, which includes Rosa Parks Elementary School. 

The assignment system lets parents list their first, second and third school choices, and then a computer gives the final placement through a lottery. 

District spokesperson Mark Coplan said that each of the three zones encompassed neighborhoods from the flatlands to the hills in order to integrate the schools effectively. 

“The best way to get one of your three school choices is to put down at least two of your three choices from your zone,” he said. “The chances of getting a school out of your zone is very slim.” 

Martinez said that parents unhappy with their school assignment could request to be put on a waiting list. 

“Sometimes families decide not to enroll, and then we give their spot to people on the waiting list,” he said. 

Heidi Aronson, parent of a Berkeley public school first grader at Emerson Elementary School, advised parents unhappy with their school assignment to have faith in the district’s assignment process. 

“Last spring, our daughter got assigned to the one school in our zone that wasn’t one of our three choices,” said the Elmwood resident. “We also saw many peers in our relatively affluent neighborhood placed into this ‘less desirable’ school that wasn’t anybody’s first second or third choice, and nearly all of them opted to put their child into private school. We hadn’t applied to any private schools though. We freaked out, of course, put our names on the three waiting lists, met with Francisco Martinez to ‘air our concerns,’ and ended up getting placed into our first-choice school in mid-May. Now we're living happily ever after, in love with our school.” 

Aronson said that although the assignment system could be a “bumpy ride,” parents should not take any of it personally. 

“Hang in there and let the process work,” she said. “You will be heard.” 

Molly Greden, another parent, said that she had been pleased to learn that her son Modeo had been assigned Malcolm X Elementary School on Saturday. 

“It was our first choice,” she said. “We chose a school outside of our zone. We live in the Central Zone and we picked Malcolm X because it’s the closest school to us. I was very impressed with the programs, the kids’ enthusiasm and the ‘feel’ of the school ... But I have heard that people don’t always get their first pick and there is a lot of anxiety about it.” 

The Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to designate the Hezlett’s Silk Store building at 2277 Shattuck Ave. as a City of Berkeley landmark Thursday. 

Designed by architects Masten and Hurd in 1925, Hezlett’s Silk Store is a Mediterranean Revival style commercial building with some elements of the Mission Revival style thrown in. 

The nomination notes that the building was a dry goods store (owned by John Hezlett) and that part of the upper floor was leased to a beauty parlor. 

Hezlett’s stayed in the location for 35 years and the store was later listed as a beauty shop, dress shop and silk store. The building eventually became the home of the Tupper & Reed Music Store in 1960 which owned the site until 2005. 

It is currently owned by Edith Malnick and functions as a used computer store and Internet cafe. 

The building’s most distinctive feature is its shop windows with a central walk-around case. 

According to Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA) board member Steve Finacom, Hezlett’s is the only surviving building in downtown Berkeley with this particular kind of storefront, which was once common in American commercial architecture. 

“The Hink's Department store once had a similar design, but all of it was removed when Hinks was remodeled into the Shattuck Cinemas,” Finacom told the commission. 

“Professor Paul Groth of the Department of Geography at UC Berkeley—a nationally known figure in architectural history in the United States—specifically talks in his lectures about this type of storefront—deeply recessed, with prominent display windows—as one stage in the evolution of commercial architecture.” 

Finacom also read aloud from a March 2, 1933, Berkeley Daily Gazette article which said that Mr. Hezlett had optimistically “increased his stock in preparation for increased business” during the worst winter of the Great Depression. 

Living models—wearing the latest spring and summer creations—also appeared in the display windows three times each day, showcasing the season’s frocks and sheer fabrics. 

“How can Berkeley not landmark the store of a businessman who was right in tune with the spirit of today in terms of the future of downtown?” Finacom asked. 

The board decided to send a letter to the current owners asking them to be good stewards of the landmarked building. 

2398 Bancroft Way 

The commission also voted unanimously to not designate the Wesley Student Center building at 2398 Bancroft Way as a city landmark. 

The Wesley Foundation proposes to demolish an existing student-oriented religious assembly building and construct a four-story mixed-use building housing religious assembly and residential space.  

The city’s Municipal Code requires that the Landmarks Commission review any proposal to demolish a non-residential building which is more than 40 years old. 

Located directly across from the UC Berkeley campus, the student center is in close proximity to buildings owned by the Trinity United Methodist Church and Stiles Hall, a community service organization for university students. 

According to a staff report, the building proposed to be demolished was constructed in 1955 as a “youth center” for the Methodist church and is not a designated historic resource. 

Finacom told the commission that while the building was an architecturally non-descript structure, historic evidence suggested that the site was, by the mid-1960’s a social and cultural gathering space for the emerging gay and lesbian student community on campus. 

“This is a huge missing piece of Berkeley’s heritage—much of it now over 40 years old—that deserves increasing and respectful attention from this commission and from the city in years to come,” he said. 

Finacom said that while he was not advocating the retention of the building, its role in community history should be researched, remembered and commemorated. 

On the shortest day of the year, a sunny day sandwiched between rainy ones enticed me out of the house. In spite of the arthritis pain gnawing my left hip, I decided to go to the Berkeley Marina for a few power laps around Cesar Chavez Park. With each step the joint grated like metal on metal, but I was determined to overwhelm it with exercise.  

I found out this was possible on a warm day last August. I was brisk-walking around the park path when suddenly my body said, “Go ahead, run.”  

Without thinking, I did. Suddenly, all pain switched off as if Dorothy had taken the oil can to the tin man. I was fluid, my stretched shadow looking long and lean as I passed a licorice-scented stand of wild fennel on the left, glittering San Francisco Bay on the right.  

From then on, the daily “runs” became an instant priority. When rainy season arrived, the pain-free moments didn’t materialize as often in the cold and damp. But still I chased them around the perimeter of the park as the gray clouds punched in, threatening the next outburst.  

On winter solstice morning I saw a man I knew by his white soft-brim hat. I had noticed him on other days, scanning the ground closely, walking loosely as if he were making rounds. He was walking toward me, trying to catch my eye. He wanted to tell me something.  

He was pointing toward the strip of dirt between the path and the flickering water. “Look!” he said pointing. I bent down and squinted, but saw nothing remarkable. I looked at him questioningly. “See? There!” he said. I looked again, hard. A small neat shape seemed to materialize as I watched. “It’s a Burrowing Owl!” he said.  

The creature then came into sharp focus. It blended so successfully with its surroundings that, had it not been pointed out to me, I would have seen it only as shadows and light. With its alternating brown and cream rows of feathers, the owl sat in the entrance to its burrow blinking in the pale winter sun. I marveled at how kempt it was even though it had just emerged from a dugout of dirt. The owl looked dapper in its impeccable herringbone jacket.  

Its head rotated 180 degrees scanning the horizon like a small lighthouse then focused calmly back upon me. I stood there for as long as I could, waiting to be released from its frank stare. I didn’t want to turn my back, didn’t want to be rude.  

The man in the white hat said, “I know it’s going to be a good day when I see this owl! It gives me hope!” Indeed, there was hope in the presence of this rare wild creature observing us from the edge of all this human activity.  

The next Saturday I took my husband David, a beginning birder, to see the owl. We walked slowly, scanning the ground for its elusive shape. We finally spotted him, sunning on his front porch. We stood at a respectful distance. Though we were only about five feet away, David tipped his binoculars to his eyes.  

Some children came rollicking through, veering off the path between the owl and us. David tried to quiet them by corralling their attention, “Look!” he shouted, pointing. “A Burrowing Owl!” The children paused briefly before resuming their shrieking and tumbling. A small group of adults collected as David continued to aim his binoculars and point. I felt myself growing angry. “What a treat!” someone in the small crowd shouted. A dog barked. The owl’s head pivoted rapidly as it stood its ground.  

“Let's go. He looks frightened," I said as I pulled David and his binoculars away hoping the crowd might then disperse. I huffed off ahead of him, my anger masking the knowledge that I might have betrayed the owl and exposed it to danger. After that I looked in vain for the owl each time I went to the Marina. Finally, I stopped expecting to see him. I hoped he had simply vacated to more private digs. I tried not to imagine that an unleashed dog might have found him.  

According to “A Field Guide to Owls of California and the West” though not yet on the endangered species list, the Burrowing Owl’s grassland habitat has been shrunk by industrial agriculture and 75 percent of its population now lives in two percent of its range. Its numbers have declined by half since the 1940s due to the increased land-use and hunting by dogs and coyotes. Fortunately, the Burrowing Owl is reported to adapt well to human-engineered landscapes with strips of land between water and open grassland. Apparently, they appreciate environments like the Marina’s Cesar Chavez Park where they have protection from predators and machinery. As an added bonus, throngs of resident California Ground Squirrels contribute an abundance of burrows in move-in condition and an unlimited food supply.  

The rainy season seems to be tapering off, and I am again able to go to the Marina almost daily. Today, I notice a new shape in a tumble of rocks on the bank of the inlet that faces the UC Berkeley Campanile, I-80 and Target. On closer inspection, I see it is the Burrowing Owl. It looks smaller than I remember, perhaps because it is perched inside a screen of freshly bloomed branches like a demure Geisha looking out to sea. Relieved and overjoyed, I continue along the path. Then I see the larger owl, very close to where we were originally introduced last December. The smaller one inside the cascade of blossoms must be a female, I realize. Perhaps they are a pair.  

The pain in my hip suddenly releases as I jog past the fog-smudged backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge and the city across the bay. Today is a Two-Owl Day. It is an auspicious sign.

Posted Sun., March 9—We were out at Lafayette Reservoir a couple of weeks ago, looking for the bald eagle that wasn’t there. But there was a fair amount of butterfly action: a probable echo blue, some small hyperactive orange jobs, and three or four mourning cloaks, sparring or courting—it’s hard to tell with butterflies. 

There’s no ambiguity about a mourning cloak: it is, as Roger Tory Peterson said of the adult bald eagle, “all field mark,” its deep maroon wings bordered with a broad pale band. On close inspection of the reservoir butterflies, you could see that the band had faded from yellow to bone white and that the wings were a bit ragged. These guys weren’t fresh out of the chrysalis; they had been around all winter. 

Adult hibernation is an uncommon life strategy among butterflies, but the mourning cloak, along with its close relatives the California tortoiseshell and Milbert’s tortoiseshell, does just that. Adults that emerge in midsummer or fall spend the cold wet months holed up in some sheltered place. Some have been known to winter under the eaves of houses or in cellars. Arthur Shapiro, UC Davis butterfly maven and co-author of Field Guide to Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions, says that whatever the weather is like, they rarely stir before January 25.  

They wake up hungry. Shapiro says local hibernators seek out willow catkins for nectar. In Wisconsin, according to a 1980 study by Allen M. Young, they rely on tree sap to fuel themselves for courtship and egg-laying, frequenting sap wells drilled by the yellow-bellied sapsucker. I don’t know how important this food source would be for California populations, although our red-breasted sapsuckers winter in the coast ranges until March or April, overlapping with the overwintering mourning cloaks. And what about mourning cloaks in Europe, where there are no sapsuckers? 

British lepidopterists, who have their own nomenclature, know this species as the Camberwell beauty. It was first collected in Cool Arbor Lane near Camberwell (now a densely built-up part of London) in 1748, and has turned up periodically ever since. However, it has never bred in the British Isles. Permanent range includes temperate Eurasia east to Japan, and the mountains of Central and northern South America. Apparently temperature-limited, mourning cloaks avoid the lowland tropics and subtropics.  

California has two behaviorally distinct mourning cloak populations. In the coast ranges, they’re resident year-round, producing at least two, sometimes three broods. Elsewhere, they’re altitudinal migrants like their tortoiseshell relatives. Shapiro, who has been monitoring a series of transect points from Suisun Marsh to Castle Peak in the Sierra for over 30 years, has observed mourning cloaks flying upslope along Interstate 80 in June. Their larvae feed on mountain willows. Some of their progeny hibernate in the mountains as adults; others return to the Valley for the winter.  

Tracking migrant butterflies has its technological limitations: you can’t rig a radio transmitter on a mourning cloak. But Shapiro wonders whether some of the stable isotope techniques used with migratory birds could be applied to these fragile travelers. The ratio of hydrogen isotopes in a warbler’s feathers in winter can indicate how far north it was when it grew those feathers before migrating. A butterfly’s tissues should contain a similar latitudinal signal. 

Something happened seven years ago to disrupt the mourning cloak’s migration cycle: after a breeding failure in the Sierra, the butterflies have remained rare in the mountains and the Sacramento Valley. Shapiro found none at Donner Summit last fall, for the first time in 36 years. “The cause of all this remains a mystery,” he says, “compounded by the simultaneous regional decline of all our other willow-feeding species in the Valley,” the willow hairstreak, Lorquin’s admiral, and sheep moth. There are still plenty of willows, and the admiral and the moth are holding their own elsewhere.  

Mourning cloak females lay large batches of eggs, and the caterpillars—spiny black creatures with red spots—stick together. 

Sometimes a brood will defoliate its host tree. They also pupate in clusters. A couple of sources say the pupae twitch in unison when disturbed, which is something I would pay to see. (Shapiro’s field guide describes mass pupal twitching in the California tortoiseshell.) I’m not clear about what kind of sensory apparatus a pupa has while it’s being reorganized from a caterpillar into a butterfly, or how you would alarm one, let alone a whole clutch. 

More mysteries. 

When an adult mourning cloak emerges from its pupa, it voids—how can we put this delicately?—a drop of blood-red liquid. “In medieval Europe,” Shapiro writes, “such ‘red rain’ was taken as an omen and often stimulated civic disturbances and demonstrations of religious fanaticism.” Those were nervous times, with all the wars and plagues and crusades and massacres, and it’s understandable that people would get all wrought up about butterfly poop. Good thing we’re not that credulous anymore.  

Oakland joined a fast-growing collaboration of cities, organizations, legislators and citizens on Tuesday looking for political and legal means to force the state to back off from plans for aerial spraying of pesticide over parts of Northern California to eradicate the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM). 

The Oakland City Council unanimously approved a resolution opposing the spray, and, in closed session, it gave City Attorney John Russo direction to coordinate with other Bay Area cities “on an aggressive legal strategy” to compel the state to perform a “serious” environmental review before conducting the spray program. 

A strategy that could also include the cities of Berkeley, Albany and El Cerrito—though Russo hadn’t talked to attorneys in the other cities when interviewed on Wednesday—would bring the weight of the legal system as well as political pressure to bear on the state agency, Russo told the Planet. 

“It seems that we have to go in that direction,” he said. 

The Berkeley City Council passed a measure opposing the spray Feb. 26, but will not meet in closed session to discuss legal strategies until March 17. Albany passed a resolution opposing the spray in January. 

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has declared an emergency in parts of Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, as well as parts of Alameda county (including Berkeley, Oakland, Piedmont and Albany) and Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties, due to the numbers of LBAMs found in these areas. 

“There’s a legal question of whether they can undertake mass spraying under an emergency,” Russo said, noting that very simple acts such as cutting down a tree require environmental review, and that the spraying of this product carries with it many complex questions. 

“We’re not saying they can’t spray,” he said. “They need to show there’s no environmental impact.” 

Having declared an emergency the state is permitted to spray the product—CheckMate, made by Suterra of Bend, Ore.—before conducting an environmental review. The state has begun the review, which will not be completed before it resumes spraying in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties June 1 and before it begins spraying in the Bay Area in August. 

The state says the infestation is an emergency because it has the potential of devastating some 250 different crops grown in California. Spray opponents argue, however, that California has suffered no crop damage from the LBAM to date and that spraying the pheromone will not eradicate the moth and so the spraying would have to be conducted forever. 

The first aerial spray of Checkmate to be conducted over an urban area was done in September in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, after which more than 600 people reported ill effects including shortness of breath, nausea, itchy skin and more. 

Santa Cruz County has litigation pending against the state, targeting the absence of an environmental review before spraying. The case will go to court April 24. Russo said he may be directed by the Oakland City Council to join Santa Cruz in an amicus brief. 

Checkmate is a synthetic pheromone contained in microcapsules with inert ingredients for aerial spraying. Some medical professionals have said the microcapsules themselves present a danger to the respiratory tract of sensitive people and others say the inert ingredients that accompany the pheromone—only some of which are known—may be dangerous. The state says the product is safe for humans, but opponents say it has not been studied for long-term health impacts. 

A pheromone is a scent emitted by a female moth that attracts a male moth. When synthetic pheromones are introduced, males become confused and no longer mate, interrupting the reproductive cycle.  

The mayor’s office in Richmond and the public information office in El Cerrito both say they are looking at the question of the LBAM and may bring the matter to their city councils. The Fairfax Town Council passed a resolution stating its opposition to the spray Wednesday evening. 

The draft city Climate Action Plan presented to Berkeley planning commissioners Wednesday night resembles another document in their possession: the proposed new Downtown Area Plan. 

Both documents call for concentrating new development along public transit corridors and speak to the need for inducements to stimulate bicycle and pedestrian traffic. 

But a more basic concern troubled some in the audience: the fact that Wednesday night’s meeting wasn’t announced on the city’s own website calendar or on the Planning Commission’s own web pages. 

Commissioner Susan Wengraf said she was also concerned that the period for comment on the plan closes today (Friday), only two days after the meeting. 

The meeting, the commission’s third in eight days, was devoted—with one exception—to the climate plan, the fruit of Measure G, passed by 81 percent of Berkeley voters in November 2006. 

That exception was a comment from Steve Wollmer on the density bonus ordinance proposals now before the commission. Wollmer is suing the city over its approval of the so-called Trader Joe’s project, which was granted additional size to compensate for the cost of parking spaces for the residential building’s commercial tenant. 

That lawsuit goes to trial March 21, Wollmer said. 

Wollmer urged commissioners to grant the bonus only as compensation to developers for the cost of including low-income housing in their projects, which he said is the purpose of the state density bonus law, and not to burden neighbors with buildings granted bigger size solely for the benefit of commercial tenants. 

Timothy Burroughs, who was hired as the city’s climate action director, serves on the staff of the Planning and Development Department, and he told commissioners that their concerns would include formulating ways to integrate the climate plan into the city’s general and area plans and the zoning ordinance. 

Measure G imposes a mandate that the city reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—believed the prime culprit in global warming—by 80 percent by 2050. 

Burroughs said Berkeley produced 635,000 tons of greenhouse gases in 2005, not including an additional 200,000 tons or more generated by breakdown of the city’s wastes in landfills. 

The figures also don’t include emissions from UC Berkeley, which estimated its 2006 emissions at 220,000 tons (209,000 metric tons)—also not including landfill emissions. 

To effect real reduction in emissions, he said “takes compact residential growth and development near transit,” the concept planners call transit-oriented development or smart growth. 

But a representative of Berkeley’s best-known smart growth advocacy group said the plan didn’t go far enough. 

Dorothy Walker, a retired UC Berkeley development executive, appeared on behalf of Livable Berkeley to declare that the plan didn’t go far enough, and to say that it “should unequivocally state” that development should be located near public transit. 

Commissioner David Stoloff agreed. 

Walker said the plan also falls short in providing leadership and education, “and is far less bold that the plans adopted by other cities.” 

“You have to look at intensifying housing on transit corridors,” said commission Chair James Samuels. “I’d like to propose that you focus on that. There is a very basic connection between density and where it is and vehicle miles traveled.” 

Commissioner Gene Poschman disagreed, saying evidence didn’t support the claim that living near transit reduced the use of cars, the large single source of GHGs. 

He said a statewide study showed that “90 percent of the people who lives around transit have cars, and 60 to 70 percent of them drive alone.”  

He also said that the transit-oriented development study called for a density of 15 to 25 units per acre, compared to the typical Berkeley development with a 250 unit per acre density. 

Commissioner Helen Burke, a Sierra Club activist, said the plan’s land use and transportation proposals needed to be strengthened, and should include a transportation services fee to be imposed on new projects. 

Burke also called for a carbon tax similar to that already in effect in Boulder, Colo., and for a reduction or outright elimination of parking requirements imposed on developers. 

Wengraf said the plan didn’t include preservation and adaptive reuse of existing buildings as an energy saving measure in its land use section, “and this is a very important principle to include.” 

She also said that the plan should consider the poor condition of streets, sidewalks and pathways, which discourages GHG-reducing pedestrian and bike trips. Another source of GHGs she said wasn’t considered is wildfires and the concomitant need for vegetation control. 

Another hot button issue that may play a role in climate change policies is Bus Rapid Transit, the proposal by AC Transit to run buses down dedicated lanes carved out of existing traffic lanes between Berkeley and San Leandro. 

Businesses and residents along the proposed Telegraph Avenue corridor have expressed concerns the plan will hurt businesses which lose parking along the thoroughfare and add to congestion on adjacent residential streets. 

Both friends and foes of BRT addressed the commission, with supporters saying the bus service would reduce GHGs by taking people out of their cars, with foes saying low ridership would mean the program wasted money on expensive, fuel-inefficient buses. 

Jim Bullock, a foe, said AC Transit’s most optimistic projection estimated 9,320 rider trips a day, which he said meant an actual ridership of 4,660, since almost all riders made round trips, with an estimated cost of $86,000 for each new rider. 

Len Conly of Friends of BRT said a system in a city like Berkeley could save 654,000 tons of GHGs over 20 years. 

Chris Peeples, president of the AC Transit Board of Directors, told commissioner that “a number of us worked very hard on ABAG (the Association of Bay Area Governments) to get ABAG to talk about transit corridor hot nodes.” 

Development along transit corridors is common in Europe, he said, and in the early years of the 20th century, most development in the East Bay also arose along transit corridors. 

Wengraf said many in Berkeley, especially in the hills, couldn’t use buses because there is little or no service from the hills to the bay. 

Peeples said that most homes in the hills had four and five car garages—a remark that drew a scornful laugh from the commissioner—and said that providing bus service there would mean taking it away from a poorer and more densely populated community. And if the city wants service in the hills, he said, “the city just has to pay for it.” 

Phil Morton of the Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Coalition said the plan had neglected to include young bike riders in its calculations, and also called on commissions and city staff to serve as examples by abandoning their cars and pedaling to work. 

Zachary Running Wolf, again campaigning for mayor, urged a slogan he has painted on stop signs around the East Bay: Stop Driving. 

And Merilee Mitchell, like Running Wolf a former candidate for a seat on the city council, said the plan failed to call for preservation of trees in the existing landscape.  

Margaret Lowry—removed from her position as Willard Middle School vice principal—was placed on special assignment Tuesday with Berkeley Unified School District’s central staff. 

The district has been investigating Lowry for the past two weeks for improper conduct involving two special education students. Parents of the students told the Planet that Lowry gave money to one of them to buy marijuana from the other, in what some district officials said might have been an attempt to set up a sting.  

“Our investigation concluded that she did not put any child in harm’s way and that the allegations of her running a sting operation are inaccurate,” said Berkeley Board of Education President John Selawsky. 

Selawsky added that district staff had determined that Lowry will be working at the district’s central office at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way for the remainder of the school year. 

“She might be working to set up summer programs,” he said. “I don’t believe she will be working with children. We want to reassure the public and parents that we are taking the allegations against her very seriously.” 

Selawsky said that the district had investigated Lowry for “heavy-handed use of authority and cutting corners on due process. 

“If a complaint was filed then the complainant will be informed of the outcome of the investigation,” Selwasky said. “If anything was determined then that would go into the employee’s personnel file.” 

District superintendent Bill Huyett did not return calls for comment. Huyett’s staff told the Planet that he was out of the district on official business and would not be available before Wednesday. 

Berkeley Adult School Vice Principal Thomas Orput—who was vice principal at Willard before Lowry took over the position in 2006—will be interim vice principal at Willard for the remainder of the school year, Selawsky said.  

Margaret Kirkpatrick, principal of the adult school, called a special meeting Friday to inform staff about the decision. 

“The adult school will be advertising for Orput’s position,” Selawsky said. “It’s possible it could be a transfer from the district but they will probably hire someone new.” 

Orput did not return calls for comment from the Planet. 

The Planet has also reported several other complaints from current and former parents. They alleged that Lowry repeatedly mistreated students, forced students to write false statements by threatening to expel them and pressured students to inform on students to provide her with information.  

The parents told the Planet that although they had filed official complaints with the district almost a year ago, they had not received any response. 

Huyett told the Planet in an earlier interview that the district would try to resolve the complaints. 

“If complaints have been filed then there will be responses,” said Selawsky Tuesday. “We have to go back and investigate if complaints were actually filed. Most of these complaints were filed at the end of summer last year. That’s the end of the school year before summer break. I am not saying this as an excuse but that might be the reason why they were never followed up.” 

He added that it would take up to two weeks to investigate the complaints. 

Both the Berkeley and Oakland Unified school districts have declined to disclose information about Lowry’s employment history or any disciplinary action taken against her, although Terry Francke, general counsel for Californians Aware and a public records expert, said this information should be open to the public.  

The Planet filed a public records act request with both Berkeley and Oakland school districts on Feb. 20 to obtain records about Lowry. The 10-day response time allowed by law expired without any answer from Oakland Unified. 

John R. Yeh, of Miller Brown Dannis, attorneys for the Berkeley Unified School District, rejected the Planet’s request to see Lowry’s resume and to be informed of any disciplinary action taken against her as "vague and ambiguous, overly broad and unduly burdensome."  

“Our lawyers have informed us that we do not have to give out that information under law,” Selawsky said. 

Yeh’s letter says that the district objects to disclosing information on the basis of legal opinions in two cases, BRV Inc. v. Superior Court, et al and Bakersfield School District v. Superior Court. But Francke told the Planet that opinions in the two cases cited are contrary to Yeh’s interpretation--that they actually hold that complaints and disciplinary information about school district employees are public information. 

The administration of Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums hit the trifecta on Tuesday, winning City Council passage of two major initiatives and claiming victory in contract arbitration with the powerful Oakland Police Officers Association police union. 

In a marathon session that began at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and lasted until well after midnight, Council approved—with minor modifications—Dellums’ police augmentation plan and industrial land use policy. 

Police augmentation 

On the police augmentation issue, the mayor had originally asked expedited approval of a plan to spend $7.7 million in Measure Y violence prevention plan money to meet his ambitious goal of reaching full staffing of the Oakland Police Department—803 total officers, including 63 Measure Y problem-solving officers—by the end of 2008. Included in the original proposal was $1.5 million for advertising and $3.3 million for a stepped-up schedule of police academies this year. 

By consensus—meaning no roll call vote was taken, but no councilmember expressed disapproval—the Council approved Councilmember Jean Quan's modified proposal that $500,000 be cut out of the advertising budget, to go, instead, to bonuses to lure veteran police officers to Oakland from other police agencies.  

With the council winning a promise from Oakland Police Chief Wayne Tucker that recruits from the first academies will go exclusively to positions specifically called for in Measure Y in 2004, councilmembers inserted a provision in the police augmentation plan, also suggested by Quan, that while the initial round of advertising and academies would be paid for by Measure Y, the city's general fund would pick up some of the future costs on a percentage basis to be determined after monitoring how many of the first officers actually go to those Measure Y positions. 

In approving the plan, the council rejected a request by Measure Y Oversight Committee Chair Maya Dillard Smith that funding for the advertising portion of the academies be held off until more study could be made on how to sustain the recruitment plan financially through 2010 if it failed to meet the recruitment mark at the end of the year. 

In statements released by the mayor's office, both Dellums and Council President De La Fuente appeared equally pleased by the compromise measure. Dellums has been under public pressure to respond to Oakland's pressing crime and violence problems, and De La Fuente is facing an electoral challenge this June for his 5th District seat that will almost certainly be based in large part on law and order issues. 

“I am optimistic that the City Council and city staff will continue to work together in the best interest of Oakland residents,” the Dellums statement read. “I appreciate the City Council's diligence over the years to address the issue of police staffing and I am confident that this plan will allow us to achieve our goal of reaching 803 police officers by the end of the year.” 

Council President De La Fuente added, “I am satisfied with the consensus reached by my distinguished colleagues on the City Council which is consistent with the mayor's plan to fully staff the police department and the expectations of Oakland residents who deserve a greater level of public safety.” 

Land-use policy 

On the vastly more complicated industrial land-use policy issue, the Council voted 5-3 (Councilmembers Nancy Nadel, Jean Quan, Ignacio De La Fuente, Jane Brunner, and Henry Chang voting aye, Larry Reid, Desley Brooks, and Pat Kernighan voting nay) to approve Nadel's modifications to Dellums' original plan.  

The nay vote was deceptive, however, as Brooks and Kernighan wanted no modifications to the Dellums plan, while Reid wanted to add more modifications. 

With Oakland under continuing pressure from developers and property owners to allow its dwindling parcels of industrial zoned property to be converted to residential use on a property by property basis, Dellums had proposed a policy to freeze its 17 industrially zoned sub-areas in place while adopting citywide criteria for conversions. Industries were once the backbone of Oakland's job market, but many have left the city in the last half-century, and industrial zoned land now comprises only 5 percent of Oakland under the city's land use control. 

When the issue first came before council on Feb. 19, Reid proposed carving out exceptions to industrial zoning in six of the current 17 industrial zoning sub areas. 

In a compromise plan which she said was put together in order to get the five votes necessary to win approval, Nadel—a longtime proponent of preserving Oakland industrial land—whittled those exception sub areas down from six to two. 

In one of those areas, area 4, near the High Street Bridge to Alameda, former De La Fuente chief of staff Carlos Plazola is part of a business consortium that wants to convert 2.35 acres of industrial land to condominiums, a conversion that will now be allowed under Council's action. 

But in explaining her vote for Nadel's compromise, Councilmember Brunner said, “I know that some people think we're benefiting certain people by this,” but felt it was good policy for the city.  

Explaining that Oakland historically put its industries along the waterfront, blocking public access to the estuary in a long stretch from Jack London Square south, she felt that the area should now be changed to a residential and commercial mix in order to allow the waterway to be opened up to the public. 

Reid lost a substitute motion, 2-6 (Reid and Chang voting aye) to add a third exception to Nadel's list, allowing a housing and business mix in the sub area 8, which includes property surrounding 92nd Avenue and San Leandro Street in Reid's East Oakland district. The decision means that a proposed 11-acre residential development at that site will have to be scrapped unless and until the sub-area is rezoned following the yet-to-be determined rezoning guidelines. 

An angry Reid predicted that the council would be back in ten years looking at this as a missed opportunity to “change communities that have long been suffering from neglect. … The industrial use you believe will happen along San Leandro Street ain't going to happen. I guarantee you.” 

Police union arbitration 

In the OPOA police union arbitration decision, Oakland city officials were claiming victory following the issuance of the independent arbitrator's preliminary decision. 

“I'm very pleased with the scope of the arbitrator's award on management rights,” Police Chief Tucker said in a prepared statement. “It will fundamentally change the rules under which we operate to the benefit of the citizens of Oakland. … I applaud the City Council and the Mayor, whose unwavering support throughout this process has made this outcome possible.” 

The City of Oakland and OPOA began negotiations in April 2006 over renewal of a contract that expired in June of that year. When negotiations broke down, the issue went to arbitration in February 2007. 

While the arbitrator has not yet issued a written opinion, city officials say the preliminary decision grants the city victories in the following areas: 

Civilianization: the department now has the right to civilianize “any position which does not require a sworn officer,” which city officials say will free up police officers from desk jobs and other non-crime prevention duties.  

Past Practices: the award allows the city to “change problematic past practices” instead of freezing in place all practices in the police department that the city had previously allowed, even if those practices had not been part of contract negotiations. Tucker had said that the “past practices” clause in the previous contract had hampered his ability to run the department.  

Responding to Changing Conditions: allows the union to challenge a change to working conditions before an arbitrator only if it can demonstrate “irreparable injury” might come from that change; previously the union could challenge any management change in working conditions, a process that tied up management decisions for months at a time.  

Side Letters: Eliminated more than 20 so-called “side letter” labor agreements with OPOA that the public has never seen, and City Council never approved. 

This is the second major victory of the Dellums administration in arbitration decisions over disagreements with the police union. Last year, an arbitrator sided with the city over OPOA's challenge to Tucker's proposed 12-hour shift deployment, opening the way to the division of the department into three geographic departments, a division Tucker had said was necessary to institute community policing in Oakland and respond to the city's crime and violence problem. 

While candidates decided whether or not to put their toes in the water of several Oakland City Council and Oakland School Board races, announced candidates in the hotly contested state seats of Senate District 9 and Assembly District 14 continued to raise war chests for the June 3 election. 

In the latest reports filed with the California Secretary of State's office, 14th District Assembly-member Loni Hancock raised far more money in 2007 for Don Perata’s District 9 State Senate seat, but her opponent, former 16th District Assemblymember Wilma Chan, ended up with more cash on hand at the end of the year.  

The Hancock for Senate 2008 committee reported contributions of $500,506 last year ($270,850 for the last six months of 2007), while the Chan for State Senate committee reported $164,834 raised for the year and $88,441 in the last six months of 2007. But Chan’s committee had $526,641 on hand at the beginning of the year, while Hancock’s committee had $343,906. 

In the race for Hancock’s termed-out 14th Assembly seat, Berkeley physician Phil Polakoff led four candidates with $75,570 on hand at the end of 2007, followed by Richmond City Councilmember Tony Thurmond with $58,469 and Berkeley City Councilmember Kriss Worthing-ton with $48,625. No campaign committee for former Berkeley City Councilmember Nancy Skinner, who is expected to run for the 14th Assembly as well, was listed on the Secretary of State’s website. 

The Polakoff For Assembly committee raised $90,635 in 2007, all in the last six months of the year. The Tony Thurmond for Assembly committee raised $84,731 in 2007 ($46,731 in the last 6 months of the year), and the Friends Of Kriss Worthington committee listed $61,112 in contributions for 2007, all between September 24th and the end of the year. 

[The Daily Planet plans to provide information on individual donations to candidates in a follow-up story.] 

Meanwhile, in Alameda County Board of Supervisors races, incumbent District 5 Supervisor Keith Carson has filed for re-election, with no challengers taking out papers as of last Friday. Incumbent Nate Miley has taken out papers for re-election to his District 4 seat, along with potential challenger Berkeley activist Steve White. Area 2 Alameda County School Board incumbent Gay Plair Cobb has a potential challenger in author and Oakland Commission on Aging member Ernest L. Hardmon III. Sixteen candidates have taken out filing papers for the vacant Alameda County Superior Court Judge seat 9, while the 20 other seats have only one potential candidate apiece. 

Only two candidates have actually completed their filings with the Oakland City Clerk’s office for Oakland races--Ignacio De La Fuente for re-election to his 5th District City Council seat, and Oakland Residents for Peaceful Neighborhoods co-founder Charles Pine for the At-Large City Council seat currently occupied by Henry Chang. 

But with the filing deadline set for today (Friday) at 5 p.m., several other candidates have taken out preliminary filing papers for council and school board races in Oakland. They include: 

City Council At Large (Henry Chang, incumbent): AC Transit Board member Rebecca Kaplan, former AC Transit Board member Clinton Killian, incumbent Henry Chang, OUSD School Board member Kerry Hamill. 

City Council District 1 (Jane Brunner, incumbent): neighborhood public safety activist Patrick McCullough, incumbent Jane Brunner. 

City Council District 3 (Nancy Nadel, incumbent): incumbent Nancy Nadel, OUSD School Board member Gregory Hodge, Covenant House Director Sean Sullivan, and West Oakland residents Alan Brown and Africa Williams. 

City Council District 5 (Ignacio De La Fuente, incumbent): Realtor Mario Juarez, David Wofford (former aid to former District 5 Councilmember Wilson Riles), NCPC leader Beverly Blythe. 

City Council District 7 (Larry Reid, incumbent): Incumbent Larry Reid, neighborhood activist Clifford Gilmore. 

School Board District 1 (Kerry Hamill, incumbent): Parent activist Jody London, education philanthropist Brian Rogers, author Tennessee Reed. 

School Board District 3 (Gregory Hodge, incumbent): Education activist Jumoke Hinton-Hodge.  

School Board District 5 (Noel Gallo, incumbent): Incumbent Noel Gallo. 

School Board District 7 (Alice Spearman, incumbent): East Oakland resident Beverly Williams, East Oakland resident Doris Limbrick, incumbent Alice Spearman. 

Incumbent City Attorney John Russo has taken out filing papers for re-election. No challenger had taken out papers as of Wednesday. 

The Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) gave nods to three big projects last week, which propose to add a restaurant downtown, build a bio fuels station in South Berkeley and permit a child care center for Pixar employees in West Berkeley. 

Restaurant at 2130 Center St. 

Despite concerns regarding noise and parking from a few neighboring businesses and restaurants, ZAB approved Berkeley developer Patrick Kennedy’s request for a blanket use permit to establish a 13,974-square-foot full-service upscale restaurant and bar at the former location of the Act 1&2 Theatre. 

Kennedy has yet to name a tenant for the proposed project, which his firm, Panoramic Interests, said has potential for a Spanish or Latin restaurant with live entertainment. 

“We wanted to have the full-service restaurant necessary to attract a good reputable high end name to Berkeley,” said Niloo Nouri, who addressed the board on behalf of Kennedy. 

Nouri added that the restaurant would adhere to the city’s noise ordinance and that it was leaning more toward a “Spanish guitar type music” and not loud rock bands. 

The restaurant’s sidewalk seating would leave 10 feet of open space for the pedestrian right of way, in accordance with every other restaurant on the 2100 block of Center Street. 

Board members Sarah Shumer and Jesse Arreguin—who voted against the project—expressed concerns regarding approving a blanket use permit. 

“I am concerned about parking,” said Shumer. “If we have a large restaurant there, parking will be a problem.” 

“If we are not going to allow this type of a development, what use can we allow downtown?” asked board vice chair Bob Allen. “Do we want more of a ghost town than we have now? We are scratching for reasons not to develop the site. Bless us if we can have 14,000 square feet of restaurant full of people on this block.” 

The proposed restaurant, located close to UC Berkeley, Berkeley City College and a large number of downtown offices, will be able to sell alcohol independent of selling food. 

Future developments proposed for the 2100 block of Center Street include the Berkeley Charles Hotel and Convention Center and the Berkeley Art Museum and Film Archive.  

“I agree with Bob we need a more vibrant downtown but the lack of specificity concerns me,” said Arreguin.  

In a letter to the zoning board, Doug Hambleton, Berkeley police chief, expressed concern about the project’s blanket use permit, noise and supervision issues. 

BioFuels Oasis at 1441 Ashby Ave. 

ZAB approved a permit for the all-women cooperative BioFuels Oasis to operate a fueling station at 1441 Ashby Ave., the former site of Kandy’s Detail, a black-owned car wash business. 

Members of South Berkeley’s African American community have vociferously opposed the proposed project, contending that it shows the city’s planning department’s prejudice against blacks and the city’s lack of support for black-owned businesses. 

On Nov. 26, the zoning board had held a public hearing and had allowed two months for mediation between property owner Craig Hertz, BioFuels Oasis and Kandy Alford, owner of the car wash. 

According to ZAB, the mediation would “explore alternatives to the project that would allow Mr. Alford to continue operating at the site or to find another site for Mr. Alford.” 

According to a zoning staff report, Alford’s business has since then vacated the site. The report also states that Hertz had stated that “he was unwilling to engage in mediation with Mr. Alford.” 

At the last meeting, Hertz told the board that Kandy was six months behind on his rent and was facing eviction. 

“I hope the new business will thrive and become a part of the community,” said Arreguin. “This has been a very decisive hearing and I hope some of the wounds will be addressed.” 

A few members of the South Berkeley neighborhood said that they would challenge the approval in court as well as at the City Council. 

Pixar day care at 2600 Tenth St. 

ZAB approved a variance for a child care center for Disney Pixar employees at 2600 Tenth St.  

San Rafael-based Wareham Development proposes to convert 9,961 square feet of existing ground floor space at the Saul Zaentz Media Center—formally known as the Fantasy Records Building—at 2600 Tenth St. to serve the needs of up to 100 children whose parents work on-site or at Pixar.  

Wareham needs a variance for the proposed project since the city’s zoning ordinance specifically prohibits child care centers in the Mixed Use /Light Industrial (MULI) district.  

The MULI district’s prohibition of child care centers conflicts with the West Berkeley Plan, which allows day care centers as a conditional use in the Mixed Use/Light Industrial area, and the General Plan, which encourages improvement of the quality of life and private service availability for residents and workers.  

According to one of the findings, an employer-sponsored child care center would allow the multi-media center to effectively compete with larger and newer facilities in neighboring cities. 

The zoning staff report also stated that the facility would attract other businesses and improve the economic growth of the city. 

A San Leandro man was fatally shot Monday night on California Street, just seven blocks north of the scene of another murder eight days earlier. 

Ceron Burns, 25, was gunned down as he stood outside near Rosewood Manor apartments at 1615 Russell St. 

Seven blocks to the south, Brandon Terrell Jones was shot down on Harmon Street near the corner of California on Feb. 24, just 18 minutes less than eight days before the Burns shooting. That murder remains unsolved, and Berkeley police are offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer. 

The city’s emergency switchboard logged the first of several calls reporting the shooting at 11:32 p.m., according to Berkeley police spokesperson Sgt. Mary Kusmiss. 

Arriving at the apartment building, officers found Burns lying beside a parked car, bleeding from several gunshot wounds. 

Berkeley Fire Department paramedics rushed the injured man to the Highland Hospital Trauma Center, where doctors pronounced him dead at 12:04 a.m. 

Sgt. Kusmiss asked anyone with information about either murder to call the BPD Homicide Detail at 981-5741, or the department’s non-emergency line at 981-5900. 

Burns’s death marks the city’s fourth homicide of the year.  

Kent Washington Evans died Jan. 13, 12 days after he was stabbed outside a bar at 3212 Adeline St. Police arrested a suspect in that incident, Roy Smith Jr., 71, of Oakland. 

The stabbing followed a confrontation between the two after Smith allegedly insulted a woman who had accompanied Evans to the bar. 

Police have listed those three deaths as murders, but not the year’s fourth fatality, Anita Gay, who was shot by a Berkeley police officer outside her apartment in the 1700 block of Ward Street Feb. 16. Police said the woman was shot in the back after she approached relatives with a large kitchen knife.  

Conflicting reports about the shooting have led to an investigation by the Berkeley Police Review Commission. The incident is also being reviewed by the BPD’s Homicide and Internal Affairs units and by the Alameda County District Attorney’s office.

Registered Nurses at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center have voted to call for a 10-day strike, along with nurses at 10 other Sutter Health facilities. 

The ongoing struggle between the California Nurses Association (CNA) and Sutter, which has already brought two short walkouts to Berkeley’s only hospitals could now be headed to a full-fledged strike. 

Meanwhile, labor talks have opened with another major Berkeley employer, the University of California. 

Bargaining talks began in Berkeley Thursday between the university and members of the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE), which represents 10,000 researchers and technicians in the UC system. 

CNA has called two previous two-day walkouts at Sutter hospitals since its last major strike, leading to five-day lockouts by the Sacamento-based hospital chain. 

The vote at Alta Bates followed similar votes at California Pacific Medical Center and Sutter Solano, with votes held during the remainder of the week at the remainder of the 11 Bay Area Sutter facilities employing 5,000 CNA members. 

Among the issues in dispute are changes in healthcare benefits and costs for current employees, retirees and patient care issues. 

No date was announced for the walkout, which must be preceded by a 10-day notice to the hospitals. 

Tanya Smith, a UC Berkeley editor and president of union Local 1, said the issues for her members are fair pay and stronger benefits protections. 

Jelger Kalmjin, the union’s national president, said wages for UC members have fallen more then 10 percent behind the Consumer Price Index during over past 15 years.

The San Francisco Bay Guardian won a $15.6 million judgment Wednesday against the San Francisco Weekly and its parent company, the 16-paper Village Voice Media, for predatory business practices—but the Guardian’s not counting the big bills yet, says Executive Editor Tim Redmond.  

The question could be tied up in appeals for four years or more, Redmond told the Planet in a phone interview Thursday. 

However, Redmond said he believes that in a couple of weeks, the Bay Guardian will be able to go back to court to ask Superior Court Judge Marla Miller for an injunction against the Weekly’s practice of selling advertising below cost, a practice already established by the courts. 

“We don’t mind competition,” Redmond said. “But they’ve got to play fair.” 

All the 12 jurors agreed that the Weekly deliberately undercut Bay Guardian advertising rates, Redmond said. Bay Guardian attorneys showed that the paper lost money every year since the chain bought it in 1995, losses mounting to $25 million, according to Redmond. 

Eleven of the 12 jurors agreed that the practice was a deliberate attempt to injure the Bay Guardian to the extent that it would be put out of business, Redmond said. 

Stephen Buel, editor and co-owner of The East Bay Express—bought from New Times (now Village Voice Media)—said he was “very surprised that they won, and that they won this big.” He said he had followed a similar case in Arkansas where the plaintiff had lost.  

Buel said that when he and his partners had bought the Express from New Times, the advertising rates had been extremely low. “We had to adjust to get on sound economic footing,” Buel said. 

He wondered how the BG had been able to show solidly that the Weekly’s intent was to hurt the BG, since the low advertising rates hurt all the competitors, including the Express.  

Buel clarified that that the corporation that currently owns his newspaper was not a party in the lawsuit. One of the named defendants on the losing side was “East Bay Express Publishing LP,” a holding company which had been controlled by Village Voice Media. 

The decision should be seen as a victory not only for the BG, but for all small businesses facing large chains that come into town with huge resources used to undercut them, Redmond told the Planet. 

Lowering costs to lower prices is legal, but “you cannot use all your resources you have against a less-funded competitor, with the intent to harm the competitor,” Redmond said. 

The Weekly wasn’t shy about responding to the decision. In its on-line column, the Snitch columnist wrote: 

“Like Ralph Nader, (Bay Guardian publisher) Bruce Brugmann is out of touch with reality. Feigning obliviousness to the Internet, the dot-com bust, 9/11, the Bush economy—and the $330 million lost by the San Francisco Chronicle to these very factors—Brugmann insisted in court that only SF Weekly threatened his wallet.”

The menace of layoffs at Bay Area News Group [BANG] newspapers—which now include the Contra Costa Times, the West County Times, the Berkeley Voice, the East Bay Daily News and the Oakland Tribune, among others—has passed for the moment. 

A sufficient number of BANG employees accepted buyouts for management to say that no layoffs would be necessary at this time. 

At around 2 p.m. Thursday, BANG staff got an e-mail from management saying it would accept buyouts from the 107 individuals who had applied. “It doesn’t look like we’re having layoffs right now,” Karl Fisher, West County Times police reporter, told the Planet on Thursday. The buyouts “affect every division and management,” he said. 

Fisher said while he doesn’t know the numbers of cuts in editorial staff, he thinks the buyouts will reduce BANG staffing by about 10 percent.  

Some people taking the buyouts are in key reporting positions, Fisher said, noting there will be shifts in newsroom staffing: “This will have a major effect on how we cover local news,” he said. 

Sara Steffens, a regional reporter at the Walnut Creek newspaper, spoke to the Planet by phone Thursday just minutes before news of the buyouts went out to reporters.  

“It’s been hard on us,” she said. “None of us got into this profession because of money. We are all afraid of what is going to happen in the newsroom. There’s a lot of uncertainty.” 

Over at the Oakland Tribune, Josh Richman, Tribune reporter for a decade and active with the Newspaper Guild, said Wednesday that the Tribune newsroom is already “cut to the bone.”  

He said he feared what would happen to the quality of news coverage after the cuts. 

Newsroom reductions will be devastating to the newspaper consumer, said Linda Jue, president of the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists in a written statement. 

"We aren't simply talking about saving jobs,” she said. “We're talking about how business decisions are narrowing the choices reporters and editors make about which stories to pursue. This is of special concern during an election year, when keeping the public informed about fast-changing economic, political and social issues is essential to the democratic process."  

Meanwhile, there is a union organizing drive going on at the various BANG papers. The Alameda Newspaper Group, the previous owner of the Oakland Tribune, had been affiliated with the Newspaper Guild, but, in 2006, when MediaNews purchased the papers, it decertified the union, saying that the majority of employees—those at the Contra Costa Times papers—were not unionized. 

Walnut Creek reporter Steffens, the mother of a 19-month old, covers a social service beat. “It’s sort of ironic,” she said, explaining that she covered the downturn in the mortgage industry and the layoffs there. 

West County Times’ Fisher and Steffens are active in rallying fellow reporters to sign cards for a “card check,” which entitles workers to unionize by signing cards. (The employer must agree to unionization by cardcheck.)  

“We’re feeling good about the way it’s going. We’ve been gathering support,” Steffens said, noting that after the mid-February announcement of the buyouts and possible layoffs, they put organizing efforts temporarily on hold. 

“People are starting to see why we have to stand up for each other,” Steffens said. “We want to be a voice for quality, for everything that brought us to the profession. It’s such a tough time in the industry.” 

Calls to BANG publisher John Armstrong were not returned before deadline. In a written statement, quoted in Editor and Publisher Feb. 19, Armstrong laid out the reason for asking staff for the buyouts.  

"Almost without exception, real estate forecasters believe the Bay Area will be saddled with a housing slump for 12 to 18 months, and talk of a recession is now commonplace. We have concluded we must reduce our operating expenses quickly, and we cannot get where we need to be without reducing the size of the workforce." 

In his e-mail statement to staff on Thursday, Armstrong wrote: “While I recognize that uncertainty during the buyout period caused anxiety, it pleases me to report that participation in the program was so widespread that we can avoid involuntary layoffs at this time. Given the uncertainties of the marketplace, I cannot make guarantees for the future.  

“These job eliminations through voluntary buyouts no doubt will require shuffling and sharing of work and may result in new assignments and work locations for some employees. We hope all of you will understand and be flexible.

A San Francisco jury found the San Francisco Weekly and its corporate parent guilty Wednesday of illegal predatory pricing and awarded us $6.39 million. 

Under state law, part of that verdict is subject to treble damages, bringing the total award to $15.6 million. 

The battle isn’t over; Rod Kerr, attorney for the Weekly, told me immediately afterward that the 16-paper chain intends to appeal. 

But the verdict sends a clear signal to small businesses, independent newspapers and the alternative press that a locally owned publication has the right to a level playing field and that a chain can’t intentionally cut prices and sell below cost to injure a smaller competitor. 

The trial had been underway for more than five weeks. The Guardian charged the Weekly with violating the state’s Unfair Practices Act, a Progressive-era law that bars a company from selling a product below cost for the purpose of destroying competition. 

Evidence produced in the trial showed clearly that the Weekly had been selling ads below cost. In fact, the paper had lost money every year since the New Times chain, now known as Village Voice Media, bought it in 1995. 

The Guardian produced extensive evidence that the Weekly and VVM were trying to injury the local competitor, including three witnesses who testified that the heard Mike Lacey, one of the two principals of New Times, vow to put the Guardian out of business. 

The evidence produced also showed numerous internal e-mails discussing the Weekly’s battle plans to take ads away from the Guardian. 

The Weekly’s lawyers ultimately admitted to below-cost sales, but said they had no intent to harm a competitor. However, members of the jury interviewed after the case believed otherwise. 

Kerstin Sjoquist, a local business owner and graduate student, said in an interview that “it felt overly predatory on the part of the Weekly” and that “the predatory intent trickled down from the top.” 

Juror Dan Babin said he found the testimony of the Guardian’s co-owners “very, very trustworthy. I found them very honest in their approach.” 

A juror who didn’t want to be named said there was little disagreement among the panel members over the question of intent. 

By all accounts, the jurors carefully weighed all the evidence in the case, deliberating for more than three days and going through what one juror described as “unraveling an onion.” 

In the end, there was unanimous agreement that the Weekly had sold below cost, and 11 or the 12 jurors agreed that the paper had intended to harm competition. 

The jury ruled that New Times/VVM and the East Bay Express, which until recently was owned by VVM, were equally culpable in aiding the predatory sales. 

The Express is now an independent paper, and VVM is liable for any damages assessed against that publication. 

The jury foreperson handed the verdict to the court bailiff at 12:30 p.m., and the clerk read the results to a packed and silent courtoom. As the various parts of the verdict were read, and it became obvious that the Weekly and VVM were liable for significant damages, Lacey could be heard mumbling “shit” over and over again. 

Lacey would not comment outside the courtroom and didn’t return our phone calls. But Kerr, in a brief interview, said he was “disappointed” with the jury decision. “We don’t believe the evidence supported the verdict,” he said, and vowed to file an appeal. 

The Guardian will now ask Judge Marla Miller to issue an injunction barring the Weekly from continued below-cost sales. 

VVM posted a lengthy statement on the web almost immediately after the verdict was announced, arguing that the Unfair Practices Act is flawed. The chain promised to seek to challenge the validity of that law on appeal. 

The process of appealing a case such as this can take years. But in the meantime, a San Francisco jury has sent a powerful message: Local businesses and local independent media matter—and big chains that try to use their deep pockets to squeeze the locals can be held to account.

The Berkeley Unified School district will be sending out possible layoff notices to its certified staff by March 15 in the face of the proposed $4.6 billion state education budget cut crisis, district officials confirmed Monday. 

At a special meeting Monday, the Berkeley Board of Education discussed the criteria for determining order of seniority for employees with the same first date of paid probationary service. It will determine whether to approve it Wednesday. 

“The notices that will be sent out by mid-March is not the final list,” said school board President John Selawsky. “We notify more people than who are going to be laid off.” 

Final layoff notices are expected to be sent out around the first week of May. 

“The district is confronted with budgetary problems that reduce its ability to provide the same type of services at the same level and in the same manner as provided in previous years,” Lisa Udell, assistant superintendent, human resources, said in a report to the board. “The board has the authority to determine the order of seniority.” 

The state Education Code mandates that the district retain certain positions, including those with credentials pertaining to Bilingual Cross-cultural Language and Academic Development, Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English and the number of advanced degrees held. 

Special education and single subject credentialed teachers—including those teaching math and science—will be retained in the 2008-2009 school year regardless of their seniority, Selawsky said. 

“It’s very difficult to fill some of these positions ... Subjects such as math and science are unique,” he said. “Teachers with multiple subject credentials who have taught for only two to three years are probably going to be noticed.” 

The board will vote Wednesday to approve a resolution to reduce particular kinds of services and to initiate the layoff process for affected certified employees. 

According to the resolution, the “district will no longer employ all current temporary and substitute employees after June 30, 2008.” 

Berkeley Unified Protests In Sacramento  

At a meeting with the California School Board Association (CSBA) in Sacramento last week, district superintendent Bill Huyett said that he wanted to minimize lay-offs as much as possible. 

A group of 20 district officials, principals, parents and a Berkeley High School student protested the governors proposed budget cuts at meetings with state officials and Assemblymember Loni Hancock during their trip to the state capital. 

Berkeley Unified—which has 9,000 students—could lose $5 million from the cuts. 

“We want to be effective and ask the legislature to save Prop. 98,” Huyett told Hancock.  

Prop 98 is a voter-approved statute that establishes a minimum level of funding for California schools—which the governor proposes to suspend.  

“The legislature has to look at all of our options, including new revenues or taxes that will substantially address state priorities,” Hancock, one of the five assembly members to vote against the proposed cuts, said. “Something has to give if we want to avoid Draconian cuts to our schools and social services.” 

Rick Pratt, CSBA’s assistant executive director, described the cuts as “the worst crisis to have hit public education in years.” 

County superintendent Sheila Jordan told Pratt that 15 of the 18 school districts in Alameda County faced negative certification if the cuts were approved. 

“Right now we have only one negative certification,” she said. 

Pratt said that the alternative proposal by the governor’s legislative analyst to his proposed across the board 10 percent cut would still lead to cuts and suspension of Prop 98. 

“However it might help to change the nature of conversation across the street,” he said. “But CSBA thinks that revenue increases is part of the solution. Right now the districts need to identify what kind of cuts would be the least harmful. The reality is no cuts are acceptable to us.” 

“Fight, fight, fight and contact your legislator,” said Karen Stapf-Walters, assistant executive director for the Association of California School Administrators. “We are under assault. We are always fighting for survival but this time the number is really big.” 

She added that writing letters to the local media and encouraging school districts to adopt resolutions to protest the cuts was a good way to send a message to the legislators. 

“Loni Hancock and Don Perata are both being timed out,” she said. “We don’t have any friends in the legislature. They will stab us in the back in a heartbeat ... When push comes to shove and they have to cut, they will cut in the dead of the night.” 

Mark Van Krieken, president of the Berkeley High Parent Teacher Student Council, pointed out that Education Week recently gave California a D+ for public school funding efforts. 

According to county officials, the state—which currently spends $2,000 less per student than the national average and ranks 46th nationally in school funding—ranks behind less prosperous states such as Louisiana and Mississippi.  

More than 50 seniors, parents with toddlers and teenage moms crammed inside a Berkeley Unified School District conference room Tuesday to voice their support for the LifeLong Health Center at 2031 Sixth St. 

The district is weighing options to surplus the Sixth Street property—which houses LifeLong’s West Berkeley Family Practice Center. The district lent the city the site in exchange for use of the Old City Hall Building at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way under a 20-year lease agreement that expires in 2009. 

The city then subleased the Sixth Street property to LifeLong, which provides low-cost medical services to the uninsured and the sick. Now, with the city hall lease about to expire and the district administration moving to West Campus, the Sixth Street property is about to revert back to school district ownership. For LifeLong to remain at the site, the school board must declare the site not needed for school use. 

The district, which has never used the site for teaching, has said that “the enrollment patterns and existing school buildings” indicate that the Sixth Street facility does not have to be used as a public school. 

“For LifeLong to go on a long-term lease, Berkeley Unified has to deem the property surplus,” said John Selawsky, school board president. 

Robert Jackson, chair of the Sixth Street Surplus Committee, said, “The board should ensure, to the greatest extent possible, that LifeLong Medical Care’s community health center facilities be retained at the site and that its historic landmark status be preserved and enhanced,” he said. 

The committee also recommended that the district work with the city to sell or lease the property for less than “fair market value.” 

“It’s essential to keep LifeLong as it is,” said Bruce Dixon, who has lived in Berkeley since 1980. “I work for a local painting contractor and I don’t get health insurance ... I really depend on the people there for my health care.” 

The City of Berkeley subsidized the clinic’s current lease payments and building maintenance in recognition of the services provided to the community and its non-profit status. 

The committee has recommended that adjusting the current lease payments to market-rate levels—“which would reflect the ‘highest and best use’ of the property in real estate terms—would prove incompatible with the clinic’s operations. 

Councilmembers Darryl Moore, Max Anderson, Kriss Worthington and Gordon Wozniak also spoke in favor of retaining the clinic. 

“Couple of months ago I took a tour of Lifelong and was very impressed,” Wozniak said to applause. “I will work with Berkeley Unified and the City Council to keep this vital service here.” 

Immigrant families and day-laborers without MediCal or Medicare thanked doctors at LifeLong. The clinic, one of the few community medical centers in the city,treated about 2,300 patients a month last year, according to staff. 

“We are using every inch of that space,” said Dr. Amy Gordon, who works at the family practice clinic. “We now have weight loss groups, smokeless groups and acupuncture ... We are also providing books to six-month-olds.” 

Julie Sinai, chief of staff to Mayor Tom Bates, spoke of the need for such a clinic in the otherwise underserved area of West Berkeley. 

“The stability of the family practice center is very important,” she said. “Healthy kids and healthy moms, dads and grandparents make for a healthy school system.” 

What venerable UC Berkeley tradition, having fallen onto hard times, has its fans hoping that it’s on the verge of a comeback? 

The likeliest answer is of course Cal football. 

Since last October, however, the question has had a less predictable but perhaps equally plausible reply: the Cal song tradition. 

What’s that, you ask? 

From the 1890s until the 1940s, Berkeley students—not just members of organized performing groups, but Berkeley students at large—knew a sizable repertoire of distinctively Cal songs and sang those songs at all manner of occasions: at athletic events, class gatherings, university events and any time they pleased. 

During World War II, many male students were in the armed forces and many students had come to Cal from other schools. Worried about a falling-off of school spirit, President Robert Gordon Sproul, himself a former Cal Band drum major, commissioned the Glee Club and Treble Clef director, Roschelle Paul, to create a portable song book. Songs of California, edited by Ms. Paul and Professor of Music Albert I. Elkus, appeared in 1944. The book guided noontime student singing by the Campanile and later on Faculty Glade. 

In the 1960s the song tradition, like many other campus traditions, waned. The repertoire was regularly performed by the Cal Band, along with the Glee Club, Treble Clef and other student singing groups. But your typical student no longer knew how to sing most of these songs or was even aware of their existence. 

Now a new era of campus vocal literacy may be about to dawn, thanks to the publication of a new edition of the Cal song book, Songs of California: The U.C. Berkeley Tradition. Published by the Class of 1957 and compiled by the Cal Song Book Committee under the leadership of attorney and Kensington resident John Vlahos ’57, Songs of California brings together in a handsome format twenty-one pieces. 

Each song is accompanied by a brief account of its origins, which in some cases lie outside California and collegiate culture—and its career at Berkeley, as well as an evocative photograph or other illustration. “California, We’re For You” (1919) is prefaced by the most intriguing photo in the book, which shows the 1921 Senior Women’s Pilgrimage: young women garbed in floaty, calf-length white dresses and holding white parasols parade against a backdrop of trees, while in the foreground Cal bandsmen march off in another direction. 

But the bulk of the illustrations depict sporting events and associated activities. That’s because the major inspiration for most of the songs was school athletics—above all support for Cal athletes competing against their Stanford rivals. Some of these tunes will be immediately recognizable to anyone who has attended, watched or listened to Cal football or basketball games, because they are regularly played by the Cal Band. “’Big C” is traditionally the first song the band plays at football games as it marches onto the field; “Fight for California” is struck up after every Cal score. 

Others are far less familiar. The newest song is “California Triumph,” its music written in 2004 by a four-year Cal Band trombone player, Hiro Hiraiwa, and its lyrics written in 2005 by fifth-year percussion player Aaron Alcala-Mosley. 

One piece, California Indian Song,” is still played by the band but no longer sung—at least not at official events—due to its lyrics’ politically incorrect references to scalping and tomahawks. Song book editor Vlahos says that the decision to include even the score came after much debate. Vlahos wanted to include the music and the lyrics. “This is history,” he says. “It may have been wrong, but that’s what it was.” Other members of the Cal Song Book Committee wanted to cut the song entirely. “Nuts to that,” says Vlahos. “The band still plays the music.” The compromise was to print the score but not the words. 

The song book also reflects another new attitude: a critical approach to the student consumption of alcohol. The University insisted that “California (The Drinking Song)” be prefaced by a substantial disclaimer that emphasized the “historical” character of the piece, marked the school’s “multiple efforts to shift the college drinking culture and address problems as serious issues rather than as a harmless ‘rite of passage,’ ” and noted that neither UC, the alumni association nor the class of 1957 “intends that publication [of the song] condones the improper use of alcohol.” A glance at the lyrics, which, unlike the words to the “California Indian Song,” made it into the song book, indicates why the UC administration would want to clarify its policies. “The Drinking Song” is about getting plastered (“One keg o’beer for the four of us”). The irony, says Vlahos, is that “if there is one song that is known today and still sung, it’s that song.” 

If Vlahos gets his wish, that will change. He hopes the new song book will be “the inspiration for young people” at Cal to sing. To that end, he’d like all student living groups to receive copies and singing instruction. Recent observation suggests that the book should be made available at athletic events as well. At the February 23 game at Haas Pavilion between the Cal and Stanford women’s basketball teams, with over 10,500 people in attendance, the crowd seemed to know only one line of “Big ‘C’”: “Gr-rr-rah, Gr-rr-rah Gr-rr,__rr-rah!” 

Songs of California is the work of many hands. Vlahos gives special credit to Class of 1957 President John Edginton, who provided legal and technical expertise, taking the lead in securing financial support from the Class of 1957. The Class Council donated about $38,000 toward the publication of the song book—$8,000 from the class treasury, which has since been repaid, and $30,000 in special fundraising from the class. 

But the chief impetus for the project came from Vlahos. The new edition was his idea—no surprise, perhaps, considering how Cal athletics and vocal music have both played a central role in his own life. Since the mid-Sixties, Vlahos has called Cal football games in the press box. He’s also president of the Lamplighters Musical Theatre, which he joined in 1963. He started working on the song book in 1992, dropped it due to other commitments, and then “got cracking again” in late 2005, determined to have the book ready for the Class of 1957’s fiftieth reunion. He made his deadline. 

Songs of California can be purchased for $20, including tax, from the California Alumni Association.

Collecting one’s thoughts from time to time is a good idea. Thus I welcome the opportunity of being asked to speak today to a class at the University of California law school formerly known as Boalt Hall, billed as a Workshop on Development and the Environment. This semester’s focus is on downtown Berkeley. The speaker list includes several from the Downtown Area Planning and Advisory Committee (DAPAC), the mayor, developer Patrick Kennedy (twice), and jazz club proprietor Anna De Leon, one of his dissatisfied tenants. (She’s also an attorney who recently won a suit on behalf of citizen clients against the city of Berkeley for letting Kennedy play fast and loose with the conditions on his use permit.) A mixed bag, in other words, and what could I add to the mix?  

My interest in downtown has waxed and waned, but mostly waned, in the 50 or so years since I moved here for the first time. As an undergraduate, I lived in various old buildings: in one room of a brown shingle on Channing near Telegraph, in a shared flat on Blake near Shattuck, and in a shared apartment at Blake and Ellsworth. They were all on the south side of campus, where the self-conscious intellectuals clustered.  

My day-to-day needs were amply served on Telegraph, where there was a Lucky supermarket in the building which now houses Amoeba records, a laundramat, a drugstore and an all-purpose “dime” variety store near campus. We had one coffeehouse, Piccolo, later succeeded by the Med, and a few cheap ethnic restaurants, including Mario’s La Fiesta, which is still around. There were bookstores on Bancroft, mainly texts. No liquor could be sold within a mile of campus, so I seldom drank except at parties. In the unlikely event that I needed to buy consumer goods, there was a small department store on Shattuck staffed by older ladies with blue-rinsed grey hair and bifocals—I remember going there only two or three times. 

I didn’t have a car, since undergraduates were not permitted by the university to have cars (imagine that). Once in a blue moon I took the F bus from downtown to San Francisco, and for entertainment I sometimes went to the KPFA studio on Shattuck for its live folk music broadcast on Saturday nights.  

I got married and, not long after graduating, moved to Ann Arbor where my husband went to graduate school. We lived there 12 years, always in the center of town, much of the time without a car since we could easily walk to downtown or to the University of Michigan campus for work. All three of our children were born there, and two started elementary grades at the neighborhood school, an easy walk from our house even for an unaccompanied kindergartner.  

When we moved back to Berkeley in 1973 we traded, almost even, a seedy former rooming house on a busy street in Ann Arbor for a much larger and nicer house, though also on a main thoroughfare, on Ashby. The trailing edge of Berkeley’s exciting ’60s had depressed property values to our advantage. We were still able to walk to many of the places we needed to go, though the children were bussed to more distant schools as part of Berkeley’s racial integration plan.  

My husband rode his bike to campus, and the computer revolution was starting to make it possible for me to work at home as a journalist. When I needed to go to The City, the E bus ran frequently near our house. 

Again, we seldom went to downtown Berkeley, because even then it offered nothing that wasn’t available closer to home on College Avenue, where there were two drug stores, a hardware store, a variety store and more. For books we could walk up to Telegraph, where Moe’s and Cody’s were in full flower. 

When we started our software company in the ’80s, we found cheap rent and a ready supply of programmers on Telegraph, upstairs in the building which now houses Rasputin Records. We could walk to work, and the children, now in high school and junior high, could take AC Transit to school and come to our office afterwards to do their homework. We still didn’t go downtown much, except to J.C. Penney’s for clothes. Hink’s, the old-line department store, had closed. 

And The Malling of America (the title of a seminal 1985 book) was well underway. The small Lucky’s with no parking lot on Telegraph had closed, edged out by the new Park and Shop a few blocks south. Most of our family food purchases were now at what seemed like a much grander Lucky’s on College in Oakland, in the area where the Rockridge BART station had created a growth magnet, and we went in the car because there was a nice large parking lot. For clothes and hardware, the Sears store around 25th and Telegraph in Oakland offered ample parking for big shopping trips.  

There still wasn’t much reason to go downtown in Berkeley. Eventually Penney’s moved on, replaced by Ross Dress for Less, offering cheap clothes but not much else. Ross’s downscale management even closed the restrooms when they took over Penney’s building, the last straw in making family shopping downtown unpleasant if not impossible. 

After the 1989 earthquake we moved our software company from the unreinforced masonry Telegraph building to a former factory in West Berkeley with a nice parking lot and pretty much forgot about downtown. But eventually the political powers-that-were managed to command our attention in the mid ’90s with a series of dumb moves that focused our attention on downtown Berkeley by awakening our consciences as lifelong civil libertarians.  

We still have in our garage a big sign that says “Assemblyman Bates supports Measures N and O,” filched from an Ashby telephone pole. These measures on the Berkeley ballot, quickly dubbed “the Poor Laws,” criminalized peaceful solicitation of money and sitting or lying on sidewalks.  

Attorney Harry Bremond of Wilson, Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a Palo Alto law firm that served as ACLU cooperating counsel in the lawsuit that eventually got the Poor Laws overturned, described what was going on: “As our economic problems refuse to abate, and the numbers of poor continue to rise, more and more cities are passing laws which criminalize poverty by punishing people simply for doing the things they have to do in order to survive.” Downtown Berkeley was continuing its downhill spiral, and the poor were convenient scapegoats.  

They still are. Bates, now Berkeley’s mayor, tried the same ploy again recently with his Orwellian “Public Commons for Everyone Initiative.” And it still won’t make Downtown Berkeley work.  

And what, it’s fair to ask, does all of this personal history have to do with a Workshop on Development and the Environment and its affects downtown? Just this often-cited observation by philosopher George Santayana: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  

It’s been a half-century since Downtown Berkeley (like many other downtowns) has had any relevance as a commercial center for most of the population. It’s tempting to think better transit would fix everything, but we had better transit 20 years ago than we do now, and downtown didn’t work then. Auto dominance has only increased. 

It’s easy to blame the homeless, but it’s wrong. Getting rid of beggars won’t fix anything—they weren’t there when we moved back to Berkeley in 1973, but downtown was already irrelevant.  

Times have changed in many different ways, and this means solutions must be multi-faceted, not simplistic. That’s what the law students will have to chew on in their workshop. Maybe a little personal history will help. 

There are people who can’t tell the difference between red wine and white wine if they close their eyes. Some can’t tell a pansy from a petunia. If you ask some others (perhaps mostly men) to get a blue towel off a shelf, they won’t be able to decide which is the green one and which is the blue one—and they certainly can’t distinguish between chartreuse and turquoise. Many people think Debussy and Mantovani sound pretty much alike. Half the world, perhaps, would say confidently that Andrea Bocelli is as good as Placido Domingo. And they’d be wrong. 

I myself confuse whole genres of post-1965 pop music, and often can’t tell one band from another. All movie stars from about 1985 on look alike to me. But I’m not proud of it. 

Having a virtual tin ear seems to be viewed as a mark of distinction in some political circles, however. There are those—many of them in Northern California or New York City—who have been so coddled by living in areas represented overwhelmingly by liberal Democrats that they imagine Democrats and Republicans to be almost alike. Such tone-deaf individuals should be sentenced to six months in Indiana or rural Michigan or even Arkansas if they really think they can’t tell the two major parties apart. 

It would be an eye-opening trip. And they should take Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzales along with them for the experience.  

I went to bed last night fully expecting to lambast poor old Ralph today for his transparently stupid (yes, and egotistical too) crusade to become the Harold Stassen of the left, but I made the mistake of taking my new Nation to bed with me. If anyone wants to see Nader well and truly skewered, they should check out Katha Pollitt’s column on him in that magazine: a virtuoso performance by a true artist that I can’t hope to compete with.  

So I’ll just concentrate on Matt Gonzalez, who’s so obscure he’s beneath Katha’s radar. Last week a friend sent me an opus which Gonzalez had crafted which purported to expose the real Barack Obama. The bottom line: “The principal conclusion I draw about ‘change’ and Barack Obama is that Obama needs to change his voting habits and stop pandering to win votes. If he does this he might someday make a decent candidate who could earn my support.” Well, whoop-de-do.  

This just in: Winning votes is what government’s all about. This includes winning votes in primaries, general elections and in legislatures. If a bolt of lightning struck down all other candidates and Ralph Nader was only one left standing and became president, it wouldn’t make a dime’s worth of difference if he couldn’t win votes in the Senate and Congress for his oh-so-pure political positions. But of course he’d have Matt Gonzalez’s vote. 

The reason Matt Gonzalez is not mayor of San Francisco today is that he wasn’t willing to do what it took to earn enough votes. And rather than facing this reality and trying again, he took his marbles and went home. Like Achilles in the Trojan War, he preferred to sulk in his tent rather than enter the fray by running again. And now he’s back on the field, but in a sham battle where he’s guaranteed to lose everything but his political virginity. 

His “arguments” against Obama, which he disingenuously suckered BeyondChron.org into publishing the day before announcing his own candidacy, are thin at best, based on characterizing this or that Obama vote as “wrong” without giving the whole background. They’re like the arguments a lawyer might make in court where his job is to represent one and only one side in a contest.  

In the real world outside a courtroom everything’s not black or white (even Barack Obama). Shades of grey (or brown) are much more prevalent. The only Gonzalez charge which had a bit of traction with me was Obama’s reported support of the smarmy and odious Joe Lieberman in Connecticut, but I bet there’s more to the story even there. 

And that’s really not the point. We’ve all learned since 2000, if we didn’t know it before, that a determined Republican president embodying all the horrifying Republican ideological baggage can wreak havoc which even the most venal of Democrats never dreamed of. For all the mistakes that the Clintons and their New Democrat cohorts made, they didn’t concoct the Patriot Act. They didn’t imprison thousands of people at Guantanamo without habeas corpus. They’ve generally defended abortion rights, and mostly supported some sort of affirmative action. Most of them are now going for some kind of government-sponsored health care, even if it’s too little too late. 

Are they all we’d like them to be? No, of course not. But saying that you can’t tell the difference between Democrats and Republicans, or that it won’t make any difference if John McCain is the next president instead of Clinton or Obama, is just plain silly. The laws of probability haven’t been repealed—it’s highly and demonstrably probable that another Republican president will make things even worse than they already are. 

There are at least three kinds of voters, and maybe more. People are supposed to vote for the person they think could do the job best, and many do this. Others, a bit more sophisticated, vote for the person who could do a good or at least adequate job, AND has a chance of winning.  

As I used to tell programmers who worked for me, the best is the enemy of the good. If you hold out for perfection, you’ll never finish any job. Often second-best is better. 

The worst kind of voter is the one who regards voting as a sacramental act or a form of self-expression. They devote all of their energy to trying to figure out which candidate represents the real “me.” Each vote is a new and intriguing experiment for these people.  

Such experiments are like dropping a brick and wondering whether or not it will float away in the air. Guess what—much of the time when you drop a brick it will land on your foot, and until the law of gravity is repealed it will always go down, not up.  

If too many people vote for Republicans, things are bound to get worse. If enough of them vote for a Democrat, things just might get a bit better.  

CESAR CHAVEZ PARK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I want to add my voice to those of Berkeley residents who find the slight development at the top of Cesar Chavez Park a great addition to our city. I frequently walk there at sunset (without a dog), and love the sense of wonder and beauty that I feel by following the stone prompts. Standing at the center of the installation and watching the sunset (or, in fact, the spinning of the earth) is beautiful to me.  

I am less interested in the political history (although I respect Mr. Chavez), but quite inspired by being reminded of the relationship of our planet to our solar system and beyond. I always feel uplifted and ‘bigger’ afterwards, less bogged down in my own petty fears. I am pleased and proud that the City of Berkeley made the decision to support this development. In addition, the informal and informative gatherings during solstices and equinoxes are a very welcome community-growing activity. I love the park, and look forward to future, carefully planned development there. 

James Shallenberger 

• 

SIN OF OMISSION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Isn’t it quite bizarre that your most “progressive and informative” paper has so conveniently held back on reporting what was dubbed as: the “secretive” deal between UC Berkeley and Saudi-Arabia, to open a graduate university in that country? 

Isn’t it a shame that we have to learn about some events in the city of Berkeley only through some local newspaper (East Bay Daily News) in ... Oakland? 

And finally, is it not disgraceful that some news items are purposefully omitted because of some strong lobbyists who find that the truth does not serve their interests and therefore, use their clout to silence them? 

Apparently, this deal has sparked a most heated debate around the issue of investing in an institution in a country which is repressive and discriminatory against women, sexual “minorities,” other religions, etc. What’s worse is that UC Berkeley’s staff (administrators, etc.) have declined interviews on the issue! 

Shame on all collaborators in covering up/hiding the truth from us! 

Avi Klammer 

Oakland 

• 

DOWNTOWN PLAN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As you already know, the Berkeley Planning Commission’s “Downtown Area Plan” involves redevelopment of Downtown Berkeley, and early projections include several thousand square feet for housing units and businesses/industry. However, relatively little consideration has been given to parking issues that would no doubt ensue. The greatest consideration I am aware of is a plan for building a parking structure(s) in downtown Berkeley but I have doubts as to whether just one or a few parking structures could accommodate the probable increase in the need for parking. Additionally, it is unknown when or even if the parking structure will be built (which will be at the city’s discretion). 

Another issue of concern is the transportation complications that would likely result from the Downtown Plan. Even though transportation planning is a very basic and significant part of a number of planning agencies, the Commission shows little consideration for it beyond claims of encouraging mass transit and discouraging use of private transport. While both are potentially viable solutions in terms of transport planning, there has been no real mention of how they would actually be enacted. Also, even within the context of more recent commission meetings relatively little discussion has been done in regards to future transportation parameters. 

Urban planner John M. Levy saw transportation planning on a large scale as a sequential process of multiple estimations of trip generation, trip distribution, and split of mode of transportation, all leading toward trip assignment to distribute traffic. However, the Commission has not been shown to do much more then make vague estimations with their environmental impact report and also seem willing to accepting traffic congestion as a result of development as well.  

While it is true that traffic is an inevitable result of development, the inverse is also true, that is, transportation is a galvanizing force of development. A newly developed and renewed downtown urban area may well attract people, but continued success and prosperity may well hinge on the convenience at which they can come, stay, and go. Levy himself admitted transportation planning was prone to failure, but that doesn’t mean attempts are not worthwhile. Traffic itself is not inherently a bad thing; in a sense, it (or more specifically the people that it consists of) is the lifeblood of an active and prosperous urban area, but inefficient circulation is almost liken to a blood clot. 

Derek Chan 

Hercules 

EDITOR’S NOTE: This one of many letters we’ve received from UC Berkeley planning students who attended the Planning Commission meeting. A few of those letters are printed in today’s letters column; the remainded will be published on our website. 

• 

SOLAR CALENDAR 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Since the issue of appropriateness of the Cesar Chavez Solar Calendar Project has been brought up again, I’d like to point out some of it’s positive qualities that I feel greatly outweigh any perceived intrusion on nature: 

1. It is a great educational feature to raise peoples’ awareness and understanding of the relationship of Earth, sun, and sky. Four quarterly observances (solstices and equinoxes) not only serve as remembrance of Chavez, but have mini-workshops about the seasons, aimed at understanding how the motions and orientation of the Earth with respect to the sun have profound influence on us. 

2. In it’s current form, it’s actually quite harmonious with nature in that the largest features—the rocks that mark the sunrise and sunset points at solstices and equinoxes—are all just plain rocks and completely in keeping with the “natural” setting of the former municipal dump, now turned park. The “non-natural” features are not particularly intrusive and provide fascinating information: The gnomon serves as an important element which will be a central feature of a sun dial—something I absolutely love when I come across them in parks, rare as that may be. I view sun dials as a real treat, each being so unique and having a “character” attuned to the local setting. And the plaques explaining about the sun calendar features and commemorating Cesar Chavez are quite small, but very helpful and informative. 

3. It’s very, very small by comparison with the 17 acres of off-leash area for dogs—hardly any impediment for dogs to chase any the wildlife there to their heart’s content. Sorry for the bit of sarcasm here, but I cannot resist pointing out the irony in Alesia Kunz’s depiction (Daily Planet, March 4) of a beautiful haven for all manner of beings complete with domestic dogs chasing rabbits and birds. I witnessed someone there being bitten by one of the off-leash dogs. In truth, I feel that the modest arrangement of stones is not much intrusion, if any at all, on the natural setting. Far less than certain dogs that cannot refrain from threatening the local animals and human visitors, including small children. There are thankfully few dogs like that, but all it takes is one in a bad mood to intrude on your calm, your appreciation of nature, or bite.  

Ms. Kuntz perhaps was unaware of the lengthy process that happened leading to the Solar Calendar, including full vetting at several Waterfront Commission meetings and City Council sessions. Lots of the issues she raised were thoroughly examined at those meetings before approval of the project. Many of those of us who favor the project are nature-lovers, dog-lovers, and are quite sympathetic to those concerns as well. The planners took great care in the design of the project to be harmonious with the setting. 

Alan Gould 

• 

CHAGOYA EXHIBIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thanks for Peter Selz’s March 3 “Berkeley Art Museum Presents Chagoya.” The Daily Planet has done a laudable job keeping readers informed about local exhibits. Before it’s over, you might consider reviewing an excellent exhibit currently at the Oakland Museum of California “Trading Traditions: California New Cultures.” There you’ll find photos by Berkeley based Lonny Shavelson and commentary by Fred Setterberg highlighting many ethnicities in and around Berkeley. 

Joe Kempkes 

Oakland 

• 

AVOIDING THE QUESTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I would like to respond to a situation that I feel is often danced around. In discussing the densification of the Berkeley downtown I think the question of parking is often overlooked. Many I have found speak of the car as a negative aspect of this society and therefore fail to fully include it in their future plans for Berkeley. I think this is either somewhat ignorant or they are avoiding the problem altogether as if it does not exist. The automobile is not going to completely disappear any time in the near future. The cars are becoming cleaner in an effort to respond to environmental concerns but the specific benefits of the personal vehicle are not going away. In sitting in a planning meeting I was considering how many of these people on these boards drove their own car to the meeting just to tell the people that we need to get the cars out of the downtown. I sincerely doubt that many people with the means would abstain from owning or driving a car. It is too convenient. In a book by John M. Levy on city planning it is interesting to note that the main use of public transportation is to and from work. The use for shopping recreation and such significantly declines. Who wants to take arm loads of groceries on a crowded bus, or what if you need to visit family outside the reach of the public transit? The list of “what ifs” is endless. When you get cars out of the downtown you also cripple the people and the businesses. People just outside the reach of downtown will travel to places that are cheaper and have parking, thus undercutting businesses and raising prices for residents. I am not inferring that the downtown be one big parking lot, just that we cannot pretend cars will no longer be necessary. It is absolutely crucial that we include a more balanced frame of mind when planning our future as a city. 

Mark Mattson 

• 

DOWNTOWN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing in favor of the DAPAC recommended Downtown Berkeley development proposal. There are two primary reasons that the approval of this plan increasing would be in the best interest of the downtown area, both fundamentally linked to the benefits of increasing density. The first reason is the severe lack of affordable housing currently in the City of Berkeley. The DAPAC plan proposes a substantial increase in high-density buildings in the downtown area. Buildings of this height were not previously permitted in the area; however, by allowing only a limited number of buildings exceeding current height restrictions, DAPAC believes that Berkeley can see an increase in 3,100 housing units. In fact, DAPAC Chair Will Travis argues that the City of Berkeley’s stance on growth is what has created the booming hotel, office, and retail sectors in El Cerrito and Emeryville. Large quantities of workers are driven out of the city by current daunting housing prices. The inability afford housing in the city forces workers to seek housing in suburbs, and while the downtown maintains its current aesthetically pleasing lack of building height, those who work in the downtown area are forced to commute increasing distances in order to afford to housing and continue to hold their jobs in the city. 

This problem of increased commute time leads to the second reason that I believe that the DAPAC plan should be the preferred alternative. John M. Levy, writing in regards to Environmental and Energy Planning, notes that one of the most simple and obvious ways for a city to reduce energy consumption is by simply favoring development that reduces the average distance between the origin of a trip and the destination. However, the trend in the United States seems to be towards lowering urban densities. Levy continues in his writings on transportation planning, that in order to sustain a functioning public transit system, a population density of at least two thousand persons per square mile is required. As density increases, one can reasonably expect a corresponding increase in public transportation ridership. This move towards an amendment of the city’s stance on growth and density can greatly further the ecological and energy efficient mode of development. 

It is these priorities of making Berkeley an affordable and convenient place to live while simultaneously encouraging our reputation as a leader in environmental planning that should lead the city to strongly consider the DAPAC proposal.  

Grace Newman 

• 

TOM BATES FIELDS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A reader asked about Tom Bates Fields south of the racetrack off Gilman. This project, previously reported in The Planet under its working title, Gilman Street Fields, is a five field regional recreation complex whose roots go back to the Eastshore State Park planning process.  

The land, approximately 14 acres, was purchased from the owners of the racetrack (Magna Corporation) by the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) using what was left over from bond proceeds. Most of the construction funds have come from California State Parks competitive grants aimed at increasing places for urban recreation. The project is being built by a five city consortium (JPA) including Berkeley, Richmond, Albany, El Cerrito and Emeryville. The City of Berkeley Parks Department is overseeing the building of the complex. A community non-profit will be operating the complex and it is anticipated the project will be self supporting, including a capital sinking fund. 

It was the JPA that asked EBRPD to name the complex after Tom Bates in recognition for his efforts on the project and his 30 year effort surrounding Eastshore State Park. The project has enjoyed broad community support both among the field users as well as the environmental community. 

When the project is finished it will serve about a quarter of a million people and be integrated with Eastshore State Park. 

Doug Fielding 

Chairperson,  

Association of Sports Field Users 

• 

BERKELEY REP 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was sorry to read about Jean Stewart’s troubles due to the Berkeley Rep’s intransigence toward the disabled. I myself find it hard to sit through an entire performance, due to arthritis, and, like Ms. Stewart, I had thought that standing unobtrusively at the back or side of the auditorium would be a reasonable solution. I guess I won’t be going to the Berkeley Rep any time soon. 

Jenifer Steele 

• 

LESSER EVILISM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Becky, I didn’t think it was possible for my opinion of you to go lower but your latest pathetic anti-Nader public bowel movement leaves me breathless. First of all, except for Lieberman you had no specifics on Gonzalez’s excellent op-ed on the Obama Cult. How could you expect us to take you seriously when you are too lazy to get off your fat ass and tell us specifically where Matt is wrong ? Even on Lieberman you imply there’s “more” to the story. Such as what? Second, Lieberman was Gore’s VP in 2000 and had no differences with Dick Cheney on foreign policy and damn few on domestic policy. So on the main Bush results, war on Iraq, Israel/Palestine, Iran, legal torture, assaults on the Bill of Rights, we would not be better off if Gore had won. In fact, Gore was the leader of the right-wing in the Billary Regime pushing NAFTA, a crime bill every bit as bad as Bush’s legislation in the “terror war,” and “welfare reform” as well.  

Third, Nader didn’t cost Gore the election. Gore cost Gore the election from his pandering in the Cuban boy case in Miami to his absurd “nation-building” view. Fourth, Pollitt’s column was off the wall. She is the exact female equivalent of a male chauvinist pig. Her genderism is no different from any racist’s racism. She recently threatened to vote for Hillary because she was tired of “male” criticism of her! This pinhead is a moral authority? 

Fifth, Matt Gonzalez lost very narrowly in 2003 because he was vastly outspent and in 2007 decided not to run for mayor against a mediocrity who had 70 percent approval ratings. 

Sixth, did you read Hillary’s statement on the Colombian invasion of Ecuador last week? She was to the right of Bush in condemning Chavez (!) as being responsible for the crisis! 

Your lame apologias for the Dems are going nowhere. 

Seventh, Nader never said there was no difference between the Dems and the Reps. He said that ultimately both were corporate whores attached to the foreign policy of U.S. imperialism that those great libs Wilson and Roosevelt brought us. 

As a libertarian I don’t regret voting for Nader in 1996 and 2000, I deeply regret voting for Clinton in 1992 and Kerry in 2004. 

You can take your lesser evilism and put it up the alimentary canal. 

Michael P. Hardesty 

Oakland 

• 

AERIAL SPRAYING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you for your coverage of the scheduled aerial spraying of the San Francisco Bay Area. I am shocked and scared that this type of pest treatment is planned. I’m even more disturbed that Santa Cruz and Monterey counties were already sprayed in fall of 2007. Even if short-term data becomes available, long-term health effects from chemicals in this spray are unknown. It wasn’t so long ago that we thought DDT was safe. Let us end the era of short-sighted problem solving. I ask my fellow residents of Berkeley, everyone in the spray zones, and anyone else who cares if individuals in this country can be sprayed with chemicals against their will to stand up for our rights and our health!  

Monique Webster 

• 

ABUSE ALL AROUND 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Jean Stewart’s having been verbally abused from the stage by an actor in his one-man production does not surprise me (“The Danny Hoch Incident,”March 3). I often get verbally abused just walking around Berkeley minding my own business. It’s the style these days, on stage or off.  

Some of the reasons our society is not as civil as it once was are obvious, but not many people care to look at them. 

My sympathy to Ms. Stewart, and also some advice for the future: Don’t attend one-man shows given by someone who exhibits “brash outrage” in a radio interview (even if you find that attitude attractive when not directed at yourself), and who yells “go fuck yourself” at the audience as part of his script. 

Al Durrette 

• 

MARINE RECRUITING  

PRECEDENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Has the Berkeley City Council considered, even now, the precedent they established by granting a parking space and bullhorn rights to the protesters at the Marine recruiting center? How can the council stop with this one protest? There are a lot of groups in Berkeley protesting something, and undoubtedly, many of them would like a free parking space and bullhorn rights.  

What will the Berkeley City Council do if PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal) asks for a parking space in front of the McDonalds around the corner from the Marine recruiting center and the right to shout “Murderers!” with a bullhorn at people eating hamburgers?  

What will the council do if PETA wants to park in front the hardware store one block from the Marine recruiting center and shout their disapproval with a bullhorn about a long list of products sold there? For example, they sell rat glue traps, which PETA strongly opposes. 

What will the council say if an anti-whaling group wants to park in front of the Japanese animation store two doors down from the Marine recruiting center, and they too want to shout “Murderers!” with a bullhorn at people buying Pokeman dolls? 

What will the council say if a Free Tibet group wants to park in front of the Chinese bookstore one block from the Marine recruiting center and shout “Dalai Lama!” with a bullhorn for three hours continuously every day at the store’s patrons? 

Plus, there are many restaurants within a block of the Marine recruiting center that serve something that some group is morally opposed to: veal, eggs laid by caged hens, honey (some vegan groups have strong feelings about honey), not-fair-trade-certified chocolate, beef from feed lot cattle, etc. The list is endless. 

Now that the door has been opened, how can the City Council close it? How can they say “Yes” to one protesting group and “No” to another. The Berkeley City Council always seems to put political expediency ahead of practical considerations like establishing a bad precedent, and expediency is inherently irrational. Whenever politicians act quickly without considering the long term consequences of their actions, they are acting irrationally. And after all, isn’t that how the U.S. got into the war in Iraq in the first place?  

Mark Tarses 

• 

NORTH BERKELEY  

SENIOR CENTER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In response to the letter about the North Berkeley Senior Center submitted by Ms. Snodgrass, I pondered about how to write a tactful letter. At first, I was appreciative of the description, then noted the omissions and misleading credit to the success of the center. First of all the brilliance of the center is due to Director Suzanne Ryan, recently retired after 32-plus years, who at a young age in her mid 20s was a major part of the design of the building in 1979. She was the bridge between the City of Berkeley and the yearly democratically elected Council and supervised that and all the other volunteers and cooperated with the Berkeley Adult School and the Peralta College System to obtain instructors. Many of the activities and classes were made at the suggestions of the members of the center and most of the classes are led by volunteers. The small paid civil service staff of five or more could not operate the center without the participation of the volunteers. 

Furthermore, Ms. Patricia Thomas, whom I welcome, has been the director for a few weeks, only since the end of January and is transitioning into the position. 

Edie Wright 

Member and volunteer 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

• 

MOTHGATE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The CDFA’s aerial spraying campaign to eradicate the light brown apple moth is becoming a scandal for Gov. Schwarzenegger and his administration.  

After three rounds of aerial spraying in Monterey and Santa Cruz, there were 643 complaints of illnesses, some of them requiring emergency room visits. Since there was no well publicized illness reporting mechanism, this is probably just the tip of the iceberg. 

Now experts at UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, and HortResearch in New Zealand, a country where the apple moth has been established for more than a century, are saying the state’s eradication program cannot be effective and is not even necessary. These experts say the apple moth causes no significant damage to crops and other plants, and is far too established in California to be removed. It has possibly been in our state for 30 years or more. 

When will the governor wake up to the swelling tide of public opinion against the state’s aerial assault on children, women and men? When will he recognize that crop dusting neighborhoods, schools, playgrounds and the places we work with potentially dangerous pesticides is not necessary, safe or effective? 

We appeal to the governor to step in, honor our right to safety as established in the California Constitution, and lead the way out of this mess.  

Mike Lynberg 

Pacific Grove 

• 

OBAMA VS. HILLARY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Senator Barack Obama claims the critical difference between his qualification for the presidency and Senator Hillary Clinton’s is her vote to authorize the Iraq War. Obama claims Clinton’s vote proves her foreign policy judgment is flawed. But since entering the U.S. Senate, Obama has voted along with Clinton for at least $300 billion to fund the Iraq War (Boston Globe, March 22, 2007). In other words, while advertising his public oratory opposing the war, Obama has prolonged American involvement. In fact, in Obama’s approach to the Iraq War, we see the same old, worn-out federal government song and dance routines that got us into the current Iraqi train wreck. Clearly, Barack Obama has failed to deliver the kind of leadership this nation desperately needs.  

Nathaniel Hardin 

El Cerrito 

• 

BUS RAPID TRAVESTY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The March 3 commentary, “Some Planners Believe that BRT Will Work” was most amusing. Of course city planners believe in BRT. They make their living by concocting just this sort of “green-minded, progressive” nonsense. Imagine a city planner recommending to simply repair and maintain what’s already there. 

The 1R (Rapid) buses run on the exactly same route as BRT would. In Berkeley, especially near downtown, 1R buses are often mostly—and sometimes entirely—empty. You cannot force people to ride buses that do not stop near their homes. 

Massive buses that go about 3-4 miles per gallon of fuel, occupied by somewhere between zero and 10 riders, is not an example of fuel efficiency. 

The draft EIR for BRT even says: “However, buses are not as energy efficient as autos; thus, the net effect of these changes on direct energy use within the project corridor would be modest” (and I’ll bet this modest effect is predicated upon a reasonable level of ridership). 

I have just learned that AC Transit will only get the $400 million for BRT if the “build alternative” (requiring dedicated bus lanes) is chosen. To acquire this money, they have to build something, needed or not, and they have to take over a portion of our city streets to build it on. This would be a financial boon to AC Transit—and a boondoggle for the town. 

Gale Garcia 

• 

THE COMPLEXITIES OF WELLES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In Justin DeFreitas’ piece on the Pacific Film Archive’s Orson Welles series, I notice that he takes one of the two main approaches in profiling the director: the hagiographic one, painting Welles as the misunderstood genius, the kid from Kenosha who was just too smart for those bean-counting studio heads. The other tack is to portray Welles as the brat who only had one great movie in him, and quickly slid downhill after that. Like much of life, the reality is much more nuanced (and interesting) than either of these extremes. 

Welles was a cinematic and theatric genius, of that there is no doubt. But contrary to DeFreitas’ glossing-over, he was in fact responsible for most of his well-known and colossal failures. Given an inch by understandably cautious producers and financiers, he invariably demanded a mile—and then more often than not failed to produce. Some of his projects ended up being strung out over years and never completed. Welles regularly pissed off his bosses, his collaborators and those who worked under him. His temperament was, shall we say, mercurial on the best of days (pun intended) and nearly tyrannical on bad ones. 

For those interested in further reading on this fascinating character, I’d recommend David Thomson’s Rosebud as a good starting point. Thomson is sympathetic to Welles’ greatness but unsparing of his great many character flaws.  

David Nebenzahl 

Oakland 

• 

FISA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The House and Senate have passed different versions of the new FISA legislation, and is meeting to resolve those differences. The president and his Republican allies are using this opportunity to pressure our colleagues to give in and grant retroactive immunity for illegal abuse of FISA statutes. Action by the people is needed to require that application of FISA is legal. 

Congress must oppose retroactive immunity for phone companies that participated in the Bush-Cheney administration warrantless surveillance program. 

Congress must also stand up to scare tactics that efforts to get the FISA bill right this time will invite another terrorist attack. In five years of illegal federal prowling, no connection to terrorism has been found. 

James E. Vann 

Oakland 

• 

SLIMY CLINTONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

What’s that stink I smell? It’s Hillary Clinton’s campaign sinking into the slime. Hillary Clinton doesn’t stand a chance of winning the presidency because of the animosity and hostility she engenders around the country and is showing her true colors as she takes on a Karl Rove pedigree. As the top of the Democratic ticket she would drag the whole party down. 

Her campaign has now turned its sights on fellow Democrat Barack Obama as she tries to claw her way to the Democratic Party nomination. Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson has compared Barack Obama to independent prosecutor Ken Starr. In-party fighting is a disaster-in-the-making. 

The objective is to drive the Republican, conservative and religious ideologues from the White House not to tear the Democratic Party apart. 

Ron Lowe 

Grass Valley

Last Thursday I gave water to a young man sitting in a tree on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. I was arrested for it. It took only a moment to make the decision to throw him water, and I was told by another student that I would likely be arrested, but I acted because I doubted the existence of a law in which a person could legally be denied water, a basic human need. I was cited for PC 148a(1), which is obstructing or disobeying the orders of a police officer. 

I didn’t do it because I knew him, or think his cause is just. He calls himself “Fresh,” and he is protesting not in the oak grove at the top of campus, but in a lone oak near the heart of the university: Sproul Plaza. Fresh is advocating for, among other things, the democratization of the UC Regents, and transparency in the $500 million Beyond Petroleum (formerly British Petroleum)/UC Berkeley contract. 

The whole point of being arrested is that it is supposed to be humiliating; but when you know what principles you stand for, and you know what you are getting yourself into, the process is not shameful; it is enlightening. The moment the handcuffs went on behind my back, I knew I was about to learn some things about the world that I had never previously fathomed. 

There was a big crowd gathered when I was arrested, and many students were upset. I held up a peace sign with my cuffed hands while I was being led to the cop car, to show that I believe in non-violence, even when it comes to breaking the law for something I stand for. People began to chant. The squad-car would not start; the battery was dead! “That’s karma!” some students said. “That’s the fleet for you,” an officer swore under his breath. The crowd began to jeer and taunt. The police brought in another car, and finally drove me away. 

I talked with the officer on the way to the jail. He asked me why I “had to go getting myself tangled up in a situation with all these troublemakers.” I was silent. “You don’t know, do you?” “Sir, I know exactly why I did it.” 

It turns out that cop actually sympathizes with the protester in the tree: “The world is going in the wrong direction, and you can’t get change fast enough through the bureaucratic way. Sometimes you got to break the law to get people’s attention. Non-violent protesters have an important role to play in society.” And cops have also; they have got to do their part by arresting you when you cross the legal line. 

The iron hand of the law was light on me. I’d never been in trouble before, and I am a student, so they let me go before the night was out, with a citation and a court date. I filled a special role in a grand play, on Thursday. Just the way my handcuffed arms behind my back fit into the hard black plastic molding of the squad car seat, my actions fit into the molding of the events that unfolded. 

Many objective observers have come before me, and many others will come after, and my story is not special or unique. I did not do anything particularly criminal; in fact, the police act of denying water to a person is questionably legal, so my choice was to comply with human rights, and not with the alleged order of the officers. Since last Thursday, I’ve been staying close to this new tree sit, gathering information and opinions from passersby. Many are confused about the message, since the police have disallowed anyone from posting banners or chalking the ground. But most who stop by to talk are supportive. They want to see change here too. 

There is finally a sense of activism-oriented community building once again on this campus, fostering a way to combat the complacency our student body has fallen prey to. Last Tuesday night there was a candlelight vigil and meditation, at which 160 students stood in solidarity around the metal police barricade which now surrounds the tree that Fresh occupies. There is community support for Fresh, as well as student support. Last Sunday, the famous Oak Grove “Grandmothers” paid a visit, and sent a care-package up for him. This new tree sit has been a wonderful conduit through which to connect younger generations with those activists who have come before; a powerful bond which has gone missing in most university activism in recent times. There is a sense of historical continuity now being formed. 

Fresh’s cause was not mine, before Thursday of last week. But for a fleeting moment, our purposes, our basic human needs—his for water and mine for human decency—coincided. Since then, I’ve been trying to remain objective, though I’ve certainly realized that there’s a lot more to the issues he is raising awareness for than I ever thought; and basic human needs go right to the heart of it all. 

Jessica Schley is a student at UC Berkeley. 

“City of Berkeley, the water is murky” has become the latest rap on the city’s crumbling storm drain infrastructure. For nearly two decades, Berkeley’s Clean Water efforts in controlling surface water pollution have amounted to little more than a “greenwash” of meaningless phrases such as “Save the Bay.” 

The city’s failure to implement our urban runoff program is rooted in its longstanding resistance to adequately fund the maintenance and upkeep of our storm drain system. Berkeley has proclaimed over and over that it is “rolling out the green carpet,” but in reality, has used that carpet to cover this inconvenient truth. 

Our predicament is not uncommon. The San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) has allowed this situation to continue by its lack of regulatory oversight. The RWQCB has allowed municipalities to voluntarily “comply” with our federally-mandated Clean Water Program. This has left city and county storm water programs awash in a bureaucratic quagmire with no relief in sight. 

From those earliest days of mud and macadam streets with their horse-drawn carriages, there have been few strategies to protect local waterways from urban runoff pollution, except for street sweeping. A century ago, sweeping was done on a very small scale with hand brooms. The principal focus was on controlling litter in commercial districts. Near the end of World War II, the city purchased its first mechanical sweeper, opening the door to a broader sweep of Berkeley. There was also a growing expectation for more than tidier streets. 

Street sweeping began to be recognized as an important way to keep the surface runoff of oil and gas pollutants from ending up in the bay. Mechanical sweeping retrieves small particulates, including metals, from roadways. Because sweeping and storm basin cleaning contribute to reducing debris and sediments from entering the storm system, these activities were ultimately adopted as an integral part of Berkeley’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDE) storm water permit. 

However, it wasn’t until late 1987 that there was a decision to make a more concerted effort to control runoff pollution. The city expanded its storm maintenance activities, including street sweeping which encompasses much of Berkeley’s flatlands. This marked the beginning of Berkeley’s Clean Water Program. However, like so many of our city’s well-intended efforts, the storm water program and its street sweeping maintenance component were derailed. 

In 1992, the city seduced Berkeley voters into passing its first storm water user’s tax. The new revenue was supposed to increase municipal maintenance activities such as sweeping. Despite the sell for pollution protection, it soon became apparent that Berkeley was not fully cued into its own program. 

Within months of the new tax, the city was cited for dumping the street sweepers’ sludge down the storm drain at its own public works yard. It was a harbinger of the mismanagement of this important environmental program. Many believe, and rightly so, that it is parking ticket revenues, and not flood control or curbing bay pollution, that drive our Clean Water efforts. 

Property owners were told their annual storm assessment would finance more maintenance and a progression of infrastructure upgrades. Unfortunately, this simply didn’t happen. When Berkeley transferred its existing costs of storm maintenance to this modest storm tax, the city failed to partner up with taxpayers to budget additional storm revenues from the General Fund. As a result, our NPDES permit activities, including sweeping, became permanently stunted. 

Since the storm water assessment has never been successfully brought back to voters for regular increases, the Clean Water Program has remained severely under-funded. Berkeley has used this to justify putting a budget cap on our federal permit activities. No wonder street sweeping has remained at 1992 service levels, and that the few infrastructure upgrades continue to be emergency driven! As a result, there is now a backlog of much-needed storm drain repairs totaling tens of millions of dollars. 

However, Berkeley’s Clean Water failure isn’t entirely due to budgetary shortfalls. Soon after 1992, the city created a street sweeping exemption called “opt out.” Those residents who petitioned for this exemption expressed their distaste for those nasty old street signs, expensive parking tickets and the inconvenience of moving their cars three whole hours a month! As a consequence, nearly 100 streets are no longer cleaned. 

Criticism of this policy forced the city council to form a storm water taskforce in 1995. A year later, their report concluded that it is as costly not to sweep as to sweep because the machines have to travel over the streets that have opted out in order to get to the rest of the roadways that are still participating in the program. The council has never taken any real steps to bring the opt-out streets back on board. Instead, council members continue to rationalize that the city is doing enough for bay protection, despite its opt-out policy. 

Furthermore, the city has said that the number of opt-out streets is too small to be of concern. However, the hill areas of District 6 and District 8 could easily be cleaned once a month, but have never been included in the “citywide” sweeping program. Clearly, all those roads have been exempted from the storm water program, too. This cavalier attitude set the stage for Berkeley to opt out of its responsibilities to the NPDES permit and our Clean Water compliance. When will the entire city be swept? 

It should be noted that Assemblywoman Loni Hancock was mayor of Berkeley when the opt-out program was created. She helped set the course for the city’s poor performance in the regional storm water program. Recently, Hancock has been campaigning for bond money to solve the many serious storm water problems. Hopefully the lessons of the past will teach her that the Urban Clean Water Program needs more than just money to affect a real fix. 

This week, the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board is meeting in Oakland to receive public comments on our bankrupt storm water program. Unfortunately, this discussion is too little and certainly too late. The Water Board needed to exercise its regulatory powers fifteen years ago. Their unwillingness to aggressively require compliance is the main cause for the failure of the Clean Water Program throughout the entire San Francisco Basin! 

The choices made by the Water Board at the onset of the program have created the lowest possible standards for protection of our state water resources. Our city’s half-hearted efforts have been reduced to little more than a paper shuffle of quarterly reports. It is criminal that Berkeley and the other county permit holders have been allowed to default for all these years on so many crucial Clean Water activities. 

L A Wood is a Berkeley filmmaker and civic watchdog. He runs the website www.Berkeleycitizen.org. 

In the recent political battle around the Marine recruiting station in Berkeley there has been much confusion around the concept or slogan of “supporting the troops,” but opposing the unjust wars of the Bush regime. Many who oppose the Bush regime wars also say they “support the troops.” Let me say it straight out—I do not support the troops and neither should you. It is objectively impossible to support the troops of the imperialist military forces of the U.S. and at the same time oppose the wars in which they fight. 

The United States has over 700 military bases or sites located in over 130 foreign countries. The hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in these countries are not there to preserve or foster freedom and democracy as the Bush regime would like to claim, but to maintain U.S. imperialist domination of the world. The United States now spends more on its military than all the other nations of the world combined. 

If you “support the troops” in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the other more than 100 countries in which they are located, you also objectively support U.S. hegemony in the world. I believe that the vast majority of people who say they support the troops do not wish to support U.S. imperialism, but that is what they are really doing by putting forth the slogan of “support the troops.” 

We need to oppose the recruitment of men and women into the military. We need to support resisters within the military who have realized what they are doing and now choose to resist the role of the U.S. military. This includes people such as Lt. Ehren Watada who refused to deploy to Iraq. Watada stated, “Never did I imagine my president would lie to go to war, condone torture, spy on Americans…” He was the first officer to refuse to go to Iraq and he was court-martialed. Another resister is Camilo Mejia. In 2004 Sergeant Mejia was sentenced to one year in prison when he was court-martialed for refusing to assist the military in Iraq. Mejia said, “I am only a regular person that got tired of being afraid to follow his own conscience. For far too long I allowed others to direct my actions even when I knew that they were wrong....” 

We need to expose that those in the U.S. military are trained to be part of a “killing machine.” While not every member of the military is an individual murderer, they are all part of a system that commits war crimes, including aggressive wars, massacres, rape, and other crimes against humanity, all in the service of U.S. imperialism. The bottom line is that even if these people are relatives or friends, you can not support the troops without also supporting the objective role that these troops play in the imperialist system.  

United States troops are acting as destructive and murderous forces of invasion and occupation. The people of Iraq and Afghanistan see this on a daily basis. Hundreds of thousands have died as a direct result of the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. Millions are either internal or external refugees. Tens of thousands have been detained in prisons, with thousands of these tortured and scores murdered. Haditha, Iraq where 24 Iraqis were massacred is just the best known of the massacres. Women and children are routinely described as “collateral damage” by military spokespersons when they are murdered in military operations. 

“Support for the troops” has become political cover to support the wars. In Congress, many of those who claim they oppose the wars, use “support of the troops” to vote for hundreds of millions of dollars to fund the wars. These politicians are political opportunists, but there are also people who genuinely oppose the war, but who also say “I support the troops.” 

But to decide whether U.S. troops deserve support you must analyze what they actually do in countries occupied by the U.S. The wars these troops are engaged in have the goal of maintaining and extending U.S. hegemony throughout the world. They are unjust, illegal, and immoral wars. Can you support the troops in these wars? Why is this any different from a German in World War II saying, “I oppose the wars launched by Hitler, but I support the troops of the German army which are making these wars possible.” When the Marines in Haditha massacred Iraqis, including women and children, would it have been correct to say I supported the Marines who killed those people, but not the massacre? This would be ridiculous, but no more so than supporting the troops engaged in the war that made the Haditha massacre possible in the first place. 

In 1933 Marine Major General Smedley Butler clarified the role of the U.S. military. He stated, “War is just a racket…It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses…I spent 33 years and four months in active military service as a member of this country’s most agile military force, the Marine Corps…In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism...” 

Like Butler, Watada, and Mejia, those in the military today must take responsibility for what the military does. Just like the German soldiers of World War 2 could not hide behind the “I was just following orders” excuse, military personnel today also can not hide behind it. Those of us who oppose the unjust wars of the Bush regime must struggle with those in the military and those that support them to expose what role the troops objectively play. Supporting the troops engaged in making war against other nations and people on behalf of U.S. imperialism is not acceptable. 

Oakland resident Kenneth J. Theisen is an organizer with the World Can’t Wait! Drive Out the Bush Regime! 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Keeping Manufacturers in Berkeley 

The city of Berkeley, being a diverse community as it proclaims to be, must keep its integrity and endorse flexibility, in this high-tech age. 

As a one of Berkeley residents, manager of a small business and a student in UC Berkeley’s Planning Dept., in response to the article published in your newspaper on March 4th, 2008, “West Berkeley Zoning Tour Reveals Land-Use Tensions", I tend to agree with Ted Garrett of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce, when saying that he was “looking for some flexibility so we can keep manufacturers here in the city.” 

The bay area, and Berkeley in particular, is a crown jewel in California’s landscape in term of its population quality, manufactures, artisan and education facilities, such as UC Berkeley, and this notion must be kept as more and more new high-tech companies are seeking to relocate, along side well known companies, such as Bayer Industries, Cliff Bar and other, already located within the city’s unique fabric. As technology progresses, so does the demand for change. Nonetheless, facilities and locations within the city boundaries remains the same, as not much of the land left to be newly developed, hence new ordinances should be considered to accommodate the needs of those companies. Another unique component of the city inhabitants is the small business and artisans, which had found the city, years back, to be accommodating to their special needs, and in turn, supplied the city with financial gain, diversity and the weaving of the fabric in which Berkeley is made of. It is no wonder that Berkeley is an attraction for many real estate developers from all around the country, and it is refreshingly surprising to see that they too would like to keep the artisans and small business within their buildings. Therfore, the city’s officials should endorse and maintain the same line of thinking, and activity. 

It is unfortunate to hear that due to some technicalities within the zoning ordinances, a company such as Cliff Bar is looking to relocate to a neighboring city, which is seeking to provide the proper zoning to their needs, rather than doing every effort to maintain those businesses which are the core and heart of Berkeley. Not only for financial gain, but also not to drive away those who compose the city’s diverse community ranging from artists, craftsmen, green-construction companies, cutting-edge manufacturing companies and high-tech software and web companies, action must be taken, and sooner rather than later. 

The action should be taken after a close inspection of the West Berkeley district, its zoning, as well its transportation capabilities, to result in a new zoning ordinance that will be able to keep, as well welcome, more unique occupants to the area, without harming the already existing and functioning facilities, residential area and business. This could be achieved by flexing the existing zoning ordinances, bringing them “in line” with modernity and the ever-changing needs of small businesses. Another aspect need to be taken into account, is being on the front lines of sustainability and the implications on the environment with the new mindset of the planned zoning changes. While the city of Berkeley would like to preserve and welcome more of those small business, artist and others, we need to keep in mind the air quality in the area, as well the resources that are available for disposal for the district’s residences. 

Or Dobrin 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Transporation Issues 

As a recent arrival to the Bay Area to attend UC Berkeley from my native Los Angeles, there has been one issue that is seminal in my mind when thinking of the similarities between the two places. Problems with the transportation system. Transportation was defined by John Levy, a noted City Planner, as an attempt to create connections for development while achieving the goals of mobility to far away areas and access to local homes and businesses. First off I intend to address the problem of mobility. The similarities in the problems plaguing Los Angeles and the Bay Area lie in their overused Freeway systems. In William Fulton’s book California Planning, he states that 70 percent of Californians drive alone to work while only 1 percent uses the rail system in their respective cities. Although the rail system number is higher in the Bay Area, this leads to a great deal of people on the freeways during the peak hours traveling to and from work which creates gridlock. A recent study by MSNBC states that San Franciscans lose $1,121 in wages a year because of traffic delays. These delays create not only an emotional burden on the people stuck in traffic but also a financial burden as well. In order to deal with these problems a serious look at the motives of transportation systems and their methods must be considered. One serious method of rectifying this problem of mobility is increasing funding for public transit. In John Levy’s chapter on Transportation Planning, he states that the future of alleviating traffic stress is not in a rail system but rather in expanded bus systems. Levy finds that the bus system will have lower costs and the routes that the buses run can be easily changed to accommodate growth. These buses will also be able to hold great amounts of people than in heavy rail or in cars. The examples for these systems can be found in the Orange Line in Los Angeles and the potential BRT line which is currently being planned in the East Bay.  

Secondly, a major problem is the lack of access to smaller communities due to the overflow of congestion from motorists leaving the crowded freeways. I see a great deal of this in my adopted hometown of Berkeley where the city must deal head on with the gridlock in the Bay Area’s crowded freeway system. The city of Berkeley was designed much like other cities with different series of roads for different purposes. Main Arteries that will connect to the freeway as well as connector streets which connect our neighborhoods to the cities which Fulton describes as vital to commerce. However, increasingly due to a high amount of traffic on the freeway, particularly the I-80, freeway traffic is flowing into our community and clogging up the streets that were initially designed for residents. In Fulton’s book he stated that a way to deviate these types of issues is through a variety of limits on the mobility cars can have in a street. One of Fulton’s methods is through a series of “humps and bumps” where streets are broken up by speed bumps as well as road blocks to force high speed traffic to move away from the residential areas. Finally, it is our duty as residents of the Bay Area to come up with the best plans to alleviate transportation issues which hassle us daily. 

Adam Serrano 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Bus Rapid Transit 

As a Berkeley resident and a student at UC Berkeley, news of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) proposal piqued my interest. The idea of a bus route that is fast, reliable and affordable is extremely alluring and attractive, and the implementation of such a plan will bring a greener and healthier Berkeley. 

I feel that such a project will enhance the city and demonstrate its commitment to green-solutions. If we as a society are serious about mitigating global warming and environmental degradation, it is imperative that people utilize public transportation rather than cars. Although the 40L buses were recently replaced by the 1R buses, without dedicated bus lanes, these buses are subject to the same sluggish traffic patterns as cars. The proposed route will run along International Boulevard and Telegraph Avenue and will create an expedited and fuel efficient transportation. 

There are fears that the project will adversely affect the retail industry and traffic along Telegraph Avenue and that traffic congestion and parking shortages will be exacerbated by BRT. While people will initially have to make adjustments, ultimately the bus lanes will be accepted as part of the streetscape and will prove to be beneficial to the East Bay community. Business will be helped because of the increased ease of transportation and the efficiency of the buses will lead to more transit riders and less automobile traffic. 

Experts such as William Fulton, a Senior Scholar at the School of Policy, Planning, and Development at USC, and Paul Shigley, Editor of the California Planning & Development Report, emphasize the need to shape travel demand rather than respond to it and to rethink traditional transportation planning strategies. It is not enough to say that we are a city dedicated to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050. We need to be provided with opportunities to be environmentally conscious and the built environment plays a large role in creating such opportunities.  

Despite increased spending on public transit since the 1970s, only a small number of commuters rely on it. This is due in large part to suburban land use patterns, which cater to automobile use rather than public transportation and bicycle use. Putting BRT in the context of transit-oriented development will allow for the revitalization of the retail industry as well as encourage residents to ride public transit. 

I believe it is important for planners to make the impacted communities more aware of the potential of the project and involve them in the planning process. Those who are planning BRT are likely not part of the population that will utilize it, thus it is vital to the integrity of the project that the public is informed and involved in the process. 

Aisha Qamar 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

More on Bus Rapid Transit 

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has been an issue of contention since its proposal. Many Berkeley residents remain unaware that there is a proposal to change AC Transit to a BRT system and it should be better advertised that residents should go to www.actransit.org to review the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS).  

In a city like Berkeley where at times, there can be heavy traffic congestion, a proposal like BRT can be beneficial to minimizing residents’ travel time. As of now, streets become increasingly congested with drivers navigating around bikers and pedestrians and buses that are rarely on time. Public transportation was at a national all time high in 1945 but it has drastically declined since then due to an extreme hike in automobile ownership. Suburbanization caused families to move into areas where automobiles decreased travel time. We must realize that Berkeley is not a suburban area and the dense population calls for public transportation to decrease automobile use and traffic congestion.  

John M. Levy writes in Contemporary Urban Planning that “masses of jobs concentrated in the urban core and masses of apartments concentrated near transit stops” is the ideal environment for public transportation. If the City of Berkeley can show that BRT will increase bus reliability and decrease travel time, residents will be willing to ride public transport in lieu of driving personal automobiles. But, the current BRT proposal shows that passengers making short trips will benefit from continuing to use their cars because there will be fewer BRT stops causing longer walking distances. Potentially, more residents would use BRT for longer trips but the majority of riders that like traveling short distances would prefer to drive due to unwillingness to walk longer distances.  

So how do residents convince Berkeley city planners that BRT is not as beneficial to decreasing traffic congestion as it appears? For example, turning the 1/1R AC Transit line on Telegraph into a BRT line allows for only one land of traffic flow in either direction. Pedestrians would no longer be able to cross at all intersections and would have to walk farther to reach an intersection with a stoplight. Drivers would no longer be able to make left turns due to the BRT lane and drivers would start to turn onto side residential streets to make it to their destination.  

Implementing BRT does not simply put an end to traffic congestion in Berkeley. William Fulton writes in the Guide to California Planning that “traffic mitigation programs represent the most important growth area for local transportation planning” and acknowledging this, residents and the city planning commission must realize that BRT does not solve traffic troubles. It only exacerbates them by eliminating parking and driving lanes for a bus system that stops fewer and farther between. A better solution might be to analyze ways AC Transit can be improved to speed up service instead of completely changing to a bus rapid transit system.  

Jennifer Chiu 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Oil, Oil Everywhere, but not a Drop of Water to Drink 

One of my fondest memories of Berkeley was when I first moved into my apartment last year. Sitting on the roof of the building at night, I was actually able to see stars illuminate the night’s sky. This was a rare experience for a kid who grew up in Southern California, where the only thing you could see at night were large spotlights that were being used to promote the newest, hippest club. For the past year I have been blessed with night after night of amazing sky views from my window, but lately my attention has been drawn closer to earth. After I finished awing over Berkeley’s successes with regard to air pollution and light pollution, I began looking around my neighborhood with a more critical eye. Everywhere I looked there were people washing their cars and watering their flower beds. That is when I realized where Berkeley has been failing, water conservation. 

What happened to the conservation element of the general plan where planners are supposed to deal with the conservation of natural resources? Many say that future wars will be fought over water rather than oil. Now, if that is not a warning that we should be actively pursuing alternative forms of water conservations here in Berkeley, then I don’t know what is. Every faucet, toilet and hose pulls water from the same domestic water lines. Every time a car is washed, roses are watered or a toilet flushed, that is fresh, potable water that we are carelessly wasting away. Forgot the exploitation of oil, bottle water companies are selling 12 oz. bottles of water for two dollars apiece. They have us paying for the same water we are using to flush our toilets with. We really would be better off just flushing our money down the toilet because that is essentially what we are doing whenever we buy bottled water. 

Absurd? I agree, but the remedy is simple, reclaimed water. The most successful reclaimed water system can be found in Southern California. Of all places where water conservation could take place, it happens 400 miles from Berkeley in the city of Irvine, California. That’s not to say there aren’t other cities that use reclaimed water, Redwood City and Daly City have similar systems, but they do not that match Irvine in terms of magnitude. The city of Irvine treats all of its waste water and then recycles it throughout the city for irrigation, which per household, is the largest form of water consumption. This way, whenever someone in Irvine washes their car or waters their lawn, they are doing so with treated waste water. Therefore, saving potable water for its intended use, drinking. Current action in Redwood City prevented the expansion of their reclaimed water system to irrigation and toilets because of the stigma that is associated with reclaimed water. Members of the city council were fearful that kids or dogs might accidentally drink the water. Yes, the water once was sewage and that’s a fact that people need to get over. Workers at the Irvine Ranch Water District have even said that if the federal government permitted it, they would have no problem drinking the water themselves. They know the source of the water should not be the issue because if it’s clean it’s clean, regardless if it came from the sewer or an aquifer. 

Planning for the future takes action today and unless Berkeley gets its act together, future protests will be over wars for water. But who wants to see picket signs reading, “No Blood for Water.” Unless planners take notice of the egregious misuse of water taking place in Berkeley, those wars will be fought and protestors will have no merit because they aided in the waste of water every time they washed their cars or watered their lawns.  

Kevin Chiu 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

More People Will Lead to Less Traffic 

We all know that traffic in the Bay Area is terrible; it’s frustrating, annoying, and perpetual. And the answer to the problem seems ironic: density. I know people are probably thinking density is the cause of traffic in the Bay Area, and that notion is partially true. However, there is a gap in the amount of people living in suburban areas and the amount of people living in transit central cities like Chicago and New York. Mass transit systems in both of these cities are efficient because they provide a service that allows people to get to work. Yes, both Chicago and New York and very different environments than Oakland, San Jose, and San Francisco because they don’t really have less populated suburbs. In the Bay Area, one of the major causes of congestion is suburbia. 

The suburban way of life cripples the ability of most transit systems to function properly. With commuters from Concord, Walnut Creek, Dublin, and Freemont flooding 580, 880, and 80 on a daily basis, the rush hour commute literally crawls. The average speed on 580 through Berkeley is a mere 6.5 mph. Moreover, an estimated 100 millions hours are lost to sitting in traffic each year in the Bay Area. As respected planning and transportation expert John M. Levy reported, total commutation to work increased by 13.2 million people from 1990 to 2000: of that increase nearly 12.9 million of people drove alone. Americans enjoy the freedoms of suburban life throughout the country, but this lifestyle is completely reliant on personal vehicles as the primary mode of transportation. 

A major problem arises when both public transit and individual vehicle share the same roads. Inconvenience is an understatement when it comes to using public transportation to travel any sort of distance. Referencing Levy once again, the mixed uses of our roads result in buses that travel at an average of speed of around fifteen miles per hour. Take into account the six mile an hour average of driving in gridlock, and the only option left is BART. However, as a resident of Berkeley it is well known that getting to a BART station, waiting for the Orange Line, and eventually arriving in San Francisco can take an hour or longer. Not to mention getting from Berkeley to the Oakland Airport by way of public transportation takes nearly an hour and a half. It is hard to sell a public transportation system that mimics the likeness of growing grass. This brings me back to my initial point on density. 

The latest plan for downtown San Francisco as well as Berkeley calls for densification. Although densification seems as though it will bring more overpriced housing to communities, it is in the interest of such communities to allow for such growth so long as affordable housing is stressed. As cities such as Berkeley become denser, the efficiency of mass transit will rise, leading to faster travel times, and eventually the traffic on our freeways will dissipate. It is equally important that we press our city planning committees to promote zoning practices that only allow industry and commercial space on, or near, our freeways and arterials. Likewise, such zoning measures should be enacted along BART routes as well. The reason why Chicago and New York have maintained such efficient means of transportation is through the reliance on public transportation to get people to work. If jobs are located near transportation routes and hubs, the necessity of driving vehicles will disappear. It is apparent that the suburban lifestyle is much enjoyed by commuters in the Bay Area, and it would be idiotic to use current resources to promote urban living. Rather, a simple reevaluation of current zoning ordinances, and an implication of business and industry along major transportation routes instead of residential allotments would solve the transportation crisis in the Bay Area for good. 

Nathan DeWindt 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Progressive, Yet Stuck in a Rut 

I am a current Cal student studying architecture. I recently attended a planning commission for the city of Berkeley in which plans for the development of downtown Berkeley were discussed. One of the issues that was brought up briefly at the commission was with regards to day lighting Strawberry Creek at Center St. As an architecture student in Berkeley I have heard about this issue a number of times. I remember doing a project in one of my intro classes that required a redevelopment plan for the Oxford corridor along the UC campus and many of the students, to the approval of the professors, chose to rip apart Center St. turning it into a park. I am writing to suggest that this plan for the creek would be incredibly beneficial for the city of Berkeley and would be a strong statement to the rest of the country that we truly understand the value and importance of nature. 

Berkeley considers itself to be a progressive city yet in so many ways it is stuck in the same places as countless other cities in America. This city is full of creative free thinkers with ideals about the way the world is and should be, but the problem is that many of those ideals are just that, simply ideals. One ideal that comes to mind has to do with protecting the environment. Of course Berkeley has a high value for environmental change, yet in many ways this city is reluctant to make any major headway against global warming with regards to its urban fabric. Now I am not writing to criticize, as I know that there are many Berkeley residents honestly fighting to make a difference when it comes to the environment. Rather, I am saying that going through with day lighting Strawberry Creek would not only be practical way to inject sustainable green space into our downtown center, but would also be a statement about this city’s attitude towards the environment. If you think about it, the fact that we have no room for a natural creek in our city speaks to or true values. It is one way that shows our disregard for the natural landscape of the Berkeley area. 

Not only would the creek be an example to other cities, it would also improve the sacredness of downtown Berkeley. If Center St. were turned into a park with the creek running through it, it would become a major attraction improving the quality of life for those who live, work and play in downtown Berkeley. A design move such as this would add great vitality to downtown. As professor Randy Hester has stated in his book Design for Ecological Democracy “A shallow creek may stir memories of childhood magic, the headwaters and mouth fueling feelings of awareness and fullness, respectively.” My point being that an open creek does much more than simply add beauty to the area. Bringing nature into the urban fabric has the power to inspire and revitalize. Keeping nature separate from downtown residents serves only to shelter them further from the needs. The more a person is disconnected from nature the less likely they are to truly care about it. Hester goes on to say, “It is the language of the landscape that allows emotions that are within the community to take shape in the surrounding world.” Preserving the natural landscape in Berkeley connects our community to where we are on this earth and fosters environmental awareness. 

As a progressive city it is our responsibility to set an example of ways that we can reintegrate the natural landscape back into our cities. Greening our downtown center and unearthing a covered creek are practical ways to show that the environment is important to us. We can continue to be like most other cities in America and bow to the needs of the automobile, or we can choose to be different, to truly be Berkeley.  

Brian Flaherty 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Berkeley’s Transportation Needs 

To meet the transportation needs of the City of Berkeley, and the Bay Area as a whole, I urge you to support and publicize the phenomenon of casual carpooling, also known as “slugging". For those unfamiliar with casual carpooling, it is an informal, ad-hoc practice that provides commuter carpools--essentially combining hitchhiking with rideshares. At various rendezvous points, drivers will simply pick up or drop off commuters who want to travel between those points. I bring this to your attention because I believe casual carpooling is one of the easiest and most cost-efficient ways to reduce congestion, gasoline consumption, and greenhouse gas pollution from the Bay Area. To bring about change in commuter habits requires a societal paradigm shift which your newspaper can bring about. 

I chapter 20 of “Guide to California Planning", Fulton and Shigley suggest shaping and streamlining the trends of transportation to reduce congestion instead of merely building new highways in response to increased automobile ownership. We are doing just that by drawing more attention to casual carpooling and encouraging commuters to utilize the thousands of cars already on our highways. Essentially, to promote this effort will curb commuters away from buying new cars and lead to less cars on the road, which is overwhelmingly advantageous in comparison to building new highways. 

What are the advantages of casual carpooling? Many of the advantages are moot: reduced consumption of gas, cleaner air, and less traffic. But I believe there is one distinguishing advantage than outweighs the others: a sense of community, especially in the combined effort to fight traffic congestion. Remember that this issue requires a paradigm shift, not incremental change. As more commuters commit to the casual carpool practice, more attention will spotlight the choke-hold that congestion has on our society. 

In chapter 13 of Contemporary Urban Planning, Levy states that nearly 60% of public transportation is subsidized, while private transportation is mostly self-paid. One major cost advantage of casual carpools is that it provides a public, community-based system but at private cost. For the most part, commuters themselves pay for all the ordinary expenses such as insurance, fuel, and road construction through taxes so that public funding is not necessary 

To reap the advantages of casual carpooling, the city and its planners can make some vital changes. At the moment, casual carpool services are quite informal. If the city diverted funds to the program, casual carpoolers could incorporate new services into the practice: providing rider feedback on drivers, assigning a rating to each driver, providing tax incentives to drivers who provide casual carpool services. Essentially, the use of public money would encourage the utilization of the greatest resource that we have in our transportation system--the empty seats of the thousands of cars that commute in the Bay Area every day. The funding would eliminate the problem that may hold back most commuters from taking the first step in casual carpools--safety and security in the car of another driver. Once this hurdle is overcome, I expect that stressful highway commutes will be a thing of the past. 

Eric Wang 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

West Berkeley Zoning 

When I read your article, “West Berkeley Zoning Tour Reveals Land-Use Tensions,” (Brenneman) I thought to myself, how can our city be in such a zoning mess? How did we arrive to today’s buildings which is half MU light industry and half residential? Has our city been sporting with spot zoning, the “most abused type of zoning,” as Fulton declared in the Guide to California Planning (Fulton, 134) ? 

I wondered if politicking or lobbying astray from the West Berkeley Plan, deviating from which would lead us to inconsistencies and create opportunities for lawsuits that our city too often gets involved and squander funds that can potentially be vested elsewhere. 

Subdivision alone seems like excessive but ineffective micromanagement. Division within a single building just is not intuitive, and it creates bureaucratic situation that pleases no one and invites attacks left and right, literally. Within the larger context of planning as Popper observed at the national level, the inflexibility that may be produced provide conservatives with “strong evidence of excessive regulation,” of “programs [that] have fallen short of many of their stated objectives,” to attack planning and regulation in general, while still not satisfying the liberal complains that a more centralized, regional approach may be better (Popper). If it does not seem impractical, it seems legally questionable, fitting Levi’s descriptions of grounds on which charges “may be leveled against the municipality in court,” (Levi, 125). It certainly seems “capricious and inconsistent” when even within a building, we have different development, let alone comparing the broader area. It certainly seems like we are “treating equals unequally” when within the same walls, we declare distinct, divided development. How much of this divided mixed-use, left-wall-different-from-back-wall zoning can we completely justify on the “grounds of the police power?” 

“Zoning,” Levi points out, “is vulnerable to the criticism that it severely limits the freedom of the architect and site designer and may thus lower the quality of urban design,” (Levi, 131). Lets not forget that, from the summary of the last plan, our “Plan is centered on diversity and quality of life... celebrates and strives to maintain both the diversity of residents and business in west Berkeley,” (West Berkeley – Summary). We are not here to insert our hands to “radically” change anything, and likewise, let us be reasonably flexible so that designers may improve on the quality and diversity of urban design. 

Yet, I recognize that we don’t want complete deregulation so that business may run amok as they please. But as I have found out more about planning, our inflexible zoning pattern is also our advantage. The economic potential of the area seems greater than what we can achieve under the current scheme. We are really fortunate that amidst the national (and perhaps global) credit crunch, the tour manifests a line up of investments and plans to accommodate a variety of needs. Thus, we have a power beyond zoning itself. 

The need for changing or accommodation to zoning requirement so that development may proceed puts the city in a “strong negotiating position,” Levi remarks, so that we can “turn away an y development proposals” we do not like and likewise insist on certain features and investments as conditions of development (126). Such development agreements would still comply with and respect our plans (137), and exactions ("cost on the community imposed by development") paid by development would improve our community and infrastructure. The opportunities are there waiting for us, and all we need to do is to come to the table with some flexibilities and find the most satisfying outcome for all of us. 

However, I want to qualify that I do not endorse making every trade-off in name of progress. There probably is not one best approach to every situation. As Jacobs articulated, in our postmodern thinking, we need to “recognize the limited perspective that most participants bring” and work to “broaden [land use planning debate] to assure that all legitimate concerns and interests are taken into account.” We answer that principle when we draft the General Plan. We can continue that attitude during the intermittent periods. Thus I request that the planning commission, instead of through solely static zones and regulations, see our city with a little bit more fluidity and see us for what we need. 

Elton Chan

PESTICIDE SPRAYING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Three years ago some of us tried in vain to stop the spraying of a herbicide in the Oakland parks. Now some of us are wondering what happened to all the bees? On top of said ongoing herbicide spraying, there is now a proposed aerial pesticide spraying in the San Francisco Bay Area this summer which will continue over the next five years. Who can predict the cumulative effects this will have on our environment? How much more damage can we cause our denizens of nature? Not to mention ourselves and our loved ones? Thank you Berkeley City Council for taking steps to prevent spraying the Checkmate pesticide over our cities this summer. 

Tori Thompson 

Oakland 

• 

TOM BATES SPORTS COMPLEX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Can anyone tell me what is going on with building and naming a sports complex after Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates?  

Is any of the construction being done with Berkeley and/or state monies? If so, what exactly? I have yet to read in your paper anything about the Tom Bates Sports Complex. Why? 

It is located at the southwest corner of Gilman Street and Frontage Road. 

Lisa Robyns 

• 

SOVIET PLANNING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Soviet Planning 

Hope to God I never live in a city which has Janet Shih as a city planner. Her assertion that BRT “forcing people out of their cars” would be worth it in the long run scares the hell out of me. So does the comment that people will become frustrated “but then eventually submit, abandon their cars and use AC transit.” Ms. Shih, this is America and the people tell the planners what they want. The planners are servants, not masters. What you describe is good old fashioned Soviet Russia. And boy did that system work well! 

Frank Greenspan 

• 

WRONG DATES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I fear your columnist, Bob Burnett, has his dates badly confused in Tuesday’s “The Great Debate of 2008.” First, the Great Depression is not generally thought to have occurred in 1928. Secondly, Franklin D. did not challenge Hoover that year; FDR ran for (and won) governor of New York. Hoover’s opponent was Alfred Smith, the first Catholic to head the ticket of a major party for president. 

Now, that might be an interesting theme in this year of the “first” woman, the “first” black (with due respect to the memory of Shirley Chisholm). As a minor penance, perhaps Mr. Burnett might read Empire Statesman: The Rise and Redemption of Al Smith by Robert A. Slayton (The Free Press, 2001). 

John McBride 

• 

FREE SPEECH ZONE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We already have a “free speech zone.” It is called the United States of America. London has the Hyde Park Speakers’ Corner because Great Britain lacks the rights we have in this country. Rights are like muscles—exercise them or you’ll lose them! 

Holly Harwood 

Richmond 

• 

OBJECTIVE CARTOONING? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was shocked by the recent cartoons in your paper about Hillary Clinton. None of her opponents in the Democratic primaries had stooped to the level of DeFreitas. Only ultra-conservative Republicans are holding her responsible for the actions of President Clinton. For instance, what did she have to do with the tragedy in Rwanda? Like Eleanor Roosevelt, she was an active first lady interested in universal health coverage, children education and women’s rights. For the past seven years, she has been a very active and well regarded member of the U.S. Senate by the majority of her colleagues. Anybody caricaturing Barack Obama as DeFreitas is doing for Hillary Clinton would probably be called racist. Maybe DeFreitas is not sexist but, as associate editor of the Berkeley Daily Planet, he does not appear to me to be very objective.  

Gilbert Melese 

Emeryville 

• 

ISRAEL-PALESTINE CARTOON 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Mr. De Freitas’ March 3 cartoon is worth more than a thousand words. It depicts the status of the resilient and brave Palestinian people under the immoral Israeli occupation ably abetted by U.S. arms and our taxpayer dollars. 

Thank you. 

Andrew and  

Marina Pizzamiglio-Gutierrez 

Kensington 

• 

BOYCOTT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

While Becky O’Malley’s Feb. 29 editorial dismisses boycott threats, there are reports (in other papers) that Berkeley businesses are feeling some repercussion from the USMC fiasco. Whether this results from boycott action or, as O’Malley suggests, just from aversion to the general congestion and clamor surrounding the issue, we can only hope, when municipal elections next come around, that our business leaders and the Chamber of Commerce will stop sitting on the sidelines of Berkeley’s political circus and will combine their funds and advertising talents to rid us of the grandstanding cranks and crones who make up much of the City Council and replace them with rational citizens who will address Berkeley’s deteriorating economy and infrastructure. 

Jerry Landis 

• 

ICELAND STIMULUS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Iceland…heaven on earth…a great place to chill! 

For those who can, please give at least half of your $600 government bonus check to Save Iceland so we can get the party (re)started! 

Wendy Schlesinger 

• 

CHAVEZ’S FOOTPRINT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I would like to respond to the commentary in the March 3-6 edition of the Berkeley Daily Planet, “Must We Stamp His Footprint into Nature to Remember Cesar Chavez?” I have been a Berkeley waterfront commissioner during all of the discussions of the off-leash area for dogs and the Solar Calendar/Cesar Chavez Memorial. For both of these proposals there was a great deal of public input that reflected a division of opinion between leaving things pretty much as they are or making changes seen by some as an “intrusion on nature.” The off-leash dog area the writer of the commentary now enjoys was opposed by many as vigorously as the writer now opposes the Solar Calendar/Cesar Chavez Memorial. It has been my experience that people on both sides of this ongoing debate between leaving things pretty much alone for the benefit of the flora and fauna or development for the primary benefit of human beings have perfectly valid opinions. It’s not that there’s a correct position; it is that each of us has an opinion based on our life’s experiences and an evaluation of the impact of the proposed change. I have supported both the off-leash area for dogs and the Solar Calendar/Cesar Chavez Memorial because all things considered, I thought they were the best use of the land. Not everyone is thrilled with the off-leash dog area as the appropriate use of the land, but, all things consider, it has worked out pretty well. (I’m not thrilled with how restricted access is to Eastshore State Park Meadow, but my point of view didn’t prevail in this instance.) In my opinion, the Solar Calendar/Cesar Chavez Memorial will be a wonderful cultural, educational, scientific, and aesthetic addition to Cesar Chavez Park that will add to the visitor’s experience of coming to the spectacular Berkeley Waterfront. I think we are most fortunate in Berkeley to have a dedicated group of citizens putting in the time and effort necessary to make this vision a reality. 

Brad Smith 

• 

TOLERANCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Alesia Kunz is put out because nobody consulted her before engraving the words Hope, Courage, Tolerance and Determination on rocks surrounding a solar calendar on the top of the old Berkeley dump, now named Cesar Chavez Park. She thinks his spirit would be better served if we left nature alone. 

Frankly my dear, Cesar Chavez wouldn’t give a damn. He would be too busy organizing the jornaleros who stand on Hearst Street in all weather with Hope to find work and with little leverage to demand a fair wage and rest breaks. Chavez would wonder at the contrast between the Courage of these men and the leisure of shoppers on nearby Fourth Street. He would reckon that the cash a laborer earns in a day of backbreaking work, if he is lucky enough to get picked up, is less than an item on sale in the trendy stores. 

Chavez would wonder why a city known for its Tolerance hasn’t done more to fix acceptable standards for wages and working conditions for the jornaleros. 

If you need help, the Multicultural Institute has a website where you can apply for a laborer who has Determination to do a good job. The going wage is $12-15 an hour. 

Toni Mester 

• 

NEO-STONEHENGE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Each year, at the approach of spring, there are two events that I look forwards to. 

First, is the high-noon ringing of the Peace Bell at City Hall—part of a global celebration of the Vernal Equinox—and walking up the hill at the Chavez Memorial to gather ‘round the neo-Stonehenge sundial and marvel as the sun and moon dip and rise simultaneously—a celestial curtsy to the planet’s dance. 

Gar Smith 

• 

CHAVEZ SOLAR CALENDAR 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In 2002 when I moved to Berkeley from Southern California, I was delighted to discover the waterfront park, but even more thrilled to stumble upon the solar calendar on a hill top. A dump transformed into a public park and a circle of stones honoring the sun and four directions?! Too good, and I praised the City of Berkeley. I also went online to learn more about the solar calendar. For some reason, unlike your March 4 opinion writer, Alesia Kunz, I didn’t find it difficult to get information, nor to be informed about upcoming meetings, which I attended, regarding the development of the monument. I stood in favor of allowing the solar calendar to become a permanent feature of the park. 

If it had been up to me, I would have left it as it was in 2002: boulders, small enclosing mounds, central stone. I would have left off the didactic words, let go the ties to a specific man. But this was a community effort and I would rather have the solar monument with qualifications than no calendar at all. 

The relationship of the sun to the earth is the primary relationship of life as we know it. To stand on a hill top and know where you stand in relation to the greater cosmos is the function of such a site, and sites like it created by humble humans throughout the ages in all cultures. It is an awe-inspiring experience made possible by thoughtful placement of markers in space and time. Nature is not willy-nilly. It has form and structure and exactitude. Yes, you can set your clock to its rhythms. The solar calendar atop Cesar Chavez park is a sacred spot, and even though I no longer live in Berkeley, I still travel to this circle on the solstices and equinoxes, to honor the forces of forces of life, forces far greater than myself. 

Carolyn Radlo 

• 

SOLAR CALENDAR 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding Alesia Kunz commentary and the Solar Project at Cedar Chavez Park: Ms Kunz has really missed the point of the solar calendar at Cesar Chavez park. My friends and I hardly see the solar calendar as “stomping on nature,” To say, as Ms Kunz does, that these rocks lay like tombstones crowding out the natural world seems a sorry characterization. 

This is a special place indeed, visited by many and for many different reasons. I have attended several of the informal gatherings held there at sunset on special days of the year and since I was born on the autumnal equinox a visit to that spot on the hill has been a regular part of my birthday celebration for years. 

Despite the fact that it was built on a dumping ground for garbage, this is a unique and beautiful park with a stunning view of the glorious Bay Area. The addition of the solar calendar does not diminish this place but truly enhances it. The careful placement of stones aligned to mark the movement of our planet around the sun celebrates awareness, spiritual connection, and human intelligence. 

I for one, am grateful for Santiago Casal and the other tireless volunteer citizens who have taken the time to “attend those meetings” necessary to carry forth a sustained vision. This is a simple yet meaningful tribute that can be enjoyed by those who visit the area intentionally or just happen to stumble upon it by accident. The solar calendar is not complete nor even permanent. Perhaps more Berkeley residents will come forward and support the full vision of a lasting monument that honors Mr. Chavez and encourages all visitors through tolerance, courage, hope and determination to be reminded of our place in the solar system. 

Claudia Smukler 

• 

BRT AND THE EIR PROCESS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A recent letter claims that Berkeley should not implement Bus Rapid Transit because the city already has such a shortage of parking that it cannot afford to lose more spaces. In fact, where there is a shortage of parking, AC Transit will replace parking lost to BRT. 

To confirm this fact, I contacted Jim Cunradi, AC Transit’s lead BRT planner, who said I could use this quotation from him in the Daily Planet: “In locations where BRT creates a deficit so that demand exceeds supply, we will replace lost parking.” 

Some opponents of BRT have been quoting the draft EIR to support their claim that BRT will not replace parking. But the draft EIR, as its name implies, is just a first draft, which is used to get public comments about issues that should be analyzed in the final EIR. Apparently, AC Transit learned from the comments on the DEIR that people consider loss of parking an important issue, and so the fina EIR will have plans to replace parking. 

Now that BRT is going to the Planning Commission, it is important that we understand the EIR process. The draft EIR is used to get public comments, so the final EIR can deal with problems that the public identifies. 

In its comments on the draft EIR, the Planning Commission must choose a preferred alternative for the three corridors where the DEIR provides multiple alternatives: the Telegraph/Dana corridor, the Bancroft/Durant corridor, and downtown. When Berkeley decides on its preferred alternative for each of these three corridors, AC Transit will know the exact locations where BRT would impact parking, intersections, and neighborhood streets, so it can mitigate these impacts. 

Unfortunately, some of the most extreme opponents of BRT want the Planning Commission to kill the project immediately, based on the DEIR, without even choosing a preferred alternative for AC Transit to analyze in the final EIR. They want us to make the decision about BRT before we have the facts about its impacts. They remind me of the trial in Alice in Wonderland, where the Red Queen wants to decide on the sentence and the verdict before she hears the evidence. The Planning Commission should not let them sabotage the EIR process. 

Charles Siegel 

• 

POLICING POLICIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Judith Scherr in her article “Chief Wants Better Policing-New Taxes” describes a new policing concept called POP. This POP concept was proposed to the City Council at its meeting of Feb. 26 by the chief and a consultant from the Center for Problem Solving Policing, a non-profit organization, as something new. 

Community-Oriented Policing (COP) has been an accepted police practice and term for at least the last 15 years. Under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 the U.S. Department of Justice has provided 11.3 billion to local law enforcement agencies for COP programs. 

The Berkeley Police Department under former Chiefs Nelson, Butler and Meisner had adopted the COP concept widely. Let me just mention a few programs: Foot patrols and bicycle patrols in the business district (including Telegraph); a joint Berkeley-UC Berkeley police task force for Telegraph Avenue alone; School Resource officers at three middle and one high school; a crime analysis unit; four area coordinators; an active Neighborhood Watch program; a dedicated Police Activities League (PAL) officer working with youth; the Billy Booster robot delivering safety messages to kids; security surveys for private homes and businesses. Emphasis was placed on prevention. 

Does the Police Department really think that changing one letter alone (from COP to POP) will solve any problem? You don’t need an expert from San Diego telling us what Community-Oriented Policing really is all about. We have these resources right here in our town.  

Another example of re-inventing the wheel are the Berkeley Guides, another program that fits the COP concept. 

In 1995 eight new social service agencies including the Berkeley Guides were funded under Measure O. The purpose of these new programs was to provide comprehensive services to homeless people. The Berkeley Guides provided excellent services from 1995 until their funding was cut in 2006.  

Now the “Public Commons for Everyone Initiative” calls for a new program called “Berkeley Host Program,” at a cost of $200,000. This new program is asked to deal with “problematic street behavior,” exactly the same wording that was used when the city hired the Berkeley Guides in 1995. Why establish a new program, which has no experience, when there is a program in Berkeley, which has 11 years experience? Where is the logic in this? 

Ove M. Wittstock 

• 

KLEERCUT CONCERNS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Today I was informed at a UC Berkeley event about a very important issue concerning the deforestation of our last remaining ancient forests. Right now there are only 20 percent of these forests left on our earth, a majority of which can be found in the Boreal forest of Northern Canada. The Boreal is being clear-cut at an alarming rate. To be exact, about one football field worth of old growth forest is lost every two seconds. The loss of these forests not only destroys the homes of thousands of plant and animal species, but also is a huge factor in creating global warming, causing much strain on earth’s fragile eco-system. 

After being exposed to Greenpeace’s Kleercut Campaign at Cal Berkeley, it has come to my attention that a huge contributor to this deforestation is the Kimberly-Clark Company. Greenpeace has blatantly been exposing the environmental abuses of this company to educate consumers in order to push for more sustainable forest practices. Kimberley-Clark, most widely recognized as the maker of the Kleenex brand, is the largest tissue producer in the world. Eighty percent of the fiber in most of Kimberley-Clark’s products is virgin fiber. For the Kleenex Brand, that statistic is 100 percent! 

Why are we letting companies like Kimberley-Clark destroy these irreplaceable forests to make disposable products? We are consumers and it is up to us to spread awareness and put pressure upon these companies for change. There are many ways Kimberly Clark can begin to change their practices, and it is crucial they start now before it is too late. They can first and foremost, stop clear cutting ancient forests. Also they should definitely use more recycled content, enough to meet EPA standards. By taking such steps Kimberly-Clark may be able to convert from environmental destroyer, into a new leader in the sustainable forest product movement. 

Kira Hebert 

• 

THE RED TELEPHONE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The following is an excerpt from a recent (fictitious) interview about foreign policy experience. 

Reporter: Thank you for joining us today, Ma’am. 

Interviewee: It’s my pleasure, as always. 

Reporter: There has been a lot of interest lately in the foreign policy experience of the candidates. Have you seen the ad that features the White House crisis line, or Red Telephone, and suggests that Senator Obama does not have the experience needed to deal with a crisis? 

Interviewee: Yes, I have. It certainly seemed to be quite effective. 

Reporter: In your time as First Lady of the United States did you see that special Red Phone? 

Interviewee: Yes, the Oval Office has one, of course, and also the White House residential quarters. 

Reporter: In general, Ma’am, who would use that phone? 

Interviewee: Oh, only the President. No one else was supposed to touch it. 

Reporter: Did you have your own phone? 

Interviewee: Yes, I did, in the Executive Residence. It wasn’t red of course, just a nice Princess phone for my calls. 

Reporter: So, you never answered the special Red Phone? 

Interviewee: Well, actually I did, just once. The President was not there and I thought it might be important. 

Reporter: Whom did you speak to? 

Interviewee: Well, they refused to tell me who they were and said to just, please, get the President. So, I went and got him. 

Reporter: What did you say to the President about the call? 

Interviewee: I said, “George, dear, it’s for you.” 

Reporter: Did you ever find out what the call was about? 

Interviewee: Yes, later the President told me that it was one of our people doing a check to see if the line was working OK. 

Reporter: When your husband was Governor and you were First Lady of the state, was there a Red Phone for him? 

Interviewee: No, indeed. That’s a rather silly idea actually. A little state like that doesn’t need a special Red Phone. 

Reporter: Well, thank you for your time, Ma’am. We appreciate speaking with you. 

Follow-up: Since this (fictitious) interview originally aired, we have heard that one of the candidates is considering a new Red Phone ad. 

The new ad is simply a large still photo of a Red Phone on a dark-colored desk in the Oval Office. Towards the bottom of the photo in large white letters are the words: “George, Dear, It’s For You.” 

Brad Belden 

• 

A PERSONAL  

CLIMATE ACTION PLAN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Berkeley Climate Action Plan (CAP) is inspiring me to implement a personal CAP. I’m keeping my “vampire circuits” unplugged: for example, I no longer leave the charger transformer plugged in when not charging my cell phone. I turn down the thermostat and turn off the computer when I’m gone for any length of time. I’ve installed some compact fluorescent lamps (CFL). I’m thinking about cutting back the time I spend in the shower. A while back, the management of my apartment building made sure all residents have restricted-flow shower heads. 

Long before the CAP, I was riding buses and BART for most of my trips within the Bay Area. Today, as a senior citizen, I buy a $20 monthly sticker for my bus pass and get most places by bus. I think my transit riding is the most effective component of my personal CAP. 

But I am concerned that my CAP effort may turn out to be foolish and ineffective, because too many of my fellow Berkeley residents are big on CFLs and shower nozzles but reluctant to ride a bus—even the supposedly more attractive Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). Some letters to the Planet say that BRT should not cause any inconvenience to car driving—no dedicated bus lane or any loss of parking spaces. This attitude is inconsistent, because the purpose of BRT is to make bus riding more attractive than car driving. To achieve that goal, BRT simply has to do things which make life inconvenient for the car drivers. 

Has there ever been a Planet letter from a Berkeley resident who now drives, but plans to use the BRT to commute to work? BRT letters I’ve seen are either from people who already ride transit or from the people who can’t abide cars making any room for better bus service. 

I’m not sure if Planet letters are a good measure of local public opinion, but if the lack of letters from potential BRT-riders really indicates that most current drivers will avoid BRT, I might as well forget about my personal CAP. My bus riding will be canceled out by the GHG spewed by all those dogged drivers. A few car trips is all it takes to cancel out the efforts of people who eliminate vampire circuits, or deploy CFLs or curtail shower time. 

As I see it, item one on Berkeley’s Climate Action Plan should be to make sure we get BRT deployed and get plenty of people to ride it. The rest of the CAP isn’t very important. 

Steve Geller 

• 

COMPARING COSTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

So, the city spent $93,000 and change for the privilege of permitting the Code Pink bullhorns to blast away, and the ensuing confrontations involving added police. His rationalization for this expenditure is that it was a good price to pay for the national exposure it gives Berkeley for being against the war in Iraq. I have just one question for Mr. Bates: How many potholes can you fix with $93,000? 

Tim Cannon 

• 

BREAKING THE LAW ON CAMPUS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

When I signed up for a Lifelong Learning Class at UC, it was scheduled to be help in the Berkeley Art Museum Theater, a location which is available to me and others like me who have walking problems. However, the class was deemed too large for that site, and it was moved to the Pacific Film Archive Theater, which does not have handicapped access. 

At the first class meeting at 10 a.m. on a Wednesday, I parked my car in the garage at Telegraph and Durant, knowing there would be no affordable parking closer to the theater—even for those like me with handicapped placards. 

Arriving at the stairs to the theater, I searched for a ramp or elevator, but there was none, so I wheeled my walker around the three long blocks to the entrance on the upper level. A few cars were parked up there in spaces designated “Reserved.” Taking the bus would not have helped with the stairs problem. 

By the fourth class, when it had started raining, I was getting very tired of that (for me) long painful walk dodging oblivious students. So I asked the woman in charge of the Lifelong Learning class if she thought I could park just outside the theater entrance, across from there a few other cars were parked. I would display my handicapped placard and this woman thought that would be fine, and promised to put a Pacific Film Archive notice on the windshield and keep an eye on my car. 

When I came out of the class two hours later, however, I had a yellow citation between the blue placard and the PFA sign. The citation from the campus police stated that I had parked in an “unmarked space” and that I owed them $40. 

The theater manager was very sympathetic, promised to call and e-mail the campus police for me, but warned that the university police are implacable about their rules. She stated that the theater has asked repeatedly for a ramp up from the street and a couple of parking spots for handicapped, but has been refused every time. After I pled my case to the appeal officer at Campus Citations, she excused me from paying the fine “in the interest of justice and courtesy” but warned me three times never to park illegally again. 

How is it that the University of California is exempt from the Americans with Disabilities Act at this theater? I want an explanation. 

Rosalie Dwyer 

• 

PHONIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

If there were any Christians in America, they wouldn’t have let the cities go downhill. 

This country is as phony as a $3 bill. Americans are mostly indifferent to each other, and don’t want to know anything. 

Funds for education and social services should be increased, not cut, especially in California. 

John Madonna 

Oakland 

• 

PROPERTY TRADE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Parks can be fenced in to generate income for the city drained by Bush spending; start with Milvia-MLK City Hall park where lunchers from the high school crowd out others. A single entrance at the center of the north fence would decrease damage to grass by excess user access. Two dollars per hour should help the City of Berkeley pay for needed services and repairs city-wide. 

The capitalist, industrialist Republicans’ rising sea level may force the 80-880 freeways to be rebuilt further eastward, inland. The City of Berkeley can begin to plan now for changes in the shoreline of coming decades. Will the West Campus school property be demolished for such a needed relocated freeway? Should Berkeley spend millions to move the warm pool there with an expensive new building if it will be demolished in coming decades? 

Berkeley could easily take over janitorial and maintenance and maybe even new construction of/on school property, freeing BUSD to focus on education rather than contracts and construction. BUSD can only afford half the janitors required by the state. 

BUSD and the City of Berkeley could trade property so the city can remodel the warm pool without endless interference and meddling by the district. Ten thousand square feet for the warm pool, existing, to remain as is, to the city for the same area from the city hall park, fenced in for student lunchers, should be a fair trade. Say 10-15 thousand square feet to be safe, fair and balanced. 

Terry Cochrell 

• 

TAX FOOLISHNESS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Since a budget requires a two-thirds legislative majority and the Republicans refuse to agree to any tax increase, they are basically holding the state of California hostage. How can our state provide services if the Republicans prevent the taxpayers from paying for these services? With inflation, which is always present, the cost of government must go up. With the constant increase in state population, more state funded services are necessary. How can we continue to pay for vital state services such as education, police and fire protection, road repair and construction, all necessary infrastructure, the court systems, the national guard, California Highway Patrol, etc. without a state tax increase?  

What on earth are the Republicans thinking of when they bury their heads in the sand and keep repeating the mantra, no tax increases? 

Let’s face reality and fund this state in a quality manner. Being cheap and deferring the acquisition of needed funds only costs us far more in the future. If one defers maintenance on your house, it costs far more in the future to make up for the deferred maintenance. The same simple guideline applies to state assets and infrastructure. It also applies to hiring and keeping employed the highest qualified employees at all levels of government. 

If the Republicans continue to refuse to face economic reality, I suggest the state withdraw state services from those Republicans’ districts. The party in power can dictate where state offices and services are located. In other words, close their courthouses, remove their DMV offices, don’t fund their schools, don’t repair their roads. If they have to drive further to obtain state services, too bad. If there are not enough funds to go around, only spend those funds in districts whose representatives support funding the state’s services. If a district starts to receive decreased state funding and services, maybe that district’s constituents will wise up and vote for a state representative who truly has their interests at heart. If you want services, it costs to have those services. If your district’s elected representative is unwilling to vote to pay for state services, your district should suffer the repercussions. 

When I was a student at UCLA, both undergraduate and law school, there was no tuition. Higher education was free. The taxpayers of this state valued education and made it affordable to me and others like me who came from economically poor families. The state tax rate was at least 2 to 4 percent higher than it is at present. If we fund our K-12 schools, universities and state colleges at a quality level, the state will actually realize more tax income from higher earning individuals, and more competitive businesses.  

A simple state tax rate increase would get rid of any deficit. Since income taxes are progressive, what difference does it make to wealthy individuals if some of their money actually goes to creating and maintaining a quality state. How many toys, cars, yachts, and homes do they need? Talk about greed. Let’s start looking out for our fellow human beings. Everybody’s lives, including small minded don’t tax us Republicans, become improved and enriched by making California a quality environment for all of us.  

Paul M. Schwartz 

• 

GAY WEDDINGS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’ve been to lots and lots of weddings through the years; none of them solemn, all of them gay. Why then suddenly are nasty, mean-hearted people objecting to gay marriages?  

Roseanne Roseannadanna  

aka Robert Blau 

• 

NORTH BERKELEY  

SENIOR CENTER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a self-ordained one-woman Chamber of Commerce seeking recognition and promotion of Berkeley’s finer institutions, I point with admiration to the North Berkeley Senior Center, located at 1901 Hearst Ave. Opening in late April, 1979, this striking redwood building (which garnered several Architectural Awards), constructed with $1.13 million in federal funds, has provided seniors with low-cost lunches, free local transportation, legal advice and classes in a wide range of subjects—Spanish Conversation, T’ai Chi, Parkinson’s Exercises, Drama Workshops, World Art History, Living Philosophers, tap dancing—the list goes on and on. 

While the daily noon lunch program offers no threat to Alice Waters or Wolfgang Puck, the meals are wholesome, nutritious and easy on limited budgets. More important than the menu itself is the friendly, light-hearted ambiance in the large dining room, where people meet and socialize before going off to class. 

Another notable attraction offered by the center are the eagerly awaited day trips to art museums in San Francisco at a minimal cost—$1 for van transportation. In the March list of events, trips are featured at the DeYoung Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Legion of Honor, and, perhaps most exciting of all, the Cantor Art Museum in Palo Alto! What a glorious opportunity this affords seniors with limited incomes to absorb the rich culture on display in these marvelous museums. (This past Tuesday, for example, they viewed the amazing Annie Leibovitz photography exhibit, “A Photographer’s Life,” at the Legion of Honor, followed by lunch in the lively, sunny cafe.) 

Among the more practical, but equally valued service, are the trips to Berkeley Bowl, Trader Joe’s, Cosco, and Safeway, where seniors can load up on groceries and heavy household items, therefore not be dependent on buses and taxis for their weekly shopping. 

Mention should be made of other Berkeley Senior Centers—the South Berkeley and West Berkeley Centers who offer their own very stimulating programs. I personally have not availed myself of these programs because the Centers are not in my area. 

In summing up the wide-ranging benefits offered by the North Berkeley Senior Center under the able direction of Patricia Thomas, I can only say that this wonderful building extends to hundreds of seniors a warm, inviting, almost home-like atmosphere. You sense that warmth and intimacy the moment you step through the front door. This may sound like a wildly exaggerated description, but for the thousands of seniors who have enjoyed the North Berkeley Senior Center over the past decades, it might very well be thought of as a Treasure Palace! 

Dorothy Snodgrass 

I agree with J. Douglas Allen-Taylor’s (does he have a shorter name ?) recent column that progressives are left with an embarrassment of riches—two credible, serious candidates, either of whom would be a good choice for president. We are in a win-win position having two Democrats running for office against an opponent, John McCain, who has little or nothing compelling, professionally or personally, that would make someone vote for him besides his service in Vietnam. What might derail a Democratic victory would be unfair and untrue attacks on the part of the candidates and the unspoken competition that exists between different classes and groups in our society.  

A current example of this may be the overwhelming support from the Hispanic/Latino community for Hillary Clinton, which may actually reflect not their love for Hillary, but that the Hispanic community finds it difficult to support an African American for president. On the other side, the African American community, which has come out strongly in support of Barack Obama, were not avid supporters of Antonio Villaraigosa in his mayoral victory in Los Angeles. One would think that so-called minorities and similarly oppressed people would support each other more, but actually and historically this is not the case. It’s not the type of animosity that is exhibited in racial hatred where various groups are depicted as subhuman or unfit to rule. We find it OK to hang with each other, and to marry each other, but not to vote for each other. It’s more of an extension of conflicts where poor people find themselves competing in the same ghettos, over the same crumbs that may fall from the table. We should realize that at this time if we unite and play our cards right, we could have not only the food, but the table and chairs that go with it. But first we have to stop pulling each other back into the bucket.  

My father used to say that you can put a bunch of crabs in a bucket without a lid and none of them will escape because once one gets close to the top another crab will pull him back in while trying to make its own escape. I’m reminded of slaves telling on one other, American Indians recruited to hunt other Indians who otherwise were untrackable, and the early conflicts between the Irish and Italians in America. 

I’m hoping that, even if our favored Democratic candidate doesn’t emerge victorious in the primaries we will still come out to vote against the Republican challenger. I can’t believe that disgruntled African Americans, Independents, or Hispanics would vote for McCain, but they might stay home. Or would they be tempted to vote for Ralph Nader who cost Al Gore the election? The King Crab has emerged from the past to try once again to keep his brothers and sisters in the bucket. Please! If you are someone who thinks that Nader is a viable candidate or that McCain is our future, stay home, or better still, wake up and repeat after me: Si, si puede! — Yes we can! Vote for change! I’m not sure if we’ve turned the corner on gender and race relations in America, but I think I can see the intersection, if we can only boost one another out of the bucket. 

Winston Burton is a Berkeley resident. 

March is “National Nutrition Month” in our schools. The city of Berkeley has long been committed to fitness and nutrition education as chronic disease prevention, and in September the council members kicked off a nine-month campaign to engage the community with their goals, calling it “Be Fit Berkeley.” For the past six years a group of gardeners, Farmers’ Market people, school nutrition advocates, and city staff have met to coordinate various nutrition-education activities. March 8, this Saturday, will be “Be Fit Berkeley Day!” with health screening activities at the Farmers’ Market. Later this month there will be cooking demonstrations at the Tuesday Markets with Kirk Lumpkin, as well as a special Berkeley High School lunch event on March 20th. Certain schools with grants from “Network for a Healthy California” will have events at their schools; for instance Malcolm X will have a Health Fair, LeConte will have a Spring Fair, and there will be mini-farmers’ markets at John Muir, Emerson, and Rosa Parks. Since I am a garden advocate (I run the “Berkeley Community Gardening Collaborative”) I want to encourage people to grow their own vegetables, and one way to help gardeners out is to give away city compost on Sat. March 29 at the Farmers’ Market (bring two buckets or one large bag). 

Where does this compost come from, and why are we giving it away? It comes from our green carts. Grover Landscaping Company in Modesto, takes our plant debris (and now our kitchen scraps), and grinds it, screens it, piles it in long windrows, turns it every three days, gives it a sprinkling of water, and lets the sun “cook” it into rich, fine compost in ten weeks. Ninety percent is sold to farms and ranches in the central valley, and 10 percent is given back to Berkeley to be used by the Parks Department and the school and community gardens. 

Since last September the city has begun to collect food scraps from households, in their green debris carts. People have been encouraged to put such vegetable matter as orange peels, onion skins, stale bread, even meat bones, and kitchen papers (paper towels and paper napkins) with their garden greens for pick-up once a week. Berkeley residents started participating immediately, and are already among the best in the County. As you might expect, the collection of green waste has gone up dramatically from 650 tons per month last year to 900 tons per month since the weekly program started. On average, the city is collecting over 250 tons per month more than it was six months ago, or a 40 percent increase in residential organics. Conversely, the amount of trash that the city picks up in our grey carts has gone down. On average, the city is collecting over 170 tons per month less than it did 6 months ago. When I take my cart out to the street for collection I am amazed to see only half of it filled with trash, because I have either recycled or composted so much that used to go in my cart! Every pound of food waste you compost instead of landfill reduces greenhouse gas emissions. 

We, people in the Bay Area, are very conscious of the global warming trend, and all of us try to do our part in the greening of our city, our state, and our country. It can seem overwhelming at times. Just as it can seem rather daunting to follow the current trends in nutrition advice. Michael Pollan has given us a short sentence which can help us remember what is important: “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” We can buy our foods at the Farmers’ Market or other stores that have fresh, local, and mostly organic items. But an even more direct way to ensure that your family has fresh vegetables is to grow your own! And at the end of this month, come to pick up your free compost at the Farmers’ Market, to get your garden off to a great start. 

Beebo Turman is a Berkeley resident. 

California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Secretary Kawamura’s recent dog and pony show that he has been trotting out before many city councils and commissions promoting the light brown apple moth (LBAM) aerial pesticide spraying of the Bay Area relies on blatant misrepresentations of the truth, fear-mongering and outright lies. The spray program he defends imperils California’s families, children, pets, and the environment, based on no real science and no solid facts. 

The real facts are simple. CDFA sprayed Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, and at least 643 people got sick. They reported their illnesses although the State made no infrastructure available. The state only accepted health complaints signed by a physician, but physicians were not trained to assess the toxic exposure associated with the spray. Anyone without insurance or access to a physician could not “officially” report health problems. Secretary Kawamura’s assertion that there were no adverse reactions to the spray is an outrageous bureaucratic determination, not a true health assessment. 

And that is only the beginning of the secretary’s swift-boating. He has the audacity to imply wide support for the spraying from environmental organizations. In fact, the Sierra Club is on record, along with 25 other health and environmental groups, opposing the aerial spraying. 

Make no mistake about it, the chemical used last year, Checkmate, is a pesticide despite Secretary Kawamura’s white-washing talk of harmless pheromones. The facts: Checkmate is made up of three components that have either not been tested or are known to be dangerous: 

1) The synthetic moth pheromone: not tested for long-term human exposure risk. The State’s own health Consensus Document includes a disclaimer that it is based on studies that assume the pesticide will be sprayed over unpopulated agricultural areas. 

2) The so-called inert ingredients (not inert meaning inactive; “inert” only means they do not target the pest): carcinogens, mutagens, reproductive effectors, liver toxins, skin irritants, and unsafe to inhale. 

3) The microscopic plastic capsules in which the pesticide is sprayed, which time-release over 30 days: Inhalation risk is unknown, but UC Davis scientists found some particles are small enough to be inhaled into the deep lung where they cannot be expelled. It doesn’t take a scientist to know that can’t be good. 

Secretary Kawamura focuses only on the LBAM aerial spraying, ignoring the program’s other toxic and questionable practices, including requiring wholesale nurseries to use the organophosphate pesticide chlorpyrifos, employing state personnel to install traps and use pesticides in private yards that are toxic, especially to cats, honeybees, and the beneficial predators that naturally keep pests in the environment—including LBAM—in check. 

Secretary Kawamura’s fear-mongering comments that, if left unchecked, LBAM will destroy every green plant in the state and possibly the country is contradicted by facts: Even CDFA says there has been no crop damage attributable to LBAM in California. Professional biologists testify that LBAM is a minor pest in New Zealand where it is also an introduced exotic species. New Zealand’s biggest LBAM problems are from a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) quarantine, not from actual damage. In addition, entomologists agree that LBAM has likely been in California for 10 years, so if there was going to be crop damage, wouldn’t we have seen it by now? 

So now we come to the Big Lie about the “pest that was never a pest.” Decades ago, LBAM made it onto a USDA list of supposedly voracious invasive species. To date, I have been unable to find this original designation. The main goal was, I believe, to protect powerful U.S. agriculture interests from competition from crops from New Zealand and similar areas. As a result, today we have the “Light Brown Apple Moth Emergency.” 

Secretary Kawamura expresses concern that other states and countries might ban California produce because of LBAM— even though those countries’ quarantine restrictions were adopted to mimic the United States’. Note that Europe does not quarantine for LBAM. 

So the plot sickens. It’s all about money. Big money. Rather than admit that LBAM is not the threat that’s been claimed and request that LBAM’s USDA classification be revised based on up-to-date science, Secretary Kawamura is willing to poison us and our environment. And to spend $500,000 on a public relations firm to help “sell” this charade to us. 

I am ashamed of Secretary Kawamura’s disgraceful public deception campaign to sell a hopeless, dangerous and likely unneeded “eradication” program to the people. He should immediately call an end to the plans to give us time to make rational decisions based on sustainable, integrated pest management principles. Short of calling off the spray and undertaking sound pest management, he should resign. 

Robert Lieber is a registered nurse and the mayor of Albany. Join him in Sacramento Monday, March 10 for an 11 a.m. press conference opposing the spray on the Capitol steps with Senator Carole Migden and afternoon visits to educate legislators about the dangers of aerial spraying. www.PesticideWatch.org. 

We were out at Lafayette Reservoir a couple of weeks ago, looking for the bald eagle that wasn’t there. But there was a fair amount of butterfly action: a probable echo blue, some small hyperactive orange jobs, and three or four mourning cloaks, sparring or courting—it’s hard to tell with butterflies. 

There’s no ambiguity about a mourning cloak: it is, as Roger Tory Peterson said of the adult bald eagle, “all field mark,” its deep maroon wings bordered with a broad pale band. On close inspection of the reservoir butterflies, you could see that the band had faded from yellow to bone white and that the wings were a bit ragged. These guys weren’t fresh out of the chrysalis; they had been around all winter. 

Adult hibernation is an uncommon life strategy among butterflies, but the mourning cloak, along with its close relatives the California tortoiseshell and Milbert’s tortoiseshell, does just that. Adults that emerge in midsummer or fall spend the cold wet months holed up in some sheltered place. Some have been known to winter under the eaves of houses or in cellars. Arthur Shapiro, UC Davis butterfly maven and co-author of Field Guide to Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions, says that whatever the weather is like, they rarely stir before Jan. 25.  

They wake up hungry. Shapiro says local hibernators seek out willow catkins for nectar. In Wisconsin, according to a 1980 study by Allen M. Young, they rely on tree sap to fuel themselves for courtship and egg-laying, frequenting sap wells drilled by the yellow-bellied sapsucker. I don’t know how important this food source would be for California populations, although our red-breasted sapsuckers winter in the coast ranges until March or April, overlapping with the overwintering mourning cloaks. And what about mourning cloaks in Europe, where there are no sapsuckers? 

British lepidopterists, who have their own nomenclature, know this species as the Camberwell beauty. It was first collected in Cool Arbor Lane near Camberwell (now a densely built-up part of London) in 1748, and has turned up periodically ever since. However, it has never bred in the British Isles. Permanent range includes temperate Eurasia east to Japan, and the mountains of Central and northern South America. Apparently temperature-limited, mourning cloaks avoid the lowland tropics and subtropics. 

California has two behaviorally distinct mourning cloak populations. In the coast ranges, they’re resident year-round, producing at least two, sometimes three broods. Elsewhere, they’re altitudinal migrants like their tortoiseshell relatives. Shapiro, who has been monitoring a series of transect points from Suisun Marsh to Castle Peak in the Sierra for over 30 years, has observed mourning cloaks flying upslope along Interstate 80 in June. Their larvae feed on mountain willows. Some of their progeny hibernate in the mountains as adults; others return to the Valley for the winter. 

Tracking migrant butterflies has its technological limitations: you can’t rig a radio transmitter on a mourning cloak. But Shapiro wonders whether some of the stable isotope techniques used with migratory birds could be applied to these fragile travelers. The ratio of hydrogen isotopes in a warbler’s feathers in winter can indicate how far north it was when it grew those feathers before migrating. A butterfly’s tissues should contain a similar latitudinal signal. 

Something happened seven years ago to disrupt the mourning cloak’s migration cycle: after a breeding failure in the Sierra, the butterflies have remained rare in the mountains and the Sacramento Valley. Shapiro found none at Donner Summit last fall, for the first time in 36 years. “The cause of all this remains a mystery,” he says, “compounded by the simultaneous regional decline of all our other willow-feeding species in the Valley,” the willow hairstreak, Lorquin’s admiral, and sheep moth. There are still plenty of willows, and the admiral and the moth are holding their own elsewhere.  

Mourning cloak females lay large batches of eggs, and the caterpillars-spiny black creatures with red spots-stick together. 

Sometimes a brood will defoliate its host tree. They also pupate in clusters. A couple of sources say the pupae twitch in unison when disturbed, which is something I would pay to see. (Shapiro’s field guide describes mass pupal twitching in the California tortoiseshell.) I’m not clear about what kind of sensory apparatus a pupa has while it’s being reorganized from a caterpillar into a butterfly, or how you would alarm one, let alone a whole clutch. 

More mysteries. 

When an adult mourning cloak emerges from its pupa, it voids-how can we put this delicately?-a drop of blood-red liquid. “In medieval Europe,” Shapiro writes, “such ‘red rain’ was taken as an omen and often stimulated civic disturbances and demonstrations of religious fanaticism.” Those were nervous times, with all the wars and plagues and crusades and massacres, and it’s understandable that people would get all wrought up about butterfly poop. Good thing we’re not that credulous anymore.

Two of the problems with some of the early scathing criticisms of Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums—specifically the charge that he was a “do nothing” mayor—were that they were highly premature, at the very least, and failed to take into account Mr. Dellums' particular operating style. 

After a string of major policy victories and announcements in recent weeks, presumably the mayor's loud gaggle of critics will soon be doing a quick pivot and changing their charge from “Mr. Dellums ain't doing nothing” to “okay, he's doing something, but I don't happen to like the things he's doing.”  

Or maybe not.  

Some of Mr. Dellums' critics—NovoMetro's Echa Schneider (VSmoothe) comes quickest to mind—study the data and present detailed policy analyses to back up their positions. I rarely agree with Ms. Schneider/Smoothe's conclusions, but I admire and respect the work she puts in, and learn a lot of things from the data she collects. That's responsible criticism. But others—they shall remain nameless for now, but I'll call out their names if they keep it up—seem to believe that because they do not actually see the mayor “doing” things during the course of the day, it must be proof that nothing is being done. Thus did the men sitting at the corner table in the bar prove conclusively that air does not exist, since, after all, it has never been seen. 

Evaluating mayoral work styles--as opposed to policy initiatives or results--is made difficult in Oakland because we are still new to this full-time mayor thing. Up until the Jerry Brown era, mayors in Oakland served on City Council, where their involvement and political positions were easy to judge. Under the strong-mayor initiative that immediately preceded the inauguration of Mr. Brown, the mayor was removed from the council and, for all intents and purposes, from public sight. That initiative gave broad guidelines as to the mayor's responsibilities, but few or no guidelines as to how the mayor should carry them out. And there is no record in the possession of the City of Oakland of the day-to-day activities of the Brown Administration, those records never having been turned over to the City Clerk by Mr. Brown on his way out the door, as they were supposed to have been. 

And although Council President Ignacio De La Fuente famously proclaimed during the 2006 campaign that he would be a “24/7” mayor if elected, a standard by which some people have judged Mr. Dellums, we have no way to know how, exactly, Mr. De La Fuente himself would have carried out that pledge if it had been he whom Oakland elected instead. 

That has left us with insufficient evidence in order to judge Mr. Dellums' day-to-day activities or his style of governance, as opposed to judging his policy initiatives or his results. 

But clues are slowly emerging, for those who wish to look. 

During his eight years in office, Jerry Brown called upon the city bureaucracy to carry out certain initiatives. Most famously, he mobilized the office of then-City Administrator Robert Bobb to promote Mr. Brown's two charter school proposals. For weeks during the beginning of the Brown Administration, Mr. Bobb and several staff members trotted from meeting to meeting, week after week, between the city, county, and local school boards to try to win board sponsorship charters, and after Brown's charter Oakland Military Institute opened up shop at the Army Base, assistant administrator Simón Bryce moved his office to the facility and spent considerable time working on charter business.  

Mr. Brown later fired Mr. Bobb and replaced him with current City Administrator Deborah Edgerly, reportedly because Mr. Bobb favored a uptown ballpark for the Oakland A's over Mr. Brown's uptown development proposal, a proposal that eventually became the Forest City project. 

But even while replacing Mr. Bobb with Ms. Edgerly, Mr. Brown appeared to leave the day-to-day workings of the city bureaucracy alone, so that the bureaucracy continued to operate much as it had under the old Council-City Manager form of government. 

Mr. Dellums has taken a decidedly different tack. He has pointedly stayed out of City Council policy-making business, declaring that the mayor's job is to run the city, and that the city staff--the entire city staff, not just his own personal staff--was the vehicle with which he intended to get that done. 

In one of the most important, but little noted, passages in his recent State of the City address, the mayor declared that “I have changed the culture at City Hall and joined the mayor's office with city administration. It's no longer the mayor over here and the City Administrator over there.” 

Insiders familiar with the Dellums Administration say that the mayor has spent considerable time with top city administrative officials, trying to put together an executive team that functions together on the administration's policy goals. How well has that been working? The mayor's recent victories in Council in passing his police augmentation plan and his industrial zoning policy provide some insight, but there are serious budget and policy battles left ahead, and so the jury is still out. 

Another difficulty in analyzing the Dellums Administration is that unlike most politicians, Mr. Dellums feels that the secret to winning policy battles or getting resources for the city is to spread the credit around, rather than trying to take all or most of it for himself. 

Thus at a recent Oakland High School press conference to announce a joint city-county-school district-Kaiser Permanente initiative to put five public health clinics in Oakland high schools and middle schools in the next two years, Mr. Dellums decidedly downplayed his own involvement in bringing the process together, saying only that it was an “extraordinary day that typifies the type of collaboration we want with public and private entities.” 

It took Kaiser representative Bernard Tyson to reveal to the press that it was Mr. Dellums who kickstarted the process that led, eventually, to a $3 million Kaiser donation to help move the health clinic initiative forward. Mr. Tyson said that Kaiser had been talking about funding some sort of health activity in Oakland, but had put those plans aside until Mr. Dellums asked Mr. Tyson to set up a meeting with Kaiser officials to talk over public health care concerns. 

“I thought we were going to meet in the mayor's office,” Mr. Tyson said. “Instead, he came over to my office at Kaiser to talk with several of us for a few hours. We were surprised to see how many of our plans and interests overlapped with his.” 

The school health clinic initiative is probably the best clue as to how Mr. Dellums operates, cobbling together smaller, ongoing initiatives into a larger, more productive one while letting the original operations get the lion's share of the credit. In this case, Alameda County officials had money to operate the clinics once they are built, but no money to build them. The Oakland Unified School District has money under its facilities bond to turn existing school facilities into health clinic sites--the Oakland High clinic will be housed in an old shop classroom--but no money to operate them. Kaiser had money to help the process get started. Mr. Dellums helped bring them together and got the beginning of the school-based health clinics that are a major part of his model city program. In reporting on the Oakland High press conference, for example, CBS5 television station headlined its story with “Kaiser Provides $3 Million Grant For School Health Centers,” the first paragraph of the story noting that “Kaiser Permanente announced today it is providing a $3 million grant to fund school-based health centers at one middle school and four high schools in Oakland to provide comprehensive clinical and social services to children.” Mr. Dellums was mentioned, but only after Kaiser got its props, and with no mention of the mayor's role in putting the entire initiative together. 

Another key to understanding Mr. Dellums' day-to-day involvement in his administration and policy initiatives is listening to him speak. 

At his State of the City address, Mr. Dellums spoke for an hour and eight minutes, without notes, in detail, on both conditions in Oakland and his administration's efforts and activities. None of the facts and figures the mayor gave seemed put out by someone who had crammed for the speech, but instead were presented in a way that demonstrated that the mayor had a familiarity with the issues that could only come from working with them, seriously and intimately, over a considerable period of time. But the mayor's State of the City performance is no aberration, and in speaking to or answering questions at various public forums around the city, Mr. Dellums demonstrates that same grasp of detail in looking at Oakland policy questions. If the mayor is sleeping at his desk for good portions of the day--as some of his more outrageous critics have most famously charged--he must be doing it with one of those tapes on that allows you to take in information while you're unconscious. 

So where does that leave us in judging the success or failure of the Dellums Administration? Right where it ought to be, in that constant tension between what has been promised, and what is being fulfilled. In that regard, there is more than enough solid information to work with, without having to resort to the silly and superfluous. 

Teeming with pizza, bagel, and t-shirt outlets, surrounded by ethnic-food courts and cheap retail arcades, the intersection of Telegraph and Durant Avenues is inconceivable as an exclusive residential enclave reserved for millionaires' mansions set amidst spacious gardens and fronted by orderly rows of palm trees. 

Yet this was exactly how Telegraph Avenue looked in the first decade of the 20th century, when the street extended to Allston Way, meeting the UC campus at Strawberry Creek.  

In 1903, the south side of Bancroft Way contained more empty lots than houses. The west side of Telegraph Avenue between Bancroft and Durant was divided into two enormous lots, of which only the southern one—measuring 200 by 200 feet and extending from the middle of the block to the Durant Ave. corner—was occupied. On this lot, at 2318 Telegraph Avenue, stood the imposing Classic Revival mansion of William E. Knowles. 

Knowles was a real estate executive who had made a fortune in Alaskan gold mining and oil. His house, built in 1900 and one of the showplaces of Berkeley, basked in lonely splendor, with nary a building across the street. 

On the southeast corner, diagonally across from the Knowles residence, stood an even more elegant mansion belonging to lawyer-capitalist Louis Titus. On the southwest corner, one could admire the very large and formal Delta Kappa Epsilon chapter house. 

Today, any mention of fraternity houses will invariably evoke visions of Animal House. Not so at the turn of the last century. In March 1900, when the San Francisco Call devoted a Sunday magazine page to fraternity life in Berkeley, only four of the 14 fraternities located here owned their chapter houses, and the photos that illustrated the article could have been published in House Beautiful. 

Delta Kappa Epsilon was one of the fraternity-owned houses, and a photo of its parlor and hall, complete with lace curtains, a horn Victrola, and the ubiquitous billiard table, made an appearance in the Call magazine. Another featured house belonged to Phi Delta Theta, Louis Titus’s fraternity. Located at 2401 Durant Ave/, on the corner of Dana Street (now a U.C. parking lot), the house boasted tastefully furnished interiors. On June 2, 1901, the Call informed, “The Phi Delta Theta boys are noted for their orderly house […] one would never dream that the house was run entirely by a lot of students. Everything is exactly so, and one could look for dust with a microscope and not have the labor rewarded.” 

In the summer of 1900, presumably while the resident students were away on vacation, the 28-year-old Titus was living in the Phi Delta Theta house with his wife Lottie, infant daughter Dorothy, sister Ethel, and the family’s servant, Minnie Loeser. Why were they living in a frat house? Probably because they awaited the completion of their new mansion a block to the east. Strangely, their deed to the land was not recorded until after the house was completed in November. 

Both Louis and Lottie Titus grew up in Liberty, San Joaquin County. His father was a prosperous farmer, hers a wagon maker and blacksmith. But the rural surface concealed a penchant for learning. Lottie’s mother would shrug off her housewifely role in middle age and begin a new career as an osteopath. Three of Louis’s uncles were school teachers in Wisconsin, and one of them, Daniel Titus, also practiced as a pharmacist before launching a lucrative law career in San Francisco. 

Lottie and Louis came to Berkeley for their schooling. He enrolled at the University of California—the 1891 Berkeley directory listed him as a resident of Phi Delta Theta Hall, at that time located on the corner of Bancroft and Audubon [College Ave.]. Lottie graduated from the Anna Head School and the Mills Seminary in Oakland. She was teaching in a private seminary in Berkeley and he was a young attorney just out of college when they decided to tie the knot in 1892. 

Louis got his introduction to big-time wheeling and dealing at his uncle’s law office and never looked back. Barely into his 30s, he was a major player in real estate development, banking, transportation, water, lumber, and oil. 

Allied with leading business figures such as Francis “Borax” Smith, Frank C. Havens, Wickham Havens, John Hopkins Spring, Allen G. Freeman, Phillip E. Bowles, Joseph Mason and Duncan McDuffie, and Perry Tompkins (the latter two Phi Delta Theta brothers), Titus served as director or officer of key enterprises including the Realty Syndicate, the Claremont Hotel Company, the Berkeley Traction Company, the University Savings Bank of Berkeley, and the Big Lagoon Lumber Company. 

From 1906 to 1910, Titus was president of the People’s Water Company—the private precursor to EBMUD—negotiating two 10% rate reductions with the Oakland city council in order to avoid litigation. Nowadays he is best remembered for having masterminded the idea to relocate the state capital to Berkeley and construct the Capitol building in Northbrae. At the time (1907), the idea was taken seriously enough to be approved by the Assembly. Happily for us, the voters of California nixed the measure. 

In addition to his far-reaching corporate activities, Titus was frequently buying and selling large tracts of land. He also headed the Berkeley Development Company, and in November 1904, the San Francisco Call announced that he was erecting a new business and apartment block on the corner of Telegraph and Bancroft. Designed by Henry Meyers and Clarence Ward, El Granada still stands. It’s been owned by the Munger family for three generations and was restored in 1995, regaining its Mission-style gables, absent since the 1950s. 

But the Granada was not the first harbinger of change on Telegraph Avenue. The initial shot across the bow was delivered by contractor John Albert Marshall, who earlier that year began building a three-story business block on the lot adjacent to the Knowles mansion. As if that weren’t enough, construction began on the Epworth Methodist Church on the northeast corner of Telegraph and Durant-directly across the street from Knowles. 

Knowles was not pleased, and on December 23, 1904, while a crowd of pedestrians watched, he had his mansion picked up and moved half a block east, to 2521 Durant. On that occasion, he predicted to the Oakland Tribune that his well-to-do neighbors, Louis Titus and Seneca Gale (the latter lived at 2251 Telegraph Avenue and Bancroft Way, future site of Sproul Plaza), would follow suit. 

Knowles did not tell the newspapers that he had already sold Gale a new lot adjoining his own on Durant Avenue. Gale was a retired Michigan capitalist who had made his money in grain. Like Knowles, he could recognize a trend when he saw it and knew how to capitalize on it. Not long after moving to Durant Avenue, both sold their previous home lots to developers. 

Knowles sold his lot in October 1905 to Carlton Hobbs Wall, a young Alameda millionaire who would gain notoriety for automobile collisions. The price was $17,500. Carlton and his brother Edward soon broke ground for an apartment and store building projected to cost $30,000, but the 1906 San Francisco earthquake made them change plans and transform the structure into a first-class hotel. 

Like Titus, the Walls called on Meyers & Ward for the design of their four-story, clinker-brick building. Named Hotel Carlton, it was leased to Mrs. W.F. Morris, whose Cecil Hotel burned in the San Francisco fire. It cost $125,000 and boasted all the latest amenities, including an elevator, telephones, and a 135-foot dining room with dance floor. 

Seneca Gale waited until September 1906 to sell his lot. The price was again $17,500, and the buyer was none other than John Marshall, who planned to build a $100,000, 125-room hotel on the site. “A roof garden and other modern hostelry features will be provided,” announced the San Francisco Call. C.M. Cook, who had designed a number of houses for Marshall, was the architect. The building that finally emerged, however, was the 5-story Alta Vista, with six storefronts on the ground floor and 23 balconied apartments above, but no roof garden. It would be razed in 1946, after the university had taken possession of the Telegraph Ave. stretch between Sather Gate and Bancroft Way. 

And what of Louis Titus? He quietly left his home in March 1906. The reason did not become apparent until Lottie Titus filed for divorce in September 1909. Then she revealed that her temperament and inclinations were out of tune with those of her husband. He was highly ambitious and liked to socialize in fashionable circles, while she was interested only in her home and children. He wanted her to entertain lavishly, she wanted to teach Sunday school. He left her twice—four and 14 years into the marriage. 

The mansion at 2500 Durant Ave. was part of Lottie’s divorce settlement, but two break-ins in March 1908 made her uneasy, and she moved to Santa Barbara, leasing the house to a Napa millionaire. By 1910, she had sold it to Duncan McDuffie, who in turn sold it back to Titus. Having remarried in 1910 and built a new mansion in Piedmont, Titus sold 2500 Durant in 1913 to J. Arthur Elston and George Clark, U.C. graduates and law partners. Elston was former executive secretary to California governor Pardee, president of the U.C. alumni association, and a future U.S. Congressman. 

Elston and Clark retained Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr. to design and manage construction of a five-story, 48-unit brick apartment building with four storefronts. When completed, it was listed in the Berkeley directory as “Cambridge Hotel Apartments, 2-, 3-, and 4-room apartments and single rooms completely furnished, thoroughly modern elevator service.” The owners lived in the building. Next door, at 2510 Durant, they had Ratcliff build a cinema. Christened the Campus Theatre, it didn’t survive long. By the late 1920s it had become a store and is serving that function until today. 

The Marshall Block that prompted William Knowles to move his house in 1904 is long since gone. So are the Delta Kappa Epsilon house and Epworth Methodist Church. Photos of these vanished buildings may be seen in the book Picturing Berkeley—A Postcard History, edited by Burl Willes and available from BAHA. 

Seneca Gale died on his yacht in 1910, and Knowles followed him three years later. A food court stands on the site of the Knowles mansion. You can catch a glimpse of the much altered Seneca Gale house behind Cafe Durant. 

Daniella Thompson publishes berkeleyheritage.com for the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA). 

I live in a slide zone. As I understand it, the land my house is bobbing about on is a colloid of tumbled rock and Cuisinarted soil, the remains of an avalanche, hundreds of years now past. Since this material isn’t “consolidated” or compressed by time into a hard cake, it tends to amble downhill as gravity would have it. (I’m turning 50 and, as my friend Joann would say, my local gravity is also increasing so I know how the house feels). 

Although most homes are not located in slide zones, there are still forces that move soils around on many a lot and yours is very likely included. 

Gravity plays a vital role in all of these situations, soils types in many and water in most as well. Although I’ll briefly discuss the dynamics of this movement in the following paragraphs, what I mostly want to do is to talk about the import of the resulting deviations.  

As houses “settle” (a troublesome term because it says so much less than it should) they tend to lose their regularity (their squareness, their plumb, their level). They’re also doing all sorts of other funny things that aren’t obvious as well including sinuating (forming rolling S curves), bending and pulling apart. 

While a few of the houses I’ve seen have done some part of this weirdness to a dramatic level, most have not. Most floors I see are uneven but the great majority are not so uneven that I end up being concerned. Traditionally, a drop of one inch over twenty feet was considered unacceptable but if you try to use that standard in the Berkeley or Oakland hills, you’d find an enormous number of houses that won’t pass muster.  

The question is, why would this matter? With doorways or window frames, the function of the opening can be gradually impaired and a door may not close easily at some point. This is surely important but what usually happens is that alterations are made in the door or the lock receiving plates (AKA “strike” plates). With floors, it’s harder to make the argument. While I am not a fan of a big gap along the baseboards of a living room or a hearth that is higher (or lower) than the floor, these things rarely, in and of themselves, cause other significant problems. 

Most of our houses are built on perimeter concrete footings. These are very small relative to the size of the building and quite weak when compared with the destructive force of moving earth. While today’s foundations are much heartier than those of the past, they are still, mostly, not built to resist a great deal of earth movement without some malignation. We rely, instead, on the assumption that the earth will either not move or that it will move so little that we can tolerate it. 

So we end up with deformation in the foundation as the earth moves (which varies a LOT from lot to lot) and whatever movement we have in the foundation pushes the structure above it around in both hard and easily predicted ways. In short, as the earth heaves up one part of the foundation, you’re living room floor goes up too. The deformations in the floors are simply a reflection of those movements that the foundation experiences. This is the real argument for larger and stronger foundation and most specifically for the mat or raft foundation. I like the name raft foundation because it takes us right back to my original image of us bobbing about (albeit slowly) on our slow little sea of soil. The raft is thick enough and cohesive enough so that, regardless of earth movement below it, all components above it remain pinned to a stable plane.  

Now, that plane may tilt somewhat but unlike our perimeter footing, the structure will not be pushed and pulled at from many different points so that its deformation is complex, resulting in lots of parallelograms. It will simply tilt as a whole one way or another. Further, with such a large floating plane, the tendency will be for the whole to remain fairly level as forces pushing here and there cancel out one another. 

Now, again, this isn’t an argument against perimeter foundations or in favor of raft foundations (well, maybe it is, O.K.). What I really want to say is this: 

Variation in the level or square or a building don’t matter that much and they don’t necessarily predict the really important events such as collapse in an earthquake. These things have much more to do with the way in which the building is tied together. 

A building with really uneven floors and crooked doorways that has been properly braced and bolted to its old coral reef of a foundation will very likely survive a large earthquake with manageable damage (everything will have some damage, right?) while the neat, square unbraced house next door will be a mess. That’s the message. A little out of level is not unsafe, is not a predictor of major damage and is not bad for your teeth. 

To expand the argument just a bit, a house with a dangerous electrical system may look neat, square and have a fresh coat of paint. A house with a furnace that’s leaking carbon monoxide may have lots of great IKEA lamps. Things don’t necessary connect except when they do, right? Much as I hate to say it, you can’t tell a book by its cover. 

Of course, if a house is so far out of plumb that it’s in danger of falling over, that’s another thing. I do see one of those every once in a while but it’s pretty darned rare. I DO, on the other hand, see dangerous electric conditions in lots of houses, many of which have just been painted REAL nice. 

One last thought. When looking at deviations from square, plumb and level, be sure to consider the age of the house. When I see a quarter inch crack on a house that is three years old, I just about jump out of my skin but when I see the same crack on an eighty year old house, I just go on scratching my beard and reciting Kafka aloud. Cracks and deformations are the physical artifacts of movement. That’s why they’re meaningful. They are the rings on the tree. You have to divide the measurement of movement over the time period for it to be meaningful.  

If movement is uniform over time (always a fair baseline, although rarely accurate) our three year old house is going to have one inch of movement every twelve years at the locus of that crack and possibly much more over the entire house. After eighty years, that could be several feet if we’ve had a few of these cracks. That’s wildly unacceptable. A few quarter inch cracks over eighty years is a yawn because you can expect that the next eighty years will be about the same and, more to the point, the next ten years won’t produce anything surprising. Just a few more little cracks in the plaster.

I’ve liked Alden Lane Nursery ‘way out in Livermore since I first set foot in it over ten years ago. The big valley oaks that shade parts of the place won my splintery old heart immediately, and I saw evidence of real community involvement along with the more concrete stuff: primo nursery stock, interesting ornaments, good tools, less-toxic pest controls. 

They kept doing things I like, too. They were among the first I saw promoting small-space orchards done via multiple grafting on a single tree, pleaching, espaliering, and cordoning. They also pushed planting two or three saplings in a single hole, then pruning them so they didn’t interfere with each other-taking off the branches in the middle of the new group-and letting the various roots work it out among themselves.  

Even in the relatively spacious lots you see around Livermore, a more compact orchard is a good idea for variety and length of harvest; one household or even several can be hard-pressed to deal with 20 or 30 pounds of apples in a week. (Though a cider press does come to mind: cider is what Johnny Appleseed was thinking about, after all.) 

If you mix early- with later-ripening fruit, you solve part of that problem and you don’t get bored with a single variety.  

Along with good ideas like that, Alden Lane has a more or less perpetual canned-food drive for local relief agencies, hosts fundraisers for good causes, and has free tastings, talks, and shows several times a month.  

Alden is generous with printed information too: free handouts are in strategic spots all over the nursery and the monthly newsletter, available in newsprint or email form, has a pretty good ratio of good advice and bright ideas to in-text ads.  

Despite my respect for the institution, it had clearly been way too long since my last visit when I ventured inland last week. I’m almost used (though not reconciled) to the way the places I knew out there have been paved and built over and my landmarks have vanished, but once I’d navigated the straits of stucco and standard plantings to the front gate, I was still bewildered.  

The driveway was new. The fencing/walls/plantings around it all were new. There was a great big chateaufiquated building that I swore I’d never seen before. It wasn’t until I got inside and recognized some of the oaks that I felt oriented.  

Fortunately, most of those great old oaks are still there. They were alive with yellow-rumped warblers and other birds: I had red-shafted flicker, robins, blackbirds (probably Brewer’s), juncos, bushtits, and cormorants (OK, flying over) on the daylist; there was an Anna’s hummingbird nesting on one of the biggest oaks by the building entrance, and she came down to give me the stinkeye.  

There was a visible casualty, and it was an important one: the grand oak in the driveway had fallen in the January storm and parts of it still lay shattered in the median circle.  

It hurts to see, but, like us, trees are mortals.  

Alden Lane Nursery 

981 Alden Lane, Livermore 

(925) 447-0280  

www.aldenlane.com 

Email newsletter sign-up on website. 

Open daily 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. 

Ron Sullivan is a former professional gardener and arborist. Her “Garden Variety” column appears every Friday in the Daily Planet’s East Bay Home & Real Estate section. Her column on East Bay trees appears every other Tuesday in the Daily Planet.

TUESDAY, MARCH 11 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Ethan Rarick describes “Desperate Passage: The Donner Party’s Perilous Journey West” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Chamber Performances with the Wolford-Rosenblum Duo, saxophone and piano, at 8 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Tickets are $20. 525-5211. 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054.  

Singers’ Open Mic with Kelly Park at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Midnite, roots reggae from St. Croix at 8:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $25-$30. 548-1159.  

Brian Woods Ensemble, jazz, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

John Worley & WorlView at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $6-$12. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Protest in Paris 1968” Photographs by Serge Hambourg. Exhibition opens at Berkeley Art Museum. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

FILM 

Film 50: History of Cinema “Late Spring” at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Michael Connery discusses “Youth to Power: How Today’s Young Voters Are Building Tomorrow’s Progressive Majority” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Roberta Maisel discusses “All Grown Up: Living Happily Ever After With Your Adult Children” at 6 p.m. at the North Branch of the Berkeley Public Library. 981-6250. 

Poetry en Español with Gladys Basagoitia and Carmen Abad at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Gina Daggett and Kathy Belge discuss their new book, “Lipstick and Dipstick’s Essential Guide to Lesbian Relationships” at 7 p.m. at Laurel Bookstore, 4100 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. 531-2073. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music for the Spirit with Ron McKean on harpsichord at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

Wednesday Noon Concert, with University Chamber Chorus at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864.  

Dan Stanton Group at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Bernard Anderson & The Old School Band at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. West coast swing danec lesson at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $7. 525-5054.  

Kurt Ribak and Greg Sankovich at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100.  

Saoco at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa dance lessons at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Kids and Hearts at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Cara at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Dave Hollister at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $18. 238-9200.  

THURSDAY, MARCH 13 

CHILDREN 

“Grandma’s Hands” An African American History Month celebration with a performance by Oxford Elementary’s Fifth Grade Class at 8:45 a.m. at Oxford Elementary School, 1130 Oxford St. 644-6300. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Enrique Chagoya: Borderlandia Guided tour at 12:15 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Oakland Heritage Alliance Lecture by landscape architect Chris Pattillo on the Historic Landscape Survey, a new program that recognizes and documents our nation’s historic and cultural landscapes at 7:30 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Cost is $8-$10. 763-9218.  

“Focus on Contra Costa” Authors Adam Nilsen, Dean McLeod and Caroll Jensen discuss their books about Pleasant Hill, Port Chicago and the Delta at 1 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. 238-2022.  

Jeffrey Harrison and Cathleen Micheaels read their poetry at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Kyu Hyun Kim on “The Age of Visions and Arguments: Parliamentarianism and the National Public Sphere in Early Meiji Japan” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Symphony, Guillermo Figueroa, conductor, at 8 p.m. Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $20-$60. 841-2800.  

23rd Jewish Music Festival “Mayn Yiddishe Velt: Heather Lauren Klein sings Yiddish Art Songs” at 2 p.m. at The JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237, ext. 139. 

Narada Michael Walden in a benefit for Music in the Schools at 6 p.m. at Ex'pression College for Digital Arts, 6601 Shellmound, Emeryville. Tickets are $50-$250. eventinfo@emeryed.org 

Moving Violations, Queer Contra Dance, at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. 

Diana Jones at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Jenny Farris Quartet in a Frank Loesser Tribute Show, at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Euphonia, ballads, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

John Seabury at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Gonzalo Rubacaba at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

FRIDAY, MARCH 14 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “Chicago” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St., Alameda, through April 12. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Berkeley Rep ”Wishful Drinking” with Carrie Fisher, at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St., through March 30. Tickets are $33-$69. 647-2949. 

Golden Thread Productions “What Do the Women Say?” An International Women’s Day performance on the Middle East at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Central Works “Wakefield; or Hello Sophia” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through March 23.Tickets are $14-$25. 558-1381. 

Impact Theatre “Jukebox Stories: The Case of the Creamy Foam” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through March 22. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. http://impacttheatre.com 

EXHIBITIONS 

“In the Round” A celebration of seven sculptors: Robert Cantor, Diana Keevan, Traudel Prussin, Andrew Shaper, Zahava Sherez, Lidija Tkalcevic, Susan Wells. Reception for the artists at 6 p.m. at ACCI Gallery, 11652 Shattuck Ave. 843-2527. 

Ed Dwight “Paintings and Bronze Sculpture” Opening reception at 5:30 p.m. at Joyce Gordon Gallery 406 14th St. Oakland. 465-8928. 

FILM 

“The Princess of Nebraska” with filmmaker Wayne Wang in person at 7 p.m., “The Terrorizer” with actor Cora Miao in person at 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

May Garsson and Tom Odegard will read at 7 p.m. at Nefeli Caffe, 1854 Euclid Ave., followed by an open reading.  

Haleh Hatami and Rosemary Toohey, poetry and staged reading at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Oakland East Bay Symphony “Notes From Persia” with pianist Tara Kamangar and mezzo-soprano Raeeka Shehabi-Yaghmi at 8 p.m. at Paramount Theater, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. Pre-concert lecture with John Kendall Bailey at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20-$65. 625-8497. 

Chanticleer “From the Path of Beauty” with The Shanghai Quartet at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $25-$44. 415-392-4400. www.chanticleer.org 

“Makings” music based on the unpublished writings of Tillie Olsen at 8 p.m. at Avonova Studios, 417 Avon St., Oakland. Tickets are $8-$15. For reservations call 707-823-5008. www.deconstructmyhouse.org 

Friday Noon Concert at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Junior Bach Festival, featuring young performers, at 7:30 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2723 College Ave. 843-2224. www.juniorbach.org 

Angélique Kidjo, West African singer at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $22-$42. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

Sara and Swingtime at 7 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15, $60 with dinner. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Dave Mathews Soultet with Tony Lindsay, at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Sister Carol, Women’s History Month Reggae Celebration, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is tba. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Edo Castro, bassist, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Tin Hat at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Fernando Tarango and Tiffany Joy at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Kinsella Brothers at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Kev Choice, Prince Ali & The Destruments, The Bayliens at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$7. 548-1159.  

Bulk at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Sakai, R&B, at 9 p.m. at Maxwell’s Lounge, 341 13th St., Oakland. Cost is $10-$15. 839-6169. 

SATURDAY, MARCH 15 

CHILDREN  

Stagebridge Theater Company “Chicken Sunday” A musical adaptation of Patricia Polacco’s book, Sat. and Sun. at 3 p.m. at Arts First Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. at 27th. Tickets are $5-$12. 444-4755. www.stagebridge.org 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Mariela & Monica, songs in Spanish, at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5 for adults, $4 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Boswick the Clown at 11 a.m. at Studio Grow, 1235 Tenth St. Cost is $7. 526-9888. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Private Collection of Contemporary California Plein Air Paintings” Reception at 2 p.m. at Alta Galleria, 2980 College Ave Suite 4. 421-1255. 

“Material Evidence” Mixed media work of Peter Boyer, and sculptor Ed Kirshner. Closing party at 6 p.m. at FLOAT Art Gallery 1091 Calcot Place, Unit # 116 , located in a store front loft of the historic cotton mill studios, Oakland. www.thefloatcenter.com  

“In Our Own Backyard” A celebration of the East Bay Regional Parks. An exhibition of photographs by Bob Walker opens at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak St., and runs through Oct. 12. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2022.  

“Open Range” The art of Douglas Light, Michele Hofherr and Scott Courtenay-Smith. Artist reception at 6 p.m. at Esteban Sabar Gallery, 480 23rd St., Oakland. 444-7411. www.estebansabar.com 

FILM 

“Slingshot” with filmmaker Brillante Mendoza at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

82nd Annual Poets’ Dinner and contest results at 11:30 a.m. at Francesco’s Restaurant, 8520 Pardee Dri., Oakland. Lucille Lang will speak on “Poetry, Ecology and the Brain” Tickets are $27-$28.  

Gayle Greene reads from “Insomniac” part memoir, part scientific analysis, at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“People Like Me 2008: It’s My Nature” Interactive theatrical performance for families with dance, music and puppetry. Pre-show workshop at 11 a.m., show at noon at Regent’s Theater, Holy Names University, 3500 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. Cos tis $6-$12. 415-392-4400. www.cityboxoffice.com 

14th Annual Norouz Show Presented by the Iranian Students Cultural Organization at 12:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $5-$15 at the door.  

Collage de Cultures Africaines “The Journey Back is the Journey Forward” Dance and drum performances at 8 p.m. at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. African marketplace at 6 p.m. Tickets are $20-$30 from www.urbanevents.com 

Berkeley Opera “L’Elisir d’Amore” at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$44. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

Junior Bach Festival, featuring young performers, at 3 and 7:30 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2723 College Ave. 843-2224. www.juniorbach.org 

WomenSing “Sounds and Sweet Airs” at 8 p.m. at Holy Names University Chapel, Oaklnd. Tickets are $10-$25. 925-974-9169. www.womensing.org 

Spring Equinox Concert and Ritual “One Soul Sounding” with Linda Tillery, Evelie Delfino Såles Posch, Lisa Rafel, and Eda Maxym at 7:30 p.m. at Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, 1330 Lakeshore, Oakland. Tickets are $15-$24. 654-3234. www.lisarafel.com  

Metropolitan Opera “Peter Grimes” broadcast live from The Metropolitan Opera in New York City at 10:30 a.m. at Bay Street 16, 5614 Bay Street, Ste 220, Emeryville. Tickets are $15-$22. www.FathomEvents.com 

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra “The Queen of Egypt” with Canadian-Armenian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Pre-concert lecture 45 minutes prior to performance. Tickets are $30-$72. 415-392-4400. www.philharmonia.org  

Steven Strauss, multi-instrumentarian, ukeleleiast, at 3 p.m. at Down Home Music Berkeley store, 1809b Fourth St. www.downhomemusic.com 

Irina Rivkin & Tamra Engle at 8 p.m. at Rose Street House of Music, 1839 Rose St. Donation $8-$20. 594-4000 ext. 687. www.rosestreetmusic.com 

“Makings” music based on the unpublished writings of Tillie Olsen at 8 p.m. at Avonova Studios, 417 Avon St., Oakland. Tickets are $8-$15. For reservations call 707-823-5008. www.deconstructmyhouse.org 

SFJAZZ Collective at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$52. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

Jon Fromer, emma’s revolution, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $13-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Robin Gregory & Her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Lakay, Abu Simel and the Venutians, Ashkenaz 35th Anniversay Party, at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

The Jazz Fourtet at 5 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Jumoke Hill, Chris Clavey at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Melanie O’Reilly & “Aisling” at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Andrea Fultz, German songs from the 1930s, at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Jack Tone Riorden Trio, jazz, at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Kinsella Brothers at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Wayward Monks at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Gonzalo Rubacaba at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SUNDAY, MARCH 16 

CHILDREN 

Celebrating California’s New Cultures with music and activities for the whole family from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak St. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2022.  

Stagebridge Theater Company “Chicken Sunday” A musical adaptation of Patricia Polacco’s book, at 3 p.m. at Arts First Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. at 27th. Tickets are $5-$12. 444-4755. www.stagebridge.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

Loom Lathe: The Art of Kay Sekimachi and Bob Stocksdale Opening reception at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. in Live Oak Park. 644-6893. www.berkeleysrtcenter.org 

FILM 

“Never Forever” with filmmaker Gina Kim at 7:50 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Richard Wright Centennial Project Readings by the Oakland Public Theater at 6 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 534-9529.  

“Borderlandia in Mind” Panel discussion of the works on Enrique Chagoya at 3 p.m. at berkeley Art Museum Theater. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Takács Quartet pre-performance talk with Paul M. Ellison at 2 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free to ticketholders. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

Toni Mirosevich and Annie Holmes read at 4 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet at 2 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $10-$15 for concert and reception. Children under 12 free. 228-3218. 

Berkeley Opera “L’Elisir d’Amore” at 5 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$44. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

Junior Bach Festival, featuring young performers, at 3 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2723 College Ave. 843-2224. www.juniorbach.org 

Berkeley Symphony “Under Construction” at 7 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2345 Durant. Tickets are $10-$20. 841-2800. www.berkeleysymphony.org 

Prometheus Symphony Orchestra performs Stravinsky, Delius and Rutter at 3 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 116 Montecito Ave., Oakland. Free, donations accepted. www.prometheussymphony.org 

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra “The Queen of Egypt” with Canadian-Armenian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Pre-concert lecture 45 minutes prior to each performance. Tickets are $30-$72. 415-392-4400. www.philharmonia.org  

Takács Quartet at 3 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $546. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

Bay Area Flamenco Partnership with Juan del Gastor from Spain, at 7 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $25. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Michael Coleman’s “Beep” at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Doctor Sparkles at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Jody London at 2 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Pappa Gianni & the North Beach Band at 2 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Robert Stewart Experience “Tribute to Eddie Harris” at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

The Angry Philosophers at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

MONDAY, MARCH 17 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Express with Cat Ruiz at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Blind Duck Irish Band at 7 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Helios, Greek and Bulgarian, at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100. www.lebateauivre.net 

Swing Farm at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Kinsella Brothers at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Black Brothers, Triskela at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $20.50-$21.50. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Terrence Brewer at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $8-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Golden Thread Productions, the Bay Area troupe that specializes in expressions of Middle Eastern culture and identity, will present What Do The Women Say?—five pieces ranging stylistically from theater to performed poetry—at La Pena Cultural Center Friday at 8 p.m. to celebrate International Women’s Day. 

"It’s our third annual show,” said Golden Thread founder Torange Yeghiazarian. “It showcases work which women have created and perform, showing their perspectives, reflecting what’s going on in the news, or more universal issues of a woman’s place in the world, or the female body as a symbol relating to land—fighting over land, over women’s bodies. Women are also often more affected by war and political turmoil in that they’re the ones usually staying behind, those who have to rebuild, reestablish society.” 

In that mode, one of the pieces, “The Body Washer,” by Rosemary Frisino Toohey, sees the death of an Iraqi woman at a checkpoint through the eyes of three other women—an American soldier, an American journalist and another Iraqi woman who washes the body.  

Other pieces include featured artist Lana Nasser’s short stories, “Arab Women Talking,” which Yeghiazarian characterizes as “informed by dreams and myth, symbolic in that sense, of the female body through time.”  

Iranian poet Haleh Hatami will use photos and spoken word to explore “homesickness and longing—the physical experience of longing for our deepest origin.” 

Elmaz Abinader, a local poet who has been recognized with awards from PEN and The Goldies, will perform “The Torture Quartet” with music. And Sara Razavi will do Yussef El Guindi’s play, “The Monologist Suffers Her Monologue.”  

"It’s the first time we’ve had something written by a guy in this kind of event,” Yeghiazarian said. “And it also shows another aspect of what we try to do. The performer is Iranian, playing a Palestinian woman. We want everybody, actors as well as audience, to connect with what’s not your own story, to bring your own experience to what is often intimately another’s. It’s a cliché about the average American not being able to tell a Palestinian from an Iraqi—but it’s the same in the Middle East much of the time.” 

The whole program runs under 90 minutes with no intermission. Next, Golden Thread will premiere a full-length comedy by El Guindi at SF’s Thick House in June, Jihad Jones and the Kalishnikov Babes, about an Arab-American actor offered a big break to play in a film by a great American director, as a terrorist. 

Chanticleer, San Francisco’s famed choral group, and the Shanghai Quartet, one of China’s original chamber music ensembles, will be featuring “From the Path of the Beautiful,” a seven-part piece written for them by composer Chen Yi in celebration of their anniversaries (30 years for Chanticleer, 25 for the Shanghai Quartet) when they perform this Friday evening at 8 p.m. at the First Congregational Church on Durant. 

The program will also include Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major and “Three Songs” by Ligeti. Other performances will be Thursday night and Sunday afternoon at the S. F. Conservatory of Music and Friday night at Mission San Jose. 

Composer Chen Yi, from Guangzhou, China—and long associated with Chinese Opera and traditional music, besides Western compositional music—left her homeland, where she was a pioneering female composer, to study in the United States in 1986. During the 1990s, she spent time in residence with the Women’s Philharmonic in San Francisco and began working, too, with Chanticleer. In the Bay Area for rehearsals and performances of her new piece, she commented on the program. 

“In the ancient Chinese arts, you could find all the disciplines together,” Chen Yi said, “Like in a Renaissance sense, so many types, not a single discipline apart. Poetry would be in calligraphy, a branch of painting; the poems might describe dancing (calligraphy itself is called ‘dancing ink’)—and would be sung. I took the title of the piece from a book of aesthetics that introduced all the art forms. The seven movements represent some of them, not all! So if I lead, you will go through all these types of ancient art the music describes.” 

The movements are not only after different arts, like those of rhymed poems or clay figures, but also imitate Chinese melodic lines where appropriate, and feature different sounds, like that of a village band (“kind of folksy, warm—for dancing!”) in the last movement, or elsewhere “more intellectual art forms.”  

The composition opens a cappella, then moves through different sections (“all the movements have a different sound”) where either the quartet plays alone or with Chanticleer’s voices. The vocal style is sometimes in the style of Peking Opera. “I know it so well; I like using this kind of language. It’s like the reciting of ancient poems. You can imagine the chanting of voices. The singers are singing nonsense syllables! They suggest Chinese words, and sometimes imitate the sound of Chinese instrumental and percussion playing. The melodies don’t sound modern. It can have the effect of a Chinese folk opera.”  

Chen Yi praised Chanticleer and the Shanghai Quartet. “We’ve worked together many times before—and the quartet said, this time write for us! So it was put together intentionally for the anniversaries. And next year is the 30th anniversary of San Francisco and Shanghai becoming sister cities, so it’s to the memory of Peter Henshaw and Gordon Lau, who made that happen. Peter Henshaw (who was chair of the board of the Berkeley Symphony when he died) was instrumental in bringing Chinese musicians here in the early ’80s to study at the conservatory. One of them, discovering the importance of chamber music in Western society, went back and founded the Shanghai Quartet (now based in New Jersey).  

“Whenever I work with Chanticleer,” Chen Yi continued, “I change the translations of Chinese songs back into the original. They’re so high in quality, really well educated—and not only musically. They get the sense, the style. The purpose of the piece was to write for two different groups not necessarily working together in unison. And even within the choir, there are many, many different layers. It’s so complicated, not always in counterpoint. We weren’t familiar with the voices with the instrumental sounds. The first rehearsal was kind of a shock! But the blending of the two parts, the interactive sense—and especially the timbre, which is what we really didn’t know, with the two groups working together, and the rhythms—they’ve handled it really well. And we have a set of Chinese folksongs from another program, if people want an encore!” 

FROM THE PATH OF THE BEAUTIFUL 

Chanticleer and the Shanghai Quartet 

• 8 p.m. Thursday, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak St., San Francisco.  

• 8 p.m. Friday, First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way, Berkeley. 

• 8 p.m. Saturday, Mission Santa Clara, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara. 

• 5 p.m. Sunday, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak St., San Francisco. 

Tickets: $25-$44. (800) 407-1400, (415) 392-4400. www.chanticleer.org 

San Francisco Conservatory of Music composer Chen Yi, singer Zheng Cao and students from Crystal Children’s Choir will give a free performance and discussion at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Call (415) 252-8589 for free tickets.

We were out at Lafayette Reservoir a couple of weeks ago, looking for the bald eagle that wasn’t there. But there was a fair amount of butterfly action: a probable echo blue, some small hyperactive orange jobs, and three or four mourning cloaks, sparring or courting—it’s hard to tell with butterflies. 

There’s no ambiguity about a mourning cloak: it is, as Roger Tory Peterson said of the adult bald eagle, “all field mark,” its deep maroon wings bordered with a broad pale band. On close inspection of the reservoir butterflies, you could see that the band had faded from yellow to bone white and that the wings were a bit ragged. These guys weren’t fresh out of the chrysalis; they had been around all winter. 

Adult hibernation is an uncommon life strategy among butterflies, but the mourning cloak, along with its close relatives the California tortoiseshell and Milbert’s tortoiseshell, does just that. Adults that emerge in midsummer or fall spend the cold wet months holed up in some sheltered place. Some have been known to winter under the eaves of houses or in cellars. Arthur Shapiro, UC Davis butterfly maven and co-author of Field Guide to Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions, says that whatever the weather is like, they rarely stir before Jan. 25.  

They wake up hungry. Shapiro says local hibernators seek out willow catkins for nectar. In Wisconsin, according to a 1980 study by Allen M. Young, they rely on tree sap to fuel themselves for courtship and egg-laying, frequenting sap wells drilled by the yellow-bellied sapsucker. I don’t know how important this food source would be for California populations, although our red-breasted sapsuckers winter in the coast ranges until March or April, overlapping with the overwintering mourning cloaks. And what about mourning cloaks in Europe, where there are no sapsuckers? 

British lepidopterists, who have their own nomenclature, know this species as the Camberwell beauty. It was first collected in Cool Arbor Lane near Camberwell (now a densely built-up part of London) in 1748, and has turned up periodically ever since. However, it has never bred in the British Isles. Permanent range includes temperate Eurasia east to Japan, and the mountains of Central and northern South America. Apparently temperature-limited, mourning cloaks avoid the lowland tropics and subtropics. 

California has two behaviorally distinct mourning cloak populations. In the coast ranges, they’re resident year-round, producing at least two, sometimes three broods. Elsewhere, they’re altitudinal migrants like their tortoiseshell relatives. Shapiro, who has been monitoring a series of transect points from Suisun Marsh to Castle Peak in the Sierra for over 30 years, has observed mourning cloaks flying upslope along Interstate 80 in June. Their larvae feed on mountain willows. Some of their progeny hibernate in the mountains as adults; others return to the Valley for the winter. 

Tracking migrant butterflies has its technological limitations: you can’t rig a radio transmitter on a mourning cloak. But Shapiro wonders whether some of the stable isotope techniques used with migratory birds could be applied to these fragile travelers. The ratio of hydrogen isotopes in a warbler’s feathers in winter can indicate how far north it was when it grew those feathers before migrating. A butterfly’s tissues should contain a similar latitudinal signal. 

Something happened seven years ago to disrupt the mourning cloak’s migration cycle: after a breeding failure in the Sierra, the butterflies have remained rare in the mountains and the Sacramento Valley. Shapiro found none at Donner Summit last fall, for the first time in 36 years. “The cause of all this remains a mystery,” he says, “compounded by the simultaneous regional decline of all our other willow-feeding species in the Valley,” the willow hairstreak, Lorquin’s admiral, and sheep moth. There are still plenty of willows, and the admiral and the moth are holding their own elsewhere.  

Mourning cloak females lay large batches of eggs, and the caterpillars-spiny black creatures with red spots-stick together. 

Sometimes a brood will defoliate its host tree. They also pupate in clusters. A couple of sources say the pupae twitch in unison when disturbed, which is something I would pay to see. (Shapiro’s field guide describes mass pupal twitching in the California tortoiseshell.) I’m not clear about what kind of sensory apparatus a pupa has while it’s being reorganized from a caterpillar into a butterfly, or how you would alarm one, let alone a whole clutch. 

More mysteries. 

When an adult mourning cloak emerges from its pupa, it voids-how can we put this delicately?-a drop of blood-red liquid. “In medieval Europe,” Shapiro writes, “such ‘red rain’ was taken as an omen and often stimulated civic disturbances and demonstrations of religious fanaticism.” Those were nervous times, with all the wars and plagues and crusades and massacres, and it’s understandable that people would get all wrought up about butterfly poop. Good thing we’re not that credulous anymore.

TUESDAY, MARCH 11 

National Nutrition Month, with cooking demonstrations at 2:30 p.m., free samples and free recipes, at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market from 2 to 6 p.m. at Derby St. and Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

Tuesdays for the Birds Tranquil bird walks in local parklands, led by Bethany Facendini, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Today we will visit the Middle Harbor Shoreline Park. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

Tilden Mini-Rangers Hiking, conservation and nature-based activities for ages 8-12. Dress to ramble and get dirty. From 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

“The Mountains and Waters Sutra” with Prof. Carl Bielefeld, Religious Studies, Stanford Univ., at 5 p.m. at Jodo Shinshu Center, 2140 Durant Ave. RSVP to 809-1444. www.shin-ibs.edu 

Magic Show by Alex for ages 3 and up at 6:30 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from 3 to 4 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. 644-8833. 

“Exploring Mount Diablo and Its Surrounding Parklands” with Seth Adams, Director of Land Programs at Save Mount Diablo, at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Docent Training for Tilden Nature Area Learn to assist the naturalists in providing interpretive programs at the Little Farm and nature area gardens, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fee is $35. Application required. For information call 544-3260. 

Really Real Green Zone promoting safe and healthy communities for peace, every day to 5 p.m., Fri., in front of the Marine Recruiting Station, 64 Shattuck Square. 524-2776. 

Berkeley High School Governance Council meets at 4:15 p.m. in the Community Theater Lobby. 644-4803. 

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. 

End the Occupation Vigil every Tues. at noon at Oakland Federal Bldg., 1301 Clay St. www.epicalc.org 

Teen Playreaders meets to read and discuss Hamlet and related plays at 4:30 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6121. 

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12 

Healthy Living, Healthy Aging A free workshop series for older adults and family caregivers. Fall Prevention at 10 a.m., Transitioning Safely from Hospital to Home, at 1:30 p.m., Forgetfulness: Is It Normal Aging or Alzheimer’s? at 5 p.m. at JFCS/East Bay’s Suse Moyal Center for Older Adult Services, 828 San Pablo Ave., Suite 104, Albany. Free, lunch provided. RSVP required. 558-7800. www.jfcs-eastbay.org 

Anti-Budget Cuts for Education Rally and Open Mic at noon at Berkeley City Collge Atrium.  

Berkeley Retired Teachers’ Association Annual General Meeting with Virginia Johnson, CalSTRS Program Integration Manager in Client Outreach and Guidance, at 12:30 p.m. at Northbrae Church, 941 The Alameda. 524-8899. 

“Israel-Palestine Peace Prospects” with Israeli Gershon Baskin and Palestinian Hanna Siniora, authors, activists and educators at 7 p.m. at Kehilla Synagogue, 1300 Grand Ave., Piedmont. Donation of $10 requested. sf-bayarea@btvshalom.org  

Sudden Oak Death Preventative Treament Training Session Meet at 1 p.m. at the Tolman Hall portico, Heast Ave. and Arch/LeConte, UC Campus for a two-hour field session, rain or shine. Pre-registration required. SODtreatment@ 

nature.berkeley.edu 

“Lead-Safety for Remodeling, Repair & Painting of Older Homes” A HUD and EPA approved one-day course from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program Main Office, 2000 Embarcadero, #300, Oakland. Free to owners, and their employed maintenance crews, of residential properties built before 1978 in Alameda, Berkeley, Emeryville or Oakland. REgistration required. 567-8280. www.aclppp.org 

Green Home Improvement 101 at 6 p.m. at the Ecohome Improvement Design Studio, 2619 San Pablo Ave. RSVP to 644-3500. 

Cycling Lecture with George Mount, 1976 Olympian, at 7 p.m. at Velo Sport Bicycles, 1615 University Ave., enter at 1989 California St. RSVP to 849-0437. 

Radical Movie Night: “Salt of the Earth” A documentary about the struggles of striking mine workers in a small town in New Mexico at 8:30 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave.  

“The Top 25 Censored Stories” with Peter Phillips on the 2008 results at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way, under Sather Gate Parking Garage. 848-1196. 

“Asia’s New Institutional Architecture: Evolving Strategies for Managing Trade, Financial, and Security Relations” at 4 p.m. at the IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton St., 6th Floor. 642-2809.  

Poetry Writing Workshop with Alison Seevak at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Teen Chess Club from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the North Branch Library, 1170 The Alameda at Hopkins. 981-6133. 

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, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

Theraputic Recreation at the Berkeley Warm Pool, Wed. at 3:30 p.m. and Sat. at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley Warm Pool, 2245 Milvia St. Cost is $4-$5. Bring a towel. 632-9369. 

THURSDAY, MARCH 13 

Collage de Cultures Africaines “The Journey Back is the Journey Forward” Dance and drum workshops Thurs.-Sun. at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. For details call 733-1077. www.DiamanoCoura.org 

“Historic Landscape Survey” with landscape architect Chris Pattillo at 7:30 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Cost is $8-$10. 763-9218. info@oaklandheritage.org 

Oxford Elementary’s Fifth Grade Class is celebrating African American History Month with a play “Grandma’s Hands” at 8:45 a.m. at Oxford Elementary School, 1130 Oxford St. 644-6300. 

“Biofuels: Energy, Food People” A panel discussion to explore the questions: What are biofuels? Will they really replace gasoline? Are they really “green”? With Tad Patzek, Professor of Geoengineering at UC Berkeley, Miguel Altieri, Professor of Agroecology at UC Berkeley, Eric Holt-Giménez, Executive Director of Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy, and Judith Mayer, Project Coordinator of the Borneo Project, at 7 p.m. at Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Suggested donation $20. 888-ECO-NOW2. www.econowusa.org 

“Climate Change and Our Water: Thinking Globally & Acting Locally to Protect Our Watersheds” with Bruce Riorden, at 7 p.m. at a private home in Berkeley. Suggested donation $25. Benefits the Codornices Creek Watershed Council. RSVP to Josh Brandt at 540-6669. www.codornicescreekwatershed.org 

Help Save Patagonia’s Wild Rivers A multi-media presentation with International Rivers on two rivers threatened by dam construction, at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 848-1155. www.internationalrivers.org 

“Fish Forever: Creating Sustainable FIsheries” with Paul Johnson at 7 p.m. at College Preparatory School, 6100 Broadway, Oakland. Tickets are $5-$15. http://livetalk-johnson.eventbrite.com 

Eat Bay Science Cafe with Debbie Viess, president, Bay Area Mycological Society at 7 p.m. at Au Coquelet Cafe, 2000 University Ave. 643-7265. 

“Focus on Contra Costa” Authors Adam Nilsen, Dean McLeod and Caroll Jensen discuss their books about Pleasant Hill, Port Chicago and the Delta at 1 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. 238-2022. www.museumca.org 

“The Truth about Cholesterol - Separating Fact from Fiction” at 7 p.m. at Acupuncture & Integrated Medicine College, 2550 Shattuck Ave., at Blake. 666-8248, ext. 106. 

Healthy Living for Seniors: Understanding and Coping with Parkinson’s Disease at 10 a.m., Understanding Long-Term Care and Medi-Cal and Avoiding Financial Abuse at 1 p.m., Financial Strategies for Older Adults at 3 p.m., Charitable Giving for Older Adults, 4:45 p.m. and Estate Planning and Power of Attorney, at 6 p.m. at JFCS/East Bay’s Suse Moyal Center for Older Adult Services, 828 San Pablo Ave., Suite 104, Albany. Free, lunch provided. RSVP required 558-7800. www.jfcs-eastbay.org 

Berkeley Stop the War meets at 7 p.m. in 258 Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. 

Annual Toastmasters International Speech Competition at 7:30 p.m. at The El Cerrito Community Center, 7007 Moeser Lane, at San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 799-9557.  

East Bay Mac Users Group presents SuperSync at 7 p.m. at Expression College for Digital Arts, 6601 Shellmound Street, Emeryville. http://ebmug.org 

Teen Book Club meets to discuss Sherlock Holmes at 4 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6121. 

Babies & Toddlers Storytime at 10:15 and 11:15 a.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Fitness Class for 55+ at 9:15 a.m. at Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

FRIDAY, MARCH 14 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Dr. Tom Gold on “China Today and Tomorrow” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

Healthy Living for Seniors A day of workshops for seniors, their families and caregivers. All About AC Transit, at 10 a.m., Seniors Driving Safely: DMV Resources for Older Adults at 10:45 a.m., All About East Bay Paratransit, at 12:15 p.m., Aging and Sexuality, at 2 p.m. at JFCS/East Bay’s Suse Moyal Center for Older Adult Services, 828 San Pablo Ave., Suite 104, Albany. Free, lunch provided. RSVP required 558-7800. www.jfcs-eastbay.org. 

Global Business and Human Rights Symposium beginning at 1 p.m. at Room 105, Boalt Hall, UC Campus. Keynote speech at 4:30 p.m. with Professor David Weissbrodt, reception to follow. Sponsored by The Berkeley Journal of International Law. RSVP to BJIL.Symposium@gmail.com 

Womansong Circle Participatory singing for women at 7:15 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley, Small Assembly Room, 2345 Channing St. Suggested donation $15-$20. 525-7082. 

Berkeley Women in Black weekly vigil from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. Our focus is human rights in Palestine. 548-6310. 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction at 7:30 p.m. at Finnish Brotherhood Hall, 1970 Chestnut St at University. Donation of $5 requested. 528-4253. www.circledancing.com 

SATURDAY, MARCH 15 

“The Fifth-Year Anniversary of the Occupation of Iraq” A Town Hall meeting with Congressmember Barbara Lee, and screening of the documentary “War Made Easy” at 9 a.m. at Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland. 763-0370. 

South Berkeley Community Church Annual Crab Feed from 5 to 8 p.m. at 1802 Fairview St. Tickets are $35, children aged 7-12, $15. 652-1040. 

Mini-Farmers in Tilden A farm exploration program, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. for ages 4-6 years, accompanied by an adult. We will explore the Little Farm, care for animals, do crafts and farm chores. Wear boots and dress to get dirty! Fee is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

Bay Area Ridge Trail Walk Join Berkeley Path Wanderers on a 5.5 mile walk on the Bay Area Ridge Trail from Tilden Path to Huckelberry Botanic Regional Preserve, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Morris Older of Tilden-Wildcat Horsemen’s Assn. will lead this up-and-down walk with great views. Bring lunch and liquids; wear sturdy shoes and layered clothing. Meet at the Upper (overflow) parking lot by the Tilden Park Steam Trains, off Lomas Cantadas Rd. just east of Grizzly Peak Blvd. 925-254-8943. www.berkeleypaths.org 

“Gardening from the Ground Up” Learn simplified garden care starting with healthy soil, backyard composting and mulching basics, with Bay-Friendly gardeners, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Bay-Friendly Demonstration Garden, 666 Bellevue Ave., Lakeside Park, Oakland. Free. 444-7645. www.bayfriendly.org  

UC Botanical Garden’s School Garden Conference A one-day conference to discuss new curricula and activities. Cost is $25. Pre-registration required. 643-4832. manoux@berkeley.edu 

“Alternative Materials: Cob and Strawbale” A seminar on two natural building methods from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Building Education Center, 812 Page St. Cost is $85. 525-7610. 

NAACP Berkeley Branch Meeting at 1 p.m. at 2108 Russell St. 845-7416. 

Berkeley Alliance of Neighborhood Associations meets at 10 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, Westminster Bldg, 2407 Dana St. 388-4850. 

Church Miniature Altars and Memory Boxes A hands-on workshop using recycled materials, writing and art, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist. One Lawson Rd. Cost is $45. To register call 415-505-7827. 

Fibers and Dyes Discover the history of using plants for fibers and dyes in a walk-through exhibit, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Dr. Free with garden admission. 643-2755, ext. 03. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu  

Collage de Cultures Africaines “The Journey Back is the Journey Forward” Dance and drum workshops through Sun. at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. For details call 733-1077. www.DiamanoCoura.org 

California Writers Club “Badness or Madness?” with Terry Kupers, forensic psychiatrist, prison-system expert at 10 a.m. at Barnes and Noble Event Loft, Jack London Square, Oakland. 272-0120. 

“In Our Own Backyard” A celebration of the East Bay Regional Parks. An exhibition of photographs by Bob Walker opens at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak St., and runs through Oct. 12. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2022.  

“Creating Your Own Garden Paradise” with Aerin Moore at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave., off Seventh St. 644-2351. 

“Paper Story Dress” workshop to commemorate women who have influenced our lives, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the North Berkeley Branch Library. 981-6250. 

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. www.nativeplants.org 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Oakland Artisans Marketplace Sat. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Jack London Square. 238-4948. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 16 

Wolf Spiders on the Morning Dew Join us as we stalk the elusive wolf spider at 10 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Compass Clues Learn how to use a compass to find your way around and participate in a hidden treasure hunt at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Celebrating California’s New Cultures with music and activities for the whole family from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak St. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2022.  

Community Labyrinth Peace Walk at 3 p.m. at Willard Middle School, Telegraph Ave. between Derby and Stuart. Everyone welcome. Wheelchair accessible. Rain cancels. 526-7377.  

Berkeley High Jazz Club Spring Funraiser Auction from 3 to 6 p.m. at Crowden School, 1475 Rose St. 414-2236. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets every Sun. at 7 p.m. at the Hillside School, 1581 Le Roy Ave. 843-0150. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Rosalyn White on “Healing Through Mantra” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000 www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, MARCH 17 

Berkeley Green Monday: “the Food Fighters: The Politics of Food” with Chef Ann Cooper, Nutrition Services for the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD), Martin Bourque, Ecology Center, John Selawsky, Chair Berkeley School Board, at 7:30 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Open to all. www.berkeleygreens.org 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from noon to 1 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. 644-8833. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tues., Mar. 11, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. 

Commission on Disability meets Wed., Mar. 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6346. 

Homeless Commission meets Wed., Mar. 12, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5426.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Mar. 12, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7484. 

Police Review Commission meets Wed., Mar. 12, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950.  

Waterfront Commission meets Wed., Mar. 12 , at 7 p.m., at 201 University Ave. 981-6740.  

Commission on Early Childhood Education meets Thurs. Mar. 13, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5428. 

Community Health Commission meets Thurs., Mar. 13, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5356. 

Housing Advisory Commission meets Thurs., Mar. 13, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Oscar Sung, 981-5400.  

West Berkeley Project Area Commission meets Thurs., Mar. 13, at 7 p.m., at the West Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7520.  

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Mar. 13, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. 981-7410.

FRIDAY, MARCH 7 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “Chicago” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St., Alameda, through April 12. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Berkeley Rep ”Wishful Drinking” with Carrie Fisher, at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St., through March 30. Tickets are $33-$69. 647-2949. 

Central Works “Wakefield; or Hello Sophia” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through March 23.Tickets are $14-$25. 558-1381. 

The Imagination Players “Once on This Island“ A musical for the whole family Fri. at 7:30 p.m., Sat. at 1, 4 and 7:30 p.m., Sun. at 1 and 5 p.m. at Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $8-$15. 665-5565. www.berkeleyplayhouse.org 

Impact Theatre “Jukebox Stories: The Case of the Creamy Foam” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through March 22. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. http://impacttheatre.com 

UC Dept. of Theater “The Bacchae” at Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m., through March 9 at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$14. theater.berkeley.edu 

Virago Theatre Company “Candide” the comic opera at 8 p.m. Fri and Sat., 7 p.m. Sun. at Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding Ave., Alameda, through Mar. 9. Tickets are $15-$25. 865-6237. www.viragotheatre.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Pods” Paintings by Kim Thoman Opening reception at 7 p.m. at Oakopolis, 447 25th St., Oakland. Runs through March 22. 663-6920. 

Women’s History Month Works by James Gayles and Nedra T. Williams Reception at 6 p.m. at NoneSuch Space, 2865 Broadway, 2nd flr., Oakland.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Jane Ganahl describes “Naked on the Page: The Misadventures of My Unmarried Midlife” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500.  

Mark Wilson on “Julia Morgan: Architect of Beauty” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Friday Noon Concert Chamber music at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

La Colectiva, cumbia Colombiana, salsa, son y mas, at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568.  

Dance IS Festival at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $8-$12 at the door.  

First Fridays After Five with Purirak, the Shahrzad Dance Company, Navarrete x Kajiyama Dance Theater and more at 5 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2022. 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$60. 642-9988.  

Fortune Smiles Quintet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ.  

Trio Garufa at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Tango dance lessons at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $20. 525-5054. 

Laurie Antonioli Group at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $18. 845-5373.  

Nearly Beloved, folk and country, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Ditty Bops, Jesca Hoop at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

Justin Ancheta at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Josh Workman Trio, jazz, at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Amanda West, Lalin St. Juste at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Deja Bryson, Ke-Shay, R&B, at 9 p.m. at Maxwell’s Lounge, 341 13th St., Oakland. Cost is $10-$15. 839-6169. 

Imani Uzuri at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $7-$10. 548-1159.  

Machina Sol at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Lizz Wright at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sat. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, MARCH 8 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Abby and The Pipsqueaks at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5 for adults, $4 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Thomas Lynch reads from the children’s classics, Kenneth Grahame’s “Wind in the Willows” and Roald Dahl’s “Boy” at 1 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Ostracismos” Paintings and poetry by the Torres Brothers Opening reception at 6:30 p.m. at La Peña. 849-2568.  

“Capturing Landscapes through Changing Technology” Photographs by Alasdair McCondochie. Opening reception at 3 p.m. at The LightRoom, 2263 Fifth St. 649-8111. www.lightroom.com 

“Metals in Motion” Artists from the Monterey Bay Metals Arts Guild discuss their works at 1 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2022. www.museumca.org 

FILM 

”Iron-Jawed Angels” The HBO dramatization of the last decade of the suffragettes’ campaign to gain the right to vote, in celebration of Women’s History Month at 2 p.m. at the Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave., Oakland. 

“In Vanda’s Room” with filmmaker Perdo Costa in person at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

James Scully and Peter Everwine read their poems at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. Free. 981-6100. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Songs of Hope and Struggle” Strengthening Berkeley Through Organizing Benefit concert with Bruce Barthol and Francisco Herrera for Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Prebyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Suggested donation $25. Reception at 5:30 p.m. 665-5821. 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 2 and 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$60. 642-9988.  

Dance IS Festival at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $8-$12 at the door. www.juliamorgan.org 

Opera Piccola “Mirrors of Mumbai” at 7:30 p.m. at Malonga Casquelourde Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. Tickets are $10-$15. 658-0967. www.opera-piccola.org 

Chora Nova “Aphrodite’s Muse” Works by women composers in honor of International Womens's Day at 8 p.m., lecture at 7:15 p.m. at ;First Congregational Church, Dana and Durant. Tickets are $10-$18. www.choranova.org 

Lichi Fuentes in an International Women’s Day concert at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$14. 849-2568.  

Mal Sharpe’s Big Money in Jazz at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Baba Ken & West African Highlife Band at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. African dance lesson at 9 p.m. Cost is $15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Jeff Rolka, Robert Heiskell at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

John Gorka with Amilia K Spicer at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $22.50-$23.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Beep with Michael Coleman at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Gateswingers Jazz Band, for dancing and listening at 8 p.m. at Central Perk, 10086 San Pablo Ave., at Central, El Cerrito. 558-7375.  

Montclair Women’s Big Band celebrating International Women’s Day at 8 and 10 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Babashad Jazz at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

CV Dub at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Dave G and Andy Mason in a Tirbute to the Violent Femmes at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Lizz Wright at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200.  

SUNDAY, MARCH 9 

CHILDREN 

Asheba at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

EXHIBITIONS 

Enrique Chagoya: Borderlandia Guided tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

FILM 

“Down to Earth” with filmmaker Pedro Costa in person at 5 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Contemporary Art in Cuba” with Terry McClain at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6100. 

“Still Lives: The Films of Pedro Costa” Lecture by the filmmaker at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum Theater. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Quartet San Francisco “Whirled Chamber Music” at 4 p.m. at Crowden Music Center, 1475 Rose St. Tickets are $12, free for children 18 and under. 559-2941.  

David Tanenbaumn, classical guitarist at 3 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Pre-concert talk at 2:30 p.m. Free. 415-248-1640.  

Sounds New Tenth Anniversary Concert at 7:30 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, One Lawson Rd., Kensington. Suggested donation $15. 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$60. 642-9988.  

Presidio String Quartet will perform music of Bartok, Pårt, Dan Cantrell at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Cost is $10-$12. 644-6893.  

Soli Deo Gloria U.S. premiere of Allan Bevan’s “Nou Goth Sonne Under Wode” at 3:30 p.m. at St. Joseph’s Basilica, 1109 Chestnut St. at Encinal, Alameda. Tickets are $20-$25. www.sdgloria.org 

Dream Kitchen in a family concert at 3 p.m. at Black Pine Circle School, 2027 7th St. Cost is $10, children free.  

Mucho Axé and TerroRitmo, salsa, cumbia, reggaeton, at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“Jazz It Up” Berkeley High Fundraiser at 3 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Sarah Haili & Her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Code Name: Jonah at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Khalil Shaheed, Gary Brown, Glen Pearson in a benefit for Babtunde Lea’s Educultural Foundation at 7 and 9 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $15-$25. 238-9200.  

MONDAY, MARCH 10 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Art, Technology and Culture Colloquium “Looking at Looking at Looking” with Golan Levin, artist, Carnegie Mellon Univ., at 7:30 p.m. at 160 Kroeber Hall, UC Campus. 643-9565. http://atc.berkeley.edu 

Brian Fagan describes “The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

OmniDawn Press Night with Justin Courter, Mary Mackay and Laura Moriarty at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Poetry Express with Karen Hogan at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Kurt Ribak, jazz, at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100.  

Parlor Tango at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Skyline High School Jazz Band at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200. 

TUESDAY, MARCH 11 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Ethan Rarick describes “Desperate Passage: The Donner Party’s Perilous Journey West” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Chamber Performances with the Wolford-Rosenblum Duo, saxophone and piano, at 8 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Tickets are $20. 525-5211. 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054.  

Singers’ Open Mic with Kelly Park at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Midnite, roots reggae from St. Croix at 8:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $25-$30. 548-1159.  

Brian Woods Ensemble, jazz, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

John Worley & WorlView at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $6-$12. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Protest in Paris 1968” Photographs by Serge Hambourg. Exhibition opens at Berkeley Art Museum. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

FILM 

Film 50: History of Cinema “Late Spring” at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Michael Connery discusses “Youth to Power: How Today’s Young Voters Are Building Tomorrow’s Progressive Majority” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Roberta Maisel discusses “All Grown Up: Living Happily Ever After With Your Adult Children” at 6 p.m. at the North Branch of the Berkeley Public Library. 981-6250. 

Poetry en Español with Gladys Basagoitia and Carmen Abad at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Gina Daggett and Kathy Belge discuss their new book, “Lipstick and Dipstick’s Essential Guide to Lesbian Relationships” at 7 p.m. at Laurel Bookstore, 4100 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. 531-2073. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music for the Spirit with Ron McKean on harpsichord at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

Wednesday Noon Concert, with University Chamber Chorus at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864.  

Dan Stanton Group at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Bernard Anderson & The Old School Band at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. West coast swing danec lesson at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $7. 525-5054.  

Saoco at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa dance lessons at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Kids and Hearts at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Cara at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Dave Hollister at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $18. 238-9200.  

THURSDAY, MARCH 13 

CHILDREN 

“Grandma’s Hands” An African American History Month celebration with a performance by Oxford Elementary’s Fifth Grade Class at 8:45 a.m. at Oxford Elementary School, 1130 Oxford St. 644-6300. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Enrique Chagoya: Borderlandia Guided tour at 12:15 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Oakland Heritage Alliance Lecture by landscape architect Chris Pattillo on the Historic Landscape Survey, a new program that recognizes and documents our nation’s historic and cultural landscapes at 7:30 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Cost is $8-$10. 763-9218.  

“Focus on Contra Costa” Authors Adam Nilsen, Dean McLeod and Caroll Jensen discuss their books about Pleasant Hill, Port Chicago and the Delta at 1 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. 238-2022.  

Jeffrey Harrison and Cathleen Micheaels read their poetry at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Kyu Hyun Kim on “The Age of Visions and Arguments: Parliamentarianism and the National Public Sphere in Early Meiji Japan” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Symphony, Guillermo Figueroa, conductor, at 8 p.m. Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $20-$60. 841-2800.  

23rd Jewish Music Festival “Mayn Yiddishe Velt: Heather Lauren Klein sings Yiddish Art Songs” at 2 p.m. at The JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237, ext. 139. 

Narada Michael Walden in a benefit for Music in the Schools at 6 p.m. at Ex'pression College for Digital Arts, 6601 Shellmound, Emeryville. Tickets are $50-$250. eventinfo@emeryed.org 

Moving Violations, Queer Contra Dance, at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Diana Jones at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Jenny Farris Quartet in a Frank Loesser Tribute Show, at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Euphonia, ballads, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

John Seabury at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Gonzalo Rubacaba at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

How big is big? At the 58th annual Berlin Film Festival, or Berlinale, in February, 387 movies were shown in 11 days on 38 screens in 15 theaters operating from 9 a.m. to past midnight. 

Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Stones concert film Shine a Light opened; by the end, every Luis Bunuel film had been screened. In between came a “Talent Campus” for young filmmakers with panel discussions and workshops, and a parallel European Film Market of more than 700 films (some overlap), showing more than 100 a day. Even if you like movies, that’s a lot. Many of them may never see the dark of a commercial theater, not because they’re lousy but because no distributor is willing to bet that there’s an audience for them. But in Berlin, with perfect screens and perfect prints, even bad films have their moments. 

The Berlin festival is not as old as Venice, nor as big as Cannes but, uniquely, it is the only one of the Big Three that is as much for the public as for the industry. Nearly a quarter of a million tickets were sold. Unlike Cannes and Venice, Berlin is held in the worst weather, although this winter stayed above freezing much of the time. Still it is better to be indoors.  

Representing the Daily Planet, I saw 19 films, attended a dozen press conferences where one could see up close and personal Scorsese and the Stones, Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz, Scarlet Johansson and Natalie Portman, Willem Dafoe, Tilda Swinton, Daniel Day-Lewis, Madonna (she’s funny) and Errol Morris, the one-time Berkeley graduate student who changed the documentary genre. I interviewed the festival’s head of jury, the great political film maker Costa Gavras (Z, Missing, The Music Box).  

I marveled at the efficiency and good humor of a huge staff that kept the thing going. And at a city that really works (even if one bus was three minutes late). This is a place where beer is pure, restaurants exude atmosphere, the museums and galleries are world-class, and the revitalized neighborhoods of East Berlin retain a certain mystique. After 60 years of Nazi and Stasi, Berlin seems at home with itself. The center of the festival is Potsdamer Platz, a former no man’s land, now representing the best and worst of modern architecture. The Berlin Wall once ran through it.  

After screenings, L’Oreal gave mascara—to everyone. Vanity Fair had wonderful gold gift packages, of chewing gum. A movie named Bananaz provided bananas. Volkswagen poured champagne, and uncovered its new car at a party at the Berlin Academy of Art, Seal performing. There were more galas than even Leah Garchik could handle. 

After the photo shoots—herds of cameramen baying—the director and stars of films would answer standard questions: How did you happen to begin this project? What was it like working with …? (Wonderful.) A child actor was asked whether violence in his film had scared him: No. “It’s a movie.”  

Every day, Berlin papers published several pages on the festival. Three trade publications—Hollywood Reporter, Screen and Variety—put out daily glossy magazines of reviews and gossip. Forty-two hundred journalists (4,200) were said to be in attendance, but of the general interest American papers, apparently only the New York Times and the Daily Planet published.  

The Elephant  

Getting a handle on the Berlinale is like the blind man trying to describe an elephant. Journalists and filmmakers and civilians, looking for one great film and not finding it, asked each other: What have you liked? What do you expect to like? Conventional wisdom said that the competition section was weak this year and that more interesting things were to be found among the smaller films, or the first films, or unusual documentaries, or the “Culinary Cinema” section, or the German section, or the Rossi or Bunuel retrospectives, or the Vietnam War films. 

For those looking for a handle, festival director Dieter Kosslick suggested music. In addition to the Stones, there was a Patti Smith bio (she attended and sang). Heavy Metal in Baghdad showed a band truly on the run. CSNY Déjà Vu was directed by Bernard Shakey (who looked and sounded a lot like Neil Young). Madona made her directing debut with “Filth and Wisdom.” The late Willy Sommerfeld, last surviving silent film pianist from the 1920s, was honored.  

Some actresses gave astounding performances: Tilda Swinton in Julia, a film that, like its main character, careened out of control; Kristin Scott Thomas in “Il y a longtemps que je t’aime…” (I’ve Loved You So Long) about the readjustment to society of a child murderer; and Israeli Arab Hiam Abbass. In Lemon Tree, Abbass walks into an all-male café on the West Bank. The looks she gets are so chilling that one might suppose that the greatest divide in the Middle East is gender.  

Several films dealt with the abuse of children. Kids were forced into war, kidnapped, murdered, molested, or just bullied. Apparently, every dysfunctional family is dysfunctional in its own way.  

Among its suggestions for 10 movies to see, the German weekly Die Zeit picked RR, directed by the American James Benning. He said he wanted the title to be pronounced “railroad” rather than “ahr, ahr” (lest his film be confused with a sequel to “Treasure Island”). In 120 minutes, RR shows 43 trains. They enter a frame and they leave it—first slow trains, then fast ones. Enjoyable? One viewer said, “It depends on what the definition of enjoyable is.”  

The Stones were enjoyable, by any definition. Some critics were disappointed that there was no story line. Also no analysis, no probing. But Scorsese used 17 cameras with frequent cuts to capture the band’s incredible energy. You feel as if you are in the third row. Good choice of clips. In one, we see Jagger, young and innocent, thrilled that the group has lasted for two years and hopeful that it can last another year. Meeting former President Clinton on stage before a concert at the Beacon Theater in New York City in 2006, Keith Richards says, “Hello Clinton, I’m Bushed.” In person, the Stones were an extension of the film, poised and funny. They had their personas down pat, and reveled in their status as “co-producers” and as the “actors.” Jagger, the preeminent Alpha, was definitely in charge. 

The Stones were in the competition section but not in the competition. The Golden Bear, the top prize, was awarded to the Brazil’s The Elite Squad about the brutal police war against drug lords. Some called it a fascist film or Death Wish in Rio. Errol Morris won the Silver Bear for his Abu Ghraib story Standard Operating Procedure, the first documentary ever entered in Berlin competition. Paul Anderson was chosen best director for There Will Be Blood, which got the best notices—although some found it bombastic and over the top. Sally Hawkins won best actress for the comedy Happy-Go-Lucky, a Mike Leigh film for people who don’t like Mike Leigh films. And an Iranian, Reza Najie, not Day-Lewis, won best actor. There were audience awards, a queer award, and young filmmaker awards; it’s an endless list.  

My Berlinale  

Ultimately, everyone there had his or her own Berlinale.  

I liked the intimate look of Citizen Havel. A cameraman follows the then-president of the Czech Republic for years. His staff pushes and pulls, checking him for dandruff and political positions. Vaclav Havel expresses annoyance with his jacket (too tight), with American soup, and with his rival, the uptight Vaclav Klaus. Clinton plays “Summertime” on a Czech saxophone (Havel’s gift),” Yeltsin needs a beer, and Ronnie Wood wants to know whether a restaurant named Provence would be a good choice in Prague. Provence will be fine, Havel reassures him. 

Katyn, by the legendary Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda, shows the genocide within the genocide—the massacre of 20,000 Polish officers (including Wajda’s father) by the Soviet Union. The objective was to wipe out the Polish intelligentsia in order to prevent a sustainable independent Poland from re-emerging. That project turned out to be quite successful. For nearly 50 years, the Soviet Union blamed this mass murder on the Nazis, a group you’d expect to be impossible to libel—and Poles were forbidden to speak the truth. Now they can. It would be inaccurate to report that this is a perfect film as well as an important film. Still, the ending produces nightmares. 

Like I’ve Loved You So Long, the French film with Scott Thomas, Boy A, originally shown on British television, concerns a child’s killer re-entering society, but with a different result. And like the French film, Boy A is worth the pain one feels in watching. 

Johnnie To has made an homage to old Hong Kong—and to a team of pickpockets, which To says is a vanishing breed in HK. To’s film Sparrow is light and airy. It’s like dance. 

An Italian film, Quiet Chaos, was my favorite. Nanni Moretti plays an executive who comes to terms with the death of his wife, in his own time and in his own way, waiting each day in a park for his daughter’s school to let out. Each day, he plays a game with a boy who has Down syndrome and watches a beautiful woman walk her Saint Bernard. Colleagues come to discuss the problems of the office and an impending merger. And eventually, something shakes him out of his pattern and back into real life. The film is unpredictable and charming. It doesn’t hit you over the head.  

Of course, Standard Operating Procedure, Morris’ film on Abu Ghraib, does hit you over the head—with dramatic music and graphics, an almost pornographic fixation on those infamous photographs, and the kind of revealing interviews that are an Errol Morris trademark. People tell him things that they shouldn’t. All the low-level perpetrators play the victim but hang themselves with rationalizations. Lynndie Englund gives an account in which the brutalities of Abu Ghraib are less important than the fact that she got pregnant and now has a child. So if she had a chance for a do-over, she wouldn’t.  

In the press conferences after the films, there was rarely confrontation. With Morris, there was. Because many of the journalists were impressed by SOP (which Morris calls “nonfiction horror”) and grateful for what it showed, they wondered why all the bells and whistles and re-enactments. Why couldn’t the interviews have spoken for themselves? Why not “concentrate on the pure truth?” 

Morris was miffed (“With all due respect, I think this is nonsense”) but eventually gave a series of responses. You can see the whole thing on the Berlinale website www.Berlinale.de. “The human brain is not a reality recorder,” Morris said. "Reality isn’t in there somewhere and I can just recover it by thinking about it. We put the world together from bits and pieces … Consciousness is a re-enactment of the world inside our skulls. It’s all a re-enactment except the world out there. What we do is an attempt to recover that reality by thinking, by exploring, by investigating.”  

It was a good answer. It was also a valid question. 

Freelance journalist Lewis Dolinsky was a longtime editor and foreign affairs columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. 

The myth of Orson Welles has outlived its usefulness. The man has long since passed on, as have those who sought to undermine his achievements. He was jealously branded by Hollywood as the wunderkind-turned-enfant terrible of the cinema, the man who took on a media titan, and Hollywood itself, in Citizen Kane and then squandered his own career with his proclivity for self-destruction and artistic excess. The standard line on Welles was that he created just that single masterpiece before embarking on a long downward slide.  

However, reports of the artist’s slow-motion death have been greatly exaggerated. Though there’s an element of truth in the criticism of Welles—he was, by most accounts brash, difficult and at times self-destructive, yet immeasurably charming—the decline was not in his work but in his relations with those who controlled the purse strings and the means of production; artistically he remained vital until his death in 1985. 

Pacific Film Archive will present a retrospective covering all of the director’s major cinematic work, in roughly chronological order, through April 13. Citizen Kane shows tonight (Friday) at 7 p.m.; his follow-up, The Magnificent Ambersons, screens Saturday at 5 p.m. 

Much of the criticism of Welles, now as well as then, stems from a profound misunderstanding of the man and of his art. While it is true that Welles was a restless innovator, his innovations were, for the most part, at the service of a classicist’s art. He was far more conservative in his sentiments and affections than the image of the bold, relentless, iconoclastic youth of Kane would indicate.  

To begin to understand the trajectory of Welles’ career, one must keep in mind the polarities of his influences: traditional theater and magic.  

Welles was an accomplished magician, often performing tricks for cast and crew. And during World War II he traveled the country performing for the troops and sawing Marlene Dietrich in half before their very eyes. He was a consummate showman who took great pleasure in startling and dazzling an audience.  

But he was also a serious actor, writer and director, trained in the classics of literature and theater from a very young age. As the creative force behind the Mercury Theater in New York in the 1930s, he forged his reputation, at the age of 20, by reviving classic works with a bold, modernist aesthetic. And on radio, with the Mercury Theater on the Air, he focused on the same sort of material, adapting the classics to one-hour and half-hour dramas. (His groundbreaking theater career may survive only in photographs and second-hand accounts, but virtually all of Welles’ surviving radio work can be found on the Internet, cheap if not free, in MP3 format.)  

But Welles’ traditionalism was often overshadowed in the public mind by his showmanship, by his attention-getting forays into more melodramatic projects. While he established his presence on radio as the original voice of The Shadow and presented his share of thrillers on stage and on radio, the bulk of Welles’ oeuvre, in every medium in which he worked, was far more serious in intent and execution. 

It was his radio adaptation of H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds that really launched the myth. The controversial broadcast relocated the Martian invasion from England to New Jersey and presented the drama as a series of breaking news announcements interrupting “our regularly scheduled program.” The show set off a nationwide panic that might have destroyed any other director’s career; instead it earned the Mercury a sponsor (the program would soon be renamed the Campbell Playhouse) and earned him the chance to make a movie.  

The result was Citizen Kane, a brash, bold film that featured Welles’ trademark blend of commercial entertainment, high art and sleight-of-hand chicanery. Its effrontery to everything Hollywood was evident in every shot; Welles ostentatiously brandished his mastery of the medium: unusual camera angles; dramatic visual and thematic contrasts; complex tapestries of sound; long takes followed by startling cuts and transitions; and of course Greg Toland’s deep-focus photography. For better and for worse, the film made Welles’ reputation: a showman with pretensions to Art. 

He would go on to complete just 11 more films, several of them truly great, most of them groundbreaking, and at least one or two fascinating failures. Many of them were taken away from him and re-edited without his input or consent; some were hampered from the start by low budgets and a lack of resources as a result of Welles’ self-imposed exile in Europe as an independent filmmaker. But if one fact stands out above all in PFA's restrospective, it is that Welles never stood still stylistically. Though every film is stamped with his peculiar visual style, his body of work ranges from expressionist to classical, from period pieces to modern-day noir, from Shakespeare to documentary and personal essay. 

The film that might have been his true masterpiece came immediately after Kane. The story of the making and unmaking of The Magnificent Ambersons is nearly as tragic as the film itself. Welles rather faithfully adapted Booth Tarkington’s novel, using a style much more restrained and fluid than the genre-busting flash and disjointed narrative pyrotechnics of Kane. The result, as Francois Truffaut put it, is a film “made in violent contrast to Citizen Kane, almost as if by another filmmaker who detested the first and wanted to give him a lesson in modesty.” 

Ambersons is a nostalgic dream dissolving into a jaded, weary reality check, a portrait of a vanishing epoch, of the passing of time and the coming of change. To modern eyes, it may seem like an old-fashioned Hollywood film; it is stately and somber and lavish in design. Even a film as showy as Kane may, in these times, require an educated eye to fully appreciate its innovation and audacity, but Ambersons can be even more vexing to the modern viewer, for the workings of its innovations are carefully concealed. Welles wasn’t aiming for shock and awe with this film, as he was with his War of the Worlds radio broadcast and, to some extent, with Kane; he was instead offering a beautifully crafted and seamless film, rich in novelistic detail, which employed its innovations purely in the service of the tale.  

Welles borrowed many techniques from his predecessors, including the iris—a common device from the silent era—and images burnished at the edges, like the more sentimental works of D.W. Griffith. He also incorporated much of his radio experience, narrating the film himself as he did in his Mercury broadcasts and using radio’s bridging musical cues to provide fluid transitions between scenes. Also evident are elements of classic theater, such as the gossiping townsfolk who act as a sort of Greek chorus.  

Ambersons employed Welles’ much-vaunted long takes, his camera dancing along with the guests in the ballroom scene or gazing patiently as the delicate psyche of Agnes Moorehead’s Aunt Fanny finally collapses in the kitchen scene. And Welles’ editing talents came to the fore once again, most evidently in the opening montage that establishes the setting with humor and delicate irony. As in all of Welles’ best work, he brought together a wide range of styles and influences and melded them into a personal vision of great depth and complexity, but this time the seams and stagecraft were more carefully hidden from view. 

RKO previewed the film for an audience, and though the comment cards contained many remarks that were ecstatic, many more were severely critical. It was war time, and the average moviegoer wanted escapism, not gloom. The studio panicked and, while Welles was shooting another film in Brazil, began to carve away at his most personal film. Nearly an hour’s worth of footage was scrapped; several scenes were re-shot, re-written or re-edited; and an attempt at a happy ending was tacked on. In the words of critic David Thomson, it is a film “so dark and mournful that it would not be shown properly to the American public.” It’s a testament to the power of Welles’ vision that the butchered 88-minute film is still widely considered a masterpiece.  

Shooting scripts, memos, photographs and first-hand accounts provide a fairly complete picture of what is missing from the film as it exists today. In addition to the original ending, the loss of one particular scene is especially galling: As the family’s fortunes decline, young George takes one last walk through the decaying mansion as the camera follows in one long, unbroken take. The scene goes on for several minutes, allowing the character time to mourn the passing of an era as he moves through each room, past pieces of furniture shrouded in sheets like the ghosts of ballroom dances past. It was a technical tour de force, with crew members frantically pulling apart sets and doorways and sliding others into place and laying dolly tracks just beyond the view of the camera as it traveled through the house. It is the essence of the art of Orson Welles: the magician’s hand, deft and graceful and invisible in the creation of a seamless and elegant illusion.

“For Romeo & Juliet we're playing with no language, so we call it 'according to Shakespeare,’” said Jim Cave of his show with Deborah Gwinn, Romeo & Juliet and Other Duets, which just opened at The Marsh in San Francisco. “For The Chairs, it’s ‘after Ionesco.’ There are maybe a couple pages of text; the rest went out the window. We tell both of these stories in our own peculiar way. And as the run develops, we may add other little pieces.” 

Cave, an Oakland resident, and Gwinn, who now lives in Vermont, have been working together on and off for decades, since they “connected” during what Cave called “kind of the second generation of the Blake Street Hawkeyes, post-Bob Ernst, David Shine, John O’Keefe ...” referring to the seminal Berkeley theater group of the ‘70s and ‘80s. 

Cave has gone on to become an ubiquitous presence in Bay Area theater (including opera), a masterful jack-of-all-trades, whether as tech director, performing, or in the director’s chair. Actors, on being asked about the show they’re in, will often just describe it as “a Jim Cave thing.” 

“We connected at the Hawkeyes in the early ‘80s when Deb was artistic director,” Cave recalled, “She’d been in the Iowa Theater Workshop, which was influenced by Jerzy Grotowski’s experiments, so very movement-oriented. She came out here with others who founded the Hawkeyes. I was technical director, then directed the last piece Bob Ernst, Cynthia Moore and Whoopi [Goldberg] did, Tantrum. Then I was given a project, The Whole Hog, something different groups around the Bay Area have duplicated ... 

“Debbie’s a wonderful playwright,” Cave went on, “always fascinated with classical stories, like Alcestis, Phaedra, Medea—but they’re turned into comedies. She also worked with Merle Kessler and Duck’s Breath, and was in O’Keefe’s DISGRACE at the SF Playwrights Festival and Theatre Artaud. Then she moved back to Vermont, where every summer she puts on her Shakespeare festival in a barn. I go back for it. She and I anchor a piece, then get local people to help. There are kids in that town who’ve grown up with our idea of Shakespeare.” 

Cave endeavored to describe the style they’ve developed for their duets.  

“We both find it very difficult to talk about it,” he said. “You have to see it. This particular style pares language back. And it’s not the characters speaking. We have developed ways to deliver the language—as voice-over, or with a megaphone, or, a specialty of Deb’s, through dolls. It makes you listen in a different way. We tend to use the same music over and over in different contexts. Since we’re doing duets, we use duets for two pianos. For The Chairs, Poulenc, Gershwin, Turelli; for R & J Gershwin, Milhaud, Nina Rota and Prokofieff. An odd thing, but the Milhaud sometimes sounds exactly like Gershwin! 

“It all started in Berkeley and around Berkeley,” Cave continued. “Debbie got an old dance studio in Rockridge, where an old woman had taught ballet classes, which she called the Temple. We worked with whoever was around, with different approaches—Macbeth, but all in Lady Macbeth’s voice-over; Midsummer Night’s Dream, speaking for dolls. Then we began working with Greg Goodman, aka Woody Woodman, a pianist whose mentor was Cecil Taylor, and who collaborated with high-level improvisers like Rova, Derek Bailey ... he had musicians from all over the world in his place, really for 30 years in his Berkeley living room. We founded Woody Woodman’s Finger Palace together. He and I put on a version of Don Quixote with no language, to Richard Strauss’ ‘Sketches for Don Quixote,’ later taking it to The Marsh. All the duet work was born from that; Don Quixote inspired it.” 

So Cave and Gwinn’s show at The Marsh is something “coming full circle. Stephanie [Weissman] has been very supportive. And another full circle—Deb performed [and brilliantly] in Stephanie’s opera., Aphrodisia, the piece she founded The Marsh because of, finally played at The Marsh-Berkeley in 2006.” 

Their gestural, collaborative theater continues, an ongoing project “now at Roham’s place. [Roham Shaikani, Oakland actor, known for his work with Darvag, Shotgun and George Charback’s TheatreInSearch.] It’s the Kingdom of Mahor: Roham, backwards. We all have positions in the Ministry. We do magical stuff with very little, curtains sometimes, lights—we cram for a couple of days, invite friends and put on a show.” 

ROMEO & JULIET and OTHER DUETS 

Through March 29 

Thurs-Sat. at 8 p.m.  

The Marsh 

1062 Valencia St., San Francisco 

www.themarsh.org 

(415) 641-0235 

Jukebox Tales: The Case of the Creamy Foam puts the team of Prince Gomovilas and Brandon Patten back together, alternating story and song on a messy set in the basement of La Val's Pizza, a bedroom strewn with the domestic wreckage of young bachelorhood. Sometimes Brandon, after capping off a tune, slips under the sheets and asks Prince for a bedtime story—a funny request before a roomful of spectators. 

This time the "stage” is taped off as a crime scene, with a lonely pint of stout sitting forlorn and foamy, like the subtitle. The hook, in fact, is slight, more an unhook. It’s not so much a plotless detective story (an oxymoron if there ever was one) as another, running pretext to engage the audience in interactivity, a contest to see if they’re paying attention. 

And the audience, many hovering over pizza on paper plates, wiping away their own beery foam from their lips, is rapt. In an age of distraction and oversaturated entertainment, Brandon and Prince have struck on an updated version of a few old chestnuts out of vaudeville. Next they should try their act on the apron of a movie theater stage, another dying institution. This time the live acts might save moving pictures, not the other way around as of yore. 

For those familiar with the original edition, Jukebox Tales: The Case of the Creamy Foam is an extention of what they already know and love. With the help of audience members choosing titles, often at random (though there are requests for recent old favorites), the dynamic duo maintain their usual division of labor: Prince tells his funny, acid tales, sometimes off the page, exhorting the audience’s sympathy with furrowed brow and open-handed gestures, while Brandon alternates with clever, perceptive ditties, accompanying himself on guitar.  

The stories run a familiar gamut, between frenzied episodes of Asian customs (gambling, Buddhist folk beliefs, social flaunting and inter-generational woes) distended by the uncouth sprawl of American consumerism—and Prince’s accounts of his career forays into the wilds of entertainment and The Media. Brandon’s songs are upbeat, tinged with satire, and occasionally pretty salty. One X-rated encore was requested by a woman who said she’d brought her parents to hear it—a new kind of family entertainment? 

After a string of stories like one about Prince’s refusal “to take part in the cult” of Tiger Balm, or the tempest in a styrofoam cup over what he wrote for the AOL Queer Site about High School Musical II, intercut with songs like “Ketchup & Mayo” (while Prince makes the eponymous sandwich—though the song’s not about that kind of eating) and “Ride The Green Tortoise/You’ll Have a Good Time” (“a campy counterculture horror story with a little gay bashing South of the Border”), a reenactment of a scene from The Goonies (with selected audience participation) and a movie trivia game, “the Birthday Girl on a roll” shouts “J’Accuse!” and names the murderer to wrap up Jukebox Tales: The Case of the Creamy Foam after winning two other prizes and playing a Goony ... proving Lana Turner was no anomaly—in La Val’s Subterranean, every spectator’s ripe for her/his 15 seconds of fame, eulogized on the spot by Prince and Brandon. 

JUKEBOX TALES: THE CASE OF THE CREAMY FOAM 

Impact Theatre 

La Val's Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave. 

Thurs.-Sat. 8 p.m. 

Through March 22 

Tickets $10-$15 

464-4468, impacttheatre.com 

Teeming with pizza, bagel, and t-shirt outlets, surrounded by ethnic-food courts and cheap retail arcades, the intersection of Telegraph and Durant Avenues is inconceivable as an exclusive residential enclave reserved for millionaires' mansions set amidst spacious gardens and fronted by orderly rows of palm trees. 

Yet this was exactly how Telegraph Avenue looked in the first decade of the 20th century, when the street extended to Allston Way, meeting the UC campus at Strawberry Creek.  

In 1903, the south side of Bancroft Way contained more empty lots than houses. The west side of Telegraph Avenue between Bancroft and Durant was divided into two enormous lots, of which only the southern one—measuring 200 by 200 feet and extending from the middle of the block to the Durant Ave. corner—was occupied. On this lot, at 2318 Telegraph Avenue, stood the imposing Classic Revival mansion of William E. Knowles. 

Knowles was a real estate executive who had made a fortune in Alaskan gold mining and oil. His house, built in 1900 and one of the showplaces of Berkeley, basked in lonely splendor, with nary a building across the street. 

On the southeast corner, diagonally across from the Knowles residence, stood an even more elegant mansion belonging to lawyer-capitalist Louis Titus. On the southwest corner, one could admire the very large and formal Delta Kappa Epsilon chapter house. 

Today, any mention of fraternity houses will invariably evoke visions of Animal House. Not so at the turn of the last century. In March 1900, when the San Francisco Call devoted a Sunday magazine page to fraternity life in Berkeley, only four of the 14 fraternities located here owned their chapter houses, and the photos that illustrated the article could have been published in House Beautiful. 

Delta Kappa Epsilon was one of the fraternity-owned houses, and a photo of its parlor and hall, complete with lace curtains, a horn Victrola, and the ubiquitous billiard table, made an appearance in the Call magazine. Another featured house belonged to Phi Delta Theta, Louis Titus’s fraternity. Located at 2401 Durant Ave/, on the corner of Dana Street (now a U.C. parking lot), the house boasted tastefully furnished interiors. On June 2, 1901, the Call informed, “The Phi Delta Theta boys are noted for their orderly house […] one would never dream that the house was run entirely by a lot of students. Everything is exactly so, and one could look for dust with a microscope and not have the labor rewarded.” 

In the summer of 1900, presumably while the resident students were away on vacation, the 28-year-old Titus was living in the Phi Delta Theta house with his wife Lottie, infant daughter Dorothy, sister Ethel, and the family’s servant, Minnie Loeser. Why were they living in a frat house? Probably because they awaited the completion of their new mansion a block to the east. Strangely, their deed to the land was not recorded until after the house was completed in November. 

Both Louis and Lottie Titus grew up in Liberty, San Joaquin County. His father was a prosperous farmer, hers a wagon maker and blacksmith. But the rural surface concealed a penchant for learning. Lottie’s mother would shrug off her housewifely role in middle age and begin a new career as an osteopath. Three of Louis’s uncles were school teachers in Wisconsin, and one of them, Daniel Titus, also practiced as a pharmacist before launching a lucrative law career in San Francisco. 

Lottie and Louis came to Berkeley for their schooling. He enrolled at the University of California—the 1891 Berkeley directory listed him as a resident of Phi Delta Theta Hall, at that time located on the corner of Bancroft and Audubon [College Ave.]. Lottie graduated from the Anna Head School and the Mills Seminary in Oakland. She was teaching in a private seminary in Berkeley and he was a young attorney just out of college when they decided to tie the knot in 1892. 

Louis got his introduction to big-time wheeling and dealing at his uncle’s law office and never looked back. Barely into his 30s, he was a major player in real estate development, banking, transportation, water, lumber, and oil. 

Allied with leading business figures such as Francis “Borax” Smith, Frank C. Havens, Wickham Havens, John Hopkins Spring, Allen G. Freeman, Phillip E. Bowles, Joseph Mason and Duncan McDuffie, and Perry Tompkins (the latter two Phi Delta Theta brothers), Titus served as director or officer of key enterprises including the Realty Syndicate, the Claremont Hotel Company, the Berkeley Traction Company, the University Savings Bank of Berkeley, and the Big Lagoon Lumber Company. 

From 1906 to 1910, Titus was president of the People’s Water Company—the private precursor to EBMUD—negotiating two 10% rate reductions with the Oakland city council in order to avoid litigation. Nowadays he is best remembered for having masterminded the idea to relocate the state capital to Berkeley and construct the Capitol building in Northbrae. At the time (1907), the idea was taken seriously enough to be approved by the Assembly. Happily for us, the voters of California nixed the measure. 

In addition to his far-reaching corporate activities, Titus was frequently buying and selling large tracts of land. He also headed the Berkeley Development Company, and in November 1904, the San Francisco Call announced that he was erecting a new business and apartment block on the corner of Telegraph and Bancroft. Designed by Henry Meyers and Clarence Ward, El Granada still stands. It’s been owned by the Munger family for three generations and was restored in 1995, regaining its Mission-style gables, absent since the 1950s. 

But the Granada was not the first harbinger of change on Telegraph Avenue. The initial shot across the bow was delivered by contractor John Albert Marshall, who earlier that year began building a three-story business block on the lot adjacent to the Knowles mansion. As if that weren’t enough, construction began on the Epworth Methodist Church on the northeast corner of Telegraph and Durant-directly across the street from Knowles. 

Knowles was not pleased, and on December 23, 1904, while a crowd of pedestrians watched, he had his mansion picked up and moved half a block east, to 2521 Durant. On that occasion, he predicted to the Oakland Tribune that his well-to-do neighbors, Louis Titus and Seneca Gale (the latter lived at 2251 Telegraph Avenue and Bancroft Way, future site of Sproul Plaza), would follow suit. 

Knowles did not tell the newspapers that he had already sold Gale a new lot adjoining his own on Durant Avenue. Gale was a retired Michigan capitalist who had made his money in grain. Like Knowles, he could recognize a trend when he saw it and knew how to capitalize on it. Not long after moving to Durant Avenue, both sold their previous home lots to developers. 

Knowles sold his lot in October 1905 to Carlton Hobbs Wall, a young Alameda millionaire who would gain notoriety for automobile collisions. The price was $17,500. Carlton and his brother Edward soon broke ground for an apartment and store building projected to cost $30,000, but the 1906 San Francisco earthquake made them change plans and transform the structure into a first-class hotel. 

Like Titus, the Walls called on Meyers & Ward for the design of their four-story, clinker-brick building. Named Hotel Carlton, it was leased to Mrs. W.F. Morris, whose Cecil Hotel burned in the San Francisco fire. It cost $125,000 and boasted all the latest amenities, including an elevator, telephones, and a 135-foot dining room with dance floor. 

Seneca Gale waited until September 1906 to sell his lot. The price was again $17,500, and the buyer was none other than John Marshall, who planned to build a $100,000, 125-room hotel on the site. “A roof garden and other modern hostelry features will be provided,” announced the San Francisco Call. C.M. Cook, who had designed a number of houses for Marshall, was the architect. The building that finally emerged, however, was the 5-story Alta Vista, with six storefronts on the ground floor and 23 balconied apartments above, but no roof garden. It would be razed in 1946, after the university had taken possession of the Telegraph Ave. stretch between Sather Gate and Bancroft Way. 

And what of Louis Titus? He quietly left his home in March 1906. The reason did not become apparent until Lottie Titus filed for divorce in September 1909. Then she revealed that her temperament and inclinations were out of tune with those of her husband. He was highly ambitious and liked to socialize in fashionable circles, while she was interested only in her home and children. He wanted her to entertain lavishly, she wanted to teach Sunday school. He left her twice—four and 14 years into the marriage. 

The mansion at 2500 Durant Ave. was part of Lottie’s divorce settlement, but two break-ins in March 1908 made her uneasy, and she moved to Santa Barbara, leasing the house to a Napa millionaire. By 1910, she had sold it to Duncan McDuffie, who in turn sold it back to Titus. Having remarried in 1910 and built a new mansion in Piedmont, Titus sold 2500 Durant in 1913 to J. Arthur Elston and George Clark, U.C. graduates and law partners. Elston was former executive secretary to California governor Pardee, president of the U.C. alumni association, and a future U.S. Congressman. 

Elston and Clark retained Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr. to design and manage construction of a five-story, 48-unit brick apartment building with four storefronts. When completed, it was listed in the Berkeley directory as “Cambridge Hotel Apartments, 2-, 3-, and 4-room apartments and single rooms completely furnished, thoroughly modern elevator service.” The owners lived in the building. Next door, at 2510 Durant, they had Ratcliff build a cinema. Christened the Campus Theatre, it didn’t survive long. By the late 1920s it had become a store and is serving that function until today. 

The Marshall Block that prompted William Knowles to move his house in 1904 is long since gone. So are the Delta Kappa Epsilon house and Epworth Methodist Church. Photos of these vanished buildings may be seen in the book Picturing Berkeley—A Postcard History, edited by Burl Willes and available from BAHA. 

Seneca Gale died on his yacht in 1910, and Knowles followed him three years later. A food court stands on the site of the Knowles mansion. You can catch a glimpse of the much altered Seneca Gale house behind Cafe Durant. 

Daniella Thompson publishes berkeleyheritage.com for the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA). 

I live in a slide zone. As I understand it, the land my house is bobbing about on is a colloid of tumbled rock and Cuisinarted soil, the remains of an avalanche, hundreds of years now past. Since this material isn’t “consolidated” or compressed by time into a hard cake, it tends to amble downhill as gravity would have it. (I’m turning 50 and, as my friend Joann would say, my local gravity is also increasing so I know how the house feels). 

Although most homes are not located in slide zones, there are still forces that move soils around on many a lot and yours is very likely included. 

Gravity plays a vital role in all of these situations, soils types in many and water in most as well. Although I’ll briefly discuss the dynamics of this movement in the following paragraphs, what I mostly want to do is to talk about the import of the resulting deviations.  

As houses “settle” (a troublesome term because it says so much less than it should) they tend to lose their regularity (their squareness, their plumb, their level). They’re also doing all sorts of other funny things that aren’t obvious as well including sinuating (forming rolling S curves), bending and pulling apart. 

While a few of the houses I’ve seen have done some part of this weirdness to a dramatic level, most have not. Most floors I see are uneven but the great majority are not so uneven that I end up being concerned. Traditionally, a drop of one inch over twenty feet was considered unacceptable but if you try to use that standard in the Berkeley or Oakland hills, you’d find an enormous number of houses that won’t pass muster.  

The question is, why would this matter? With doorways or window frames, the function of the opening can be gradually impaired and a door may not close easily at some point. This is surely important but what usually happens is that alterations are made in the door or the lock receiving plates (AKA “strike” plates). With floors, it’s harder to make the argument. While I am not a fan of a big gap along the baseboards of a living room or a hearth that is higher (or lower) than the floor, these things rarely, in and of themselves, cause other significant problems. 

Most of our houses are built on perimeter concrete footings. These are very small relative to the size of the building and quite weak when compared with the destructive force of moving earth. While today’s foundations are much heartier than those of the past, they are still, mostly, not built to resist a great deal of earth movement without some malignation. We rely, instead, on the assumption that the earth will either not move or that it will move so little that we can tolerate it. 

So we end up with deformation in the foundation as the earth moves (which varies a LOT from lot to lot) and whatever movement we have in the foundation pushes the structure above it around in both hard and easily predicted ways. In short, as the earth heaves up one part of the foundation, you’re living room floor goes up too. The deformations in the floors are simply a reflection of those movements that the foundation experiences. This is the real argument for larger and stronger foundation and most specifically for the mat or raft foundation. I like the name raft foundation because it takes us right back to my original image of us bobbing about (albeit slowly) on our slow little sea of soil. The raft is thick enough and cohesive enough so that, regardless of earth movement below it, all components above it remain pinned to a stable plane.  

Now, that plane may tilt somewhat but unlike our perimeter footing, the structure will not be pushed and pulled at from many different points so that its deformation is complex, resulting in lots of parallelograms. It will simply tilt as a whole one way or another. Further, with such a large floating plane, the tendency will be for the whole to remain fairly level as forces pushing here and there cancel out one another. 

Now, again, this isn’t an argument against perimeter foundations or in favor of raft foundations (well, maybe it is, O.K.). What I really want to say is this: 

Variation in the level or square or a building don’t matter that much and they don’t necessarily predict the really important events such as collapse in an earthquake. These things have much more to do with the way in which the building is tied together. 

A building with really uneven floors and crooked doorways that has been properly braced and bolted to its old coral reef of a foundation will very likely survive a large earthquake with manageable damage (everything will have some damage, right?) while the neat, square unbraced house next door will be a mess. That’s the message. A little out of level is not unsafe, is not a predictor of major damage and is not bad for your teeth. 

To expand the argument just a bit, a house with a dangerous electrical system may look neat, square and have a fresh coat of paint. A house with a furnace that’s leaking carbon monoxide may have lots of great IKEA lamps. Things don’t necessary connect except when they do, right? Much as I hate to say it, you can’t tell a book by its cover. 

Of course, if a house is so far out of plumb that it’s in danger of falling over, that’s another thing. I do see one of those every once in a while but it’s pretty darned rare. I DO, on the other hand, see dangerous electric conditions in lots of houses, many of which have just been painted REAL nice. 

One last thought. When looking at deviations from square, plumb and level, be sure to consider the age of the house. When I see a quarter inch crack on a house that is three years old, I just about jump out of my skin but when I see the same crack on an eighty year old house, I just go on scratching my beard and reciting Kafka aloud. Cracks and deformations are the physical artifacts of movement. That’s why they’re meaningful. They are the rings on the tree. You have to divide the measurement of movement over the time period for it to be meaningful.  

If movement is uniform over time (always a fair baseline, although rarely accurate) our three year old house is going to have one inch of movement every twelve years at the locus of that crack and possibly much more over the entire house. After eighty years, that could be several feet if we’ve had a few of these cracks. That’s wildly unacceptable. A few quarter inch cracks over eighty years is a yawn because you can expect that the next eighty years will be about the same and, more to the point, the next ten years won’t produce anything surprising. Just a few more little cracks in the plaster.

I’ve liked Alden Lane Nursery ‘way out in Livermore since I first set foot in it over ten years ago. The big valley oaks that shade parts of the place won my splintery old heart immediately, and I saw evidence of real community involvement along with the more concrete stuff: primo nursery stock, interesting ornaments, good tools, less-toxic pest controls. 

They kept doing things I like, too. They were among the first I saw promoting small-space orchards done via multiple grafting on a single tree, pleaching, espaliering, and cordoning. They also pushed planting two or three saplings in a single hole, then pruning them so they didn’t interfere with each other-taking off the branches in the middle of the new group-and letting the various roots work it out among themselves.  

Even in the relatively spacious lots you see around Livermore, a more compact orchard is a good idea for variety and length of harvest; one household or even several can be hard-pressed to deal with 20 or 30 pounds of apples in a week. (Though a cider press does come to mind: cider is what Johnny Appleseed was thinking about, after all.) 

If you mix early- with later-ripening fruit, you solve part of that problem and you don’t get bored with a single variety.  

Along with good ideas like that, Alden Lane has a more or less perpetual canned-food drive for local relief agencies, hosts fundraisers for good causes, and has free tastings, talks, and shows several times a month.  

Alden is generous with printed information too: free handouts are in strategic spots all over the nursery and the monthly newsletter, available in newsprint or email form, has a pretty good ratio of good advice and bright ideas to in-text ads.  

Despite my respect for the institution, it had clearly been way too long since my last visit when I ventured inland last week. I’m almost used (though not reconciled) to the way the places I knew out there have been paved and built over and my landmarks have vanished, but once I’d navigated the straits of stucco and standard plantings to the front gate, I was still bewildered.  

The driveway was new. The fencing/walls/plantings around it all were new. There was a great big chateaufiquated building that I swore I’d never seen before. It wasn’t until I got inside and recognized some of the oaks that I felt oriented.  

Fortunately, most of those great old oaks are still there. They were alive with yellow-rumped warblers and other birds: I had red-shafted flicker, robins, blackbirds (probably Brewer’s), juncos, bushtits, and cormorants (OK, flying over) on the daylist; there was an Anna’s hummingbird nesting on one of the biggest oaks by the building entrance, and she came down to give me the stinkeye.  

There was a visible casualty, and it was an important one: the grand oak in the driveway had fallen in the January storm and parts of it still lay shattered in the median circle.  

It hurts to see, but, like us, trees are mortals.  

Alden Lane Nursery 

981 Alden Lane, Livermore 

(925) 447-0280  

www.aldenlane.com 

Email newsletter sign-up on website. 

Open daily 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. 

Ron Sullivan is a former professional gardener and arborist. Her “Garden Variety” column appears every Friday in the Daily Planet’s East Bay Home & Real Estate section. Her column on East Bay trees appears every other Tuesday in the Daily Planet.

FRIDAY, MARCH 7 

“Art is Education” A two-day conference sponsored by the Alameda County Office of Education. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Emery Secondary School Atrium, 1100 47th St. Emeryville. Workshops on Sat. from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Malcoln X Elementary School in Berkeley. www.artiseducation.org 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Claudia Chaufan, M.D. on “A Comparison of the German Health Care System and the U.S. Health Care System” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

“I Am Not Afraid” A documentary of Rufina Amaya’s testimony as the sole survivor of the 1981 El Mozote Massacre, at the height of El Salvador's civil war, hosted by John Savant, Professor Emeritus, Dominican University, at 7 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker School, directly behind SJW Church, 2125 Jefferson St. Not wheelchair accessible. 482-1062. 

“Tillie Olsen-A Heart in Action” Ann Hershey's new documentary at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar St. Part of the Conscientious Film Projector Series presented by BFUU Social Justice Committee. www.bfuu.org  

“Zen on the Street” A documentary portrait of Zen Master Roshi Bernhard Glassman and his work with the homeless and the sick, at 7 p.m. at Center for Urban Peace, 2584 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Free, donations welcome. 866-732-2320. www.newdharma.com 

UC Berkeley Energy Symposium on topics such as Bioenergy Research at Berkeley, Advances in Green Building and Development, The Future of Nuclear Power, Transportation Sector Solutions at more, rom 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, UC Campus. Cost is $75. berc. 

berkeley.edu/symposium.html 

“Weathering the Storm: Sacred Cycles of Rebirth” An all ages event celebrating International Women’s Day at 7 p.m. at the Mandela Art Center, next to the West Oakland BART at 1357 5th St. www.weekendwakeup.com 

Piedmont Yoga 21st Anniversary with sample classes throughout the weekend, at 3966 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Suggested donation $10. 652-3336. www.piedmontyoga.com 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction at 7:30 p.m. at Finnish Brotherhood Hall, 1970 Chestnut St at University. Donation of $5 requested. 528-4253. www.circledancing.com 

SATURDAY, MARCH 8 

Herstory of the Bay Hike Led by naturalist Bethany Facendini. Celebrate International Women’s Day by honoring women whose environmental and historical contributions have made a difference in our community. Walk five miles along the Bay from Point Isabel to Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historic Park and back, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

“Art is Education” Workshops sponsored by the Alameda County Office of Education from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Malcoln X Elementary School, 1731 Prince. St. www.artiseducation.org 

Berkeley Libraries Community Discussion on improving buildings and services at 2 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue at Ashby. 981-6195. 

“Paper Story Dress” workshop to commemorate women who have influenced our lives, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the North Berkeley Branch Library. 981-6250. 

”Iron-Jawed Angels” The HBO dramatization of the last decade of the suffragettes’ campaign to gain the right to vote, in celebration of Women’s History Month at 2 p.m. at the Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave., Oakland. 

The East Bay Chapter of The Great War Society will hold its monthly meeting to discuss “George Patton: A Life” by Robert Rudolph at 10:30 p.m. at the home of Krehe Ritter, 403 Boyton, off the Arlington. 524-5762. 

Wetlands Restoration at Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline Plant native seedlings, remove nonnative species and pick up trash, from 9 a.m. to noon. Sponsored by REI and Save the Bay. Children under 18 must be accompanied by a supervising adult. To register call 527-4140, ext. 216. 

National Nutrition Month, with cooking demonstrations, free samples and free recipes, at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Center St. and Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Diabetes and hypertension screening from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

“Life on the Rancho” A family event to experience life in old California, with music, crafts and games, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Peralta Hacienda Historical Park, 2465 34th Ave., Oakland. Free. 532-9142. 

Educator Workshop: Groceries from the Garden Teach your students where their food comes from. Learn activities that illustrate the benefits of sustainable agriculture and locally grown food. From 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at UCB Richmond Field Station, 1327 S 46th Street, Gate #2, Richmond. Cost is $29. Reservations required. 665-3430. www.thewatershedproject.org/default 

“What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire” A documentary that looks at the current global situation and asks the most important questions of all: How did we get here? Why do we keep destroying the planet? At 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way, entrance on Dana. Free, donations welcome. 

Indoor Gardening with Succulents A workshop from 9 a.m. to noon at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Dr. Cost is $45. For reservations call 643-2755, ext. 03. 

Strengthening Berkeley Through Organizing “Songs of Hope and Struggle” Benefit concert with Bruce Barthol and Francisco Herrera for Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Prebyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Suggested donation $25. Reception at 5:30 p.m. 665-5821. 

BASIL Seed Library Organizing Meeting at 4 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 658-9178. 

Walden Center and School Benefit “Celebration of the Arts” at 7 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. Tickets are $45-$50. 841-7248. 

Burma Human Rights Day Benefit with a Burmese traditional dinner (vegetarian friendly), speakers, performers, film, Q&A, from 6 to 10 p.m. at Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship, 1924 Cedar. Cost is $15-$30 sliding scale donation for BADA Children Education Fund. 220-1323. www.badasf.org  

Peet’s Coffee & Tea Tour of new roastery in Alameda to celebrate Alfred Peet’s birthday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 2001 Harbor Way Parkway. 1-800-999-2132. www.peets.com 

The Future Leaders Institute Youth in Civic Leadership Symposium FLI students pitch their project ideas to the Bay Area community from noon to 3 p.m. at Berkeley City College, 2050 Center St. www.thefutureleadersinstitute.org  

“Schools Funding Crisis: A Town Meeting” at the Alameda Public Affairs Forum, at 7 p.m. at the Alameda Free Library, Conference Room A, 1550 Oak St. at Lincoln, Alameda. 814-9592. www.alamedaforum.org 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Oakland Artisans Marketplace Sat. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Jack London Square. 238-4948. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 9 

Daylight Saving Time Begins Move your clocks ahead one hour. http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/b.html 

Little Farm Open House Stop by the Little Farm to meet and learn about the animals, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Do It Yourself People’s Park Anniversary Acoustic Blowout Jam and Potluck Planning Meeting at 4 p.m. at the People’s Park Stage. 658-9178. 

“Naturally Egg-Ceptional” Learn about chickens and make naturally dyed eggs, from noon to 2 p.m., or 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $5-$7. 1-888-EB-PARKS. 

Cool Schools Global Warming Campaign Meeting at 2 p.m. at Berkeley High School, 1980 Allston Way, College and Career Center. RSVP to 704-4030. chicory@earthteam.net  

Memorial Service for Dr. Stanley Splitter at 2 p.m., at the Epworth United Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. Reception follows.  

“The American-Israel Relationship in the Post-Bush Era” with Shmuel Rosner, chief U.S correspondent for the Israeli daily Haaretz at 7 p.m. at Congregational Beth El, 1301 Oxford St. Donation $10. 525-3582. 

“Slingshot” Local radical newspaper volunteer meeting and article brainstorming at 4 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave.  

Party with Grandmothers for the Oaks at 2 p.m. at Memorial Oak Grove, Piedmont Ave., just north of Bancroft. Donations of food and water requested. www.saveoaks.com 

Prepare Least Tern Habitat at the Alameda Wildlife Refuge Volunteers needed to help prepare habitat for the California Least Tern nesting season. Meet at 9 a.m. at main refuge gate, northwest corner of former Alameda Naval Air Station, Alameda. Must be 12 or older. RSVP required. 522-0601. http://ggnrabigyear.org 

Cafe Night at the Long Haul Evening of conversation and food at 7:30 p.m. at 3124 Shattuck Ave.  

Mantras of Henry Marshall, led by Marcia Emery, PhD. at 2 p.m. at Peralta Community Garden, Hopkins and Peralta. If by chance it rains, we will postpone until the following month. 526-5510. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets every Sun. at 7 p.m. at the Hillside School, 1581 Le Roy Ave. 843-0150. 

Free Classes on Meditation, Dreams and Self-Knowledge at Berkeley Gnostic Center, 2510 Channing Way. For details call 1-877-GNOSIS-1. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Jared and Michelle Baird on “How to Go on a Retreat” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000 www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, MARCH 10 

An Evening with Cindy Sheehan and the El Cerrito Green Party. Peace Vigil at 5 p.m., dinner at 6:30 p.m. for $5-$10, talk at 7 p.m. at Sky Lounge, 10458 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito, just north of Stockton St. 526-0972. 

Crisis Intervention Training Task Force meeting at 3:30 p.m. at 1947 Center St., 3rd Flr., Deodar Cedar Room. Sponsored by the Mental Health Commission. 981-5217. 

Berkeley Lab Friends of Science “Saving Power at Peak Hours” with Mary Ann Piette, LBNL scientist at 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Rep, Roda Theater, 2025 Addison St. Free. 486-7292. 

Free Kaplan SAT vs ACT Workshop for high school students and parents at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. Registration required at www.kaptest.com/college (event code SKBK8009). 

TUESDAY, MARCH 11 

National Nutrition Month, with cooking demonstrations at 2:30 p.m., free samples and free recipes, at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market from 2 to 6 p.m. at Derby St. and Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

Tuesdays for the Birds Tranquil bird walks in local parklands, led by Bethany Facendini, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Today we will visit the Middle Harbor Shoreline Park. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

Tilden Mini-Rangers Hiking, conservation and nature-based activities for ages 8-12. Dress to ramble and get dirty. From 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

“The Mountains and Waters Sutra” with Prof. Carl Bielefeld, Religious Studies, Stanford Univ., at 5 p.m. at Jodo Shinshu Center, 2140 Durant Ave. RSVP to 809-1444. www.shin-ibs.edu 

Magic Show by Alex for ages 3 and up at 6:30 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from 3 to 4 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. 644-8833. 

“Exploring Mount Diablo and Its Surrounding Parklands” with Seth Adams, Director of Land Programs at Save Mount Diablo, at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Docent Training for Tilden Nature Area Learn to assist the naturalists in providing interpretive programs at the Little Farm and nature area gardens, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fee is $35. Application required. For information call 544-3260. 

Berkeley High School Governance Council meets at 4:15 p.m. in the Community Theater Lobby. 644-4803. 

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. 

End the Occupation Vigil every Tues. at noon at Oakland Federal Bldg., 1301 Clay St. www.epicalc.org 

Teen Playreaders meets to read and discuss Hamlet and related plays at 4:30 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6121. 

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12 

Healthy Living, Healthy Aging A free workshop series for older adults and family caregivers. Fall Prevention at 10 a.m., Transitioning Safely from Hospital to Home, at 1:30 p.m., Forgetfulness: Is It Normal Aging or Alzheimer’s? at 5 p.m. at JFCS/East Bay’s Suse Moyal Center for Older Adult Services, 828 San Pablo Ave., Suite 104, Albany. Free, lunch provided. RSVP required. 558-7800. www.jfcs-eastbay.org 

Berkeley Retired Teachers’ Association Annual General Meeting with Virginia Johnson, CalSTRS Program Integration Manager in Client Outreach and Guidance, at 12:30 p.m. at Northbrae Church, 941 The Alameda. 524-8899. 

“Israel-Palestine Peace Prospects” with Israeli Gershon Baskin and Palestinian Hanna Siniora, authors, activists and educators at 7 p.m. at Kehilla Synagogue, 1300 Grand Ave., Piedmont. Donation of $10 requested. sf-bayarea@btvshalom.org  

Sudden Oak Death Preventative Treament Training Session Meet at 1 p.m. at the Tolman Hall portico, Heast Ave. and Arch/LeConte, UC Campus for a two-hour field session, rain or shine. Pre-registration required. SODtreatment@ 

nature.berkeley.edu 

“Lead-Safety for Remodeling, Repair & Painting of Older Homes” A HUD and EPA approved one-day course from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program Main Office, 2000 Embarcadero, #300, Oakland. Free to owners, and their employed maintenance crews, of residential properties built before 1978 in Alameda, Berkeley, Emeryville or Oakland. REgistration required. 567-8280. www.aclppp.org 

Green Home Improvement 101 at 6 p.m. at the Ecohome Improvement Design Studio, 2619 San Pablo Ave. RSVP to 644-3500. 

Cycling Lecture with George Mount, 1976 Olympian, at 7 p.m. at Velo Sport Bicycles, 1615 University Ave., enter at 1989 California St. RSVP to 849-0437. 

Radical Movie Night: “Salt of the Earth” A documentary about the struggles of striking mine workers in a small town in New Mexico at 8:30 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave.  

“The Top 25 Censored Stories” with Peter Phillips on the 2008 results at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way, under Sather Gate Parking Garage. 848-1196. 

“Asia’s New Institutional Architecture: Evolving Strategies for Managing Trade, Financial, and Security Relations” at 4 p.m. at the IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton St., 6th Floor. 642-2809.  

Poetry Writing Workshop with Alison Seevak at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Teen Chess Club from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the North Branch Library, 1170 The Alameda at Hopkins. 981-6133. 

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, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

Theraputic Recreation at the Berkeley Warm Pool, Wed. at 3:30 p.m. and Sat. at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley Warm Pool, 2245 Milvia St. Cost is $4-$5. Bring a towel. 632-9369. 

Stitch ‘n Bitch at 6:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

THURSDAY, MARCH 13 

Collage de Cultures Africaines “The Journey Back is the Journey Forward” Dance and drum workshops Thurs.-Sun. at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. For details call 733-1077. www.DiamanoCoura.org 

“Historic Landscape Survey” with landscape architect Chris Pattillo at 7:30 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Cost is $8-$10. 763-9218. info@oaklandheritage.org 

Oxford Elementary’s Fifth Grade Class is celebrating African American History Month with a play “Grandma’s Hands” at 8:45 a.m. at Oxford Elementary School, 1130 Oxford St. 644-6300. 

“Biofuels: Energy, Food People” A panel discussion to explore the questions: What are biofuels? Will they really replace gasoline? Are they really “green”? With Tad Patzek, Professor of Geoengineering at UC Berkeley, Miguel Altieri, Professor of Agroecology at UC Berkeley, Eric Holt-Giménez, Executive Director of Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy, and Judith Mayer, Project Coordinator of the Borneo Project, at 7 p.m. at Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Suggested donation $20. 888-ECO-NOW2. www.econowusa.org 

“Climate Change and Our Water: Thinking Globally & Acting Locally to Protect Our Watersheds” with Bruce Riorden, at 7 p.m. at a private home in Berkeley. Suggested donation $25. Benefits the Codornices Creek Watershed Council. RSVP to Josh Brandt at 540-6669. www.codornicescreekwatershed.org 

Help Save Patagonia’s Wild Rivers A multi-media presentation with International Rivers on two rivers threatened by dam construction, at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 848-1155. www.internationalrivers.org 

“Fish Forever: Creating Sustainable FIsheries” with Paul Johnson at 7 p.m. at College Preparatory School, 6100 Broadway, Oakland. Tickets are $5-$15. http://livetalk-johnson.eventbrite.com 

Eat Bay Science Cafe with Debbie Viess, president, Bay Area Mycological Society at 7 p.m. at Au Coquelet Cafe, 2000 University Ave. 643-7265. 

“Focus on Contra Costa” Authors Adam Nilsen, Dean McLeod and Caroll Jensen discuss thier books about Pleasant Hill, Port Chicago and the Delta at 1 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. 238-2022. www.museumca.org 

“The Truth about Cholesterol - Separating Fact from Fiction” at 7 p.m. at Acupuncture & Integrated Medicine College, 2550 Shattuck Ave., at Blake. 666-8248, ext. 106. 

Healthy Living for Seniors: Understanding and Coping with Parkinson’s Disease at 10 a.m., Understanding Long-Term Care and Medi-Cal and Avoiding Financial Abuse at 1 p.m., Financial Strategies for Older Adults at 3 p.m., Charitable Giving for Older Adults, 4:45 p.m. and Estate Planning and Power of Attorney, at 6 p.m. at JFCS/East Bay’s Suse Moyal Center for Older Adult Services, 828 San Pablo Ave., Suite 104, Albany. Free, lunch provided. RSVP required 558-7800. www.jfcs-eastbay.org 

“Focus on Contra Costa” with author Adam Nilsen on the history of Pleasant Hill at 1 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak St. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2022.  

Annual Toastmasters International Speech Competition at 7:30 p.m. at The El Cerrito Community Center, 7007 Moeser Lane, at San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 799-9557.  

East Bay Mac. Users Group presents SuperSync at 7 p.m. at Expression College for Digital Arts, 6601 Shellmound Street, Emeryville. http://ebmug.org 

Teen Book Club meets to discuss Sherlock Holmes at 4 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6121. 

Babies & Toddlers Storytime at 10:15 and 11:15 a.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Fitness Class for 55+ at 9:15 a.m. at Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Youth Commission meets Mon., Mar. 10, at 6:30 p.m., at City Council Chambers, Old City Hall. 981-6670.  

City Council meets Tues., Mar. 11, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. 

Commission on Disability meets Wed., Mar. 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6346. 

Homeless Commission meets Wed., Mar. 12, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5426.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Mar. 12, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7484. 

Police Review Commission meets Wed., Mar. 12, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 981-4950.  

ONGOING 

E-Waste Recycling St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County accepts electronic waste including computers, dvd players, cell phones, fax machines and many other ewaste products for disposal free of charge at many of its locations throughout Alameda County. Free bulk pick-up available. 638-7600.  

Free Tax Help If your 2007 household income was less than $42,000, you are eligible for free tax preparation from United Way's Earn it! Keep It! Save It! Sites are open now through April 15 in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. To find a site near you, call 800-358-8832. www.EarnItKeepItSaveIt.org 

Donate the Excess Fruit from Your Fruit Trees I’ll gladly pick and deliver your fruit to community programs that feed school kids, the elderly, and the hungry. The fruit trees should be located in Berkeley and organic (no pesticides). This is a free volunteer/grassroots thing so join in!! To scehdule and appointment call or email 812-3369. northberkeley 

harvest@gmail.com