Posted Fri., March 14—The Berkeley Board of Education approved possible lay-off notices for 50 certificated employees Wednesday to prepare for Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger’s proposed $4.6 billion state education budget cuts. 

Board president John Selawsky said that notices—which will be sent out by March 15 in keeping with state law—should not be confused with final list of employees who will be laid off. 

“We tend to notify more people than we end up laying off,” he told members of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers and staff from the Berkeley Unified School District’s Independent Study program who protested the cuts at the meeting. 

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

A group of teachers and parents from Berkeley High’s Independent Study program requested that the board reconsider laying off Independent Study coordinator Evelyn Bradley. 

“If we lose her, we would have three administrators in less than two years, which would not be good for the program or the students,” said Kate Karpilow, whose daughter attends Independent Study. 

“All kinds of students—teen moms, gays, lesbians, talented dancers and musicians, students who need sanctuary from violence at Berkeley High—depend on independent study,” said Christina Balch, who teaches in the program. “I urge you to reconsider cutting the coordinator’s position ... when we have six coordinators in nine years it’s a waste of time.” 

Parents also asked the school board to pay more attention to the program itself. 

“I don’t get why it is not seen as a jewel in the crown,” said Karpilow. “For some reason it’s seen as a secondary status program ... It’s not honored. I am baffled by this. Just as the small schools at Berkeley High School offer a menu of options for students and families, the option offered by Independent Study is critical to graduating students and offering them a solid education.” 

Cathy Campbell, president of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, also urged the board to keep the coordinator position. 

“Elimination of that position would be damaging to the students, teachers and the program,” she said. “This program serves over 170 students, 65 percent of them students of color.” 

The teacher’s union will rally in front of the district headquarters at 2134 Martin Luther Jr. Way today (Friday) at 4 p.m. to protest the proposed lay-offs. 

The board also approved the criteria for determining order of seniority for employees with the same first date of paid probationary service. 

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 certain advanced degrees.  

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.

Several hundred city workers converged on the steps of the city administration building Wednes-day. Some brought the tools of their trade: garbage trucks, pick-ups and code enforcement vehicles, the latter of which came in handy for blocking off the street for the noontime party. 

Many picked up purple shirts and hats and sat in the noonday sun, heads moving with the music coming from an improvised stage on a flat-bed truck. 

It was a party with a point: the largest city workers’ union, Service Employees International Union 1021, with around 1,000 members, was about to go into bargaining for a new contract. Negotiations would begin as soon as the rally ended at 12:30 p.m. 

“I’ve heard the city is one of the top 10 cities with a very large reserve,” SEIU 1021 Treasurer Sandra Lewis told the Planet before climbing up to the speaker’s platform for the rally.  

On stage, Lewis called for smooth bargaining with city negotiators and introduced City Manager Phil Kamlarz and Human Resources Director David Hodgkins, both of whom they would be facing at the negotiating table. “We’ll work our differences out at the table. We’ll work as a team,” Lewis said to the cheering crowd. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington also spoke, calling for pay and benefit equity and noting that “police and fire get more benefits than all the other employees.” 

The undercurrent, however, was the near-bankruptcy of Vallejo and the downturn in the economy. SEIU 1021 contracts—for clericals, maintenance workers, non-sworn police and more—expire in June. 

Several Berkeley police officers jumped on a public bus full of elementary students last week and held a gun on their after-school teacher, misidentified as a robbery suspect, while he was taking students to a basketball game. 

Some parents and staff at Cragmont Elementary School have charged that the incident revealed the Berkeley Police Department’s bias against black males. 

Cragmont after-school basketball coach DeAndre Swygert told the Planet that he was taking 10 students from Cragmont’s after-school basketball team for a game against Emerson Elementary School when three to four police cars surrounded their AC Transit bus and pulled it over. 

“One of the kids said ‘look’ and I saw one of the officers banging on the bus window with his gun,” Swygert said. “Then six to seven officers approached the bus through the back door, put a gun by my face and told me to put my hands up. They did not handcuff me, but they made me put my hands behind my back. One of the officers grabbed me by my shirt and got me off the bus. They started searching my backpack and asked me who I was, where I was going and If I was with the kids. Then they said ‘sorry for the inconvenience’ and left.” 

Berkeley police spokesperson Sgt. Mary Kusmiss told the Planet Tuesday that the police had responded to a call for help from a community member. 

“Since the suspects were seen with a gun by the victim, officers, in keeping with tactics to ensure community and officer safety, will have their guns drawn,” she said. 

“If there is a suggestion or report that a suspect is armed, officers are well within policy in keeping with not just their own safety but also the community’s safety. The suspect could have posed a threat to the children.” 

According to Kusmiss, a UC Berkeley student was taking pictures with her digital camera on the 1100 block of Euclid when two teenagers jumped out of a maroon van and approached her. One of the teenagers pointed a semi-automatic pistol at the student and took off with her camera and some other belongings. The two boys then jumped back into the van and drove off. 

Kusmiss said that after the student yelled for help a community member from the 1200 block of Oxford Street called the police. 

“She heard a police department siren, then saw a maroon van quickly pull over and three 14-year-olds jump out and run east on Berryman and north on Spruce,” she said. “Officers located the van that was reported stolen from the City of Oakland. There were a few items of the student’s belongings inside, but officers did not find a gun, which led them to believe the suspect or suspects who had fled the van were still armed. Approximately eight officers did area checks and stopped a bus that was leaving the area.” 

Swygert, 21, said that the officers told him that he fit the description of an African American male with dreads and a sweatshirt only after they had finished searching him. 

“I understand they were doing their job, but what they did was inappropriate,” he said. “I had children with me ... Some of them started to cry. I think the police could have done a whole lot better. They singled me out because I am a young black male with dreadlocks. They stopped me for no reason. If they were looking for robbers who had hijacked a car then why did they have to stop the bus?” 

In a letter to Cragmont parents, Cragmont principal Don Vu described the incident on the bus as “traumatizing for both DeAndre and the students.” 

“Unfortunately, cases of mistaken identity happen way too often in our society and it is especially disturbing that this happened in front of our students,” the letter said. “DeAndre is a good young man trying to make a difference in the lives of our students by taking the time to mentor and coach them after school. We support him and appreciate the good work that he does at Cragmont.” 

Sgt. Kusmiss told the Planet that the officers were responding to the victim’s description of the suspect. 

“They were looking for a black male juvenile,” she said. “In this case they would not have been looking for anyone else.” 

A graduate of Oakland High School, Swygert joined Cragmont through AmeriCorps two years ago. 

In her letter to Cragmont after-school families last Friday, Cragmont’s after-school program director Angela Gilder called DeAndre’s encounter with the police “humiliating.” 

“Yet another case of ‘mistaken identity,’ Mr. Swygert was at the mercy of the officers in a very degrading and embarrassing manner,” she said. “No apology was given to Mr. Swygert or our students. All too often this ... is a situation that occurs numerous times with many young African American males.” 

Cragmont parent Kameka Goodwin said her son Alonzo, who was on the bus, was very upset by incident. 

“I thought it was crazy they drew guns, and that they dragged the coach down and asked him questions,” she said. “I am shocked they would do it in the presence of children ... I have grown up in Berkeley and it’s very common for the BPD to go out of their way to do this ... They think everybody with dreads and a sweatshirt is a suspect.” 

Alonzo told the Planet that he and some of his friends had put their hands up when they saw the police. 

“They asked us who Mr. Swygert was,” the 10-year-old said. “We told him he was our coach and we were coming from Cragmont.” 

U’Dwi Ashford, another Cragmont parent, said her son has had nightmares from the incident. 

“My son told me he didn’t know what was going to happen to him or DeAndre in the bus,” she said. “I told him it was unfortunate, but that if you were a young black male you were going to get stopped at least once, if not more, in your lifetime. We’ll probably have this conversation more than once.” 

Prinicipal Vu said he was trying to set up a meeting with the Berkeley Police Department to bring in counselors to meet with the students. 

In an e-mail to Cragmont parents Wednesday, Vu said that counselors would be available on campus Thursday to talk to students about the incident. 

According to the e-mail, Berkeley Police Officer Jerome Colbert, a former teacher and school resource officer, will meet with Swygert, students and parents today (Friday) to answer questions about the incident. 

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia—which entered into a $28 million partnership with UC Berkeley last week to collaborate on research, curriculum and hiring of faculty—announced Thursday an $8 million grant to Paul Monteiro, professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Berkeley. 

Monteiro was one of 12 scientists around the world to win KAUST’s Global Research Partnership Investigator competition. The grant money will be awarded over five years. 

The 12 KAUST investigators will spend up to three months annually on the KAUST campus to conduct research and give talks on desalination, creating stronger but lighter-weight composite materials and developing renewable energy sources. 

KAUST, which will open its doors to students in 2009, is a new international graduate-level re-search university being built on more than 36 million square meters on the Red Sea at Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. 

According to the UC Berkeley website, KAUST officials invited select world-renowned universities and colleges to submit proposals for partnerships in 2007.  

The proposal submitted by UC Berkeley’s Mechanical Engineering department was accepted by KAUST, following which the department’s professors voted 34-2 to support the agreement, with three abstaining and six choosing not to vote. 

Reactions to UC Berkeley’s deal with KAUST have been mixed.  

Some have said that the deal would help the university to offset state budget cuts while others have objected to a public institution partnering with a country which discriminates against women, homosexuals and Jews. 

UC Berkeley’s civil and environmental engineering department declined to join KAUST. 

Monteiro told the Planet that his application for the investigator competition had been independent of the $28 million deal with KAUST. 

“It was a truly international competition,” he said. “As to why the department declined to join the $28 million partnership, you’d have to talk to the department chair.” 

Department chair Lisa Alvarez-Cohen could not be reached Thursday. 

Monteiro said his research—which would focus on green concrete to cut down carbon emissions—would be based in Berkeley. 

“I will visit KAUST for four weeks to share information and give lectures once the campus is built,” he said. “I want to share information all over the world. It’s a wonderful opportunity for my research group to have an impact on sustainable construction. I have never been to Saudi Arabia before so I am looking forward to it. 

Although a UC Academic Senate committee was concerned about the possibility of discrimination against female, gay and Israeli faculty members, they decided that the partnership would help the university. 

“The task force, while regretting these laws and customs, received enough information regarding KAUST policies ... that we recommend approval of this proposal,” an Academic Senate report stated on Feb. 19. 

A press release on the UC Berkeley website stated that KAUST officials had decided that the university would be open to men and women from all cultures around the world. 

Article 4 of the KAUST bylaws states that KAUST “shall have complete freedom in governing and managing its colleges, institutes, schools and departments without any intervention by others. In this regard, the university shall be exempt from those regulations, policies and procedures applicable to other universities in the Kingdom and their respective faculty members. Within the university, the teaching staff shall have the academic and cultural freedom available in international universities.” 

Al Pisano, chair of UC Berkeley’s mechanical engineering department, said in the press release that the partnership would allow the department to work on mutual areas of interest and benefit—such as sea water desalinization, creating stronger but lighter-weight composite materials and developing renewable energy sources—as well as being a positive engagement in the Middle East. 

Pisano did not return calls from the Planet Thursday. 

Igor Tregub, an undergraduate in the university’s mechanical engineering department, said he was pleased with the agreement. 

“I believe that the partnership with KAUST is the latest step in recognizing that the pursuit of knowledge must have no geographical or cultural boundaries in order to meet the global challenges we face in the twenty-first century,” he told the Planet. “As a Jew and a citizen of Israel, I recognize that problems do exist within the framework of Saudi Arabia's hostile stance towards this nation, as well as the numerous documented instances of discrimination against women and gays by the Saudi Arabian government. Yet, since UC Berkeley’s agreement with KAUST demands that the partnership be conducted free of any attempts to hamper the free pursuit of knowledge on university grounds, I think this hurdle will be overcome.” 

Nick Smith, a recent UC Berkeley graduate who championed the Sweatfree Ordinance as chair of Berkeley’s Labor Commission, said that the university should refrain from partnering with entities that were engaged in exploitation, or an extreme unfairness of some kind. 

“If this is approved, it would mean that American taxpayer dollars would be sent to a country that we clearly disagree with in terms of treatment of many of its citizens,” he said. “I would support an international non-profit entities engaging in these efforts, but not a taxpayer-subsidized university such as Berkeley ... Berkeley benefiting financially smacks of the tunnel vision that helps maintain discrimination and division across the world.”

In the race for money to finance their campaigns to replace Don Perata as State Senator for District 9, Assembly-member Loni Hancock is drawing heavily on businesses, labor organizations, and associations from around the state, as well as on individual contributions from inside District 9, while former Assemblymember Wilma Chan’s main source is Asian-Americans living outside the district lines. 

Hancock, who represents Assembly District 14, raised $500,507 for the senate race during 2007, ending with a cash balance of $343,907. Chan, former assemblymember for District 16, raised $164,834, but ended the year with $526,641, almost $200,000 more than Hancock.  

Hancock’s main fund-raising edge came in contributions from associations, businesses, political action committees, and campaigns of other candidates and officeholders, where she outraised her opponent $257,573 to $43,350. Fifty-two percent of Hancock’s donations came from non-individual sources. 

Several of Hancock’s donations come from companies with interests in development in District 9. 

The donation from Hancock from the most controversial source is $3,000 from Upstream Point Molate LLC of Emeryville, the company that holds a multi-million dollar option on property on the Richmond shoreline on which it wants to build a Native-American-based casino and convention center complex. The project, which has been the subject of several lawsuits, is currently being held up pending Bureau of Indian Affairs approval of the status of the Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians. 

Other major Hancock business contributors with major business or development interests in the district are Wareham Develop-ment Corporation of San Rafael ($3,000), which owns and operates several properties in Emeryville and West Berkeley, and which the East Bay Business Times calls “the largest commercial developer of laboratory space in the East Bay;” the Seagate Properties real estate investment firm of San Rafael ($2,625), which operates a number of commercial buildings in downtown Berkeley, including the Berkeley Promenade, Bayer Corporation ($4,000); Clear Channel Outdoor ($4,000); Owens-Illinois General of Illinois ($3,500), the owner of food and beverage bottle manufacturer Owens-Brockway Glass Container with several local plants; and Clorox Corporation of Oakland ($2,000).  

Other large business donations for Hancock came from the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railroad ($2,000), Richmond Pacific Railroad ($2,500), and explosives manufacturer and U.S. Defense Department contractor MP Associates of Ione, California ($3,750). 

Hancock also received $3,600 from Artichoke Joe’s Casino in San Bruno. 

Almost 12 percent of Hancock’s contributions ($59,250) came from labor organizations, including $3,600 from the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 PAC, $3,000 from the Boilermakers Local #549, $3,600 from the California Association of Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors National Association PAC, $7,200 in two donations from the California Nurses Association PAC, $3,000 from the California Professional Firefighters PAC, $2,000 from the Drive Committee of the Teamsters, $3,600 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers COPE Political Action Committee and $7,200 from the IBEW Local 302 PAC, $2,500 from the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, $3,600 from the Plumbing Industry Consumer Protection Fund UA Local 159, $3,000 from the Political Education Committee of Public Employees Local 1, $3,000 from the U.A. Local 342 PAC Fund, $2,000 from the United Services Automobile Association, and $2,000 from the Western States Council of Sheet Metal Workers PAC. 

Hancock raised $15,600 from political action committees based in the medical-dental field, including $3,000 from the Physicians For The Group Practice of Medicine PAC, $3,000 from the California Hospital Association PAC, $2,000 from the California Association of Psychiatric Technicians, and $2,000 from the Union of American Physicians and Dentists Medical Defense Fund. 

In addition, she received $3,600 from Abbott Laboratories, an Illinois-based pharmaceutical manufacturing and medical research firm. 

In the legal field, Hancock raised $3,000 from the Consumer Attorneys’ PAC and $2,000 apiece from the California Attorneys For Criminal Justice PAC and the California Applicants’ Attorneys’ Association. She received $3,500 from Furtado, Jaspovice & Simons personal injury attorneys of Hayward, $2,500 from Hanna, Brophy, MacLean, McLeer & Jensen workers’ compensation and employment-related litigation law firm of Oakland, $3,600 from the law firm of Kazan, McClain, Abrams, Lyon, Farrise & Greenwood of Oakland and $3,000 from the Levin, Simes, Kaiser & Gornick firm of San Francisco, both of which specialize in representing claims of victims of asbestos poisoning. 

She received $2,000 from California Beer & Beverage Distributors Community Affairs pac and $3,100 from horse racing interests, including $2,600 from the Pacific Racing Association and the Los Angeles Turf Club. 

The 14th District Assemblymember also raised $37,000 from campaign organizations of other candidates or political officeholders, including $3,600 apiece from Alan Lowenthal For State Senate, Friends of Anthony Portantino, Friends of Fabian Nuñez, Friends of Patty Berg, Kevin De Leon For Assembly, and Swanson For Assembly 2008, $2,600 from Karen Bass For Assembly (the new Assembly Speaker), and $2,000 from Charles Calderon For Assembly. 

Showing how quickly politicians are forgotten by their peers once they leave office, Chan received only $8,600 from other political campaigns in 2007, including $3,300 from Re-Elect Fiona Ma (Assemblymember from San Francisco), $2,000 from the State Board of Equalization President Betty Yee campaign, and $1,000 apiece from the John Chiang For Controller committee and the State Board of Equalization Member Judy Chu Campaign Committee. 

Chan received $3,600 in contributions from Harbor Bay Isle Associates, developers of the 1,000 acre Harbor Bay residential community in Alameda, $5,000 from SunCal Companies of Irvine, developers of the 770 acre Alameda Point mixed-use development in Alameda, and $2,000 from AGI Capital Group real estate development investment company of San Francisco. Chan only received $4,000 overall in contributions from labor organizations, $3,000 from the Steamfitters Local 342 PAC. 

But besides beating Chan overall in fund-raising during the year, Hancock also beat her opponent in almost every measure of fund-raising from individual contributors. 

Individual contributors are allowed to give a maxium of $3,600 per election to a political candidate in California. “Per election” is the operative phrase, since the primary and the general election are two separate elections. A donor may give a candidate up to $3,600 in separate checks earmarked for either the primary or the general election. In Chan’s case, two individual donors chose to contribute this way, putting them over $3,600 in contributions for the year.  

Overall, Hancock raised $236,697 in individual contributions to Chan’s $116,110 in 2007. From individual contributors living inside District 9, the disparity was even greater, with Hancock raising $161,098 to Chan’s $37,950. In Berkeley alone, Hancock raised over $95,000, a whopping 40 percent of her total individual contributions. Only in her hometown of Alameda did Chan outraise Hancock, $9,230 to $347.46. 

Chan’s major fundraising from individual donors came from California cities outside of District 9, where she took in $71,61, more than 61 percent of her total individual contributions. Chan raised $10,000 in San Francisco alone from 28 individual contributors. 

Nearly 73 percent of Chan’s contributions came from individual donors, most of them from citizens with Asian-American surnames. 

Chan had seven individual contributors of $3,000 or more during 2007: First Allied Securities financial consultant Michele Y.K. Hu of Atherton ($5,700 in three separate donations), homemaker Margaret M. Kung of Los Altos ($3,900 in three separate donations), United Way of Silicon Valley associate Angela Kung of Mountain View ($3,500 in two separate donations), KL Acquisitions Management property manager Hong Yao Lin of Pleasanton ($3,400), Signal Hill Golf Course manager Daniel Tsai of Dublin ($3,300), Bridgeport Consulting CFO Mei Chun Lin of Pleasanton ($3,300 in two separate donations), and actor/director Rob Reiner of Beverly Hills ($3,000).  

The former Oakland Assemblymember had 31 individual donations of $1,000 or more. 

Hancock had 20 individual contributors of $3,000 or more, including herself and her husband, Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, who gave $3,600 apiece to her campaign: Meyer Sound Principal Helen B. Meyer of Berkeley ($3,600), farmers David and Galila Harrington (perhaps relatives--Hancock’s maiden name was Harrington) of Santa Fe, New Mexico ($3,600 apiece), retiree Jeanine Saperstine of Piedmont ($3,600), Keker & Von Nest attorney Jon B. Streeter of Berkeley ($3,600), Gillin, Jacobson, Ellis & Larsen attorney Luke Ellis of Orinda ($3,600 in two separate donations), Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Lab engineer Lynn Seppara of Livermore ($3,600), Alafi Family Foundation President Margaret Alafi ($3,600), Alafi Capital partner Moshe Alafi of Berkeley ($3,600), developer Soheyl Modaressi of Berkeley ($3,600), Key Curriculum Press publisher Steven Rasmussen of Berkeley ($3,600), Justice Matters policy advocate Susan Sandler of San Francisco ($3,600), Sunpower Corporation CEO Tom L. Dinwoodie of Piedmont ($3,600), retiree Tony Suh of Lafayette ($3,600), retiree Mary Friedman of Castro Valley ($3,000), Convera Corporation chairman Ronald J. Whittier of Belvedere ($3,000), homemaker Sara F. Sanderson of Berkeley ($3,000), and The Review Group architect Steven R. Winkel of Berkeley ($3,000). 

Altogether, Hancock had 83 individual contributors giving $1,000 or more. 

These days, Iraq War veteran Sean O’Neill speaks out against the war. 

The 25-year-old Fremont native wasn’t one of those who dreamed of joining the U.S. Marines. At 17, O’Neill didn’t know what he wanted to do after high school.  

“Growing up in a suburban environment, I just wanted to break out of it, have a little bit of an adventure. I read a lot of Hemingway—think that had something to do with it,” O’Neill told the Planet in an interview in a peaceful courtyard at UC Berkeley, where he is a senior studying political science. 

O’Neill thought the Marine Corps “would provide the experience I couldn’t find anywhere else—the weapons and the kind of operations they do—you can’t find anywhere else, not in law enforcement, the peace corps or anywhere.” 

And O’Neill thought he could provide service. “At the time I was hoping to participate in one of these humanitarian actions—obviously they were done for less than humanitarian purposes—but I was intrigued by a lot of missions that were going on in the ’90s and some places we didn’t go in, like Rwanda. I was hoping I would get to participate in missions like that.” 

He wasn’t influenced by recruiters—O’Neill and two friends talked it over and signed up together.  

In the fall of 2000, the 18-year-old shipped out for a three-month stint in boot camp in San Diego. The goal there was to get recruits to develop a greater degree of psychological toughness so they could master greater physical challenges, O’Neil said.  

“They focus more on building mental toughness and obedience to commands,” he said, adding that recruits also learned problem-solving and leadership skills. 

Next stop was the infantry school, also in San Diego, which O’Neill described as “kind of fun”—running through the mud, throwing grenades. He criticized the quality of instruction, however, calling some of his instructors “less than stellar.”  

“They are getting out of the Marine Corps,” he said. “They don’t care any more.” 

He went on to train as a crewmember of a light-armored vehicle, and in April 2001, he was ready to join his unit, Light Armored Reconnaissance. The unit shipped out and traveled around the Middle East and Australia, a “readiness” force able to intervene if a tsunami hit or an embassy needed protection. 

They trained with Jordanians and Kuwaitis. “We would exchange tactics,” he said. 

They came back to Camp Pendleton in December 2002 and everything changed. 

The war and the unanswered questions 

O’Neill flew to Kuwait the next month “to offload all the equipment from the ships and get ready for the invasion that was coming.” 

When they entered Iraq, O’Neill’s job was driving. “I didn’t really know why we were going in. The colonel said it was about weapons of mass destruction. So I decided, ‘all right.’ I had my doubts. When you’re in an environment where you don’t have access to any information sources, independent or otherwise, all you can do is conjecture. We didn’t have any access to newspapers or the Internet. 

“I tried to make the best of the situation and said, ‘this is what we have to do.’ It was pretty exhilarating the first couple of days.” 

While O’Neill was at the wheel, others were shooting. “It was throwing all societal norms out the window. Shooting at anything … some armored vehicles, mostly guys in bunkers, or vehicles with a heavy machine gun mounted on the back … Whoever is shooting at you, you shoot back.” 

At that point it wasn’t hard to identify the enemy, mostly in uniform. “As time went on that was more difficult,” he said. 

Then there was the first casualty: “A guy named Suarez [Lance Cpl. Jesus Suarez del Solar], who actually stepped on one of our own rounds. 

“They’re supposed to explode when they hit the ground but not all of them do. He stepped on one of these things and severed an artery and he bled out. It took him hours. That’s when you realize it isn’t much of a game any more. 

“It was pretty traumatic for me because I had to be a guard outside the vehicle where the medics were working on him.”  

O’Neill said he didn’t know what would have happened to his psyche if it was he who had been working to save Suarez’ life. “Just hearing it was bad enough,” he said. 

The incident caused a lot of anger in the unit. “People were pretty pissed off. Neither our own captain nor any other higher authorities told us that area was a no-go, because every time they use these munitions they’re supposed to let everyone know over the radio, ‘don’t go into that area.’” 

When people get frustrated, all they can do is grumble, O’Neill said. “There’s not much more you can do.” 

When the unit got to Baghdad, they posted a blockade around the city to prevent people from entering. Baghdad residents had fled to the country before the war, and, after the statue of Saddam fell—April 9, 2003—and they were ready to come home, O’Neill said. 

The marine’s job was to keep them out and away from danger. 

“They couldn’t come back in for their own protection,” he said. 

After the fall of Baghdad, the Marines launched a raid on Tekrit, which they secured a day or two later. “Then the actual invasion was pretty much over. Most the country was secured or something close to it,” O’Neill said. 

The unit was then stationed in a town in southern Iraq, where Saddam had been hated, in contrast to the north where people were Sunni loyalists. 

“We were out there with minimal body armor,” O’Neill said. Groups of Marines went to restaurants; they went shopping. “Things that would be unthinkable today,” he said. “We felt we could eat the food without there being broken glass or poison. It was a real positive feeling.” 

O’Neill thought it would be like invasions he’d read about: Topple the dictator and get out, but violence against the U.S. military was growing. 

It had become clear to O’Neill that there were no weapons of mass destruction “It was a farce,” he said.  

Still, having got rid of Saddam, O’Neill said he believed people would have “something close to democracy and it would all be worth it—so I thought at the time.” 

An occupation? 

The unit returned to the U.S. in May, but learned in November they would be going back to Iraq. “I was furious and thought: ‘This is like an occupation.’”  

He shipped back out in Feburary 2004, with just seven months left on his contract. He was angry. “I did my part—what the hell? That was a big feeling for a lot of people,” he said. 

“I started thinking, “What the hell is the mission? Are we going to police the society? We didn’t think it was our job to baby-sit the Iraqis or police them. We didn’t think that was our job.” 

In March the unit was stationed in a town called Al Qaim, where they were supposed to police the Iraq-Syria border. 

At this point, O’Neill no longer believed in the mission. The choice, however, was to quit and do six to eight months in the brig, or just go with it. He chose the latter.  

The situation felt increasingly like an occupation. “If there’s anything approximating an expression of popular will, the rapid increase in violence and bombings has to indicate that the Iraqis didn’t want us there,” he said. 

Within the unit, the men would talk about that among themselves. O’Neill said his speech wasn’t stifled. 

He did, however, choose his words carefully when talking to superior officers. Speaking to his staff sergeant, “in the most delicate of terms” O’Neill said while he didn’t agree with the mission, he would do his job and keep his men safe. 

April 1 the unit got hit hard with explosives and mines in Al Qaim; they learned they couldn’t trust anyone. “We were going to do a patrol with some Iraqi cops and the local insurgents—I don’t know, they had some deal, they were one and the same. The Iraqi cops told the insurgents when and where we’d be and gave them light machine guns and we got ambushed. It killed a Marine. Myself and a couple of guys got wounded.” 

If O’Neill felt any traces of ambivalence before, this incident pushed him to the other side with the realization: “We must withdraw.”  

He had also come to believe patrolling the extensive Iraq-Syria border was an impossible task. “We didn’t have the manpower and the locals knew the area better than us,” he said. 

Insergents used light trucks, more suitable to the terrain. The heavy U.S. vehicles got bogged down in the salt marshes. “And we didn’t have enough air support.” 

They couldn’t count on help from the Iraqis: “The locals didn’t trust us and we couldn’t provide them any protection if they worked with us.” Those who worked for the U.S. military became targets, as did their families. 

After Al Qaim, there were three or four weeks of raids in Falluja.  

Coming home, speaking out 

In July, toward the end of his contract, O’Neill was sent back to the U.S. He was home in Fremont in late August.  

Ties with family and friends helped smooth the transition back to civilian life. “I kept a good circle of friends around me. I ended up living with a guy from my platoon when I got out until I married my wife. I kept in contact with a lot of people from the platoons and started meeting other veterans.” 

Talking to other veterans was important: “We were able to strip away that ‘Oh god, it’s so terrible,’ to cut through all that sentiment that I think non-veterans have around the war, and just talk about it honestly, without looking at it through any kind of lens that says the experience has to conform to any sort of ideology.” 

Although he had been very critical, O’Neill hadn’t planned to speak out against the war. But through connections with the mother of a friend in the Marines who was a peace activist, and with Fernando Suarez del Solar, the father of the man in O’Neill’s unit killed by an unexploded cluster bomb—he has become a well-known anti-war activist—he met people in Iraq Veterans Against the War and he began speaking publicly about his experiences. 

“Wife, school, and speaking out were the best things for my sanity,” he said. “When you hear it out loud, it’s different than when you have a thought that’s just kicking around in your head.”  

O’Neill has spent a lot of time reflecting on strategies to end the war. He’s moved away from the more radical groups such as Iraq Veterans Against the War and will not be participating in this weekend’s Winter Soldier Gathering in Maryland, where Iraq and Afghanistan veterans will share their stories.  

He fears that because the event is sponsored by more radical groups and broadcast on KPFA—a left-leaning radio station—the event will be dismissed by the mainstream. 

Activists sometimes just look at the war through one lens alone, whether the view is radical or conservative, O’Neill said. That results in “teasing out a political meaning of events which negates them as a human experience,” he said. 

“The tragedy is that the [radical] tactics undermine the good things they want to do,” he said, referring to street demonstations. 

O’Neill favors groups that engage with the electoral system. The system is messy; you don’t always get what you want, but it is through the electoral system that the war will be stopped, he said. 

“We have to play the political game and interject ourselves in the system,” he said. 

The Winter Soldier gathering, March 14-16, in which Iraq and Afghanistan veterans tell their stories, will be broadcast in its entirely on KPFA, 94.1 and streamed at KPFA.org.

Margaret Lowry, removed from her position as Willard Middle School vice principal last week and reassigned to a staff administrative position, has resigned and will leave the Berkeley Unified School 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 the students to buy marijuana from the other.  

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

On Tuesday, however, Lowry’s name appeared on a list of resignations which the Berkeley Board of Education approved Wednesday.  

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 discounted reports last week 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 as well as pressuring students to inform on other students.  

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 bachelor’s 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. 

A five-day anti-war camp-out at the downtown Marine Recruiting Station (MRS) aboard a Code Pink truck, designed to draw attention to the March 19 five-year anniversary of the Iraq War, turned nasty Tuesday afternoon: An attorney says the city may be using code enforcement to selectively stifle free speech at the Code Pink protest, and a Code Pink activist says she was assaulted by a city of Berkeley code enforcement supervisor. 

The large truck dubbed “Green Zone,” adorned with potted plants and trees, has been parked since Monday in front of the Marine Recruiting Station at 64 Shattuck Square. A half-dozen women are staying in the truck round-the-clock, with others joining them to sing, meet and distribute anti-war literature.  

The MRS is guarded by four to six—sometimes more—Berkeley police officers, with the number having been augmented since a bomb blast March 6 at the Time Square recruiting office. 

Police are also present to keep sidewalks clear. A March 10 bulletin from the city manager to the City Council says, in part “due to the constricted sidewalks, along this segment of Shattuck Avenue, we are enforcing all laws necessary to keep the sidewalk clear at all times. We will maintain access for pedestrians as well as businesses.” 

According to Deputy City Manager Lisa Caronna, who spoke to the Planet on Thursday, Code Pink may place nothing on the sidewalk—“No major pieces of furniture on the sidewalk,” Caronna said. “We’ve been very clear with them. Chairs are not going to be allowed.” 

And so, Tuesday afternoon, there were a number of Code Pink activists in and about the truck. As viewed in a police video shared by police with the Planet, there were two bicycles affixed to a telephone pole and a baby stroller next to the truck.  

Asher Wolf was sitting in a folding chair on the sidewalk, adjacent to the curb. The video shows that Asher’s knees extending just slightly beyond a parking meter. Wolf is disabled--she is able to stand and walk, but would find it difficult to climb into the truck. 

According to City Manager Phil Kamlarz, police called Greg Daniel, a code enforcement supervisor. “Police called him and asked him to enforce laws about placing [objects] on the sidewalk,” Kamlarz told the Planet Tuesday. 

In calling in Daniel, “The goal was to avoid confrontation,” Kamlarz said. “They can’t block the sidewalk. It’s a very narrow sidewalk.” 

What happened next is in dispute. 

The Planet interviewed Code Pink activist Zanne Joi outside the MRS some 45 minutes after the incident. “I heard a guy screaming at [Wolf], who is disabled and [was] in a chair on the edge of the sidewalk,” she said. “He told her she had to get up. She was asking, ‘Who are you?’” 

This interaction is not shown on the video. 

Wolf got up from the chair. Joi said, “I was reaching to get the chair and [Daniel] pushed me over.” Joi then fell into the street. “He was yelling—I expected police to do something,” she said. “It was shocking,” Joi said, noting that Daniel wore no city badge or form of identification. 

Caronna said she reviewed the police tape of the incident, in which physical contact between Daniel and Joi would have been obscured. The officer was filming from behind bystanders.  

“Everyone was in tight quarters,” Caronna said. “Whether there was contact or not, it is unfortunate that Zanne fell down. It was not intentional … People got tangled up. It was an unintentional bump. I don’t see an intentional act to hurt anybody. It was not done in anger.” 

Daniel was at work on Thursday, according to Caronna. “We think he acted professionally,” Caronna said.  

In a phone interview Thursday, Joi said she plans to file assault charges against Daniel next week, after the five-day protest. She said if the contact between herself and the code inspector, a large man of more than six feet, was in fact inadvertent, the inspector would have reacted apologetically or offered assistance, which was not the case. 

Joi, who had not seen the video, said that she expected that it would have shown Daniel screaming at the women; however, sound from the street is not available in the early part of the two-minute 11-second video.  

The video is shot in several segments. Caronna said nothing was erased. One does not see the approach of the inspector. One does see him speaking to a group of Code Pink supporters, then moving into a tight space, where he bends forward. For an instant, one glimpses a flash of pink as Joi, mostly obscured, falls. The contact between the two is obscured. 

Reached Thursday by telephone, Attorney Osha Neumann said he was concerned that the city was trying to enforce statutes that did not exist. “I don’t believe there is any violation of any city ordinance with a disabled woman sitting off to the side” of the sidewalk, he said. “I don’t think there was any cause at all to take her chair.” 

“I’m concerned about this pattern of very strict enforcement, going out of the way to hinder a protest,” Neumann said, adding that he thinks the enforcement stems from the city’s fear of getting bad press around the Marine recruiting station issues.  

It could be “selective enforcement to discourage protest,” Neumann said.

After Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, nobody’s thinking of nuclear power in the U.S. these days, right? 

Wrong—and UC Berkeley’s at the forefront of the drive to bring back nuclear, this time in the guise of a clean, green technology. 

For residents of the United States, the March 28, 1979 accident at a Pennsylvania nuclear power plant that led to a release of radioactive gases and a partial reactor meltdown spelled the end of a once-booming commercial reactor business. 

That the accident followed just 12 days after a popular film about a reactor system failure—The China Syndrome—helped seal the fate of an industry. 

Then came the April 26, 1986 disaster at the Soviet nuclear power plant at Chernobyl in the Ukraine, when an explosion caused by a runaway reactor send a cloud of deadly dust and gases spewing over the heart of the Eurasian land mass. 

Today, California has only two nuclear power plants, one at Diablo Canyon near Eureka in the north and the other at San Onofre on the coast between Los Angeles and San Diego. 

A third plant, Rancho Seco, south of Sacramento, was built by the same company, Babcock & Wilcox, that built Three Mile Island and was shut down three years after the Pennsylvania disaster after an advisory referendum by Sacramento voters call for closure. 

The plant had suffered repeated equipment failures, and had been shut down more frequently than it was on-line. 

But all that is in the past, said two nuclear scientists and an economist during a session on nuclear power at last week’s UC Berkeley Energy Symposium. The lone dissenting voice came from another physicist, Thomas Cochran, senior scientist with the National Resources Defense Council’s nuclear program. 

For the three proponents—Robert Budnitz, a senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Per Peterson, a professor of nuclear engineering at the university, and Stanford economist Geoffrey Rothwell—nuclear power has an important, though minor, role to play in the fight against global warming. 

But for Cochran, the controversial technology is a financial black hole for taxpayers, requiring $13 billion in federal subsidies over the lifetime of a single plant, and posing the threat of proliferation of nuclear weapons. 

“We will build as many as the U.S. government is willing to subsidize,” he said, thanks to the efforts of the nuclear industry’s lobbyists. 

Peterson said that delays of past decades had been resolved. In the 1980s, companies “had enormous problems getting their plants built on time,” and once built plants were faced with operational problems that kept them in shutdown mode 40 percent of the time. 

By the 1990s, he said, plants were running 90 percent of the time, and were forced to close only two percent of the time, and the remainder was spent primarily in refueling. 

And the dangers of nuclear waste? Overblown, he said, and much more tightly regulated than dangerous chemical wastes. 

Budnitz said that in 1986 when Diablo Canyon went on-line, nuclear plants around the country were logging between 500 and 700 scrams, or emergency shutdowns, every year. In 2007, he said, the total was 10, and most emergencies arose from human error because modern equipment had become much more reliable. 

While the two Berkeley scientists and the Stanford economist dismissed the subsidies of little practical importance, Cochran said, “They left the implication that this was a good idea. This is the mantra of the industry.” 

But among the companies receiving subsidies has been Exelon, the country’s largest nuclear power company and the world’s third largest, with revenues of $14 billion and over $1 billion in profit, “where the CEO makes $10 million a year.” 

Another nuclear economic power, GE, is the world’s second largest company, with assets valued at over $400 billion. “To subsidize those companies is just crazy,” Cochran said. 

Exelon has also figured in the Democratic president race, with Hillary Clinton’s campaign criticizing the Barack Obama team for taking $227,000 in donations from Exelon employees, while Burson Marsteller, the firm whose CEO is Clinton’s chief strategist, Mark Penn, has been paid $230,000 to lobby for a new nuclear plant in New Jersey. 

While the three proponents contended that even with subsidies, there won’t be a nuclear reactor boom at home, Peterson said government subsidies were appropriate if policy-makers wanted “to pull new technology into the market.” 

With an administration in Washington that has rejected taxes on carbon as evil, subsidies are appropriate, said Rothwell. “They haven’t even noticed that the climate has changed,” he said. 

But Cochran said subsidies distract policymakers from “the quickest way to solve that problem, which is to cap carbon. 

“NRDC’s highest priority is capping carbon,” he said, adding that restricting the primary culprit in global warming wasn’t even a priority of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the commercial reactor industry’s trade group, until he badgered them into adopting a carbon cap policy two years ago. 

The bottom-line concern of the NRDC remains nuclear proliferation, in which reactors play a central role. Current international safeguards are simply not adequate to the task of limiting the spread of nuclear weapons.

Could UC Berkeley’s first commercial ethanol partnership be headed for rough waters? 

Pacific Ethanol, the Sacramento-based company that has partnered with the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) to build a cellulosic ethanol plant, announced this week that it would delay the release of its annual report till the end of the month. 

Delayed reports often mean that bad financial news may be coming, and the Fresno Bee reports that the company has burned through three chief financial officers in the last year.  

The Sacramento-based company was picked as JBEI’s partner to build a plant that will produce ethanol from plant fibers—cellulose—rather than the more easily processed sugars derived from corn, sugar cane and other traditional food crops. 

The demonstration plant, which would be built at the site of the company’s corn-based ethanol plant in Broadman, Ore., would be the first of its kind in the Northwest. 

JBEI, headed by UC Berkeley scientist/entrepreneur Jay Keasling, will be providing research support and work on enzymes designed to break down fibers into the constituent sugars, according to official announcement from the company. 

The Department of Energy, which provided the $135 million for the Emeryville-based JBEI lab, is providing $24.3 million for the Oregon plant, which will use patented technology from BioGasohol ApS, the final part in the project. 

Rising oil and grain prices have hit the previously booming ethanol industry, along with a recent report which charges that ethanol may be as environmentally damaging as petroleum-based fuels—a report Pacific Ethanol has challenged. 

Several companies have bailed on a planned refinery, including Pacific Ethanol. The company announced Dec. 10 that it was pulling the plug on a plant already under construction in California’s Imperial Valley. 

The company’s stock has been steadily declining, from a high of $11.24 per share on Sept. 21 to $5.37 at the close of trading Thursday. 

Planned refineries have also faced a flurry of lawsuits, and those that are running have been hit hard by soaring grain prices, which have in turn been impacted by high energy costs. 

Pacific Ethanol announced the delay in releasing its annual report Monday. Revenues had dropped sharply in the third quarter of 2007, with losses of $4.8 million compared to a profit of $2.2 million during the previous quarter. 

With a rapid increase in the nation’s production of ethanol, prices for the fuel have dropped at the same time gasoline prices have been soaring. 

JBEI is a partnership of UC Berkeley, three of its affiliated DOE labs (Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore and Sandia) and the Carnegie Institute. 

It is a separate effort from the Energy Biosciences Institute, the $500 million research program funded by BP, the former British Petroleum, and administered by UC Berkeley. 

Blake Simmons, who holds the title of JBEI’s Vice President of Deconstruction, had cited the Oregon plant as one of the institute’s accomplishment during a panel session at the university’s annual Energy Symposium. He said plans called for an annual production of 10 million gallons. 

“We are happy that Biofuel 2.0 will be a resounding success,” he said.

The struggle to draft a Berkeley density bonus law ground forward Wednesday night, shadowed by the uncertain but foreboding impacts of a June ballot measure. 

While backers say the measure is a simple fix to stop government from using eminent domain for the benefit of private developers, critics said Proposition 98—a creation of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and heavily backed by developers and landlords—may be a time bomb targeting city and county zoning laws. 

The measure also phases out all remaining vestiges of rent control, and critics say it could also destroy many eviction controls on landlords. 

Questions raised by members of the Berkeley Planning Commission—and still unanswered by city staff—focus on the measure’s impact on a proposed density bonus law created by a joint subcommittee of members of the Planning and Housing Advisory commissions and the Zoning Adjustments Board. 

Acting City Attorney Zach Cowan has said many of the subcommittee’s proposals are illegal, though Planning Commissioner Gene Poschman offers laws in other cities that he says enact the very measures Cowan says aren’t permissible. 

But with Proposition 98 on the June ballot and backed by a fat treasure chest of contributions, the City Council is faced with the choice of getting something passed before the election or perhaps losing much of its control over new construction in the city. 

Planning Commissioners voted Wednesday night to stage an end run around the measure, using the same gambit adopted the last time Berkeley faced a statewide ballot measure that threatened to limit its power to regulation construction: preparing a new ordinance that would quickly expire if the statewide measure failed. 

In fact, the city could adopt the same measure the City Council voted to approve in September 2006, when Proposition 90 posed an even more explicit threat than its current and much more nebulous successor. 

Commissioners voted to call for a public hearing where they would look at exactly the same alternatives the City Council had before it in 2006. 

The panel would then be able to continue deliberations on a more polished measure, which would go to the City Council if Proposition 98 fails. 

Neighbor fears 

One thing that’s undisputed is the friction generated by current or pending large construction projects along University and San Pablo avenues, where neighbors have bitterly contested projects they say shadow formerly sunny yards, add to congestion on the streets and make curbside parking increasingly difficult. 

Without a law governing the mass of buildings along San Pablo, neighborhood resident (and Zoning Adjustment Board member) Sara Shumer told commissioners, five-story projects “would tower over the neighborhood.” 

That’s because, under current city interpretations of the state density bonus law, developers are entitled to break the current four-story limit in a neighborhood of one- and two-story homes and duplexes, Shumer said. 

Michael Larrick, a neighbor of a major project planned by developer Ali Kashani at the southeast corner of the intersection of San Pablo and Ashby avenues, urged adoption of the subcommittee recommendations and presented petitions in support signed by his neighbors. 

“Ali said, ‘I can build this bigger because of the density bonus,’” Larrick said, describing the project as “a monolith.” 

Under the subcommittee proposals, even with the bonus, developers could only build up to four stories along San Pablo, and Larrick’s sentiments were shared by signers of other petitions circulated near the San Pablo/University avenues intersection. 

And while city staff and Cowan have said the subcommittee proposals restrict the discretion of the Zoning Adjustments Board, ZAB member Bob Allen told the commission that the city staff’s alternative proposal “will do nothing to improve the no-man’s-land that ZAB works in when addressing density bonus projects.” 

Allen, who sat on the joint subcommittee, said the panel had repeatedly asked the city for permission to consult an outside attorney, but “was repeatedly rebuffed with ‘we don’t have the money.’” 

“My suggestion,” he told the commission, “is that if you don’t like the city attorney’s position, then talk to another attorney.” 

Another subcommittee member, HAC chair and ZAB member Jesse Arreguin, urged planning commissioners not to act before they had heard from all of the stakeholders impacted by the staff’s interpretation of the ordinance. 

“It is clear that ZAB has a lack of discretion with the current procedures,” he said, while the subcommittee proposals had been extensively debated and would give ZAB discretion while keeping construction within reasonable limits. 

Minority to majority 

Only one subcommittee member voted against the proposals, David Stoloff, the appointee of Mayor Tom Bates. Stoloff has disparaged the recommendations as an attempt to control development. 

While a minority of one on the joint panel, Stoloff is regularly one of the five-member planning commission majority (along with Chair James Samuels, Harry Pollack, Larry Gurley and Susan Wengraf) on controversial issues. 

Another commissioner, Susan Wengraf, was a member of the subcommittee majority, as was Gene Poschman. 

As city policy and legal practice now stand, developers are allowed concessions to enable them to recoup the costs of any aspects of their project deemed of public benefit by the staff. In the case of the so-called Trader Joe’s project at 1885 University Ave., the benefit justifying a controversial fifth story was the provision of parking spaces for the building’s commercial tenant, the non-union but popular grocer. 

Subcommittee members want the density bonus exceptions granted only for creation of affordable housing, which is the stated purpose of the state density bonus law. 

But the City Council rejected the subcommittee’s earlier recommendations in Sept. 2006, when it voted for a staff alternative in adopting regulations designed to head off Proposition 90. 

Under Proposition 90, a landowner could sue a government agency for any action it took which could conceivably depress of the value of a property. Zoning restrictions that could restrict land use were included. 

The measure passed by the council included a sunset provision if 90 failed, and 10 days after the measure went down to defeat in November, the temporary regulations expired, leaving the city without a density law.  

A good part of Wednesday night’s meeting was devoted to just how much open space a developer would be allowed to put on a building’s roof versus more publicly accessible space of the ground floor or podium. 

While the committee urged a 25 percent rooftop limit, staff has called for a 75 percent maximum, and Samuels passed out photos of the rooftops of two apartment buildings built by Patrick Kennedy, until recently the city’s largest private landlord. 

Another issue was the mandatory setback between the outer walls of new projects in commercial zones and adjacent residentially zoned neighborhoods. 

Uncertain, vague 

But the commission took no action Wednesday on these and other issues, though members did vote to allow staff to prepare for a public hearing on the temporary legislation city councilmembers could adopt to stave off the worst impacts of Proposition 98. 

Just what 98 means is as unclear as the language of the measure itself, and passage would almost certainly mean lawsuits and court decisions spelling out the measure’s precise applications. 

At its worst, according to the Western Center on Law and Poverty, the measure would also strike down inclusionary housing laws like Berkeley’s which already make developers include affordable housing in their projects. 

In the March issue of Northern News, the newsletter for Northern California members of the American Planning Association, San Jose Senior Planner Juan Borrelli writes that the ban on government’s use of eminent domain to condemn property for private use embodies a very broad definition of “private.” 

Among other things, the measure would ban eminent domain actions that took property for a public agency for natural resource consumption. That would bar eminent domain actions to take land for reservoirs, canals and pipeline rights of way, Borrelli writes. 

Debra Sanderson, Berkeley’s Land Use Planning Manager, said she had read several interpretations of the measure, with some predicting very extreme impacts and others very moderate ones. 

“It’s very broad and very vague,” said Wengraf. 

Meanwhile, planning commissioners are left struggling with a controversial measure, and poised to adopt regulations—temporary or permanent—certain to arouse yet more heat and the threat of more litigation. 

While Wednesday was the commission’s fifth meeting on the density bonus, it was the first session where members sat down to discuss the specifics, as they began working through a staff memorandum, contrasting the staff’s recommendations with those of the subcommittee. 

The question remains, given the June statewide vote, just how relevant their discussions will be. 

Fans, foes and the simply undecided can hear the pros and cons of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Monday night, thanks to the efforts of the Claremont Elmwood Neighborhood Association. 

The meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. in the Fireside Room of St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave., will feature both proponents and opponents of the AC Transit proposal. 

Plans call for service along Telegraph Avenue from the UC Berkeley campus to the San Leandro BART station, with a loop to downtown Berkeley—though final details have yet to be hammered out.  

The most controversial proposal would create dedicated bus-only traffic down the center of the heavily traveled Telegraph corridor, along with possible elimination of street parking. 

While proponents say the measure is a necessary step to get people out of their carbon-emissions-generating cars, critics claim the buses will be lightly used, since the route parallels BART, will harm business through lost parking and increased traffic on neighborhood streets. The meeting comes as the deadline approaches for Berkeley city officials to make their routing and alignment recommendations. 

District One Oakland School Board member Kerry Hamill ended one part of the suspense in the June 3 Oakland election, filing her papers late Wednesday afternoon for the at-large Oakland City Council seat being vacated by incumbent Henry Chang. 

Filing for all Oakland City Council and Oakland School Board races has now closed. 

Signatures on Hamill’s petitions are now being looked over by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters office to see if there are enough valid ones for her to qualify. Each Oakland candidate for both at-large and district elections are required to turn in the names of 50 registered voters who support their candidacy. 

That is the case for the fifth at-large candidate, senior citizen activist, former Community Police Advisory Board member and retired U.S. postal worker Frank Rose, who took out filing papers only after filing was extended for five days, and also turned them in on late Wednesday. 

If their signatures and other filing information are approved, Hamill and Rose will join three other candidates for the at-large seat, all of whom have qualified: retired IT professional and public safety activist Charles Pine, attorney Clinton Killian, and AC Transit At-Large Board Member Rebecca Kaplan. 

In the Oakland School Board District One race to succeed the outgoing Hamill, the Oakland City Clerk’s office announced that the daughter of author Ishmael Reed, writer/editor Tennessee Reed, has qualified to run. The Daily Planet earlier reported erroneously that Reed was not running after the clerk’s office sent out a list of filed candidates that did not include Reed’s name.

To begin with, my father brought me to Herrick in 1990 when I was having a full-blown psychotic episode and my behavior was out of hand because I was quite delusional. It wasn’t my first or last psychotic episode. There would be one more in 1996 before I would swear to permanently stay medicated and cooperative with treatment.  

Once at Herrick, I was given antipsychotic medication, a sleeping pill and then a second sleeping pill. I remember I was out of it for several days. I was oblivious to my blood samples being drawn while I slept. 

Upon awakening, I got into arguments with the staff. There were several male and female belligerent nurses. They needed to be belligerent to get their job done—they were dealing with irrational people. That idea didn’t make the staff any more pleasant. They were obnoxious.  

The hospital had tile floors, vinyl upholstery and the industrial type look of a mental hospital that you might imagine. During morning group, a couple of patients got assertive, and two burly psychiatric technicians took away each one.  

On the ward, I talked to a woman who was terrified about “being brought upstairs again.” Looking back on it, I now know that this woman was probably receiving electroshock therapy when she was upstairs. 

There was also a ping-pong table in the ward that provided a pleasant distraction. It was in the room where smoking was permitted.  

It was about then that I started smoking cigarettes. A staff member who was more jovial than most, shared his smokes with me. He and I thought he was doing me a favor. I continue to smoke to this day.  

That described the older Herrick of 1990. I went back to a revamped Herrick in 1994 when I wasn’t really having a psychotic episode; I was just in a lot of pain.  

I had oral surgery to remove all four wisdom teeth, and temporarily had no access to food or the pain pills that were prescribed. I associated mental hospitals with sanctuary, so I had my mom bring me to Herrick to be taken care of.  

I found myself in a remodeled Herrick that seemed to have better people running it. The hospital ward was now carpeted and had cloth upholstery, and it had a gentler atmosphere. The food strengthened me and the Tylenol with codeine made a world of difference. My mouth began to heal rapidly. Staff was fairly nice for the most part.  

However, I found that the stay at Herrick was crazy-making this time around. I feared two of the other male patients, and I knew that staying in the ward, ironically, would worsen my mental condition. I talked to the psychiatrist at the earliest opportunity, and he agreed to let me out the front door of the hospital. I walked to Safeway and got cash with my ATM card, (it was now the beginning of the month and I had money) and walked to BART. I took BART and a bus home.  

Years later, when Herrick was renamed Alta Bates, my visit consisted of bringing a close relative to that hospital. When I visited that ward, I found a friendly atmosphere and kind staff. I hope this is so today. 

When you are a psychiatric patient, part of the mystery is whether psychiatrists are truly here to help you or are just a bunch of tormentors. The answer to this question changes depending on whether or not you are taking medication, and this fact intensifies the mystery. For a good answer, we can ask those people who are close to us. 

It can be difficult for psychiatric survivors to sort out the help vs. the hurt that they get from the system. That’s one reason why there is a lot of noncompliance. Often, a system intended to help the mentally ill has abusive aspects that end up alienating them. There’s a lot of anger among psychiatric survivors due to the abuse that has been received in the name of “treatment.” Yet it seems some kind of treatment is needed if we are to be well.

Warm pool rescue 

Deputy Fire Chief Gil Dong said the Berkeley Fire Department will be sending a letter to a lifeguard at the Berkeley High School warm pool for rescuing a 40-year-old man he hauled unconscious from the water. 

The 911 call came in at 5:30 p.m. Monday, and when firefighters arrived they found the man unresponsive but alive. He was rushed to the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center on Ashby Avenue, where he was admitted after emergency room treatment. 

“He is expected to survive,” said the deputy fire chief. 

The man had been underwater for between 15 and 30 seconds before his rescue. 

Fire-starter 

A smart move by a Berkeley Fire Department engine crew resulted in the apprehension of a 17-year old who had started two fires near the Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley at 1009 Heinz Ave. 

It was around midnight Wednesday when a crew returning from an emergency call decided to cruise by the school, where an earlier fire had destroyed a bench, said Deputy Chief Dong. 

“They found a juvenile starting another small fire with newspapers,” he said. 

The firefighters called police, who took the 17-year-old woman into custody. 

“We will be following up to change that behavior,” said the deputy chief. 

Neither fire endangered the school, he said.

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.

Is it too late to apply a little logic to poor old Gerry Ferraro’s comments about the effect of race and gender on the presidential race? Let’s approach it from the other direction. 

First, would Hillary Rodham even be in the running if she’d never been Mrs. Clinton? Doubtful. The world these days is full of articulate well-educated lawyers who have tired of corporate legal work and are looking for a more satisfying mid-life career. (Been there, done that.) Many of them are women, some are men.  

But only the women have been eligible for the position of a president’s domestic partner, the way things have worked in this country so far. (There’s been mention lately of the only “bachelor” president, James Buchanan, who lived with a male friend most of his life, but let’s not go there right now. Gay rights advocates are probably loathe to claim him because he did such a bad job.) So Hillary Clinton’s claim to have gained relevant experience as the First Lady is only possible because she is a Lady. Gender advantage, in other words. No way Obama could have been First Lady. 

Racial advantage? Well, if Bill had actually been black, instead of just appearing sympathetic to certain aspects of African-American culture, when he was starting out he wouldn’t have been elected governor of Arkansas, his launching pad for eventually attaining the presidency. Period. And he probably wouldn’t have been elected president either.  

And what if his wife had been black? Same analysis, squared, because mixed-race marriages weren’t a political plus back then. In fact, they only became unambiguously legal about six years before Bill and Hillary got hitched. So she pretty much had to have been white to be what she is today, an ex-First Lady and proud of it. 

Time to trot out the old cliché about George W. Bush being born on third base and thinking he’d hit a triple. It’s not clear why former Congresswoman Ferraro and/or the former First Lady and/or her advisors don’t see that Hillary Clinton started out at least on second base heading for third. 

What of it? One more time, folks. This isn’t about which candidate has overcome more disadvantages. Or which one has had more advantages. It’s about which one will do the best job going forward.  

One more time, then, let’s do the math, though it’s been done at least once before in this space. Both are good talkers, not surprising because both were admitted to and actually attended high status law schools. (He was president of his big-time law review, which is major brownie points for those who follow that sort of thing, though most voters don’t.) Both did some public service work. (She did some regular corporate work as well, if that’s something you admire.) Both have had short terms in the U.S. Senate, the only elective office she’s ever held. (He also served in the legislature of a major state.) On the negative side, both have had a few questionable friends over the years. But who in the race hasn’t? (Though some would say that she is married to one of them.)  

In this kind of calculation the resumes are pretty much a wash. She’s older, he’s younger. What should that count, if anything? It will count, you can be sure, just as it will count that John McCain is older than either of them. But how much will it count? 

Black friends have suggested that Ferraro was a calculated sacrificial surrogate, tasked with raising the racial question, as she did at least three times, and then exiting. But very few voters don’t know already, without Gerry Ferraro spelling it out for them, that Barack Obama is African-American, and most even know that he’s African-European-American. The kind of people who wouldn’t vote for him because of his racial heritage surely had already made up their minds before Ferraro spoke up. 

Here’s where it could get Byzantine. Maybe Gerry’s a closet Obama fan, doing what she’s done to make Hillary look bad. No, that’s just too weird.  

But if you don’t think that’s what’s happened anyhow, check out Keith Olbermann’s outraged commentary, archived at crooksandliars.com. It’s directly squarely at Senator Clinton, imploring her to “reject AND denounce” any of her so-called friends like Ferraro who are injecting racial innuendo into the contest. She hasn’t done it yet. So she looks bad. 

The business about African-Americans only getting wherever they’ve gotten to because of their race is a persistent and pernicious myth that will be with us for at least one more generation. It’s inevitably raised by those who are sure for some reason that they deserve a better position in the world than they’ve been able to attain on their own.  

Whatever happened, for example, to Allan Bakke, who carried his quest for a place at the bottom of the admissions list at Davis all the way to the Supreme Court? He was last heard from practicing anesthesiology in Minnesota, a respectable career but not a distinguished one. It obviously wasn’t the fault of his black competitors that he didn’t make the cut in the first round, but he had trouble believing that, and the court went along with him. 

It makes much more sense to say that there are still many reasons for failure in this country that are outside the individual’s control, but you have to achieve success on your own. Insofar as poverty and the unstable family life which often results from it have affected some groups, racial and/or cultural, more than others, there are explanations for not getting ahead. If your parents or grandparents lived a segregated life, that’s another disadvantage. And if your grandfather or great-grandfather was also a slave, that’s even more of a problem.  

But Barack Obama didn’t have most of these handicaps in his background. He does have whatever advantage or disadvantage might accrue to having a dark skin, but that’s mighty hard to quantify. His successes, however, are his own, or at least they’re mostly his own. To discount his having a mother and grandparents devoted to helping him succeed would of course be a mistake.  

There’s a sense in which Gerry Ferraro’s comments can be parsed as relevant if illogical. There are vast numbers of Americans today, black, white and in-between, who are eager to put this country’s racist past behind us. Such people take a certain pleasure in seeing any African-American advance to a position of prominence, even the likes of Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell or Clarence Thomas. But very few of them are so foolish as to promote any of those three or any other unqualified black person for any important job. Racial goodwill does not equate to fecklessness—most of those who prefer Obama to Clinton are doing it for all the right reasons. And the same analysis applies to those who favor Clinton—they would like to see a woman as president, and why not Hillary? But it also applies to those who are now reluctantly rejecting her because of her unfortunate choice of associates. It’s painful to watch a plausible candidate shoot herself in the foot. 

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. 

DOWNTOWN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

To summarize Becky’s March 11 editorial: Berkeley’s downtown has not had any commercial relevance since the 1950s. It’s only value is as yet another reason to try to oust Mayor Bates. Let’s thank Cody’s for disagreeing with Becky. 

Any story about the neighborhood’s economic decline should at least mention the end of commercial rent control. Too many landlords have wet dreams about Starbucks, et al., moving into their building to fund their Tahitian retirement home. They think it’s better to leave their building vacant, to allow that ephemeral rich tenant a quick set-up, than to maintain the neighborhood’s viability. 

Thank you, Becky, for your “fair and balanced” editorial. Yogi Berra might opine, perhaps more briefly and logically: No one goes there because it’s too crowded. 

Mitch Cohen 

• 

IRRELEVANT? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was astonished and appalled by Ms. O’Malley’s arrogant editorial cavalierly writing off Downtown Berkeley as irrelevant and therefore worthy of being allowed to further decay. I moved to Berkeley in 1978. Years ago Downtown was a charming area that boasted: an upscale department store, two candy stores, two fabric stores, a jewelry store, a children’s shoe store, a man who repaired almost anything, a sewing machine repairman, a vacuum store, cinemas, restaurants, furniture stores, a toy store, an art glass gallery, a bakery, a music store, a specialty video store, a store that sold surfing gear, a Gateway computer store, a lingerie store, clothing stores, a hardware store, a paint store, bike stores, bookstores, a stereo store, the Berkeley Rep, and the library’sCentral Branch—to name just a few. It was certainly not irrelevant to me. 

Berkeley’s anti-business stance, unwillingness to admit why the homeless are on the streets and gravitate to Berkeley, and willingness to tolerate the endless complaints and agendas of vocal minorities, have resulted in a once pleasant area turning into a Skid Row harboring drug addicts, alcoholics, unemployable ex-felons, and the mentally ill.  

Is it possible for Berkeley’s downtown to experience a renaissance? Only if we get a city government dedicated to intelligent leadership and economic growth rather than political theater.  

J.K. Zimbler 

• 

CLARIFICATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was glad to see the Planet’s March 11 story detailing actions by the Landmarks Preservation Commission at their March 6 meeting. But I was also chagrined to see myself quoted so extensively on the Hezlett’s Silk Store issue, without a mention of the author of the landmark nomination. 

Robert Johnson, a member of the commission, researched and drafted the landmark application for 2277 Shattuck Ave., which housed both Hezlett’s Silk and Tupper and Reed over the decades.  

He was justifiably congratulated and applauded at the meeting by his fellow commissioners and the audience for a thorough and solid nomination.  

All the credit for bringing this building before the commission and establishing its significance belongs to Mr. Johnson and his volunteer efforts. 

I was simply a speaker at the public hearing adding my two-cents worth in favor of the nomination, as did other members of the public who spoke. I didn’t even know about the nomination until about a week before the meeting, when I saw the public hearing notice posted on the facade. 

Steven Finacom 

• 

VICE PRESIDENCY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Since Hillary claims that she and McCain are the only qualified, experienced candidates, why doesn’t she offer McCain the vice presidency ? 

Harry Gans 

• 

BROKEN SYSTEM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Democracy is broken, and you haven’t noticed. In the March 7 edition, an editorial was printed by Becky O’Malley, that suggests voters vote in a way that pretty much breaks the democratic system the way it was intended. This partisan method of putting in a vote is breaking my country, and as pleased as I was to get away from the corrupt conservative government that runs my hometown of Miami, I’ve found that politics in Berkeley has sharper teeth. 

We are not intended to consider a candidate’s chance of winning as a determining factor in our vote. We are intended to make a choice that represents our own interests, and aligns itself with our personal philosophies. If every person casts such a vote, a measure of the preferences of the majority may be taken. The suggestion that it is more sophisticated to consider a mediocre candidate with heaps of support over a candidate that represents the most ideas one may believe in is a betrayal of our system of government. 

The biased statement that if too many people vote for Republicans, things are bound to get worse, is disappointing at best. Democrats aren’t any more the answer to our problems than Republicans. We need to get our noses out of this good-cop/bad-cop game. Smart, independent, and diverse voters, who don’t buy into the team mentality of partisan politics and genuinely consider all candidates for their best option—these are what we need. 

Armando Garcia 

Miami, Florida 

• 

POSITIVE I.D. 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was pleased to see Mr. Hardesty’s March 11 letter. I’d been wondering what sort of person would vote for a Nader/Gonzalez ticket. 

Dick Bagwell 

• 

DANNY HOCH INCIDENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was shocked to read in the Daily Planet about the treatment given Jean Stewart at Berkeley Rep! 

I wonder if the house manager ever took the House Manager 101. What does she think she is there for? What right has she to be so severe with the patrons? Was she beaten into submission when she was a child and wants to make others miserable? This is beyond reason. I know Berkeley Rep has had difficulty in keeping house managers because of the scope of their responsibility; however, this seems to come down to finding a new house manager or losing patronage. 

I am also chagrined to hear how Jean Stewart was treated by Danny Hoch. Audience participation is one thing, but he went too far. I hope in the future that Berkeley Rep will give some guidance to the performer as well. I thought he was a brilliant performer when I saw him; however, after reading this commentary, I have lost all respect for him as an artist. 

Anne Thompson 

• 

COME TO THE WARM POOL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Message to Jean Stewart regarding the Danny Hoch incident: Jean, come to the warm pool where people are kind, considerate and helpful. Where people know about pain and struggle. Where you can grab a couple of “noodles” and float like a Portuguese Man-of-War, taking pressure off all your uncomfortable body parts. Where the plight of some of the children will rip your heart out and make you glad you can take your own problems back from the Wailing Wall. Where it’s 93 degrees and only costs $2 and there is lots of handicapped parking and everyone has a way to get in and out of the pool. 

Come join us and let the warm waters help wash away that terrible encounter with Danny Hoch. 

Rosemary Vimont 

• 

WILLARD MIDDLE SCHOOL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing in response to the recent series of articles about the former vice principal of Willard Middle School. I do not know the details of this incident but wish to speak about the climate of the school and its community. 

As a former parent and a current volunteer at Willard I want to draw attention to the incredibly dedicated staff that support these students everyday. 

The teachers are a thoughtful, talented, fun-loving group who work together in a collegial and caring fashion, devoting countless hours to their students and each other. The principal, Mr. Ithurburn, gives his all and can be found in the halls or roaming the campus during the school day, staying late into the evening and weekends to attend events and to improve systems and strategies for student success. At Willard my children and I made lifelong friends and found a compassionate community. I felt lucky to have been able to count on these amazing professionals to help my children navigate the changing landscape of adolescence. 

Karen Meryash 

• 

IRAQ WAR ANNIVERSARY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I propose we observe the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion in meditation on two topics. 

1. The leaders who were so sublimely confident and tragically wrong in predicting what would happen are the same people, with different names (Gates for Rumsfeld, Patreaus for Franks, Rice for Powell, etc.), telling us with equal confidence what would happen if we left. 

2. The debate over an exit strategy is exaggerated political showmanship because, obviously, we get out the same way we got in. 

Marvin Chachere 

San Pablo 

• 

RIGHTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Holly Harwood (Letters, March 7) says “…Great Britain lacks the rights we have in this country.” Asthis statement is echoed by others from time to time, I thought I might comment. One example of the contrary is that Britain did not, during World War II, jail citizens living in Britain, whose ancestors came from countries with which it was at war. Indeed, it only jailed foreign citizens until such time as they could appear before tribunals to ascertain their allegiances. In the same period the United States jailed, for about three years, over 70,000 American citizens of Japanese ancestry, without accusation or trial. Is not a long period in jail, without trial, or accusation, the most egregious violation of civil liberties there is, short of capital punishment? And where is Britain’s Guantanamo, holding people indefinitely without trial or access to lawyers? Do these internments support Ms. Harwood’s contention that Britain lacks the rights we have in this country? She may defend her statement by noting that this was in a time of war. But the acid test of commitments to civil liberties is when the country is under stress, not when everything is sailing along smoothly. 

Stuart Pawsey 

• 

APPLE MOTH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Department of Agriculture spokesperson Steve Lyle recently commented that the light brown apple moth (LBAM) threatens the environment and our food supply as justification for applying chlorpyrifos to our nurseries, cat poison (permethrin) to our yards, pesticides along our streets and in our schools and parks, and then blanketing our communities with aerial pesticide applications. Someone needs to educate Mr. Lyle about the basic biology of LBAM, which rightfully should be called the “eats hardly anything moth.” Not only will it not threaten our food supply it will become a primary protein source for a large number of beneficial insects that are an inherent part of a healthy ecosystem including ants, earwigs, and spiders; and when it is fully mature, it will be bird food. 

In disputing the findings of the Harder report which shows that LBAM is not the moth of mass destruction as portrayed by the Department of Agriculture, Lyle further writes that comparing impacts on the environments of New Zealand and California “is like comparing apples and oranges.” This causes one to speculate as to why Lyle’s agriculture department is spending part of their $75 million in “emergency” funding carrying out their primary LBAM studies in New Zealand. In point of fact, as in California, LBAM is an introduced pest and the prime growing regions of New Zealand (e.g. Hawke’s Bay) provides a close comparison to the prime growing range of the Monterey Bay in terms of climate and terrain. Mr. Lyle probably should have also been told that his own entomologists have demonstrated that native California wasps attack LBAM larvae and that LBAM is so similar to some native California moths that it requires genetic testing to distinguish between the species. It is clear that no widespread pesticide programs against LBAM are utilized or needed in New Zealand agriculture and there is absolutely no reason to believe that pesticide spraying of residential areas is needed here. 

Even a cursory review of the State’s justification for the “emergency” and the subsequent development and implementation of every part of their program reveals that there is little scientific justification for their actions and that the products being used are both inadequately tested and unsafe. The true cost of their spray: one child almost dead, more than 600 reports of people injured, and 750 dead sea birds. I hope the $75 million is worth it. 

Roy Upton 

LBAM Liaison, Citizens For Health, 

Soquel 

• 

SPRAYING GUIDELINES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Some of the practical things about spraying that should be said are as follows: 

1. Spraying should be done only on days when there is no wind blowing. 

2. When spraying is to be done, it should be publicly announced through all the radio and TV stations, so people can stay inside. 

3. Hospitals and doctors’ offices should keep track of any illnesses which are beginning to be noticed and report them to the Health Department. 

4. The cost of treating anyone who gets sick should be able to be collected from the company that provides the spray. The spray company should provide a central place where payments will be made. 

5. Our politicians should see to it that these procedures are carefully followed. Formal notification of these procedures to all the persons involved in spraying should be required before spraying is commenced. 

Charles Smith 

• 

GREEN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a CAL alumnus, Berkeley resident and life-long environmentalist, I share the enthusiasm described by Richard Brenneman at the UC Berkeley Energy Symposium about the future of green energy. I’d love to see a vibrant green tech corridor in the East Bay with UC Berkeley playing an integral part. 

But I wonder how much of the wealth created by the various partnerships among the university, venture capitalists and, to some degree, the government, will go towards achieving excellence in education and the student experience on campus in all its schools and departments. Certainly this flow of investment will allow professors and graduate students in bio-engineering and relevant fields to perform cutting-edge and socially relevant research. This in turn will serve to attract and keep high quality professors and graduate students in these fields of whom the university and alumni are justifiably proud. 

I believe that “green capitalism,” technological innovation and political will be the answer to global warming (although the growing consensus in the environmental movement is chiefly efficiency, solar and wind with plug in vehicles not bio-fuels). But how will these partnerships, or even start-ups such as professor Jay Keasling’s LS9, “the Renewable Petroleum Company,” help reduce the shamefully high tuition students must pay to attend this great university? A tuition rate of $8,000 or so per year for undergraduates undermines the basic tenet of a public university in providing affordable education to all qualified candidates. In fact, it might very well be less expensive to attend Stanford for middle-class and economically disadvantaged students these days after factoring in the generous scholarships that university gives. 

I wonder if all this enthusiasm in general and focus by university administrators on the benefits of “green tech boom” partnerships does not serve at the same time to mask the lamentable reality that the passing of proposition 13 and the so-called “taxpayers revolt” has thrown higher education in California into something of a perpetual a state of economic emergency for the past 30 years, one that is particularly acute at this time. A clear-eyed assessment of the financial benefits from these green-energy partnerships promises very little in terms of abating this state of economic emergency at CAL, it seems to me. 

In the end a public university must be funded by the public, a sacrifice that is made by individual citizens for the very tangible benefits to society that a public university affords, the foremost of which was argued for by Thomas Jefferson at the founding of this nation, the education necessary for the great hope of participatory democracy. 

David Weinstein 

• 

WEDNESDAY NOON CONCERTS  

AT HERTZ HALL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Settling into my seat for the Hertz Hall Noon Concert this past Wednesday, I noted from the program that these concerts have been going on for 55 years. That caused me to speculate on just how many of these wonderful programs I personally have attended. My mathematics might not be totally accurate, but going back to the many decades I worked at Boalt Hall School of Law to the present time, when I regularly attended these Wednesday (and sometimes Friday) concerts, I came up with the astonishing figure of 2450! What magnificent concerts they’ve been—student and professional recitals, piano, cello and violin virtuosi, Brazilian jazz, Baroque, Javanese Gamelan, the full University Symphony and Chorus—all for free! 

This week’s concert featured the University Chamber Chorus under the direction of John Kendall Bailey in an all-French recital of composers such as Gabriel Faure, Camille Saint-Saens, Maurice Ravel, Olivier Messiaen and Maurice Durufle. With soloists Christa Pfeiffer and Edward Betts, accompanied by pianist Pheaross Graham and a magnificent chorus of 34 voice and small chamber group, we were treated to a truly sublime program. I’m quite sure no program at Davies Hall could surpass the beauty of this program. I might mention that an unfortunate incident occurred when a member of the chorus fainted, thereby interrupting the program. It was announced that an ambulance had been called, which would delay the concert, but if the audience was willing to put up with this delay, the final two numbers would be performed. Attesting to the appreciation of this concert, the audience did indeed remain for the conclusion of the program. (We were assured that the young singer was just fine, such news being heartily applauded.) 

Leaving Hertz Hall, my friends and I agreed that Berkeley and the entire East Bay are blessed to have this opportunity to enjoy outstanding programs of music and the arts week after week, year after year, thanks to the University of California! 

Dorothy Snodgrass 

• 

BRT DEDICATED LANES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The intent behind Bus Rapid Transit is to motivate car drivers to become bus riders, because the BRT trips take about as long as car trips. A surprising number of people don’t understand that this has to cause some inconvenience to cars. That’s the whole idea behind the bus-only lanes. 

If we can’t inconvenience cars by taking a lane or taking parking, then we shouldn’t expect the BRT to be any more attractive than other buses, and it certainly will continue to be less attractive than driving a car. 

Are we serious about reducing car traffic, or do we insist that nothing be yielded to the cars? Is all this “climate action plan” talk just hot air? 

Steve Geller 

• 

UNDERSTAND THE LAW 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

James E. Vann (Letters, March 11) states: “Congress must oppose retroactive immunity for phone companies that participated in the Bush-Cheney administration warrantless surveillance program.” 

Obviously, Mr. Vann, like all the other Democrats who espouse this, or a similar statement, do not understand the law. For the record, again, here is the United States Code (legal authority, for uneducated folks like Mr. Vann): 

According to 50 U.S.C. §1801(a)(1), (2), (3), the president has total authority to authorize the attorney general to survey, electronically, anyone in the US without a court order for a period of up to one year, provided that it is only for foreign intelligence information. 

And please, do not insult everyone’s intelligence by making false accusation that Americans are being eavesdropped on; there are no verifiable data to even suggest that...unless you are a New York Times journalist (and I use that term lightly). 

It is easy to say Bush broke the law, but it is a simple issue of knowing the law. Mr. Vann, and a myriad of other hateful people, obviously do not. 

T.J. Conrads 

Boise, Idaho 

• 

STEALING ELECTIONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was an Edwards supporter and when he dropped out I would have supported any candidate on the Democratic ticket. My first ballot was cast for FDR back in the 1940s and I have remained faithful to the Democratic Party ever since. I voted twice for Bill Clinton. 

I am now faced with who to support in November—Sen. Clinton or Sen. Obama? Following the campaign closely, I cannot understand why the Democratic Party stands passive amid the self-destruction now taking place. As of now, neither one of the two remaining candidates has a sufficient number of delegates to be crowned at the convention and with all possible calculations it is virtually impossible for either candidate to achieve that magic number before the convention. Therefore, superdelegates have to choose who will be the Democratic candidate.  

Right now Sen. Obama has well over 100 delegates more than Sen. Clinton. Millions of enthusiastic new voters have flocked to the Democratic Party, giving Obama a victory not only in delegates but in states as well as in voters. No matter what happens, the margin of victory may increase or decrease, but he will remain the winner. 

The superdelegates have to decide whose name will be on the ballot and they are being bombarded to make a decision. It is obvious who is the winner, no matter what spin is presented. The world saw how Bush stole the elections and the incalculable damage that resulted. God forbid the superdelegates steal this election by placing the losing candidate on the ballot. 

Otherwise, I shudder to think of the nightmare that would follow. It would split the Democratic Party in two. African Americans have been the most loyal voting block in the party and without their support the Democrats simply cannot win an election. Can you imagine how an African American would be shellshocked into feelings of betrayal, seeing a fellow member who played fairly by the rules, is superbly qualified , has won the delegates, states and voters, and is then relegated to the back of the bus so that a white lady got preferential treatment? Where is our civil rights struggle? Do we expect millions of enthusiastic new voters who have swelled our ranks into a phenomenal grassroots movement to support dirty politics as usual? Is this what we have come to? Doesn’t it occur to anyone that Sen. Clinton’s negative rating is so high for a reason? No amount of kitchen-sink campaigning will hide the truth. 

I am a white female, an old Democrat, and I cannot betray the principles of what the Democratic Party represents and I will not take part in any scheme to steal the elections of 2008. I trust the leadership of the Democratic Party will wake up and recognize its responsibility, stop the senseless bloodletting and instead, bring us together to defeat the well-oiled Republican machine in November. I hope I can continue to be proud of calling myself a Democrat.  

Helen M. Harris 

• 

THANK THE TROOPS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I believe Kenneth Thiesen should be thanking our U.S. military and supporting them. Without our past, present and future military Ken, most likely, would not be able to pen such articles voicing his opinion against our fine men and women who serve in the U.S. military. Although I must say, it might be a blessing if he could not write and therefore not reveal his ignorance and stupidity. Ken, I hope you never need military assistance because I don’t believe they will come to your aid. 

Gina McBride 

Prairieville, LA  

• 

SUPPORTING THE SOLDIERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

To Kenneth Thiesen: 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.” 

Kenneth, that and many of the other things you say in the article sound a whole lot like “you’re either with us or with the terrorists.” 

But I thought that only conservative republicans were black and white absolutists! 

Jon Davison 

Sheridan, Indiana 

• 

A FOOL SUCH AS THIESEN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Mr. Theissen’s recent commentary in you paper leads me to believe that he has limited his studies to the newspapers and commentaries that were published during the anti-Vietnam War era. He sounds just like the folks that were writing to end that war. I’m sure he also believes that the whole 9/11 incident was a government conspiracy. I’m not going to waste my time trying to debate with him as only a fool argues with a fool but he needs to broaden his reading horizons. 

Just one thing, the military has been there to protect our freedoms for over 200 years and without them we would all be talking with British or German or Japanese accents. They aren’t perfect. No organization is. But supporting them is not supporting so called American Imperialism. It is merely supporting our brothers and sisters who are willing to put their lives on the line. Something I’m sure Mr. Theissen was never willing to do. 

William Seiler 

• 

MISGUIDED IDIOTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Glad to see the commie slime is still alive and well in Berkeley. Those of us who left and found out what the real world was all about are truly embarrassed. It is hard to imagine that after all these years and the recognition of the misguided anti-war policies of the leftist scum how things are still the same. 

We need a cultural revolution and force all these misguided idiots out into the mud of the fields and see what life is about. Once properly reformed, they would be allowed to return to spread truth and loyalty to the masses. 

Robert F. Tulloch  

Munith, Minnesota 

Former Berkeley resident 

• 

PERVERTED WORLD CONCEPT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Mr. Thiesen seems to have a very perverted concept of the world we live in and the activities of the U.S. Military in that world. He also lacks perspective of reality. 

One of his contentions is that we halt all enlistments into our military. If there is no enlistment there is consequently no military. If there is no military there is/are no inhibiting force(s) to prevent invasion of our country and the destruction of our society. In today’s world we will quickly be dominated by either the drug lords from Central and South America , the Islamic radicals and their sharia law, or both. Neither of these is especially appealing. 

Domination by either of these groups will, by comparison, make Bush’s supposed fascism look like a Sunday picnic. Does Mr. Thiesen really want all female members of society forced to wear body length burlap sacks with only eye slits. Does Mr. Thiesen really want all female members of society confined to their home allowed to exit their homes only with the permission of their husbands. Does Mr. Thiesen really want others to control every aspect of his life, telling him what he can eat, trying to control his every spoken or written word? Does Mr. Thiesen want to live in fear of wearing the wrong clothing on the wrong side of the street and offending a gang member? 

Would Mr. Thiesen have preferred that the American military had not participated in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, World War I or World War II? 

John Lobenstein 

Angier NC 

The future of West Berkeley’s 320 industrial production, distribution, and repair (PDR) businesses, their approximately 7,000 living wage jobs, and the 800 artisans and artists working in West Berkeley’s 225 studios is now being decided. The city’s Planning Department is proposing fundamental changes to the West Berkeley Plan, the area’s guiding zoning document, that would likely lead to the ultimate loss of many of these enterprises. 

To educate, spark discussion, and inform decision-making by the citizenry at this pivotal moment, a forum on the West Berkeley Plan and Sustainability: Economy, Environment and Equity will be presented by West Berkeley Artisans & Industrial Companies (WEBAIC) at 6:30 p.m. Thursday March 20 at the West Berkeley Senior Center (Sixth Street and Hearst Avenue). 

The following speakers with expertise in various aspects of sustainability will share their informed perspectives: 

• Karen Chapple, PhD., UC associate professor of city and regional planning, and director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Community Innovation, will speak on “The Industrial Land Debate: Arguments, Assumptions and Alternatives.”  

• Raquel Pinderhughes, PhD., SFSU professor of urban studies, author of The City of Berkeley’s Green Collar Jobs Report, will speak on “Green Collar Jobs and the capacity of green businesses to provide high quality jobs for men and women with barriers to employment.”  

• Abby Thorne-Lyman, senior associate with Strategic Economics, will speak on “Making The Case for Industrial Land: The Future for the Bay Area’s Industrial Lands.” 

• Kate O’Hara, community benefits coordinator for East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE), will speak on “Preserving Industrial Lands, Growing Good Jobs.”  

As municipalities across the United States (including Oakland) are coming to a deeper understanding and valuation of their industrial and artisan/artist sectors, the Berkeley Planning Department has fast tracked these rezoning proposals without the inclusive, meaningful participation of all stakeholders in the community that was the hallmark of the widely respected and innovative West Berkeley Plan process. The opportunity for collaborative public involvement is especially critical as these proposals could significantly alter the vital and unique economic and cultural mix of businesses, the ethnic and economic diversity of the workforce and population, and the environmental balance of the city and region.  

The comprehensive concept of sustainability is often discussed today as including “The Three E’s”—economy, environment, and equity. As such the concept can be understood as a way to actively move toward conduct that offers the Earth, its people, and the web of life the best chance for true, long-term viability. We would be so bold as to consider adding to the three E’s a C for culture. 

The West Berkeley Plan has provided the habitat for sectors comprising key elements of this sustainability to thrive. Those of us who live and work in West Berkeley know it as a successful, urban ecology of sustainable systems. A complex web of nourishing interrelationships provides needed goods and services (many of which contribute to environmental improvement), living wage jobs including green jobs (especially for the majority of the population without higher education, many of which are minorities and immigrants), a historically stable and significant source of revenue for the City, and that food for the soul that only the arts can provide a culture.  

In the industrial sectors, as parts move in multiple steps within West Berkeley from basic formulation in machine shop or lab to manufacturer to finisher to warehouser/distributor to finished product used by local business, and ultimately back to a recycler/reuser, this interdependent web begins to reveal itself, with its extensive economic multipliers and transportation advantages to the environment. These relationships among suppliers, producers, distributors, recyclers, repair/service providers, and end users form a web that works because the innumerable threads create a structural integrity supporting the whole, which is abraded at great risk to all.  

Recognizing that cities change and constructive improvements to zoning are desirable, WEBAIC in concert with local real estate professionals, jointly proposed changes almost two years ago that would institute a new and constructive flexibility in West Berkeley’s zoning. This constructive flexibility would benefit everyone by easily allowing the now-difficult subdivision of large spaces, allowing the now-prohibited interchangeability of industrial and arts/crafts uses, and encouraging a sensible streamlining of the permitting process. These changes facilitating positive development and utilization of space were forwarded by the City Council to the planning director where they have languished for almost two years. Meanwhile Berkeley has continued losing both new and existing companies due to lack of implementation of these no-nonsense proposals. 

Instead of acting on these proposals, the Planning Department is instead proposing an extreme, deregulated form of flexibility aimed at the very core of the West Berkeley Plan and its zoning. Targeting existing “permitted uses, protected uses, purposes of the districts, development standards, and definitions” as containing “obstacles,” the staff proposals would almost certainly put industry and the arts in the sure-lose position of being in direct competition for land with high-end office, retail, R&D, and possibly housing. This new staff direction turns upside-down the core West Berkeley Plan understanding and policy that to maintain the economic and social “goods” that flow from vibrant industrial and artisan sectors, the land base these uses rely upon should be buffered from the vagaries of the latest market trends and real estate fads. That this many enterprises and jobs in these sectors still thrive in West Berkeley is testament to the wisdom and success of this policy that is now on the chopping block.  

As a counterbalance to the projected loss of this land base, companies, and jobs, the city proposes to “harvest” monies from development fostered by these proposed changes that would theoretically go toward securing permanent, affordable space for the arts and industry. Leaving aside the “hypothetical” aspect of this proposed carrot, this concept is akin to allowing clear cutting of the ancient North Coast forests to generate funds to preserve a few specimen groves like Muir Woods. We have the privilege of now living in a time with West Berkeley’s sustainable, urban ecosystem still largely intact. And we have been given the honor and rare opportunity to begin to fully understand its value before doing irreparable harm. Will we be guided by our collective wisdom and vision of the common good or by our shortsighted bottom lines? Please join us on March 20 to explore the evolving understanding of how economy, environment, equity, (and culture) can come together to create an inspiring and viable path toward a sustainable future for our city and society.  

Rick Auerbach is writing on behalf of West Berkeley Artisans and Industrial Companies. Auerbach is a WEBAIC staffer, a West Berkeley resident and a business owner.

I will say that, contra Michael Hardesty (Letters, March 11), I usually agree with and appreciate the positions Becky O’Malley takes in her editorials. Yet I found I disagreed strongly with her position on third party voting. 

I am middle-aged so am a remnant of the 1960s and ’70s. I don’t think I fit Becky’s caricature of the remnants of the ‘60s. Yet I do not think I will live to see the “revolution” in my lifetime but I also I do not hold out hope that significant change will result from voting in Democrats. I do see a difference between the two parties and clearly think we would have been better off (in some but not all ways) with a Gore rather than Bush presidency. Yes, egregious legislation like NAFTA would have remained as would have welfare reforms and growth of the prison industrial complex. But I do not think Gore would have packed the Supreme Court with conservatives as has Bush. I doubt Gore could have implemented the policies he speaks of now with respect to the environment because I don’t think he would have been able to combat the pressure and lobbying Congress receives from industry. In his professorial role now he can speak and craft films about such things more easily than if he were actually in political life. 

But I whole heartedly disagree with anyone who honestly believes that Nader cost Gore the 2000 election. I am a registered Green Party voter. In 2000, perhaps more than now, there was true momentum that could have garnered the Green Party the requisite 5 percent of the vote needed for matching federal funds. In the interest of promoting the viability of a credible third party, I registered and voted Green in that election. The same thieves who stole the election from Gore may well have stolen the votes necessary to secure the 5 percent to the Greens. I do not know. Building a credible third party is the best hope I see. I put far more faith in that than in promoting Democrats. 

I do know that polls show that in the presidential 2000 race, in the swing states of New Hampshire, Oregon and Florida even if Nader were not running, Bush would have won. To say nothing of Gore losing his home state of Tennessee. 

See commentary in Znet Nov. 9, 2000 by Tim Wise (“No More Mister Fall Guy”) that lays out the exit poll statistics for why blaming Nader is misguided. 

In our electoral college way of counting votes there are key swing states in presidential elections. In 2000 those swing states were New Hampshire, Oregon and Florida. To quote Wise : 

“Looking at New Hampshire first, it is true that Bush’s margin of victory was only about 7,500 votes, and that Nader received about 22,000 votes there. But based on the exit polling data, if Nader hadn’t been in the race, only a little less than half of those Nader votes would have gone to Gore, and a fifth would have gone to Bush, so that in the end, Bush would have still won New Hampshire by about 1,500 votes in all.” 

Next, Oregon: 

“In Oregon, where it is a virtual article of religious faith that Nader is to blame for the Bush victory, the hype, is once again overblown and flatly wrong. Yes, Bush won the state by a margin of only about 23,000 votes, and Nader received the votes of 54,000. But once again, based on the exit polls, had the race been only between Gore and Bush, Gore would have gotten 47 percent of those 54,000, for a total of around 25,400, Bush would have received 21 percent of those 54,000, for a total of about 11,300, and in the end, Bush would still have squeaked out a victory, by about 8,000 votes.” 

Finally we have the debacle in Florida. As I said above, this debacle may well have sabotaged both Gore’s win and the Green’s securing 5 percent of the vote. Wise explains: 

“Consider this: Gore lost in Florida among white women (many of those soccer moms who Clinton carried, and many of whom would normally have been reached by a Democratic candidate talking about education, health care, abortion, and other key issues) by a 52-45 margin, with the Nader factor being negligible among this group. And he lost among seniors: a group that rightly should have been concerned about Bush’s plans to partially privatize social security: a plan that 12 years ago, rendered Pierre DuPont (the only Republican willing to float the concept), an asterisk in American political history, and a laughingstock. Here too, among the traditionally Democratic constituency of seniors, the Nader factor was negligible. 

Even more to the point, Bush received the votes of 12 times more Democrats than Nader did, and 5.25 times more self-identified liberals than Nader did in Florida, indicating that progressive voters and those who might have been seen as a natural lock for Gore, actually were stolen not by the Greens, but by the Republicans.” 

So I am agreeing with Michael Hardesty that “Gore cost Gore the election,” but just expanding it a bit to include the Republican role in the mess. 

And I partially agree with Becky O’Malley. I do vote for progressive Democrats locally—in fact I worked extensively on Kriss Worthington’s last race even though he does not represent my district. I believe in thinking globally and acting locally. I think progressive democrats can make a difference locally and this is a reason I think it important to promote the Green Party both locally and nationally. As such I do not regret for a second working and voting for Nader in 2000 and will continue to work to strengthen third party credibility. And that is why I think the spoiler argument carries little weight. 

Can anyone counter this with actual statistics? 

Ruthanne Shpiner is a Berkeley resident.

As a second year business student at UC Berkeley, I have become particularly interested in the issues surrounding extension of business hours in the immediate vicinity of the UC Berkeley campus. Having enrolled in two city planning courses the last two consecutive semesters, I have been interested to learn how land use and stakeholders in the area are integral parts of an equation that I had previously felt was limited to issues of supply, demand, and business models. I urge the City Council to continue pushing for extended business hours for several reasons: there is a mutual benefit for both store owners and students, a more vibrant night life will also mean a safer Telegraph commons as well as increased sales tax revenues for the city of Berkeley.  

Let me begin by stating that as a student, I can identify a real need for more merchants to be open later at night. UC Berkeley is an incredible campus with over 30,000 young college-age people living around the perimeter of campus. While the city of Berkeley is no doubt an extraordinary place with very unique characteristics, one thing we definitely lack is a vibrant night life scene. If the surrounding perimeter streets of the campus are to be considered a true “college town” there needs to be improvements made in how businesses are structured for late night hours. Telegraph has seen a steady and rapid decline in the number of successful businesses on the avenue, as seen in the recent closing of long standing establishments such as Cody’s Books last year. There are current limits imposed by the Zoning Adjustments Board to have businesses stay open no later than 2 a.m. for non-alcohol serving establishments. It would be terrific if all of these potential merchants honored the Board’s rules and stayed open until 2 a.m.—few of them actually do that.  

The Zoning Board is trying to do its part in making Telegraph once again a vibrant space bustling with night activities. The Berkeley Planning Commission unanimously passed a group of proposals in March of 2007 that will help ease the establishment of new businesses as well as modifications of business hours for current businesses. Commission members highlighted the idea that with more foot traffic yields a safer environment, as they passed five of eight points of the Telegraph Assistance Economic Development package. Similarly, in September of 2007, a new late night café was granted late night hours by the Zoning Adjustment Board in a 6-1 vote. Clearly there are trends that say the city government realizes the needs for an improved Telegraph business district, and now is the time to finalize this movement with legislation that urges all businesses to stay open as late as legally possible.  

It is time that students on this campus gather together in support of something tangible: an improvement in their lives as students. I urge the City Council to push harder on this topic: engage a mixed-land use approach to allow for effective use of space, but keeping the businesses open is a positive step for not only the students, but also residents of Berkeley and the overall financial well being of the city. Longer business hours mean happier students, a safer environment, and an accelerated business model with higher revenues for the city to use at its discretion. I am excited about the opportunity to see real change before I leave this campus in two years.  

Scott Silver is a student at UC Berkeley.

On Jan. 7, a neighbor and I requested the city of Berkeley to provide us a copy of all communications regarding the eleven cell antennas scheduled to be installed at 2721 Shattuck Ave. Access to these communications is our right and in accordance with the California Government Code 6251, the Public Records Act. According to this act, we have the right to receive this information within a 10-day period. Instead, I received a letter from City Manager Phil Kamlarz, stating he would need more time because of the inter-departmental nature of the communications. A month later, on Feb.7, I received a second e-mail from him stating that we could finally make an appointment to review the communications.  

There was just one problem: some of the communications were exempt from disclosure. According to Kamlarz under Government Code 6255 e-mails containing notes and comments of city staff which were not prepared in anticipation of public scrutiny need not be disclosed. Does this mean that when our local officials and staff think no one is watching, they can do whatever they want, legal or not?  

The rationale for this position must be that disclosure might hamper the freedom of employees—but freedom from what…freedom to do what? Kamlarz’s e-mail states further that the city has decided that its interest to keep documents secret outweighs the public’s interest in these documents. But since when are the city’s interest and the public’s interest not one and the same? 

To understand Kamlarz’s logic, I applied it to my own experience working as a teacher in the Berkeley Unified School District for over 30 years. I wrote lots of notes to people during that time- notes to principals, to other teachers, to school psychologists, to downtown managers. But I never dropped the mantle of professionalism expected of me in those written communications. I could have been fired if I had. 

Freedom means being able to have open debate about all ideas, even those expressed through informal memos. Freedom does not give people in government the right to commit illegal acts or break the trust of public stewardship. 

If our city did indeed make deals with the developer Patrick Kennedy or Verizon/Nextel or if the city did manipulate the democratic process in any way, then the public has a right to know. Deliberations insulated against public scrutiny too easily become corrupt. 

In his e-mail, Kamlarz goes on to say, “the city is also withholding from disclosure several written communications by electronic mail by the city attorney to city staff…” But, here again there is a problem. Although legal discussion in Council Executive sessions between councilmembers and lawyers are considered privileged and confidential, this same secrecy does not apply to other city staff and their communications. But Kamlarz does not mention the council; he mentions the city staff. Certainly the city staff is not the client. They are supposed to work for us, the taxpayers.  

If the city manager gets to decide what documents can and cannot be seen by the public, then the idea of Freedom of Information is a sham. This arbitrary decision making is reflected elsewhere as well. As I was combing through the documents, I came upon a set of communications that certainly raised my eyebrows. 

On Nov. 16, at 6:18 a.m., a week after the council granted Verizon a permit, Tom Miller, the head of the project, informed city planning staff person, Pamela Johnson, that Verizon wanted to shift some of their antennas 30 feet from the north side of UC Storage to the west side. Verizon wanted to be allowed this modification without re-opening the public hearing process. At 8:15 a.m. the same day, Ms. Johnson informed city planner Debra Sanderson, who has promoted this project from the get-go, that this was a use permit modification and “that yes, they will need to go back to ZAB with public notice.” Sanderson replied at 9:26 a.m., “Yes, indeed!” Then, on Nov. 19, Zach Cowan, assistant city attorney, informed the lawyer for Verizon that instead of a public hearing, the Planning Department would handle this modification administratively. 

No public hearing, no public notification—even though these antennas will now face across Shattuck/Adeline and into Savo Island Cooperative Homes and the Early Childhood Center, which is being rebuilt to house approximately 90 African-American three and four year-olds. Both of these locations are only one block away from UC Storage and within range of possible health risk from cell antenna radiation. 

Over the last year and a half I have submitted, for the public record, several compilations of scientific and epidemiological health studies that indicate adverse health effects from RF radiation emitted from cell phone base stations. This information has been submitted to all councilmembers and to the city clerk at council hearings. 

However none of this information is in the official documents that we were shown. For example, missing is my analysis of the report submitted by Berkeley Health Officer Fred Medrano, in which Mr. Medrano clearly states that more research is necessary before any conclusion regarding the bio-effects from antenna emissions can be reached. Now the only scientific studies that are in the public record are those showing no ill health effects. Is this omission intended to absolve our policy makers from any future guilt or responsibility should these antennas prove to be harmful to our health? 

Let us not forget that the staff of City Hall refused to have cell antennas installed on the top of City Hall, in which case the city could have collected $30,000 a month from telecommunications companies. Instead, city staff shepherded these antennas down to our homes where we spend more time than just the eight-hour working day. But these antennas were never really meant to serve our community. We proved early on that we have excellent coverage. The documents we saw make it clear that the antennas to be installed on the UC Storage building are meant to provide service all the way down Martin Luther King, Jr. Way to Center Street, which includes City Hall. Who knows how far into the hills these antennas are meant to serve? 

Are we being alarmists? Far from it. We neighbors believe in the precautionary principle and in preserving a healthy environment. We believe we have the right to know about all deliberations, informal or formal that went into making all city decisions, including the ones to drop requirements for public oversight when permit specifications were changed. We have the right to know, the whole scoop! 

We hope there is a public interest or land use lawyer out there who will kick in some pro bono legal work for us. We desperately need it. We are very grateful to Anna de Leon who has helped us with legal work so far, totally free and on her own time. In my neighborhood, people can’t pay their taxes, their health care, their food bills, their mortgages or rents, their kid’s college tuitions, and also hire expensive lawyers to protect them from a callous or corrupt local government. Joining the struggle means hard-working people work overtime and do not get a penny for it. In this spirit, we in Berkeley Neighborhood Antenna-Free Union say no to more cell antennas near South Berkeley homes and in all residential areas until definitive studies show that living near them is safe. 

Laurie Baumgarten is a South Berkeley resident. For further information, please contact JLLIB@aol.com. 

Berkeley’s very limited debate over Bus Rapid Transit so far has concentrated on sexily symbolic aspects of the proposal, such as the contributions BRT might or might not make to more “liveable” cities or to reducing global warming. And these “big” questions don’t always produce the expected answers. 

What’s more important at this point when evaluating BRT is to frame and answer some practical questions about how BRT would operate and would relate to Berkeley. 

I offer the following questions and observations as a sample of just some of the issues the city staff and City Councilmembers should be researching, then discussing in public, over the next several months. 

Let’s start with two fundamental questions. Who owns the streets? Who controls the streets? (These are not necessarily the same question.) 

The city should first establish what rights it has to control and allocate the use of its “city streets.”  

Next, the city should clearly define what AC Transit must do to request and acquire exclusive control over certain portions of those streets. What form of agreement must be negotiated between agency and municipality?  

And what specifics should be in that agreement to protect the interests of the City of Berkeley? 

Most people seem to think, in somewhat vague terms, of a symbolic City Council vote approving or rejecting Bus Rapid Transit, then we move on. But the devil will be in the details of the actual agreement and contract, and those details must be clearly spelled out, publicly discussed, and enforceable. 

Details? What details? How about these, for starters. 

How will the streets be maintained? Who will pay for the maintenance? 

If AC Transit is granted exclusive or near-exclusive use of miles of pavement in Berkeley, then shouldn’t the transit agency also pay for the maintenance and upkeep of that pavement? 

A few years back, this question was asked of an AC Transit representative at a neighborhood forum. The dismissive non-answer was that AC Transit is funding research into more durable pavement materials.  

Now AC Transit can believe in Magic Asphalt all it wants, but I hope the City of Berkeley will continue to worry about real potholes and such. When those potholes occur in the bus lane—and particularly when they spread across to the regular traffic lanes—who will be responsible for fixing them, and paying for the fix? 

More important, what happens when a street with reserved bus lanes comes up on the city’s schedule for repaving—a very expensive proposition—and AC Transit says, sorry, we don’t feel our portion needs to be repaved and we won’t fund it?  

The city’s Public Works Department should prepare a careful and cautious analysis of street repair and upkeep costs (including cost escalation over the life of any agreement with AC Transit). 

And any deal with AC Transit should spell out how that upkeep is undertaken and funded, and which agency has the authority to manage the street work and accept or reject the outcome. 

Who will police the bus-only lanes? 

AC Transit is proposing side-by-side lanes, where only some vehicles can use certain lanes.  

So let’s consider Telegraph Avenue. Imagine there’s a back-up of private vehicles in the single “public use” lane in each direction and, for a moment, no buses in the “dedicated lanes.” A few frustrated drivers decide they’ll cut out into the bus lanes for a block or two to bypass the traffic. 

This occurs thousands of times each day in Bay Area freeway carpool lanes. It will happen in Berkeley, too. 

Do those drivers get tickets? If not, what is the practical mechanism to enforce the “bus-only” nature of the lanes and keep them from filling up with private cars, negating the whole concept of “dedicated lanes”?  

If there is consistent enforcement, who provides it?  

AC Transit has a security contract with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department. My understanding is that if a bus is involved in an accident or criminal incident, a sheriff’s deputy responds to take the report.  

So will AC Transit pay for sheriff’s deputies to regularly patrol Telegraph Avenue, Bancroft, and Shattuck, issuing tickets for traffic violations in the bus only lanes?  

If so, should staff from a law enforcement agency entirely beyond the control, review, or management of the City of Berkeley be regularly patrolling Berkeley streets with the specific assignment of local traffic enforcement? 

And if the sheriff doesn’t do the patrols, will Berkeley police be responsible for this enforcement? If Berkeley Police become AC Transit’s de-facto traffic cops, what does that mean for levels of Berkeley police service and staffing?  

Will the police officer who might otherwise be responding to my home security alarm, or phone call about an altercation on the street, be delayed because she’s stuck in traffic over on Telegraph, handing out lane violation tickets to commuters? 

The Berkeley Police Department needs to carefully think all this through and give its analysis to the City Council. 

What are the actual Berkeley impacts of AC Transit’s vague and changing descriptions of BRT?  

AC Transit’s draft environmental impact report says, for example, that AC Transit might “replace” parking displaced from streets like Telegraph Avenue that are reconfigured for “dedicated lanes” and bus “stations.” Where? 

Some statements imply that AC Transit might fund spaces in existing or new parking garages. That might work in places like Downtown Berkeley, but is irrelevant to areas like the Willard, Le Conte, or North Oakland neighborhoods along Telegraph where there are no off-street public garages (and—thank goodness—no plans for any). 

Other statements imply AC Transit might just fund moving parking meters off Telegraph onto side streets, thus “replacing” parking by commercializing and converting street spaces on residential blocks. 

Are my South Berkeley neighbors going to end up with parking meters in front of their homes? Inquiring residents would like to know.  

This is the sort of question where City of Berkeley staff should press AC Transit for formal and coherent answers. 

Finally, what sort of level of service will AC Transit be obligated to provide if it’s granted special rights to the street? 

If Berkeley turns over exclusive use of major portions of its streets to a regional agency, what absolute, iron-clad, enforceable guarantees will there be that the service will actually be provided? 

During my entire time in Berkeley, the repeated story about AC Transit has been one of funding shortfalls, service cuts, poor service (or lack of service), and fare increases. There’s no reason to expect that this will change with Bus Rapid Transit, which will only increase the demands on AC Transit’s operating funds. 

(I’ve read that when BART was being proposed and funded, promoters talked about trains every few minutes, round-the-clock. We can all see how that worked out.) 

Berkeley—like Oakland, and San Leandro—needs to have an enforceable means to say we gave you our streets, now give us the service you promised—and if you don’t, we take back the street. 

Berkeley should set, with citizen and rider input, a specific list of measurable performance criteria that AC Transit must meet, and the contract should also include means and funding to monitor that performance and a “sunset” clause and penalties if AC Transit doesn’t use a valuable loan of Berkeley streets as promised.  

For example, how frequently and regularly do the buses arrive? Is there sufficient capacity? Are the service needs of special populations, such as the elderly and the disabled, properly accommodated? Are the buses safe and comfortable? Are “local” and “feeder” bus lines still sufficiently funded and operated, or have they been starved to feed BRT? 

Nothing will focus the minds of AC Transit managers more carefully on providing promised service than the knowledge that they could lose their bus lanes due to poor performance. 

And Berkeley must be willing and have the legal means to pull the plug—in essence, take back the streets—if the service isn’t provided as specified.  

Steven Finacom is a Berkeley resident. He works for the University of California and has worked on transportation issues in past years, but is not currently assigned any work on BRT. This essay represents his personal views, not necessarily those of the university. 

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 

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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 

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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 

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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

Colombia’s March 1 attack on an insurgent camp in Ecuador appears to have been an effort by the right-wing government of Alvaro Uribe to derail efforts by Venezuela and France to free hostages held by the group, intimidate a growing movement against Bogotá’s close ties to rightwing death squads, and put the squeeze on the U.S. Congress to pass a joint trade agreement. 

According to Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, the attack—which killed 24 people, including Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) leader and diplomat Raul Reyes—spiked efforts to release French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and 11 other FARC hostages. 

French diplomats say they were negotiating with Reyes with the full knowledge of the Colombian government. “In the framework of the efforts that we—Spain, Switzerland, France—were making, we had contacts with Raul Reyes,” French foreign ministry spokeswoman Pascale Andreani told Reuters, “and I can tell you the Colombians were aware of it.” 

The nighttime attack on the FARC camp was also aimed at undermining ongoing efforts by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to free these and other hostages. Uribe sabotaged a Chavez initiative last December by refusing to demilitarize the area where hostages were to be released. The hostages were finally turned over to Venezuelan officials Jan. 10, much to the embarrassment of the Colombian government.  

Three days after FARC released another four members of the Colombian congress, the Uribe government struck the Ecuador camp. 

“What was Colombia’s objective?” asks Ana Maria Sanjuan, director of the Center for Peace and Human Rights at the Central University of Venezuela. “Clearly the whole operation was planned and executed. I think it had a lot to do with the humanitarian exchange.” 

But scotching hostage releases was only one thing on Bogotá’s agenda. 

According to James Brittain and Jim Sacouman, two Canadian researchers and experts on the Colombian civil war, another target was a March 6 demonstration called by the National Movement of Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism, the International Trade Union Confederation, and social justice organizations. 

The groups are protesting close ties between the Uribe government and paramilitary organizations like the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (USDF) and the Black Eagles. Uribe, Colombian Vice-President Francisco Santos, Uribe’s brother, Santiago, Uribe’s cousin, Senator Mario Uribe, plus almost 100 governors, mayors and politicians have direct and indirect ties to the death squads. According to human rights organizations, some 90 percent of the people who have died in the Colombian civil war have done so at the hands of the Colombian Army and USDF. 

According to the two Canadians, “media outlets, such as El Tiempo (which has long-standing ties to the Santos family), have been parading photographs of the bullet-ridden and mutilated corpse of Raul Reyes throughout the country’s communication media.” The photos, argue Brittain and Sacouman, are being used to “intimidate those preparing to demonstrate against the atrocities perpetuated by the state over the past seven years.” 

Urbie’s top political advisor, Jose Obdulio Gaviria, recently charged that the March 6 demonstration, and the groups supporting it, should be charged as “criminals.” In Colombia those are words that can get you killed. 

The Bush administration—and the timing here is suspicious—is using the crisis to press Congress to pass the free trade agreement. Democrats are holding up the legislation because of human rights violations by the Uribe government, in particular the murder of trade unionists. 

“If we fail to approve this agreement, we will let down our close ally, we will damage our credibility in the region and we will embolden the demagogues in our hemisphere,” said Bush. 

But U.S. credibility is currently at an all-time low in Latin America, and the circumstances surrounding the raid suggest some level of U.S. participation, hardly something that will improve that image.  

The United States leases an airbase at Manta, Ecuador, flying reconnaissance missions into Colombia. It also supplies $600 million a year in military aid to Colombia, more than for any other country in the hemisphere. 

The Colombians claimed that the attack was a case of “hot pursuit.” Uribe said Colombian helicopters were fired on in Colombian territory and that the Army returned fire. But the FARC camp was 10 kilometers inside Ecuador. “President Uribe was either misinformed or he lied bare-facedly to the President of Ecuador,” said Correra. 

The bombing took place in the middle of the night, and most of the dead were in their pajamas, not garb soldiers normally wear into combat. Nighttime bombing attacks are extremely complex and notoriously inaccurate unless the weapons are laser or satellite guided. The weapons appear to have been cluster bombs, and the suspicion is that the U.S. was directly involved, both in pinpointing the camp and in aiding the air strike. 

“It seems that they used state-of-the-art technology to track the FARC group at night,” said Correa, “undoubtedly foreign powers assisted.”  

The Organization of American States (OAS) quickly denounced the attack as a violation of Ecuador’s sovereignty, and Venezuela, Ecuador and Nicaragua temporarily broke relations with Colombia. Colombia’s only support has come from the U.S.  

There is also suspicion that the attack was aimed at torpedoing growing pressure in the region and in Europe for a negotiated settlement to the civil war. The United States and the Bogotá government classify FARC as a “terrorist” organization. “We do not have a war in Colombia,” says Uribe, “We have a terrorist problem.” 

But it is not a label that a number of other countries are comfortable with.  

The FARC’s tactics are irregular, but the organization controls 40 percent of the country and has been in existence since 1964. It also does not pose a danger to any country outside the borders of Colombia. 

“While there is little doubt regarding the global reach of terrorist organizations like al-Qadea,” argues political scientist Garry Leech, editor of the Colombia Journal, “there is no evidence that the FARC is anything but one of the armed actors in Colombia’s long and tragic domestic conflicts.” 

The Uribe administration, however, says it found a laptop at the bombed camp indicating that the FARC was trying to buy uranium. “This means that the FARC are taking big steps in the world of global aggression,” says Colombia’s National Police Director, General Oscar Naranjo. “We’re not talking of domestic guerrilla but transnational terrorism.” 

Colombian Vice President Santos accused FARC of trying to manufacture a “dirty bomb.” 

But according to Associated Press, “documents didn’t support the allegation, indicating that rebels were trying to buy uranium to resell at a profit.” Santos eventually backed away from his “dirty bomb” charge.  

In the end, the raid may backfire on the Uribe administration’s strategy of pursuing a military victory over FARC. 

Colombian journalist Simone Bruno and Ecuadorian journalist Edwardo Tamayo write that the attack is likely to increase the pressure for negotiations. Colombia’s neighbors are “exhausted … with the entry of a number of armed actors in their territory. They have also had to take in displaced people and refugees, which in Ecuador alone have reached a population of over 300,000.” 

The attack came within weeks of a call by Venezuela and Ecuador for negotiations between FARC and the Uribe government. Mexican Deputy Ricardo Cantu Garza, Co-Coordinator of the Labor Party Parliamentary Group, has been pressing for negotiations, as have many countries in the OAS. 

There is also pressure within Colombia to demilitarize the civil strife. Polo Democratico Alternativo, the main opposition party, opposed the Ecuador attack, saying it would expand “the conflict to neighboring countries” and encourage “growing U.S. intervention, facts that affect sovereignty and democracy at the region level.”  

While Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador have defused the crisis, the raid, coupled with ongoing U.S. efforts to destabilize the leftist government of Bolivia, suggests that the Bush administration is using regional proxies to ramp up a more aggressive stance in the region.

One ought to avoid writing political commentary when angry. It doesn’t make for coherent thought. But it is difficult not to get angry about recent events in the Democratic Presidential race between Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. It’s even more difficult to try to ignore it, and write about something else. So let’s give it a shot. 

The Clinton campaign has introduced race as a wedge issue in the election, as a way to elevate her chances to overtake Mr. Obama and win the Democratic Party nomination. It is nasty. It is vicious. It is reprehensible. It is inexcusable. 

The legacy of what Ms. Clinton has allowed—and is allowed—is like a backed-up toilet, overflowing, the political and social and racial repercussions of which will last for many years, and take many hours of toil to wash away again. 

We had thought this was over in South Carolina, with the failed attempt by the Clintons to diminish the importance of the vote in that state because—after all—there were so many African-Americans there. We were told that after that debacle—which Obama won over Clinton, 55 percent to 27 percent, propelling him towards the frontrunner status that he has never since relinquished—Ms. Clinton’s husband, the former President and the hit man on the Carolina trail, would be put on a short leash, the implication being that the tactics which brought him the muzzle would also be put on the back burner. 

The day after the South Carolina primary, in case we now forget, the Washington Post wrote: On Saturday, as Sen. Barack Obama was sweeping up the South Carolina primary, former Pres. Bill Clinton was busy downplaying the significance of Obama’s impending win, casting it as a function of the state’s demographics and the Illinois senator’s heavy African American support. “Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in ’84 and ’88,” Clinton said at a rally in Columbia. “Jackson ran a good campaign. And Obama ran a good campaign here.” 

For the younger among us, this might have no meaning. But those of us who lived in the era when African-Americans were first winning the right to vote in major portions of the country—including South Carolina—remember in Mr. Clinton’s framing the old white Southern dictum that “niggers only vote for niggers, and don’t need no other reason for it except they’s niggers,” a philosophy that fueled resistance to African-American voting rights in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as the violent overturning of African-American voting and political rights in the post-Reconstruction ninety years before. 

It’s the kind of wink-wink, nod-nod catering to racial preference that we’ve come to expect from the Republicans from Mr. Nixon through Mr. Reagan and beyond, but had thought had been purged from public display among those in the Democratic Party who are supposed to be friends of the African-American. It’s the type of tactic the old folks in South Carolina used to call “throwing a brick and hiding your hand,” that is, saying or doing something reprehensible that will accrue to your advantage, but doing it such a sly way that you can later deny you had that intent. 

Thus, for example, did George Bush interject the term “crusade” at the beginning of the Iraq War, later insisting, over and over, that the American effort was not to be considered a war of Christians against Arabs. 

It is also the type of tactic which allows the perpetrator to accuse the victim of the attack of being “overly sensitive” or “raising the race question” when they protest. Insidious. 

While Ms. Clinton was doing well through the 24-state Super Tuesday primaries, the issue of race was put on the back burner by her campaign. But with Mr. Obama holding a consistent delegate lead and the cold reality of delegate math making the prospects of a Clinton nomination more difficult even as she won in Texas and Ohio last week, the tactic got dusted off and put up for display. 

A week ago Geraldine Ferraro, a former Congressmember and vice presidential candidate and a fundraiser for Ms. Clinton, told the Daily Breeze newspaper of Torrance that Ms. Clinton’s role as a possible first woman president was being overshadowed by Mr. Obama’s role as a possible first African-American president, with the dig that Black is the flavor of the day, and Mr. Obama’s major qualification is that he happens to be that color. 

“I think what America feels about a woman becoming president takes a very secondary place to Obama’s campaign—to a kind of campaign that it would be hard for anyone to run against,” the Daily Breeze quoted Ms. Ferraro as saying. “For one thing, you have the press, which has been uniquely hard on her. It’s been a very sexist media. Some just don’t like her. The others have gotten caught up in the Obama campaign. If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.” 

That Mr. Obama is “lucky” to be an African-American man—in America—was probably the most galling and egregious of the statements. You look up the statistics, if you want. The libraries and the college classrooms and the Internet are all full of them. Or come along on a tour of the streets of East and West Oakland, or Santa Rita or San Quentin or Pelican Bay, if you’d like to know where such “luck” is likely to land you, these days.  

But it got worse. When Ms. Ferraro was called to question on her comments, she complained that she was the one who was being victimized, but in a tone so flippant as to call into question how seriously she took the problem of racism.  

“Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls [Obama’s] campaign down and says let’s address reality and the problems we’re facing in this world, you’re accused of being racist, so you have to shut up,” Ferraro said in a followup interview with the Daily Breeze. “Racism works in two different directions. I really think they’re attacking me because I’m white. How’s that?”  

Ms. Clinton immediately distanced herself from Ms. Ferraro’s remarks, but the effect was akin to distancing oneself from a pile of feces one’s friend has left in the middle of the sidewalk. Is there not some responsibility to clean it up? And that Ms. Ferraro has since resigned from the Clinton campaign—with a defiant and unapologetic parting word that she will continue to speak her mind—does not bode well toward where this is going. 

One doesn’t have to wait or look far to see. Witness a March 12 posting by someone calling himself/herself the Unreconstructed Southerner on the website of a group calling itself the Council of Conservative Citizens (http://cofcc.org). I quote at length, so there can be no misunderstanding where this is all leading. 

“It is amazing that in this age of political correctness that it took a very liberal Democrat to articulate to the nation what many of us knew all along,” Unreconstructed writes. “Ferraro is exactly right ... Barack Obama has won 90 percent of the black vote in nearly every major contest so far in the Democratic primary while lagging in the white votes in states that are more racially divided. One need only look at last month’s cover of the ethnic Ebony magazine to know that black citizens take immense pride in the success of one of their own. Likewise many women are encouraged by the candidacy of Senator Clinton and the historic implications that it means which is easily reflected in almost every exit poll, including those where Obama defeated Clinton. Are these positions wrong? If not wrong they are at least very shallow and reflective of the priorities of Democratic primary voters that they put the race and gender of their candidates ahead of a candidate’s qualifications. America’s Left is caught up in the notion that our nation must atone for slavery and Jim Crow and the election of Obama would be a symbolic gesture akin to the old tradition of sackcloth and ashes. Can any of us name how many one-term Senators fresh from the state legislature that have come to the brink of the presidency? Call it the real Inconvenient Truth of the day but it nonetheless true and those who would deny it are either naive or caught up in Obamamania so much that [they] refuse to acknowledge that Obama’s ethnicity has played an essential role in his appeal and success to date. The politics of tribalism are never politically correct nor will they ever be. It is the politics of tribalism that allowed New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin to proclaim the need for a chocolate city and still be reelected with the majority support of the city’s black population as well as Durham DA Mike Nifong to win reelection despite the utterly groundless charges against the Duke Lacrosse team. America has never and will never be uniquely immune to this reality of tribal and ethnic politics and it took courage on the part of Geraldine Ferraro to not only say it but to stand by her comments despite the whirlwind of criticism she has received.” 

“They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind.” (Hosea 8:1-14) The question is, whose whirlwind are we talking about, and who will get swept away in it? It is not likely to be those who would halt the progress of African-Americans or the progress of American women. And so, like the proverbial crabs in a barrel, it is more difficult for any to escape oppression because many of the ones temporarily left behind see their path to freedom lies in pulling down those who have temporarily gotten ahead. Sad, and angry, that we have come backwards to this, at a time when there could be so much to celebrate. A woman and African-American, major presidential candidates. Most of us thought we’d never live to see either, and backbiting may destroy any gains that might have come. 

Mercy, as my old Charleston Chronicle editor, Jim French, used to say. 

Coming up on 35 years, our relationship gets ever more harmonious. I have a stapelia—a starfish flower that attracts flies to pollinate it—on the office windowsill, and Joe has a collection of carnivorous plants on the front porch. When my stapelia blooms, I cope with its decidedly rank fragrance by putting it on the porch with the Venus’ flytrap and the sundews and the various sarracenias and they all have a party. 

Most of Joe's modest collection comes from California Carnivores in Sonoma County. When we first visited, over a decade ago, Peter D’Amato’s nursery was in a building just behind a winery. Some folks were grateful to fortify themselves with a drink before entering.  

The enterprise has since relocated to a space next to a newer, if more conventional nursery and a stone’s throw from a couple of the area’s surviving antique shops. It’s just off the Gravenstein Highway between 101 and Sebastopol, so it’s handier to us than ever. This could lead to economic difficulties: Joe’s better at resisting temptation of that sort than I am, but I’m reflexively a cheerleader, OK, an accomplice when it comes to plants. 

If you visit right now, you’ll see a lot of brown, as many of the plants are winter-dormant. Enough individuals of the junglier sort are awake all year, though, to keep it entertaining. If you’ve ever visited the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers, you’ve seen the like: baroquely ferocious sarracenias, with their red- or white-dappled hoods; variations on flytraps; glistening butterworts and prismatic-jeweled, inviting sundews; various nepenthes that might be Klingon codpieces.  

Some species of that last genus get big enough to trap and digest small rodents in their dangling wells. It’s at that point that people tend to start taking it all personally. 

D’Amato has always had a flair for appropriate décor, and it’s traveled to the new location intact. I suspect he and Ron Cauble of The Bone Room must swap Martha-Stewart tips, and/or shop at each others’ stores. (If not, they should.) So you’ll see tillandsias planted in little ceramic skulls, and plenty of odd bones, plastic serpents, reptile replicas, and Hallowe’eny tchotchkes strewn artfully among the plants. 

Joe got a crucial Hot Tip from D’Amato when we visited the first location, and it’s repeated in the latter’s excellent book The Savage Garden. The way to keep most carnivorous plants alive is to keep their pots standing in water-distilled water. Carnivory is an adaptation to living with a paucity of nutrients, especially nitrogen.  

The plants usually hail from bogs, fens, or swamps whose water, contrary to stereotype, is naturally quite clean. It might be dark, as in Florida’s Blackwater River, but that’s tannic acid, like the stuff that colors your cup of tea.  

It’s not very expensive to get a five-gallon jug of distilled (or “purified”) water from the delivery guy every month or so in summer; Joe’s plants do fine on rainwater in winter. What the heck, it’s not like buying live mice for your nepenthes. Not quite.  

California Carnivores 

2833 Old Gravenstein Highway, South 

Sebastopol 

(707) 824-0433 

Open Thursday-Monday 10 a.m. 4 p.m. 

http://www.californiacarnivores.com 

The Savage Garden 

Peter D’Amato, 1998 

Trade paperback $19.95 

Ten Speed Press 

ISBN 0-89815-915-6 

I’m a Sci-Fi buff from way back and one of my favorite writers was always Robert Heinlein. Robert said the following: 

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” 

I hope you agree because I certainly do. He even strikes pretty close to my subject here as well, that being that a human being should be able to build a wall. 

I was in a crawlspace the other day and saw an atrocity that had been done to the front wall of the building (we’d call this a cripple wall. Terrible term.) The electrician, in an effort to bring their circuits through from the huge panel that they’d installed on the front of this fourplex (a chopped up manor), had carved blithely through several uprights as well as a seismic bracing panel. There was clearly no more thought applied to the effects on the supportive framing of this two-and-a-smidge-story house than one might apply to noshing the final crumbs of a scone. It was in the way, they had a saw, end of story. 

The problem is that, if one does enough of this pruning, very bad things start to happen. Continuing the Sci Fi theme, I’ll quote Mr. Spock, who said "If I drop a hammer on a planet that has a positive gravity, I need not see the hammer fall to know that it has actually fallen.” 

Walls and floors don’t continue to stand or remain erect regardless of how much we cut into them. At some point, things begin to sag, crack or just fall down. In my world, an earthquake of unknown size is coming and I’m quite sure that it will do all sorts of fun things with framing that’s been cut into excessively, not to mention those houses that are simply unbraced or badly modified. 

There are rules about these things but before I start laying these out, and I will give some specific rules you can use before I’m done, I’d like to say that, in my very unhumble opinion, this stuff is largely obvious (thus our Heinlein quote). It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that if you start cutting into the framing of a house, something bad might happen. 

Building experts like to talk about the level of redundancy in construction and the notion that we size everything about four times as big as it needs to be. I think that these are reasonably accurate notions and am much glad of them. They allow for tolerance and the inevitable screw-ups that inhabit all vocations. But walls don’t stand up on their own and Mr. Spock might have said, “If I cut through all the cripple studs below your house, I need not observe the house to know that it has collapsed.”  

These margins we allow are also being quietly spent on fungi, termites, beetles and mistakes past or future. They should not be squandered. 

The framing of floors and walls can be cut into to a limited degree. Here are some of the current rules as expressed in the 2006 International Residential Code to give you a point of reference: (you can also skip the next four paragraphs if rules make you break out in a rash) 

You can notch into one side of a stud up to twenty five percent (about seven-eights of an inch on a two by four) and forty percent if it’s non-bearing (that means that the framing above it doesn’t really rely upon that wall for support and this is almost never true of an outside wall). 

You can also bore holes through these same studs of up to forty percent of the width on bearing and sixty percent on non-bearing walls. This is better for all sorts of reasons and is why they’re allowed to be so much larger. If we leave both edges of a stud intact, it’s far less likely to crack and fail. 

With joists, the big wooden boards that run horizontally across the building below the floor and above the ceiling, the cutting allowed is less. First, no cutting should be done along the critical bottom edge. This edge is held in tension as you and your Scottish dance troupe bound across the floor and a small cut in the bottom edge can tear right through leaving bits of kilt and small broken pieces of bagpipe everywhere. What a mess, so don’t do that. 

You can notch into the end where the lower edge of joist rests on wall but this can be no more than a quarter of the depth of the joist. You can notch a little (also one quarter) on the top of a joist but only when it’s near the ends (the third on either end, no cuts in the middle third where most of the dancing is taking place). Lastly, you can bore a hole, again in the outer thirds only, up to a third of the joist depth but not within two inches of top or bottom, Whew.  

Sorry about that. I hope didn’t lose you. If you are only left with general impressions about what’s unacceptable you are way ahead of our electrician. By the way, electricians aren’t the only ones doing this. Heating installers cut huge sections out of beams and floor joist as they run ducting and install furnaces, plumbers cut through walls and floors to run four-inch pipes and set toilets and carpenters who are only that in name, cut through whatever’s left over.  

Each of these parties has an obligation, as Mr. Heinlein might say, to know at least a little about how to build a wall or how not to unbuild one. Just because someone isn’t a carpenter or a general contractor is no excuse. If you’re not sure what you can cut, ask someone, right? This is not rocket science. It’s really pretty simple. I’d say that the vast majority of the substandard framing alterations I’ve seen in this arena would have been obvious to the average person and was tolerated solely because it was hidden below the floor or up in the attic.  

Nobody’s paid enough and everyone’s in a hurry. Carpentry gets outsourced to day-laborers (my friend, Harold calls this “slavery-light”) who can’t be held accountable, instead of being done by trained workers. 

So, here’s what I suggest for the homeowner being currently carved upon. Get a look at whatever you can see of the work being done on your house. There are certainly dangers below the house and touching wires is to be avoided but you might want to see if you can get a look at (or see some pictures of) the area being worked on. Hire the man or woman who comes well recommended and charges a little more. Experienced contractors know this stuff and they’re rarely the low bid. 

Take an interest in what day-laborers seem to be doing (drawing plans?) and consider having a consultant oversee larger bodies of work (this is just the sort of thing that they’re looking for). 

You know, it’s fine for your electrician, heating contractor or plumber to have a sense of humor but please, don’t let him (or her for that matter) be a cut-up. 

Got a question about home repairs and inspections? Send them to Matt Cantor at mgcantor@pacbell.net.

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.

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 

Paul Watsky and Barbara Joan Tiger Bass, poetry, followed by open mic at 7 p.m. at Expressions Gallery, 2035 Ashby Ave. www.expressionsgallery.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.  

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  

Terrence Brewer at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $8-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

TUESDAY, MARCH 18 

CHILDREN 

Flying Calamari Brothers A magic and comedy show for ages 3 and up at 6:30 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Architecture, Print Culture, and the Public Sphere in 18th-Century France” with author Richard Wittman, at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Swamp Coolers at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Singers’ Open Mic with Ellen Hoffman at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Cheryl Wheeler, Kenny White at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $26.50-$27.50. 548-1761.  

Ari Chersky Trio, jazz, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Dmitri Matheny at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$16. 238-9200. 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazzschool at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19 

EXHIBITIONS 

“California Textural Landscapes” works by Patti Heimburger in mixed media through oil paint, fabric and yarn opens at Christensen Heller Gallery, 5829 College Ave. Hours are Wed.-Sat. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sun. noon to 5 p.m. 655-5952. www.christensenheller.com 

FILM 

FIlm 50: “Wild Strawberries” at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

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 the University Symphony Orchestra at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864.  

Oakland Youth Chorus Benefit for Chirstopher Rodriguez at 7 p.m. at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St., Oakland. Tickets are $15-$20, children under 12 $5-$10. 287-9700.  

Cheryl Wheeler, Kenny White at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $26.50-$27.50. 548-1761.  

Whiskey Brothers, old-time and bluegrass at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

U.C. Jazz at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Speak the Music, beatboxing with Syzygy, Monkstilo, Constant Change, and others at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

El Cerrito High School Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Band at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $3-$7. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Avance 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.  

Pacific Manouche at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

New York Voices at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $16-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, MARCH 20 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Here: Oakland Through the Arts” Works by Excel High School Students. Opening reception at 5 p.m. at the Craft & Cultural Arts Gallery, State of CA Office Bldg., Atrium, 1515 CLay St., Oakland. 622-8190. 

Enrique Chagoya: Borderlandia Guided tour at 12:15 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Propagations” Paintings and computer animations by Tadashi Moriyama. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Johansson Projects, 2300 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. 444-9140. www.johanssonprojects.com 

“Jingletown Junction” Works by ten artists from the Jingletown neighborhood. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at ProArts Gallery, 550 Second St., Oakland. www.proartsgallery.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry for the People with Mohja Kahf of Muslim Women Speak Out, and Ananda Esteva and Imani Uzuri, at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Join author Marti Kheel "Nature Ethics: An Ecofeminist Perspective.". Thursday, March 20, 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm Literary event: University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94704510-548-0585, www.universitypressbooks.com 

Fritjof Capra reads from “The Science of Leonardo: Inside the Mind of the Great Genius of the Renaissance” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Third Thursdays in South Berkeley Multi-generational poetry conversation at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Artist Support Group Speaker Series with Dara Solomon, Asst. Curator, Contemporary Jewish Museum, at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. in Live Oak Park. Cost is $8-$10. 644-6893. 

Mystery Writers Panel Discussion including Rita Lakin, Peggy Lucke, Penny Warner and Simon Wood at 6 p.m. at the South Branch of the Berkeley Public Library. 981-6260. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Perú Negro, Peru’s African heritage on traditional instruments, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $22-$42. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

Portola Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Workshop and Jazz Band with special guest artists Larry de la Cruz, Marvin McFadden, Jeremy Steinkoler and Wayne Wallace at 7 pm, at Mira Vista Golf and Country Club, 7901 Cutting Blvd, El Cerrito. 417-5897.  

Eric Bibb at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Noam Lemish Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Teed Rockwell and Joel Rudinow, raga-blues, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Vibrafolk at 7:30 p.m. at Central Perk Cafe, 10086 San Pablo Ave., corner of Central, El Cerrito. www.centralperkcoffee.net 

Kenny Garrett Quartet at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sat. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

“The pure products of America go crazy,” intoned poet William Carlos Williams, and Carrie Fisher, a pure product of the American dream factory, who jests about the craziness of her life and icon status in her solo extravaganza, Wishful Drinking, is being held over at Berkeley Rep through April 12.  

She holds forth on the Roda Stage—holds court, at one point sitting demurely, but usually pacing, wound up with nervous energy, hands constantly in motion, tracing big patterns in the air. 

Wishful Drinking is something of an interactive show, as she “reaches out” to the audience, bringing spectators on stage or Carrie into the audience. On opening night, she directed causticly funny lines to (and at) George Lucas in an orchestra seat, and her parents, Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, seated on opposite sides of the balcony, making sure they answered, even if tersely. 

Her schtick is all her own as the child of Hollywood “royalty,” center of attention since birth. She jokes about the incestuousness of her family, their many marriages, quipping that she hopes she doesn’t resemble one of the Hapsburgs, whose portrait is projected above the stage, features stricken with the grotesqueness of inbreeding. 

In a way, the show is beyond autobiography or memoir, as everything is cannibalized, including the cannibalism itself. Tragedy is part of the joke, and that—again—is the tragedy of a survivor who lives to tell the tale. Who lives for telling the tale. 

It isn’t Moby Dick, or even Oprah. From donning a Princess Leia wig, to confronting a Princess Leia sex statue dropped from the flies, to charting her extended family tree (Liz Taylor briefly as step-mother) on a blackboard lifted from a Mort Sahl outine, to the headlines projected in montage on the starry sky above her, the valiant attempts by Tony Taccone, the Rep’s artistic director, to flesh out Carrie’s exposition as theater just lends apparatus to an open-house-style chat. It’s not even stand-up, which the show has been compared to, as too many lines are thrown away, like an overheard cellphone conversation in a public place. Her relation to the audience does not carry the dynamic of engagement of the comic or the monologist. 

Her wit can crackle, or cackle a little hysterically, and there is no shortage of laughter as she charts the loopiness that is her normality. As a real-life twist on that old chestnut, the Poor Little Rich Kid, Carrie’s story is rife with funny vignettes and nuances that just never quite reach the level of actual humor. 

There is no form at all to the show, despite its gestures towards theatrical respectability (whatever that really is). But it is pure spectacle of a sort, with a little bit of the rawness of real and simulated reality that so much mass entertainment is striving to display. It’s all Carrie, transparent onstage, as if in a plastic bag—the type kids carry home from a fair, with a goldfish inside, ceaselessly opening and closing its mouth. 

WISHFUL DRINKING 

Through March 30 at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St.  

$33-$69. 647-2949.

The Oakland East Bay Symphony, conducted by director Michael Morgan, will present a unique collaborative program, Notes from Persia, at 8 p.m. tonight (Friday) at the Paramount Theatre. 

The program features the U.S. premiere of Aminollah Hossein’s Piano Concerto No. 2 (1946), played by Tara Kamangar, the suite from Loris Tjernavorian’s opera Rostam and Sohrab (1963), with the composer present, and six folk songs from different regions and cultural traditions of Persia, sung by mezzo-soprano Raeeka Shehabi-Yaghmai in new orchestral arrangements by composer David Garner. The program will open with Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini” and Richard Strauss’ tone poem “Don Juan.” 

The concert will coincide with Nowwuz, the ancient Persian New Year’s and spring holiday, dating from Zoroastrian times, which is celebrated over much of the Middle East and Central Asia with picnics, music, poetry recital and song. 

“It has all been a person-to-person connection in putting this together,” said an enthusiastic Michael Morgan. “It was Patrice Hidu, who is the project manager running our office, who pointed out to me that there is a large, music-loving community in the Bay Area nobody has really reached out to. And at a Christmas party for Festival Opera, I heard Raeeka Shehabi-Yaghmai sing a Persian folk song. She got David Garner of the S.F. Music Conservatory to arrange six diverse songs for orchestra, and helped greatly to publicize the concert in the Persian community.” 

Morgan talked about the very personable—and very Persian—way the program unfolded.  

“Omid Zoufonoun, my conducting student, whose father was a rather famous performer of Persian classical music, told me about Tara Kamangar, who sent a CD,” Morgan said. “She is not only a great pianist, but has proven to be a wonderful collaborator—the real thing. She told me about Tjeknavorian. He just flew in last Sunday from Tehran. I would love to do his whole opera. He has an English version prepared. I have learned so much putting this together. It is wonderful music, but even more wonderful are the incredible people I have met.” 

Morgan commented on Hossein’s concerto and Tjeknavorian’s opera, based on stories from the medieval Persian epic poem, the Shanameh (Book of Kings) by Firdosi: “You notice right away how closely the modern pieces are melodically—and rhythmically—related to the traditional folk songs. They are very melodious modern music. Especially Tjeknavorian’s. The rhythms are enormously complicated, especially in his finale. I am going into rehearsal right now with the mezzo—who can’t make the dress rehearsal (She’s starring in Carmen at Livermore Opera)—to go over the material together, so I am up on all the characteristics and can teach the orchestra. There is only so much you can write down, and we are all trying to do, deciding how to beat out the Persian 6/8, which seems to us more like a 3—‘I Like To Be In America,’ like that—to work out the groove in these rhythms.” 

Asked if Persian music swings, Morgan answered, “It does!” 

“Putting together this concert has been one of my favorite projects,” Morgan concluded. “It has been a continuation of the symphony’s mission, to reach out to all sorts of corners and parts of our community ... Given the current political tensions between our two countries, I thought this would be a good time to reach out to the Bay Area Persian community, to showcase their extraordinary musical heritage. What better time than now to use the power of music to bring our people together?”  

Aminollah Hossein was born in 1905 in Samarkand, but spent the majority of his professional life in exile in France after musical studies in Russia and Germany. A master of the Persian stringed instrument, the taar, he was deeply influenced by Persian classical music. A prolific composer—20 film scores, three piano concertos, and extensive works for ballet, symphony orchestra and solo piano—his major works include the “Persepolis Symphony” (1947), a 1951 symphony based on the ruba’i (quatrains) of poet and astronomer Omar Khayyam and his ballet “Miniatures Iraniennes” (1975). 

Loris Tjeknavorian, born in 1937, studied at the Tehran Conservatory, to which he returned, becoming a faculty member, after advanced studies at the Vienna Music Academy. He was later named director of the National Music Archive and composer-in-residence and principal conductor of Tehran’s Rudaki Opera House Orchestra. Tjeknavorian has conducted many of the world’s leading symphonies and has made over 100 recordings. The opera Rostam and Sohrab is one of over 75 diverse works. 

Tara Kamangar has played solo piano in venues ranging from London’s Wathen Hall and Leighton House Museum to the Wattis Room in San Francisco’s Davies Hall, and will play in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. She has recorded works by Hossein, Tjeknavorian, Hormoz Farhat and Behzad Ranjbaran. 

Shehabi-Yaghmai has sung leading roles with Oakland Lyric and Festival Operas in the East Bay, West Bay Opera and Merola Opera, and Opera Brasov in Romania. She will perform with the New Music Ensemble in San Francisco and Santa Cruz.

Coming up on 35 years, our relationship gets ever more harmonious. I have a stapelia—a starfish flower that attracts flies to pollinate it—on the office windowsill, and Joe has a collection of carnivorous plants on the front porch. When my stapelia blooms, I cope with its decidedly rank fragrance by putting it on the porch with the Venus’ flytrap and the sundews and the various sarracenias and they all have a party. 

Most of Joe's modest collection comes from California Carnivores in Sonoma County. When we first visited, over a decade ago, Peter D’Amato’s nursery was in a building just behind a winery. Some folks were grateful to fortify themselves with a drink before entering.  

The enterprise has since relocated to a space next to a newer, if more conventional nursery and a stone’s throw from a couple of the area’s surviving antique shops. It’s just off the Gravenstein Highway between 101 and Sebastopol, so it’s handier to us than ever. This could lead to economic difficulties: Joe’s better at resisting temptation of that sort than I am, but I’m reflexively a cheerleader, OK, an accomplice when it comes to plants. 

If you visit right now, you’ll see a lot of brown, as many of the plants are winter-dormant. Enough individuals of the junglier sort are awake all year, though, to keep it entertaining. If you’ve ever visited the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers, you’ve seen the like: baroquely ferocious sarracenias, with their red- or white-dappled hoods; variations on flytraps; glistening butterworts and prismatic-jeweled, inviting sundews; various nepenthes that might be Klingon codpieces.  

Some species of that last genus get big enough to trap and digest small rodents in their dangling wells. It’s at that point that people tend to start taking it all personally. 

D’Amato has always had a flair for appropriate décor, and it’s traveled to the new location intact. I suspect he and Ron Cauble of The Bone Room must swap Martha-Stewart tips, and/or shop at each others’ stores. (If not, they should.) So you’ll see tillandsias planted in little ceramic skulls, and plenty of odd bones, plastic serpents, reptile replicas, and Hallowe’eny tchotchkes strewn artfully among the plants. 

Joe got a crucial Hot Tip from D’Amato when we visited the first location, and it’s repeated in the latter’s excellent book The Savage Garden. The way to keep most carnivorous plants alive is to keep their pots standing in water-distilled water. Carnivory is an adaptation to living with a paucity of nutrients, especially nitrogen.  

The plants usually hail from bogs, fens, or swamps whose water, contrary to stereotype, is naturally quite clean. It might be dark, as in Florida’s Blackwater River, but that’s tannic acid, like the stuff that colors your cup of tea.  

It’s not very expensive to get a five-gallon jug of distilled (or “purified”) water from the delivery guy every month or so in summer; Joe’s plants do fine on rainwater in winter. What the heck, it’s not like buying live mice for your nepenthes. Not quite.  

California Carnivores 

2833 Old Gravenstein Highway, South 

Sebastopol 

(707) 824-0433 

Open Thursday-Monday 10 a.m. 4 p.m. 

http://www.californiacarnivores.com 

The Savage Garden 

Peter D’Amato, 1998 

Trade paperback $19.95 

Ten Speed Press 

ISBN 0-89815-915-6 

I’m a Sci-Fi buff from way back and one of my favorite writers was always Robert Heinlein. Robert said the following: 

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” 

I hope you agree because I certainly do. He even strikes pretty close to my subject here as well, that being that a human being should be able to build a wall. 

I was in a crawlspace the other day and saw an atrocity that had been done to the front wall of the building (we’d call this a cripple wall. Terrible term.) The electrician, in an effort to bring their circuits through from the huge panel that they’d installed on the front of this fourplex (a chopped up manor), had carved blithely through several uprights as well as a seismic bracing panel. There was clearly no more thought applied to the effects on the supportive framing of this two-and-a-smidge-story house than one might apply to noshing the final crumbs of a scone. It was in the way, they had a saw, end of story. 

The problem is that, if one does enough of this pruning, very bad things start to happen. Continuing the Sci Fi theme, I’ll quote Mr. Spock, who said "If I drop a hammer on a planet that has a positive gravity, I need not see the hammer fall to know that it has actually fallen.” 

Walls and floors don’t continue to stand or remain erect regardless of how much we cut into them. At some point, things begin to sag, crack or just fall down. In my world, an earthquake of unknown size is coming and I’m quite sure that it will do all sorts of fun things with framing that’s been cut into excessively, not to mention those houses that are simply unbraced or badly modified. 

There are rules about these things but before I start laying these out, and I will give some specific rules you can use before I’m done, I’d like to say that, in my very unhumble opinion, this stuff is largely obvious (thus our Heinlein quote). It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that if you start cutting into the framing of a house, something bad might happen. 

Building experts like to talk about the level of redundancy in construction and the notion that we size everything about four times as big as it needs to be. I think that these are reasonably accurate notions and am much glad of them. They allow for tolerance and the inevitable screw-ups that inhabit all vocations. But walls don’t stand up on their own and Mr. Spock might have said, “If I cut through all the cripple studs below your house, I need not observe the house to know that it has collapsed.”  

These margins we allow are also being quietly spent on fungi, termites, beetles and mistakes past or future. They should not be squandered. 

The framing of floors and walls can be cut into to a limited degree. Here are some of the current rules as expressed in the 2006 International Residential Code to give you a point of reference: (you can also skip the next four paragraphs if rules make you break out in a rash) 

You can notch into one side of a stud up to twenty five percent (about seven-eights of an inch on a two by four) and forty percent if it’s non-bearing (that means that the framing above it doesn’t really rely upon that wall for support and this is almost never true of an outside wall). 

You can also bore holes through these same studs of up to forty percent of the width on bearing and sixty percent on non-bearing walls. This is better for all sorts of reasons and is why they’re allowed to be so much larger. If we leave both edges of a stud intact, it’s far less likely to crack and fail. 

With joists, the big wooden boards that run horizontally across the building below the floor and above the ceiling, the cutting allowed is less. First, no cutting should be done along the critical bottom edge. This edge is held in tension as you and your Scottish dance troupe bound across the floor and a small cut in the bottom edge can tear right through leaving bits of kilt and small broken pieces of bagpipe everywhere. What a mess, so don’t do that. 

You can notch into the end where the lower edge of joist rests on wall but this can be no more than a quarter of the depth of the joist. You can notch a little (also one quarter) on the top of a joist but only when it’s near the ends (the third on either end, no cuts in the middle third where most of the dancing is taking place). Lastly, you can bore a hole, again in the outer thirds only, up to a third of the joist depth but not within two inches of top or bottom, Whew.  

Sorry about that. I hope didn’t lose you. If you are only left with general impressions about what’s unacceptable you are way ahead of our electrician. By the way, electricians aren’t the only ones doing this. Heating installers cut huge sections out of beams and floor joist as they run ducting and install furnaces, plumbers cut through walls and floors to run four-inch pipes and set toilets and carpenters who are only that in name, cut through whatever’s left over.  

Each of these parties has an obligation, as Mr. Heinlein might say, to know at least a little about how to build a wall or how not to unbuild one. Just because someone isn’t a carpenter or a general contractor is no excuse. If you’re not sure what you can cut, ask someone, right? This is not rocket science. It’s really pretty simple. I’d say that the vast majority of the substandard framing alterations I’ve seen in this arena would have been obvious to the average person and was tolerated solely because it was hidden below the floor or up in the attic.  

Nobody’s paid enough and everyone’s in a hurry. Carpentry gets outsourced to day-laborers (my friend, Harold calls this “slavery-light”) who can’t be held accountable, instead of being done by trained workers. 

So, here’s what I suggest for the homeowner being currently carved upon. Get a look at whatever you can see of the work being done on your house. There are certainly dangers below the house and touching wires is to be avoided but you might want to see if you can get a look at (or see some pictures of) the area being worked on. Hire the man or woman who comes well recommended and charges a little more. Experienced contractors know this stuff and they’re rarely the low bid. 

Take an interest in what day-laborers seem to be doing (drawing plans?) and consider having a consultant oversee larger bodies of work (this is just the sort of thing that they’re looking for). 

You know, it’s fine for your electrician, heating contractor or plumber to have a sense of humor but please, don’t let him (or her for that matter) be a cut-up. 

Got a question about home repairs and inspections? Send them to Matt Cantor at mgcantor@pacbell.net.

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.  

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. 

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 

Chevron Direct Action and Rally: Against the Wars, Against Pollution Rally at 11 a.m. at Judge G. Carroll Park, W. Cutting Blvd & S. Garrard Blvd, Richmond. Nonviolent Direct Action at Chevron Refinery 100 Chevron Way, Richmond at 1 p.m. Free shuttle buses will leave from Richmond BART and Point Richmond, 3rd St. and Chesley Ave., at 9:30, 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Cosponsored by Greenaction, West County Toxics Coalition, Amazon Watch, Richmond Progressive Alliance, Richmond Greens, and others. 

“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.  

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. 

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. 

Solo Sierrans Hike in Point Pinole Regional Park Meet at 3 p.m. in the parking lot. Bring binoculars for shorebirds viewing. Optional dinner after walk. 234-8949. 

Benefit for “Modesto Anarcho” the Central Valley’s journal of class struggle, at 7 p.m. at The Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. Donation $5. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets every Sun. at 7 p.m. at the Hillside School, 1581 Le Roy Ave. 843-0150. 

East Bay Atheists Berkeley Meeting to watch and then discuss Part One of “A Brief History of Disbelief” the Jonathan Miller documentary, at 1:30 p.m., Berkeley Main Library, 3rd Floor Meeting Room, 2090 Kittredge St. 222-7580. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Rosalyn White on “Healing Through Mantra” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000.  

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 

March for Good Jobs and Clean Air Meet at 4:30 p.m. outside Oakland City Hall, near the 12th Street BART station for a march to the Port of Oakland to push the port to adopt a strong, clean trucks program. 893-7106, ext. 24. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from noon to 1 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. 644-8833. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, MARCH 18 

Fifth Anniversary Living Graveyard at noon at the Oakland Federal Building, 1301 Clay Street, two blocks from 12th Street BART. www.epicalc.org 

“Does Your Vote Count in California?” A community forum that examines how our electoral system represents the many voices of California with Barry Fadem, President of National Popular Vote, Kathay Feng, Executive Director of California Common Cause and Steven Hill, Director of the Political Reform Program of the New America Foundation, moderated by Richard Gonzales, National Public Radio, at 7 p.. at Oakland Museum of California, James Moore Theatre, 1000 Oak St. Reservations recommended, email chris_holbrook@itvs.org  

“The Book of Revelation” with Elaine Pagels, Prof. of Religion, Princeton Univ. at 7:30 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Townsend Center for the Humanities. 643-9670. 

National Nutrition Month with cooking demonstrations at 2:30 and 3:30 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.  

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 Tilden Nature Area. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

The Berkeley Garden Club “Grafting Scions and How to Prune Your Fruit Trees” with Idell Weydemeyer of the California Rare Fruit Growers, at 1:45 p.m., at Epworth United Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 845-4482. www.berkeleygardenclub.org  

“Hiking Denali National Park” with Chris Poissnat, former Denali National Park interpretive ranger, 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. 

Fying Calamari Brothers A magic and comedy show for ages 3 and up at 6:30 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

"Ahimsa and Knowledge” with Nik Warren at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Buddhist Monastery, Institute for World Religions, 2304 McKinley Ave.  

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. 

Street Level Cycles Community Bike Program Come use our tools as well as receive help with performing repairs free of charge. Youth classes available. Tues., Thurs., and Sat. from 2 to 6 p.m. at at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. 644-2577.  

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

Sing-A-Long Group from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masoni Ave., Albany. 524-9122. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19 

Center Street Plaza Design Exposition Presentation by Walter Hood at 4:30 p.m. at Gaia Arts Center, 2120 Allston Way. Sponsored by Ecocity Builders. RSVP to 419-0850. 

The Oakland Bird Club “Breeding Bird Atlas of Santa Clara County” with Bill Bousman at 7:30 p.m. at Oakland Public Library, Rockridge Branch, 5366 College Ave., 444-0355. 

Rally and March on the Fifth Anniversary of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq at 6:30 p.m. at Alameda City Hall, Oak and Santa Clara Sts. Sponsored by the Alameda Peace Network. www.alamedapeacenetwork.org 

Peace Vigil to Mark the Fifth Anniversary of the War in Iraq at 6 p.m. at Grace Cathedral, 1100 California St., at Taylor, San Francisco. 

Berkeley Simplicity Forum “Reexamining Our Relationship with Money” at 6:30 p.m. at Claremont Library, 2940 Benvenue Ave.  

“Horns and Halos” A documentary on tangled lives of Dubbya and two others at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. www.Humanist Hall.org 

10th Annual Alameda Community Job Fair Learn about current job openings, network with key contacts, and learn about upcoming opportunities, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at College of Alameda student lounge and cafeteria, F Building, 555 Ralph Appezzato Memorial Parkway, Alameda. 748-5215. 

“Problems in Life and the Buddhist Way of Dealing with Them” Lecture and discusstion with Bhante Sellawimala, a Theravada Buddhist monk at 7 p.m. at Jodo Shinshu Center, 2140 Durant Ave. Free. 809-1460. 

Cycling Lecture with Brett Horton, bicycle memorabilia collector, at 7 p.m. at Velo Sport Bicycles, 1615 University Ave., enter at 1989 California St. RSVP to 849-0437. 

Radical Movie Night: “Duck You Sucker” An exiled IRA demolition expert falls in love with a Mexican bandit, at 8:30 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751. 

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds. We will hunt for amphibians from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-327-2757. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www. 

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

Teen Chess Club from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the North Branch Library, 1170 The Alameda at Hopkins. 981-6133. 

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. 

Morning Meditation Every Mon., Wed., and Fri. at 7:45 a.m. at Rudramandir, 830 Bancroft Way at 6th. 486-8700. 

After-School Program Homework help, drama and music for children ages 8 to 18, every Wed. from 4 to 7:15 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Cost is $5 per week. 845-6830. 

THURSDAY, MARCH 20 

Forum on The West Berkeley Plan and Sustainability: Economy, Environment, & Equity with Karen Chapple, UC Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning on The Industrial Land Debate: Arguments, Assumptions, and Alternatives; Raquel Pinderhughes, PhD SFSU Professor of Urban Studies, author of The City of Berkeley’s Green Collar Jobs Report; Abby Thorne-Lyman, Senior Associate of Strategic Economics on The Case for Industrial Land: The Future for the Bay Area’s Industrial Lands; and Kate O’Hara, East Bay Alliance For A Sustainable Economy on Preserving Industrial Lands, Growing Good Jobs at 6:30 p.m. at West Berkeley Senior Center, 1900 Sixth St., corner of 6th St. & Hearst Ave. Presented by WEBAIC - West Berkeley Artisans & Industrial Companies. 549-3213. webaic.org  

Spring Equinox Gathering at 6:30 p.m. at Interim Memorial Solar Calendar, Cesar Chavez Park, Berkeley Marina. A mini-workshop on the seasons will be led by David Glaser. Dress warmly. www.solarcalendar.org 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll look for amphibians from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

“Against Cognitive Imperialism” A lecture by Hal Roth, Ph.D., Professor, Religious Studies and East Asian Studies, Brown Univ., at 7:30 p.m. at Chapel of the Great Commission, Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Scenic Ave. 848-9788. 

Persian New Year: Norouz with egg painting, storytelling and dancing from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Habitot Children’s Museum, 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111.www.habitot.org 

LeConte Neighborhood Association meets at 7:30 p.m. at LeConte School, Russell St. entrance. karlreeh@aol.com.  

Preconception Healthcare at 7 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Teen Book Club meets to discuss urban fantasy 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. 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

Avatar Metaphysical Toastmasters Club meets at 6:45 p.m. at Spud’s Pizza, 3290 Adeline at Alcatraz. namaste@avatar.freetoasthost.info  

CITY MEETINGS 

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon., March 17, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St. 981-6900. 

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board meets Mon., March 17, at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers. 981-7368. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed., March 19, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6601.  

Commission on Aging meets Wed., March 19, at 1:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5344.  

Commission on Labor meets Wed., March 19, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7550.  

Disaster and Fire Safety Commission meets Wed., March 19, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 981-5502.  

Human Welfare and Community Action Commission meets Wed., March 19, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5427.  

Housing Advisory Commission meets Thurs., March 20, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Oscar Sung, 981-5400.  

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.