As Wall Street protests spread across America from Manhattan—to Boston, Hartford, Savannah, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Huntsville, Birmingham, Mobile. Columbus, Ga., Chicago, San Diego, among others—Berkeley, which recently survived the end of the world while awaiting "the revolution," joined one Saturday afternoon at the Bank of America Plaza at Center and Shattuck. 

Berkeley almost missed "the revolution." 

But thanks to heads up community organizing by a People's Park founder, Michael Delacour, 73, Berkeley is back in the game--with an initial crowd of more than one-hundred enthusiastic protesters, which is sure to grow. 

A process dubbed "general assembly," ably led by student leaders from the university moved a usually fractious mob to action. While avoiding the pitfalls of drafting demands, or writing a position paper, the crowd was unified enough, after a mere two hours of recitative consensus, to enlist more than ten volunteers to camp-in at the plaza to begin at 6p.m. and continue until "Hell freezes over," as one of the organizers put it. 

What began as a planning session became the beginning of a vibrant protest, with established protocols, and the prospects of long life. 

Russell Bates, of Cop Watch, a veteran Berkeley radical, could not believe his eyes. Looking to the heavens, he proclaimed, "Grandfather, I'm coming to join you" 

Delacour, earlier in the week, exhorting a group of People's Park users to protest, intoned, "if not now, when." 

When came sooner than anyone, including Delacour, could have expected. 

What spontaneously became a fully-formed protest had been billed as a "planning meeting." for a Wall Street protest scheduled for October 15 to give protestors time to collect their platforms and agendas. Instead at least two student leaders, who met with Delacour Wednesday after a small planning session in front of Bank of America on Telegraph, moved the crowd efficiently and swiftly to action. 

The demo is on, and it has no closing date, according to the organizers. "We're prepared to stay here until hell freezes over, one of the organizers said. 

How did the students do it? They used a process they called "general assembly," which they characterized as governmental. Here's how it works. Speakers speak briefly in a recitative oratory somewhere between rhythmic poetry and call and response. Speakers were limited (no more than three pro, three con). A speaker speaks his terse rhythmic message in tweets; the crowd repeats the words—a type of "active listening." 

They ought to patent the process, before donating it to Congress. You've got to see this to believe it. 

General assembly broke a log-jam over whether to stage the protest at downtown BA or Provo (lately AKA Martin Luther King Civic Center) Park. "Let's stay here for now, and if we grow, we can always branch out," it was agreed. 

The recitative style of oratory, which most speakers quickly adopted (it threw off Delacour, who has been known to ramble) was a major component of the successful event. 

Delacour was grass-rooting most of the week. He has interrupted his grieving for his wife, who died under mysterious circumstances more than four months ago, to lead the revolt. Earlier this week he took to the People's Park stage to exhort a motley band of People's Park regulars, lined up for free food, to join an anti-Wall Street protest. 

Delacour's appeal in the rain to a park food-line was met with indifference and shrugs. 

One woman called out, "I believe in alcohol," as some snickered. 

Delacour returned a day later to press his case, but this time with a brief appeal in which he offered to hold a demonstration under terms set by the crowd. "You pick the location for the protest," he offered. "It's your demonstration." 

Then he went to the end of the food line to get his Food Not Bombs feast. While in line, he discoursed on his relationship with his dead wife. 

This is a chance of a lifetime of community organizing for Delacour, and he seemed to be approaching his opportunity with great care. 

Wednesday he presided over a public planning committee meeting in front of Bank of America on Telegraph Avenue, which was attended by twenty, including eight students. For Delacour, whose People's Park organizing in the sixties relied on uniting with students, the symbolic student presence was a harbinger of a town-student action, and he glowed with satisfaction from the potential for sizable student involvement. 

Delacour's hopes, viewed by his detractors, as "crazy" came to fruition. 

"The students at the planning meeting told me, they can draw four-hundred students," Delacour said Thursday. Students may have fallen short of 400 (I counted fifteen), but the ones who turned out were choice. 

The new Mario Savios are John Holzinger, 20, from Pasadena, and Bo-Peter Laanen, 20, a Scandinavian. Both are Cal Political Science majors. Remember those names. 

 

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Ted Friedman started out reporting this story from South side, but wound up off-beat downtown.

Federal prosecutors in California announced a full-court-press crackdown on the state's commercial marijuana industry today, saying they will not allow large-scale, for-profit enterprises in the name of medical marijuana. 

The federal law enforcement effort was announced in a news conference in Sacramento by the four regional U.S. attorneys in the state, including Melinda Haag, the U.S. attorney for Northern California. 

California's voter-approved Compassionate Use Act of 1996 allows seriously ill patients to use medical marijuana with a doctor's permission, but federal laws criminalizing marijuana make no exception for state laws. 

The U.S. prosecutors said they will target large commercial enterprises and not individual patients. 

U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner of Sacramento said, "Large commercial operations cloak their money-making activities in the guise of helping sick people when they are in fact helping themselves." 

Wagner said, "Our interest is in enforcing federal criminal law, not prosecuting seriously ill sick people and those who are caring for them." 

The four U.S. attorneys said their enforcement actions will include civil forfeiture lawsuits against properties used in marijuana growing, warning letters to owners of property where marijuana is sold and criminal prosecutions. 

Haag said her office will begin by concentrating on marijuana dispensaries near schools and parks. 

"Marijuana stores operating in proximity to schools, parks and other areas where children are present send the wrong message to those in our society who are the most impressionable," Haag said. 

"In addition, the huge profits generated by these stores, and the value of their inventory, present a danger that the stores will become a magnet for crime, which jeopardizes the safety of nearby children," she said. 

Haag said that while Northern California enforcement will begin with stores near schools and parks, "we will almost certainly be taking action against others." 

"None are immune from action by the federal government," Haag said. 

Lynette Shaw, executive director of the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Fairfax, said the landlord of her dispensary received a "threatening and ominous" letter from Haag on Sept. 29. 

"It's very scary for us. We don't know what's going to happen," Shaw said. 

She said she believes her landlord doesn't want to evict the group, but that the landlord is consulting a lawyer about his options. 

The dispensary is 50 yards from Peri Park, Shaw said. But she said she believes the organization's presence has "absolutely not" harmed children and has in fact helped because it has reduced the number of street dealers of marijuana. 

The Marin Alliance received a use permit from Fairfax in 1997 and is the longest-standing medical marijuana dispensary in the state, Shaw said.  

She said the permit now has 53 conditions and said the alliance has "abided by every rule." 

Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana advocacy group, called the crackdown "a full frontal assault on medical cannabis." 

ASA Chief Council Joseph Elford said, "Aggressive tactics like these are a completely inappropriate use of prosecutorial discretion by the Obama Administration." 

Dale Gieringer, coordinator of the California branch of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said, "With the federal budget on empty, the economy in disarray, our prisons overflowing, and prohibition-related violence raging across the border, it's an outrageous misuse of federal resources to wage war on marijuana dispensaries." 

Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole said in a statement from Washington, D.C., that the Justice Department "will not focus our investigative and prosecutorial resources on individual patients with serious illnesses like cancer or their immediate caregivers." 

But "the actions taken today in California by our U.S. attorneys and their law enforcement partners are consistent with the department's commitment to enforcing existing federal laws," Cole said. 

California was the first state in the nation to enact a medical marijuana law. Fifteen other states now have similar laws, according to NORML.

[Editor's Note:This is the second of two articles. Yesterday's article described in greater detail how Berkeley's new SmartBoot system, to be implemented on October 18, will work.]

Under the recently announced SmartBoot program, the Berkeley Police Department will drive a "boot van" around town. Equipped with cameras, computers, and a network connection this van will automatically detect parked cars from the scofflaw list - those with too many overdue parking tickets. When the van spots a scofflaw it stops and a parking enforcement officer boots the car with SmartBoot. Violators can remove the boot themselves if they are able to pay their fees and past due fines over the phone with a credit card. 

How does the system work? 

The City and PayLock LLC 

The SmartBoot system arises from a contract between the City of Berkeley and PayLock LLC, a New Jersey based corporation. PayLock operates a 24-hour help-line for people who have been booted. PayLock provides the city with the boot van equipment, SmartBoots, and various web-based IT services. PayLock also provides training, integration assistance, and, it would seem, PR help. 

Propagating the Scofflaw List 

Matt Silverman, Executive Vice President of PayLock Inc. walked us through the process: 

Each night the BPD's information systems generate a "scofflaw list" of wanted vehicles for the next day. The list includes license plate ids and information about the amount owed. The list is saved as a simple file. 

BPD's systems then copy the scofflaw list to PayLock's servers. "It's just an FTP thing," quipped Silverman. 

Once on PayLock's servers, the data is available to the 24-hour help line for people whose cars have been booted. 

PayLock also remotely copies the data to the Berkeley boot van computer, preparing it for the next day's rounds. 

Scanning Cars 

According to PayLock literature, the boot van should be able to cruise down most Berkeley streets at the speed limit, scanning licenses as fast as it goes. 

On the computer in the van, each license identified is compared to the earlier downloaded scofflaw list. When a match is found, the enforcement officer is alerted. 

The enforcement officer can then use the van's computer and network connection to contact PayLock's web servers, and double check that the scofflaw listing is current. If a scofflaw has paid his tickets and the payment been processed by the time the vehicle is spotted, the vehicle can be quickly removed from PayLock's copy of the scofflaw list and the boot avoided, even if the vehicle is still found on the boot van's copy of the list. 

If the scofflaw listing is current, the enforcing officer can boot the offending vehicle. 

When a vehicle is booted, the computer in the boot van notifies the PayLock servers of the relevant details. These are recorded in PayLock's databases. The secret unlock code is recorded at PayLock for that vehicle. 

Paying Up 

Violators who choose to pay by phone call PayLock's customer service line which is available at all hours, every day. Upon payment of fines, a $140 booting fee, and a $500 deposit, PayLock will give the violator the secret code to unlock the boot. 

PayLock's servers in turn notify the City's of the payment. 

The Lifecycle of SmartBoots 

PayLock maintains the pool of available boots. It issues boots to the city in anticipation of estimated demand (number of scofflaws likely to be caught). Boots are returned to a PayLock-affiliated return center. 

Data Retention Policy 

Scofflaw data on PayLock servers is preserved for a time. The exact length of time is, Silverman says, up to the City. 

Other PayLock Services 

Berkeley is not, at this time, adopting some of PayLock's other services that use much of the same equipment: digital chalking and permitting. These are what they sound like: using the cameras and computers and license plate recognition (plus, optionally, RFID reading) so that vans can recognize cars permitted to park in certain areas and can recognize cars that are over-parked in time-limited zones. In addition to being used for booting, the boot van is capable (if the city begins using these services) of helping make ordinary ticketing more efficient. 

"Off Label" Law Enforcement Uses 

We asked Silverman if the system could be used for other aspects of law enforcement. For example, could it be used to spot stolen vehicles? Could it be used to search for the vehicle of a wanted criminal? Silverman suggested Amber Alerts as an example of a case where the boot van could be used in the urgent search for a wanted vehicle. 

If the police department wants to, Silverman informed us, additional licenses can be added to the search list, by hand, on the boot van computer. The officer in the van need only type in the additional license numbers. 

We asked BPD Chief Michael K. Meehan about such other uses. He reports that BPD "has no immediate plans" to use the system for anything other than parking scofflaws. 

We asked Meehan if expanding the uses of the system was in the cards. He says that there are "no immediate plans" to do so. 

We asked if the police department would require additional authorization from the city before using the system for anything other than scofflaw enforcement. Chief Meehan wasn't certain. 

Some Risks 

At first glance it may seem that there could be no new risks created by the use of this system. After all, ever since license plates were first introduced more than a century ago, police have had the legitimate right to search the streets for a sought-after car. Proponents say that the new system makes that traditional search more efficient. 

Nevertheless, the boot van and SmartBoot program represent a sweeping change in how these searches are done. New risks result which we consider below: 

Risk Factors of the PayLock Corporate Form 

PayLock LLC is a privately held, New Jersey based corporation. This does not in and of itself create new risks, but it enhances risks that arise from other causes. 

Because PayLock is a privately held corporation its financial reporting requirements are significantly less than those of a publicly traded firm, and less than those of a government agency. PayLock's services assume some police and municipal functions, but with less financial accountability than if these functions remained with the city. 

Because PayLock is a privately held corporation in an out of state jurisdiction, it is far less subject to operational oversight and review than any government agency. For example, the city's internal handling of scofflaw records can be scrutinized through a variety of governmental audit mechanisms none of which apply to PayLock's handling of these same records. The city and PayLock agree upon rules for handling these records, but the opportunities to verify that the rules are being followed are diminished by PayLock's corporate form. 

The Risk of Vendor Lock-in 

The services provided by PayLock are not a commodity. If the city wished to continue to operate a boot van and use smart boots, but to switch from PayLock to another vendor or to internally provided services, it would have a hard time. 

At the same time, the city accumulates a sunk investment cost in staff training time and entrenchment of new parking enforcement practices. Even to revert back to a tow-only system of parking enforcement would cost the city. 

PayLock may therefore enjoy pricing power that works against the interests of Berkeley residents and the city government. For example, if they later demand that the booting fee be raised from $140 to some higher amount, the City may have little realistic choice but to assent. 

The Risk of Diminishing Returns and the Pressure to Expand Uses 

At the press conference where PayLock was introduced, we overheard City Council Member Capitelli ask Silverman whether diminishing returns on scofflaw enforcement ought to be expected. For example, in an initial sweep many long-standing scofflaws could be caught, bringing a lot of money to the city and to PayLock. Will that initially high level of revenue keep up? Or will it trail off as fewer people become scofflaws. 

Silverman said that in other cities such as Oakland they've seen a high initial spike in scofflaw enforcement, which then settles down to a slightly smaller but roughly stable level of revenue. 

We conclude that because PayLock is a for profit company, there is some risk that Berkeley will be encouraged or pressured to expand the uses of the PayLock technology in order to justify PayLock's continued presence. For example, as the police department becomes comfortable with the technology, perhaps there will be pressure to add more equipped enforcement vehicles and use the system for digital permitting and chalking. 

Such expansion would multiply other risk factors. For example, it would expand PayLock's assumption of police and city functions. Adoption of uses like digital permitting and chalking would strengthen PayLock's pricing power over service fees. 

The Risk of Data Escape 

Can the City of Berkeley's scofflaw records and other data be stolen from PayLock by third party criminals? 

Silverman pointed out that PayLock takes data security seriously, for example by storing data in an encrypted form. (A data thief would need not only the encrypted files, but also a stolen encryption key or other means of de-encrypting the file.) Unfortunately, there was not time for us to explore PayLock's data security measures in detail. 

Data security systems are notoriously difficult to implement well. It is common for systems that superficially appear quite secure to in fact contain design gaffes that leave them wide open to data theft. PayLock's data storage creates a data theft risk that is difficult, at best, to assess other than to make the general observation that truly secure systems are the exception, not the rule. 

This in and of itself would be nothing new: Berkeley's own IT systems are also a potential target for data thieves. 

Yet, the use of PayLock does heighten the risk in this sense: PayLock's servers contain data not only for Berkeley, but for all municipalities with which PayLock does business. A data thief stealing scofflaw data from Berkeley's own systems gets only Berkeley data, but a thief stealing from PayLock gets a much larger prize. In general, the effort data thieves are willing to make to steal some resource goes up, the more potentially valuable data there is. 

The Risk of Weak Employee Accountability 

When a violator calls PayLock's 24/7 help line, Silverman says, the operators have very limited information from the scofflaw list, Silverman says. Help line operators have the violator's license number and amount owed, but are not provided the car owner's name, address, and so forth. 

Nevertheless, violators must provide operators with a name and credit card number. 

Public record searches can usually, given a license plate number, identify the car's owner, address and so forth. In combination with credit card information, this is enough for acts of identity theft. 

There is of course no reason to assume that PayLock's help line operators are more likely than anyone else to commit identity theft, nor that PayLock's internal operations would make this easy. Unfortunately, though, the stakes are high because of the high volume and large number of calls PayLock processes for all the municipalities it serves. 

PayLock's corporate form (see above) compounds the problem because it diminishes the potential for oversight and auditing of the formerly governmental function of payment collection. 

The Risk of Internal Misuses 

Because of PayLock's corporate form, the potential for unchecked or even unnoticed misuse of city data internally to PayLock is greater than if the city performed these functions internally. 

It is our impression, in part from speaking with Silverman, that PayLock takes its responsibilities quite seriously. We intuitively doubt that they are likely anytime soon to do anything quite this nefarious, but here is an example of "what could possibly go wrong" but that PayLock's corporate form would make hard to detect. We emphasize again that we don't believe PayLock is currently inclined to come close to a misuse like this: 

Suppose that in some of PayLock's client cities, politicians are running for office who oppose the use of PayLock's services. PayLock could perform wholesale searches to find discrediting information against those politicians ("that woman never pays her parking tickets", "that guy parks in front of a brothel a lot") more cheaply and easily than by conventional and sanctioned means of searching. Having easily found a target to discredit, an evil version of PayLock could then obtain the same information by overt means (for plausible deniability) and leak it to the press without exposing the underlying abuse of police data. 

The Risk of Police Corruption 

This risk is inherent to any boot van system, regardless of whether it is operated by PayLock or internally by the city. 

The system is flexible enough to allow searches for vehicles other than scofflaw vehicles. As Silverman explained, additional licenses to search for can be entered into the computer on the van. 

Without strict and proactive auditing, this creates a potential for abuse if enforcement officers search for particular licenses for purposes other than law enforcement. 

We, of course, have great faith in our sworn officers and yet, even Berkeley has seen its share of police corruption such as thefts from evidence rooms. How would corrupt license searches work? 

As one example, a private detective might be seeking evidence of an adulterous affair for use in a divorce proceeding. By covertly partnering with enforcement officers, the detective could have help locating the target's vehicle. If it is found in a surprising location the information can be passed to the detective (in exchange for money) who can then "find" the car independently and use the evidence without exposing the misuse of the boot van. 

Strict auditing of the boot van use - assuming that PayLock's software enables it - can help prevent such problems but requires concentrated effort to implement and sustain. This problem is intrinsic to any mobile license plate recognition system that can be field programmed to search for arbitrary vehicles. 

The Risk of Population Tracking 

The system being deployed in Berkeley does not, as configured, record and report back a list of all parked cars scanned, where, and when - it focuses only on the vehicles targeted in the Scofflaw list. 

Silverman confirmed, however, that the system is capable of recording all parked vehicles - a record that can be used to track the movements of innocent drivers as well as guilty. 

That "track everyone" capability is gaining popularity with law enforcement. Industry standards have arisen to collect that information into searchable databases, allowing police to search "backwards in time" for the whereabouts of anyone they like. Because the data is collected without the need for a warrant, as things stand, it can be retained and searched without a warrant and with few meaningful restrictions on the purpose of the search. 

The Berkeley Police Department has no plans to perform this kind of surveillance and we suspect would be reluctant to rush into such a program. Nevertheless, times change. Little appears to stand in their way of eventually performing that kind of surveillance with no need for additional authorization from the city and no additional oversight. 

Generalized population tracking, if it were to begin, would heighten the risks of corrupt abuse of the system. Additionally, it would greatly challenge the balance of police powers vs. civil liberties. 

The Risk of "Wholesale" Surveillance 

Police have always had the right to examine the license plate of parked car and compare it to a list of wanted vehicles - or to look up information about any vehicle for legitimate police purposes. In that sense, the PayLock system is nothing new. 

What has changed is that such searches are now quantitatively so much more efficient, that there is a qualitative change in the civic order. 

The term "wholesale surveillance" to describe this kind of qualitative shift was coined by security expert Bruce Schneier who wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle and on his blog: 

"On the face of it, this is nothing new. The police have always been able to run a license plate check. The difference is they would do it manually, and that limited its use. It simply wasn't feasible for the police to run the plates of every car in a parking garage, or every car that passed through an intersection. What is different isn't the police tactic, but the efficiency of the process. 

"Technology is fundamentally changing the nature of surveillance. Years ago, surveillance meant trench-coated detectives following people down streets. It was laborious and expensive, and was only used when there was reasonable suspicion of a crime. Modern surveillance is the police officer with a license-plate scanner, or even a remote license-plate scanner mounted on a traffic light and a police officer sitting at a computer in the police station. It's the same, but it's completely different. 

"It's wholesale surveillance. 

"And it disrupts the balance between the powers of the police and the rights of the people.” 

Schneier later adds: 

"Like the license-plate scanners, the electronic footprints we leave everywhere can be automatically correlated with databases. The data can be stored forever, allowing police to conduct surveillance backward in time. 

"The effect of wholesale surveillance on privacy and civil liberties is profound; but unfortunately, the debate often gets mischaracterized as a question about how much privacy we need to give up in order to be secure. This is wrong. 

"It's obvious that we are all safer when the police can use all techniques at their disposal. What we need are corresponding mechanisms to prevent abuse, and that don't place an unreasonable burden on the innocent." 

This is awkward for a city like Berkeley. The adoption of PayLock by Berkeley is motivated by the goals of increasing city revenue by collecting on overdue tickets, while reducing enforcement costs and (purportedly) improving customer service. A resource strapped city like Berkeley, pursuing such goals, is less than likely to invest adequately in new regulations and mechanisms to prevent abuse. 

The wholesale surveillance aspect of the system makes it a bit like a very dangerous power tool. We hope that the people using the tool (the police and PayLock) will be careful and responsible, but for its unprecedented power there are precious few substantial protections from abuse. 

The Risk of Federalizing Municipal Police 

In the years that have followed the attack on the World Trade Center, federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies have been building intelligence information systems. These are used to share massive surveillance databases among agencies. These systems include information sharing partnerships with states and municipalities. 

On the one hand, this is understandable and hopefully helpful. The nature of threats to public safety has changed dramatically. Centralized intelligence gathering has reportedly been helpful in detecting and thwarting terrorist efforts in their planning stages, before attacks can be carried out. 

On the other hand, this new mode of federalized surveillance of the general population is rife with potential for abuse yet is being carried out far away from meaningful oversight and accountability to the general public. 

As the ties and information sharing between municipalities like Berkeley and the Department of Homeland Security grow, there are few if any barriers to prevent license plate recognition technology from being used to conduct wholesale surveillance of the general population, forwarding the information to federal databases. 

The Risk of Third Party Surveillance 

Regardless of what actions are taken by PayLock, Berkeley, or the federal government, the risk of wholesale surveillance by third parties is also growing. 

PayLock's system of license plate recognition is polished and conveniently packaged, but the underlying technology is widely available. A determined private party could covertly equip any vehicle with discreet cameras and computers, drive around, and track vehicles. Even if Berkeley had not decided to use PayLock's systems at all, this risk would be present. 

Is the Sky Falling? What Can be Done? 

The sky is not (yet) falling. We have no reason to believe that, beginning October 18th, the newly deployed PayLock system will be abused. It seems far from likely. 

Nevertheless, in light of the risk factors considered above, it is hard to see how use of the technology in Berkeley will not expand, over time, putting us on a slippery slope to abuse and unchecked enhancement of policing powers at the cost of civil liberties. The risks should be taken quite seriously. Sadly, confronting these risks aggressively is likely to be expensive and politically difficult. 

Some suggestions for Berkeley: 

Berkeley's use of the PayLock system should be reviewed frequently, perhaps each six months. Reviews must not be limited to the system's impact on the city's bottom line nor to the purported customer service benefits. Reviews should look for positive proof that the system has not been abused in the field. Reviews should seek a definitive assessment of how data is being shared and used. Reviews should examine the data retention policies and their implications. 

For fiduciary as well as civil rights reasons, Berkeley should begin to explore the alternative of operating its intelligence gathering systems purely internally, without the need for third party out-of-state corporation. That is, a priority should be made of restoring to the city those police and bureaucratic functions which PayLock assumes. As the underlying technology becomes less expensive and more mature, this option should become easier for the city. 

The city should implement new systems of regulation and oversight for this and similar forms of surveillance. The police department should not be able to expand use of the system without prior approval from city council after public disclosure and hearings. 

The city, the police (and others) should respect the intelligence of the residents and engage in a public education effort to inform Berkeley residents of the detailed operations of the system, its risks, its implications, and what steps are being taken to mediate the risks. The people of Berkeley should be full partners in deciding whether and how to continue using this technology. Glossy sales pitches about improvements to "customer service" and the city's bottom line gloss over what is at stake in a condescending, unhelpful way. 

Meanwhile: Happy motoring and watch where you park.

Abdul Fattah Jandali, a young Syrian Muslim immigrant in Wisconsin, never met his son Steve Jobs. When a baby was born to the 23-year-old Jandali—now known as John— and his 23-year-old German-American girlfriend, Joanne Schieble, in 1955, there was no chance he'd be able to grow up with his biological parents. 

Joanne, who belonged to a white, conservative Christian family could not convince her parents to marry an Arab, a Muslim, according to Jandali, who called her father "a tyrant" in a New York Post interview in August 2011. In fact, according to Jandali, she secretly went from Wisconsin to liberal San Francisco to sort out the birth and adoption without letting either him or her parents know. 

And so it was that a nameless Arab American baby was adopted by an Armenian American family. Clara Hagopian and her husband Paul Jobs had been married around seven years and had not been able to conceive. The little bundle that would be Steve, was very much wanted in the Jobs household. 

Steven Paul Jobs, as they named him, grew up without ever knowing his biological father. It seems he had no interest in knowing him later in life, either. When, in August 2011, the London tabloid The Sun, contacted Jandali, he publicly reached out to Steve saying, "“I live in hope that before it is too late he will reach out to me. Even to have just one coffee with him just once would make me a very happy man.” 

But Steve never replied. Less than two months later, he has passed away. 

Jandali says it was his "Syrian pride" that kept him from reaching out to his famous son. In a September 2011 interview with the Reno Gazette—Reno, Nevada being the city the 80-year-old Jandali lives and where, having never retired, he is the Vice President of a casino. "The Syrian pride in me does not want him ever to think I am after his fortune. I am not. I have my own money. What I don’t have is my son...and that saddens me." 

One wonders what Jobs knew of his background. 

His biological father was no ordinary Syrian. According to an interview he gave to the Al Hayat newspaper in February 2011, he was born in French-mandated Syria in 1931 in the town of Homs to a "self-made millionaire" father with no university education who owned "several entire villages" and a homemaker, traditional mother. He was one of five children – the only son of a family with 4 daughters. 

He left Syria at 18 to study at the American University in Beirut, where he was "a pan-Arab activist", a "supporter of Arab unity and Arab independence" who organized with some of the most famous activists of his time. After university, he moved to the United States, and the rest is history, though he regrets leaving his homeland. 

"If I had the chance to go back in time, I wouldn’t leave Syria or Lebanon at all. I would stay in my home country my whole life. I don’t say that out of emotion but out of common sense,” he told Al Hayat. “Of course I miss the social life and wonderful food [in Syria], but the most important thing is the outstanding cultural attributes which in general you don’t find in the West,” says the non-practicing Muslim, who nonetheless “believe[s] in Islam in doctrine and culture.” 

His nostalgia aside, millions worldwide would no doubt disagree with Jandali. Surely a Steve Jobs of Apple Computers could only have been possible in America. 

The estrangement of a father and son is made even more tragic by the fact that not only did each know of the other, but they shared more than a father-son biological connection. Jandali and Schieble eventually did marry— just ten months after she gave their baby boy away to adoption, and just a few months after Joanne's father died. And they had another child—a daughter with whom Steve eventually had a relationship. Mona Jandali— now Simpson— is a world renowned author who was, in her own words, "very close" to her brother Steve once they established a relationship as adults. 

According to Jandali, he had no idea until just a few years ago that the baby his then-girlfriend secretly gave birth to in San Francisco was the man the world knew as Steve Jobs. But Steve must have known for decades, through his relationship with Mona. 

In the August New York Post interview, Jandali tried to let his son know that he didn’t know of Joanne’s San Francisco plans. That he was saddened when he learned of it. "I honestly do not know to this day if Steve is aware of the fact that had it been my choice, I would have loved to have kept him," he said. 

And unless Jobs’s upcoming November authorized biography addresses the issue, Jandali may never know. Instead, with news of Jobs's death, Jandali has

[Editor's Note: This is the first of two articles about Berkeley's new SmartBoot system. Tomorrow's article will explore the risks to citizens created by the city's use of this technology..]

Have you accumulated too many overdue parking parking tickets? If so, the Berkeley Police Department is putting you on notice: your car may soon be booted.

Beginning October 18th BPD will start using new tools to enforce against parking scofflaws. The "boot van", equipped with cameras, a computer, and wireless network connection, will roam the city scanning the license plates of parked cars, looking for those with too many overdue tickets. 

When the boot van spots a vehicle with 5 or more outstanding parking tickets, each at least 30 days old, an alarm will be signaled and the parking enforcement officer will verify the identification and immobilize the vehicle with a SmartBoot™. . Notices will be posted on both the driver's side window and windshield to ensure that drivers know their vehicle cannot be driven. 

The SmartBoot physically resembles traditional boots and immobilizes a vehicle in much the same way, but it adds some high-tech twists. SmartBoots have a numeric keypad. A car owner can remove a SmartBoot, in minutes by punching in a secret numeric code. The catch is that to obtain the code, the violator must first call a customer service number, give a credit card number, and pay up. (The new booting program also includes provisions for owners unable or unwilling to pay over the phone by credit card, and provisions for drivers physically unable to remove the boot themselves.) 

BPD is encouraging parking ticket scofflaws to pay up now, before October 18th, to avoid the extra hassle and penalties of getting booted. 

The Scofflaw Problem 

In the twelve month period ending on September 28, 2011, parking ticket scofflaws accumulated a roughly $1.5 million dollar debt to the city. 

Until now, the city's system for tracking down violators has been expensive and inconvenient for both the city and the violators: 

City employees have had to search "by eye" for offending vehicles and then arrange for them to be towed. The cameras and computers on the boot van are expected to streamline this process: The boot van can drive the speed limit while simultaneously scanning license plates on both sides of the street. One enforcement officer can check many more vehicles per hour than by using traditional methods. 

In the past, violators had to spend hours making a payment (including a $300 towing fee, plus impound charges for vehicles not retrieved promptly). Violators had to visit the impound lot to retrieve their vehicles. Now, drivers with a suitable credit card and phone can remove boots themselves, in minutes and be on their way. 

The Cost of Getting Caught 

If your car is booted, here is what you can expect: 

Seizure notices on your car: Parking enforcement officers will attach large notices to the driver's side window and windshield, alerting you that your car has been booted. The notices include a toll free customer service number which operates 24 hours a day, every day. 

Opportunity to pay over the phone If you have a suitable credit card, the customer service number can accept payment for your outstanding tickets, plus a $140 non-refundable booting fee, plus a $500 refundable deposit on the boot itself. Those unable to make such a payment can, for example, visit city service center to pay their fine in person. 

Self-help removing the boot: Once you are paid up, you'll be given the secret code number that can unlock the boot. You can remove the boot and be on your way in minutes. 

Return the boot for your deposit: You must drop off the boot at a return center to receive back your $500 deposit. Late fees accumulate if you do not, although BPD Traffic Bureau Lieutenant Diane Delaney says that the city can work something out with people who genuinely can not make the 24 hour deadline. 

Or else get towed after-all: If you've been booted and don't resolve the issue within 48 hours, your car becomes "tow-able", says Delaney, with a corresponding accumulation of additional fees. 

Attempting to Enforce Fairly and Evenly 

Delaney says that BPD wants to be sure the new enforcement technology is applied evenly to all parts of the city. Therefore, she says, the Traffic Bureau has divided the city into 10 "zones". The boot van will be deployed in one zone at a time, cycling through all other zones before returning. 

BPD Public Information Officer Sgt. Mary Kusmiss emphasized that pursuing parking ticket scofflaws has always been a focus of the department — the new boot van and SmartBoot are new tools in that effort, not a change in priorities.

Fever, headaches, muscle aches and fatigue. For members of the University of California at Berkeley community, these symptoms could spell more than a common cold -- they could mean a case of the mumps.

The university community is experiencing an outbreak of the viral infection after several cases of mumps were confirmed in students last Thursday, campus health officials said.

On Tuesday, UC Berkeley's health services website posted an alert about the outbreak, encouraging all Cal students, faculty and staff -- regardless of their vaccination history -- to receive an additional dose of the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, or MMR. 

Most people receive two doses of MMR, with the first administered at 12 to 15 months of age and the second given any time at least four weeks after the first dose. 

Mumps is spread by droplets of saliva or mucus originating from the mouth, nose or throat of an infected person. 

"University Health Services and the City of Berkeley's Public Health Division are working closely with the California Department of Public Health to limit (the) spread of the disease," the alert read. 

Members of the UC Berkeley community should review their vaccination history, and health officials recommend that people seek vaccination if they are not sure whether they have received two doses of MMR. 

Officials also said that a third MMR dose may be helpful in stopping mumps outbreaks. 

The cases confirmed last week involved students residing on the Clark-Kerr campus, which is about half a mile south of the main campus, and living in the Cloyne student cooperative on the north side of campus. A suspected case also involved a student residing in the Cheney Hall dormitory. 

The number of confirmed cases was not provided in the alert. 

Symptoms generally develop 16 to 18 days after exposure to the virus, but may manifest anywhere between 14 to 25 days after exposure, health officials said. 

Those who may have been exposed to mumps should be alert for symptoms including fever, headache, muscle aches, fatigue and loss of appetite, as well as swollen or tender salivary glands under the ears, jaw or under the tongue -- on one or both sides of the face. 

Treatment involves getting plenty of rest and consuming fluids. Antibiotics, which are not effective against viruses, are not useful in treating mumps. 

University health officials advice those who may be infected to stay home and contact a health care provider. UC Berkeley students or Tang Center patients may contact the nurse advice line at (510) 643-7197. 

Calls to representatives from University Health Services and the City of Berkeley's Public Health Division seeking comment were not immediately returned today.

Charles Rawson Collier, a long time resident of Berkeley, passed away on September 6,2011, just days before his 76^th birthday. Charles came to Berkeley in 1964 with his first family to work as a visual artist, producing acrylics, etchings and prints. He soon became involved with the Free Speech Movement, participating in demonstrations and rallies at the Peoples’ Park and elsewhere in Berkeley. He with his wife Corlu founded the Committee for the Rights of the Disabled (CRT), a precursor of the Center for Independent Living in the Berkeley area. Charles advocated for handicapped accessibility on San Francisco transport and many other issues. He himself fought lifelong adversity and disability to live independently in his own home until his recent illness.  

Charles had a mischievous enjoyment and childlike enthusiasm for inventions, creations, and disruptions of the norm. He delighted in the kites flown at the Marina Park and the anonymous sculptures that appeared on the Bay shores. He spent months planning for his perfect photo of a solar eclipse. He was proud of his ability to solve all kinds of problems, including building of his own leg brace. He reinvented himself as new interests came into his life. He became well known for his Renaissance Woodwind Instruments (Collier Instruments) which he fashioned in his shop at the back of his house – recorders, shawms, flutes, and cornettini. His instruments are still played by early music groups in concert. When the business lost ground, he developed linotype equipment which allowed for greatly expanded printing capacity, As the industry moved to new technology. Charles became a recording engineer. He recorded student concerts for the Berkeley Public Schools and the Cazadero Music Camp, giving students, parents and teachers the joy of savoring student performances with his professional recordings.  

Charles will be remembered by neighbors and friends for his insistence on doing things for himself despite impediments. He loved zipping around Berkeley from his Grant Street home on his electric scooter, visiting his favorite coffee shop and Thai restaurant on Shattuck Avenue, or traveling as far as BART would take him to new destinations. He documented accessibility on BART with the hope of producing a publication. 

Charles was born in Washington, D.C. on September 10, 1935 to Nina Perera Collier and Charles Wood Collier. He grew up on Indian Spring Farm in Darlington, Md. He attended the Friends School in Baltimore, then Swarthmore College, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students League in NYC. He moved to Berkeley after exploring life in Taos, NM; Oaxaca, Mexico; and Portland, OR. He is survived by his two families, Melinda Collier and daughter Nina Collier; Corlu Collier, daughter Liz Collier, and son Richard Mulders; siblings, Leo, George, Lucy Collier and Monica Schmidt; nephews David John, Nicholas and Patrick Collier; niece Lucy Jane Collier; and extended family. A memorial event will be scheduled at a future time.

University of California at Berkeley professor Saul Perlmutter won the Nobel Prize in physics today by being part of a team of scientists who discovered that the universe is expanding at an ever-accelerating pace. 

And now Perlmutter's fame is expanding at an ever-accelerating pace as well. 

Perlmutter, 52, told about 150 people at a news conference at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he is a faculty senior scientist, that he was wakened at 3 a.m. by a reporter who asked him how he felt about winning the prize along with two other scientists. 

He said he spent about an hour wondering if it was a hoax as "reporter after reporter" called him, but he finally got a call from Nobel Prize authorities in Sweden who officially told him that he had in fact won the prize. 

Perlmutter, a native of Champaign, Ill., who earned his doctorate from UC Berkeley in 1986, will get half of the $1.5 million prize. The other half will be shared by Adam G. Riess, 41, of Johns Hopkins University and Brian Schmidt, 44, of Australian National University's Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories. 

Perlmutter heads the international Supernova Cosmology Project, which pioneered the methods used to discover the accelerating expansion of the universe, and has been a leader in studies to determine the nature of dark energy. 

Riess and Schmidt are members of the competing High-Z Supernova Search team. 

Joining Perlmutter at the news conference, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau said Perlmutter is the 22nd Berkeley faculty member to win a Nobel Prize and the 13th Berkeley Lab member to be a winner. 

Birgeneau said, "There wasn't a eureka moment" in which Perlmutter and his colleagues made a quick finding but instead "it took decades of work that went against the conventional wisdom and they did the hard science necessary for a great discovery." 

Perlmutter, a balding, bespectacled man who spoke with a smile and great energy, said scientists had previously thought that the universe was slowing down and "could come to a halt someday." 

But he said he and his colleagues found that the universe is in fact speeding up. 

Perlmutter said his team spent months confirming their findings before they announced their breakthrough because they wanted to make sure they were correct. 

"It was the slowest 'aha' moment in history," Perlmutter joked. 

He said the acceleration of the universe is thought to be driven by dark energy, but there is still much that remains to be discovered. 

"Science is a method, not a finished product," Perlmutter said, adding, "We don't know if we can do something magical" with his group's findings. 

In announcing the prize, the Nobel committee said the discoveries by Perlmutter, Riess and Schmidt "came as a complete surprise even to the Laureates themselves." 

But the committee warned that their findings indicate that the universe probably "will end in ice." 

Perlmutter lives in Berkeley with his wife and daughter and thanked them "for putting up with me" when he "disappears for nights on end" and works around the clock on his research. 

Commenting on his approach to his work, Perlmutter said, "You have to enjoy having your mind boggled to go into this field. It's part of the joy of it." 

Another part of the joy of winning the Nobel Prize for Perlmutter is that Birgeneau handed him a parking pass that entitles him to park for free anywhere on the UC Berkeley campus, a privilege that's reserved for Nobel winners. 

Perlmutter joked, "Now it's all been worthwhile!"

The American Planning Association has designated Berkeley's Northbrae neighborhood, the home of Councilmember Laurie Capitelli, as one of "America's Great Places". From the APA website: 

APA's flagship program celebrates places of exemplary character, quality, and planning. Places are selected annually and represent the gold standard in terms of having a true sense of place, cultural and historical interest, community involvement, and a vision for tomorrow. 

APA Great Places offer better choices for where and how people work and live. They are enjoyable, safe, and desirable. They are places where people want to be — not only to visit, but to live and work every day. America's truly great streets, neighborhoods and public spaces are defined by many criteria, including architectural features, accessibility, functionality, and community involvement. 

The designation describes Northbrae thus: 

Nestled in the rolling foothills amidst outcroppings of volcanic rock, Northbrae stands out for its spectacular vistas of San Francisco Bay, environmentally sensitive design, connections to a unique network of 136 paths and steps crisscrossing Berkeley, and two nearby commercial areas for shopping and entertainment. Built on land used for grazing cattle, Northbrae was developed by Duncan McDuffie, who envisioned a park-like neighborhood of single-family houses nestled on lots facing tree-lined streets. 

A full description of Northbrae's many amenities can be found on the website. 

The Northbrae neighborhood is free from the highrise mixed use residential/commercial buildings of the type now envisioned by the city council as appropriate for Berkeley's flatland neighborhoods, including Downtown, Southside and West Berkeley. There are no plans to add such uses.

Rumors escaping from last night's special meeting of the Berkeley City Council,reported this morning, indicated that as widely expected Deputy City Manager Chris Daniel will become Berkeley's Interim City Manager when Phil Kamlarz retires at the end of November. This has now been confirmed in an email from Councilmember Jesse Arreguin forwarding a communication from the city clerk's office.

Councilmember Worthington, seconded by Councilmember Moore, moved to appoint Christine Daniel as Interim City Manager for a period of 6 months, subject to review at that time and to authorize the Mayor to negotiate salary.

The motion, which passed unanimously, was sponsored by Berkeley's two gay councilmembers, possibly because Daniels will be not only Berkeley's first woman city manager, but also the city's first Lesbian and first openly gay city manager.  

Calls to Daniels' office have not been returned.

Saul Perlmutter, who led one of two teams that simultaneously discovered the accelerating expansion of the universe, has been awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, to be shared with two members of the rival team.

Perlmutter, 52, a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, and a faculty senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), led the Supernova Cosmology Project that, in 1998, discovered that galaxies are receding from one another faster now than they were billions of years ago. 

He will share the prize with Adam G. Riess, 41, of The Johns Hopkins University and Brian Schmidt, 44, of Australian National University’s Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories, two members of the competing High-Z Supernova Search team. When the discovery was made, Riess was a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley working with astronomer Alex Filippenko, who at different times was a member of both teams. 

Perlmutter is the fifth Nobel winner for UC Berkeley in the past 11 years, and the 22nd Nobelist overall. This is the ninth Nobel in Physics awarded to a UC Berkeley faculty member, the most recent winner being George Smoot in 2006. 

The most recent National Research Council nationwide rankings identify the Department of Physics as among the best in the nation. 

The accelerating expansion means that the universe could expand forever until, in the distant future, it is cold and dark. The teams’ discovery led to speculation that there is a “dark energy” that is pushing the universe apart. Though dark energy theoretically makes up 73 percent of the matter and energy of the universe, astronomers and physicists have so far failed to discover the nature of this strange, repulsive force. 

In recent years, Perlmutter has been working with NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to build and launch the first space-based observatory designed specifically to understand the nature of dark energy. A dark-energy mission was named the top telescope-building priority in an August 2010 report from a blue-ribbon committee of the National Academy of Sciences. 

Using supernovae as cosmic yardsticks 

Perlmutter was a postdoctoral fellow at LBNL when he decided to focus on Type Ia supernovae as yardsticks to measure the geometry of the universe. Astronomers knew that the universe was expanding, but the main question at the time was whether the universe was open, and thus destined to expand forever, or closed, meaning that the expansion would eventually stop and the universe would collapse back on itself. 

He and his LBNL team were puzzled by initial results in 1997 indicating that, not only was the universe’s expansion not slowing down, it was speeding up, contrary to all cosmological theories. 

“The chain of analysis was so long that at first we were reluctant to believe our result,” Perlmutter said. “But the more we analyzed it, the more it wouldn’t go away.” 

The High-Z team came to the same conclusion at the same time, based on an independent set of Type Ia supernovae. 

“There was no hint of this when we started the project,” Riess said in 1998 while still a Miller Postdoctoral Research Fellow at UC Berkeley. “We expected to see the universe slowing down, but instead, all the data fit a universe that is speeding up.” 

The discovery, reported by both teams in 1998, has since been bolstered by independent measurements. The earliest and most important of these confirmations were by the Millimeter Anisotropy eXperiment IMaging Array (MAXIMA), a balloon-borne experiment led by UC Berkeley physicist Paul Richards, and the Balloon Observations Of Millimetric Extragalactic Radiation and Geophysics (BOOMERanG) experiment, led by the late Andrew Lange, a former UC Berkeley post-doctoral fellow, and Paolo De Bernardis. 

Team effort 

“This discovery was very much a team effort,” Perlmutter stressed, citing the efforts of the Supernova Cosmology Project’s individual members in theoretical studies of supernova dynamics, the detection of supernovae near and far, data analysis and interpretation, and other research components. 

Perlmutter graduated magna cum laude in physics from Harvard University in 1981 and began graduate work at the UC Berkeley, where he gravitated toward the study of astrophysics. He completed his Ph.D. with Richard Muller, UC Berkeley professor of physics, in 1986. 

While still a post-doctoral fellow, Perlmutter teamed up with fellow post-doc Carl Pennypacker to develop the technology to use Type Ia supernovae – which are bright enough to be seen across the universe – to measure cosmological distances. Other astronomers had observational data suggesting that Type Ias were all about the same intrinsic brightness, so that their apparent brightness from Earth could be used to calculate their distance. 

With observing time on several telescopes around the world, the Supernova Cosmology Project was able to test and improve its techniques. When the team eventually sat down with new data on Type Ia supernovae to calculate the basic parameters of the universe, however, the results were too bizarre to be believed. 

“The most striking part of the project was the huge skepticism,” recalled Pennypacker, now with UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory and a guest in LBNL’s Physics Division. The skepticism was not only about proposed techniques, but about the underlying science. “Nobody believed we could do it,” he said, “and it was an enormous challenge to get things done.” 

Perlmutter, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, has received numerous honors, including the 2006 Shaw Prize, shared with Schmidt and Riess; the 2007 Gruber Cosmology Prize, which he shared with his entire Supernova Cosmology Project team and the High-Z Supernova Search team; the 2003 California Scientist of the Year award; and the 2002 E. O. Lawrence Award in physics from the Department of Energy. 

He lives in Berkeley with his wife and daughter.

Federal and state laws require the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District to adjust its ward boundaries every 10 years in order to equalize populations following the completion of the federal census.  

To aid in the redistricting process, the agency’s Redistricting Committee and staff have developed proposals that will be vetted at a series of outreach meetings. Community members, elected officials and interested parties are encouraged to attend the meetings and offer their views and recommendations.  

The meetings will be held on the following days and locations: 

 

Date/Time	Location
October 17, 2011 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.	Hayward City Hall  777 B Street, Conference Room 2A  Hayward
October 20, 2011 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.	Bayfair Mall Community Room  15555 E. 14th Street  (Upper level near escalator, use Entrance 3)  San Leandro
October 24, 2011 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.	North Berkeley Senior Center  1901 Hearst Avenue  Berkeley
October 27, 2011 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.	AC Transit General Offices  2nd Floor Board Room, 1600 Franklin Street  Oakland

 

At these meetings, the proposed boundary configurations – with descriptions, maps and demographics – will be displayed for public comment. Persons who are unable to attend the meetings can find the entire redistricting plans on the District’s website at www.actransit.org (click on “Ward Redistricting”).  

The public can also offer input and request additional information about the process and the proposed plans by emailing districtsecretary@actransit.org. The District’s wards also are available via the web at www.redrawca.org (click on “See Local Lines” and select Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District). At this site, the public can draw communities of interest, draft plans and submit them to the District Secretary. 

The deadline to submit comments on the initial redistricting plans is October 28, 2011.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parent trigger laws, according to their proponents, give parents power. Gregory McGinity, managing director of policy for the Broad Education Foundation, calls them "a way for parents' voices to be heard."

Sounds good. But is the parent trigger concept a way to put parents in charge of their kids' education, or is it part of a political agenda that will rob parents of even more control? While hardly anyone argues that parents don't want, and don't deserve, a voice in their children's schools, many educators, and even parents themselves, doubt that parent trigger laws increase their involvement.

Many teachers believe parent trigger laws are a way for charter schools to gain a bigger share of the education system. For McGinity, that's not a bad idea. The Broad Foundation promotes the proliferation of charter schools, which he says simply offer parents "a different way for a school to operate." Teachers, however, are alarmed. They see the expansion of a privatized education system, and view parent trigger laws as a means for rushing the process forward.

Their concerns illustrate the big stakes behind passing and implementing these laws. Several very conservative players in national education reform have made parent trigger proposals a key part of their agenda. As they're introduced in state after state, California's experience is being watched closely. 

California's parent trigger law, SBX5 4, called the Parent Empowerment Act, was introduced by former State Senator Gloria Romero, and passed in an extraordinary session of the legislature. California was rushing to qualify its application for Federal Race to the Top funds, and proponents said the law would help its chances. In the end, the state did not qualify, but the law stayed on the books. The California version of parent trigger says that if the parents of 51% of a public school's students sign a petition (the "trigger"), they can decide to fire the principal, or bring in an entirely new staff, or close the school, or have it taken over by a charter school operator. 

While the California law specifies four options, the parent trigger process is closely related to the establishment of charter schools, which do not guarantee parent control. Using the trigger, "you get one shot and that's it, because once that charter is formed, that charter dictates how it will operate," John Rogers, associate professor of urban schooling at UCLA, told NBC's Education Nation. "[Parents] have fewer rights in the context of a charter than they would at a public school." 

Prominent Democrats, among them Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (a former field rep for United Teachers Los Angeles), spoke for the bill, although the votes to pass it came mostly from Republicans. Teachers unions lobbied against it, while a chorus of mainstream media hailed it. Patrick Range McDonald of the LA Weekly claimed it was the product of "minority parents and fierce reformers, who seemed to materialize from thin air." 

Not quite. While some grassroots parents undoubtedly did support the bill, it was the product of powerful political figures, backed by the wealthy foundations that shape much of the country's debate over education reform. SBX5 4 was written by the Los Angeles Parents Union, started in 2006 by the Green Dot charter school company. The LAPU was headed by political operative Ben Austin, who then started another organization, Parent Revolution, to promote and implement the parent trigger law. At its birth, Parent Revolution had a $1 million budget supplied by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wasserman Foundation, the Eli Broad Foundation, the Hewlett-Packard Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation. 

Austin, recently replaced by Governor Jerry Brown on the state Board of Education, is Parent Revolution's executive director. He was an aide in the Clinton White House, and deputy to Los Angeles' former Republican Mayor Richard Riorden. PR's organizing director is Pat DeTemple, a lawyer who worked for Service Employees Local 1199 on the east coast, for the United Farm Workers before that, and was an organizer for President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. 

Taking Aim: Compton, California 

When the law passed, Parent Revolution sent organizers into southeast Los Angeles, one of the nation's poorest communities, with some of its lowest-scoring schools. At first, they concentrated on parents at Willard Elementary School, in the Compton School District. 

Compton, where most families are African American and Latino, has huge budget problems, as do most working-class communities in the state. As of May, California had a $25 billion budget deficit. State spending on K-12 education was cut by more than $1,000 per student (13.1 percent) between 2007-08 and 2010-11 - a total education budget loss of $18 billion. Over half the state's schools reduced instructional days, two thirds slashed summer school, and three-quarters of its high schools increased class sizes. A year ago districts sent teachers and classified employees 23,000 layoff notices, and most recipients never went back to their classrooms. This spring thousands more pink slips went out. Some may be rescinded by the fall. Many won't be. 

In the current recession Compton's problems have grown to crisis proportions. Last summer its unemployment rate hit 22% while the state was at 12%. Job loss undermines the tax base funding schools and social services. According to Carolyn Ritchie, president of the Compton Council of Classified Employees, AFT Local 6119, this year its school district faced a potential shortfall of $6.5 million, and last June had to lay off employees. "Because they have to submit a budget to the county office of education for the next three years," she explains, "the Board of Trustees convened a committee of unions, teachers, classifieds, parents and principals, and held a series of meetings. They came up with eight options, some of which did involve school closures." 

When Willard parents heard from PR organizers that the school might close, principal Mario Marcos sent a letter home with students, explaining the budget options. "No decision has been made regarding closing any of our schools in the district," he emphasized. Parent Revolution then moved its petition drive to nearby McKinley. 

McKinley has an Academic Performance Index score of 684, one of the lowest in the Compton Unified School District. "A woman named Rosemary came to my door," recalls parent Carla Garcia. "She said she wanted to make changes to improve and beautify McKinley. There was a place on the form that asked about our concerns, so I signed and circled safety. I've been worried that the school gates are sometimes left open, and children might wander out, or other people come in." Garcia's daughter Ayalett is in Ms. Williams' first grade class, and Lynette is in Mr. Tellez' 3rd grade class. She's had kids at McKinley since 2000. 

Parent trigger proponents argue that the petition process lets parents decide how their school should be changed. But the petition Garcia signed didn't offer a choice of the four options in the law, because it must specify only one. Parent Revolution staff wrote the McKinley petition, before the process of contacting parents had begun. At the start of two inches of legal language in dense small print at the top of the page, it says it would "transform McKinley Elementary School under the RESTART MODEL, to be reopened under Celerity Educational Group, a Charter Management Organization (CMO)." 

Celerity has four campuses in Los Angeles, and in 2008-9 total revenue of $11,028,959, with expenses of $9,329,906. While its bylaws state "employees may join and be represented" by unions (a right guaranteed by state and federal law), another section says job duties, discipline "and all other work basis will be negotiated in individual at will agreements." At-will employment allows employers to terminate employees or change their conditions "at will." Right away parents were divided over whether or not they favored a charter conversion. Some, like Garcia, felt misled. "They never said this was a petition for a charter school," she charges. "I don't want that for McKinley." She eventually withdrew her signature. 

Parent Caroll Turner, however, was so impressed by Celerity she enrolled her daughter at one of its schools. "I don't think McKinley is a good school," she said. Turner came to Compton recently from Tyler, Texas. Before arriving she tried to talk with district staff about where to enroll her daughter. "They didn't tell me McKinley was a failing school," she said. "When I found out, I wanted to change that. Every child has a right to a good education." Other parents had mixed feelings about charters. Lilia Buenrostro, with a son in 3rd grade, works part time in the cafeteria and volunteers after school. She went to McKinley herself as a child. "I'm not against charter schools," she explains. "But why don't they organize one from scratch? I don't want them to do it at McKinley. I want McKinley to stay public." 

"I don't oppose charters either," says Ritchie. She has one teenage son in a local charter, and one in public school. "What I don't like is the process they used to get signatures. I don't want to see public schools become charter schools, but my main concern that that we have an open process. As a parent myself, I'd be furious if I didn't have any say." 

That became the second source of division among McKinley parents. Organizers employed a strategy like that used by unions facing hostile employers. "We knew we'd be in for a fight in Compton," explained DeTemple, Parent Revolution's lead organizer. His crew had no list of parents to work from, so they went door to door, he says, with surveys to identify them. "We knew our petition would be challenged, regardless of the number of parents who signed, and that would go on for a long time." To resolve those challenges in time to bring Celerity in for the following fall term, they wanted to get their petition filed by December. 

Organizers visited people individually, and then held house meetings for small groups of parents. They didn't try to organize large, open meetings to which all parents, much less teachers and staff, could come and debate their course of action. As a result, many parents felt excluded. 

Victor Varelas, an Ecuadorian immigrant, and former labor and student activist, was one of those parents who believed the school didn't pay adequate attention to families. He points to the benches in front where parents wait to pick up their children. "Why isn't there some cover from the sun or rain?" he asks. "On street sweeping days they get tickets for parking in front while they walk their kids to class. A $51 fine is a lot for families in this neighborhood. The school promises to do something about it but nothing changes." 

That's not what organizers discussed with him, though. "They said a charter school would get the API up to 800," he recalls. Varelas put four children through Compton schools, including McKinley, and now has four grandchildren there. He went to the children's open house, met with their teachers, and checked their work. Like many parents, he worried that a bad score meant a bad school. That's what the mainstream media and the standardized testing industry claim. But it's hard to explain the connection. "665 means education is bad. 800 means it's good," he says. It was even less clear what Celerity Schools would do better than McKinley. 

In the meantime, Varelas says, "they also told parents that the school would close, at every meeting. Some parents were scared there'd be no school at all for their children." Finally he grew uncomfortable with the process. "They'd always have these small meetings, where often there were more staff than parents. Other parents began coming to me, asking why they were holding meetings without telling everyone. The staff was always in charge at every meeting." Finally, on the morning of the press conference where the petition was turned in, Varelas left the campaign. 

Petitions were submitted, allegedly from parents of 256 of McKinley's 415 students. From the beginning, however, questions swirled around the signatures and the way they were gathered. On January 19 district human relations officer Alejandro Flores sent a letter to all the parents who'd signed, asking them to come to the school on January 26 or 27 to verify their signatures. Flores' letter was criticized strongly by Parent Revolution and its allies. Spanish-language media focused attention on its requirement that parents show a drivers' license or photo ID to validate their signatures. Commentators said it would make undocumented parents worry that their immigration status might be questioned. 

Parent Revolution set up a table outside the school on the verification days, urging parents to boycott the signature checking. Only a few more than 50 came in. Courts halted the verification process, and months of legal wrangling ensued. Finally, in mid-May, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Anthony Mohr invalidated the petition because many signatures had no dates showing when parents had signed. Without dates, the district argued, it couldn't be sure the student in question was enrolled at the time, or was under the care of the person signing. 

Then, on May 25, the L.A. County Office of Education gave Celerity permission to open a charter school at the Church of the Redeemer, two blocks from McKinley. In December, at the time that Parent Revolution filed the trigger petition, Celerity had also independently applied for a separate charter in the McKinley neighborhood. The Compton district turned it down, although its staff recommended approval. The County Office of Education ultimately overruled the board. Parent Revolution hailed the announcement of the charter's approval as a victory, and Austin told a press conference ""the parents of McKinley ... have won that fight." 

Pulling for a Trigger in Buffalo 

While the McKinley drama was playing out in Compton, in mid-May parents in Buffalo NY pulled kids out of schools for half a day, protesting a two-tier school system. White students are concentrated in three high-quality college-prep high schools, while the high school graduation rate is only 25% for young African American men in Buffalo's majority-Black district. 

The action was organized by the District Parent Coordinating Council. It was strongly supported by Buffalo ReformED, an upstate education reform group that wants to implement a local parent trigger law patterned on California's. Buffalo ReformED is very openly pro-charter, but unlike Parent Revolution, which declares itself pro-union, it is very critical of the Buffalo Federation of Teachers. 

Buffalo ReformED is funded in part by the Oishei Foundation, set up by John R. Oishei, founder of Trico Corporation, whose factories making windshield wipers became Buffalo's largest private sector employer. The reform group notes on its website that 8000 students in Western New York attend 16 charter schools, with waiting lines to get in. More charters would "foster a partnership between parents, teachers and students to create an environment in which parents can be more involved, teachers are given the freedom to innovate and students are provided the structure they need to learn," the group says. 

A detailed paper on the teachers' union contract, however, makes clear that Buffalo ReformED sees the union as a main obstacle. "The Contract," writes director Hannya Boulos, "hinders any effort to provide extra assistance to students outside regular school hours, limits professional development, and limits instruction time, creating a culture that allows for teachers and administrators to do the bare minimum ... the Federation is securing their rights at the expense of students and parents." Boulos concludes that the contract's job protections, including seniority, job definitions, tenure and others "collectively contribute to poor student achievement, and a failing school system. This contract marginalizes the needs of students to a dangerous point." 

Implementing a parent trigger law in that context, therefore, would produce petitions to bring in charter companies to take over public schools. If Boutros' goals are achieved, that would drastically affect teachers' conditions and their union. 

Other national groups also propose parent trigger laws as part of agendas that favor charter schools, eliminating teacher tenure, and restricting teachers unions. A major one is the Heartland Institute, a libertarian think tank based in Chicago that has fought tobacco regulation and legislation to address climate change. It is part of a constellation of libertarian and conservative groups that includes the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, and the American Legislative Exchange Council. It's funded by the right wing Sarah Scaife and John M. Olin Foundations, as well as Exxon Mobil, Phillip Morris and the Walton Family Foundation. 

Heartland in the Heartland 

The Heartland Institute has been at the forefront of promoting parent trigger laws to legislators, Tea Party groups, and school reform advocates across the country, according to communications director Jim Lakely. Last year Heartland published The Parent Trigger: A Model for Transforming Education, by Joseph L. Bast, Bruno Behrend, Ben Boychuk, and Marc Oestreich. "Conservatives and libertarians should support the Parent Trigger because it could allow parents to choose charters or even vouchers," the paper urges. 

After Ohio's first-term Republican Governor John Kasich announced he was including it in his budget proposal, Osterreich, Heartland's legislative analyst, enthused: "It is clear that the traditional union model of reform - more money, more teachers - has failed Ohio. Gov. Kasich's announcement of a Parent Trigger breathes life back into a dying system by empowering parents to tackle school problems in the most democratic and localized way imaginable." 

In March Governor Kasich signed Senate Bill 5, restricting the bargaining rights of 350,000 Ohio public employees, including teachers, in the face of massive protest. He cited an alleged $8 billion deficit to justify it, the same rationale he used to cut the education budget. That will have a devastating impact on Ohio schools. When legislators started to pull back from including the trigger measure in the budget as well, it was amended to cover only Columbus City Schools, and the budget then passed. 

In New Jersey Heartland works with Republican Sen. Joseph Kyrillos, who introduced a parent trigger bill in January that would allow only three options - replacing a schools staff, handing it over to a charter operator, and one additional option not found in California - giving parents vouchers they could use for any other school, public or private. After the bill failed to move, Heartland Institute organized a forum, featuring the senator, for an audience of other legislators, and business and government leaders. Kyrillos, managing partner in a real estate firm, also introduced a bill to end tenure for teachers and set up a merit pay system. 

Mississippi's parent trigger law, supported by both Republicans and Democrats, is even more restrictive, allowing only charter school conversion. Other bills are in the wings in Indiana, West Virginia and Georgia, where Heartland also plays a major role. Missouri's trigger bill, HB 393, died when the legislature adjourned in May without passing it, and Colorado's died in a Senate committee. Two bills were introduced in Pennsylvania in 2009, but also failed. In Iowa, North Carolina, North Dakota, Michigan, Maine, Utah, and Maryland media reports indicate that bills are still being considered. 

In almost every state, severe budget crises are leading to the layoff of teachers and larger class sizes. At the same time, a wave of Republican governors and legislators are insisting that deficits must lead to budget cuts, without any increase in taxes. There is no way this cannot result in a deterioration of the school system. For conservative think tanks like Heartland Institute, this is all part of a larger agenda for shifting wealth back into private hands, and shrinking the section of government that provides services like education. They oppose measures to make public schools more effective, especially smaller class sizes, because districts would need more money, and have to hire more teachers to implement them. They justify the cuts by saying, as Oestreich does, that more money and more teachers have failed. He presents parent trigger laws as a substitute for more funding, and because they move schools out of the public system. 

Foundations closer to Democrats prefer to keep such a program at arm's length. But they accept as a given the wave of restrictions on the funding that schools require. They make no call for the one thing that would help public schools beyond question - higher taxes producing more resources for every student. The common ground among liberal and conservative education reformers, therefore, is that if students don't learn, teachers must be at fault. Schools can be improved, the argument goes, without spending more money, if the bad teachers are weeded out, and newer, younger and better teachers take their place, or if schools are turned over to more efficient and innovative private operators. 

Broad Foundation's Gregory McGinity says, "A significant increase in education spending is not something schools can count on. You have to make sure the funds are getting to the right place." According to Broad's senior advisor Dan Katzir, "Asking whether 'charters' are a solution to America's public education's woes is like asking whether medicine is a solution for illness. Only the right 'type' of medicine, under the right conditions, will make a difference. But when it does, it can make all the difference in the world." 

Other reform think tanks go further, even when it seems to contradict the goal of better teachers in more effective classes. Students First, the project started by Michelle Rhee after she resigned as school superintendent in Washington DC, opposes reduced class sizes and more educated teachers. "Small class sizes and required higher pay for higher degrees may have marginal beneÞts, but the evidence of their effect on student achievement is weak," she says in her Policy Agenda. Parent trigger is a major part of that agenda. 

One reason the Heartland report likes parent trigger laws is that liberals, it argues, will support them, in addition to "the center-right coalition" it sees as the source of "most reform proposals based on empowering parents." But there are even more powerful tools the Institute and its allies are prepared to use if they have the political power to do so. In Detroit, a parent trigger process was not needed to advance the wholesale transformation of public schools. 

In March of 2009, Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm appointed Robert Bobb Emergency Financial Manager of Detroit Public Schools. Bobb's salary is being supplemented by the Broad Foundation, where he's a Fellow. For the next year he fought with the Detroit school board, which won a court decision backing its control over academic affairs. After the 2010 election, however, the incoming Republican legislature quickly passed a new Emergency Manager law, allowing Republican Governor Rick Snyder to appoint managers with almost total power over cities and school districts in financial trouble. That gave Bobb full financial and academic control of the district. 

By 2010 50,139 Detroit students (36%) already attended charters. Bobb then closed 59 schools, reconstituted 39, and contracted out 1,429 payroll positions (13% of the workforce). Nevertheless, the district deficit rose from $139 to $332 million. His 5-year deficit elimination plan in response will increase high school class sizes to 60 students, and close 70 of the 142 remaining schools in the district by 2013. 

As Michelle Rhee's Students First agenda states dryly, "New governance models have emerged to allow real reform to take place." 

Connecticut Takes a Different Road 

In Connecticut, however, another alternative emerged in the negotiations over a parent trigger bill, introduced in its state legislature in February 2010. The original proposal was made in a group of reforms put forward by the legislature's Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, strongly supported by the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now. ConnCAN has focused its energy on opening charter schools and a "money follows the child" scheme to make school districts give charters the state average per-pupil funding for each charter student. Recently ConnCAN launched an initiative, 50CAN, to spread its program to the rest of the country. Its recently-resigned director, Alex Johnson, praised "the brilliance of the parent trigger concept [of the California law] as a tool for activating parents in support of charter school conversions in the LA school district ... [because it] creates a value proposition that offers an immediate, direct benefit to those [parents] who join the campaign." 

After negotiations, however, Connecticut's resulting law created a different program to support parent engagement. Under it, all schools that have not made adequate yearly progress in mathematics and reading must form a School Governance Council. A school board can also voluntarily establish one for any school. 

Parents elect seven members, and teachers five. The council members then choose two other community leaders. The principal may appoint a non-voting member, and high school students can elect two others, also non-voting. The councils review the school's achievement data, its draft budget, and advise on hiring, program and operations. The council must develop a parent involvement policy and a school-parent compact, and must survey parents every year. It does not, however, have authority over matters governed by a union contract between teachers and a district. 

After three years, if the school doesn't improve, the council can recommend reconstitution to the local board of education. If the board doesn't agree, the state Education Commissioner decides. Options include the Federal models of firing the principal, replacing the entire staff, and charter conversion, and state models creating "CommPACT" and "innovation" schools. 

"We wanted parent involvement in a meaningful way," says Connecticut AFT head Sharon Palmer. "The parent trigger process didn't provide that. Our goal was better bonding between parents and teachers, and a process where parents could take ownership." Although there was little trust between parent groups and teachers at the start, she says, in the end most agreed, 

This approach is similar to one Julie Woestehoff, executive director of Parents United for Responsible Education, says took place in Chicago, when the Chicago Public Schools established Local School Councils in 1989. "These elected, parent-majority bodies make critical decisions about school programs, budgets, and leadership at most CPS schools," she says. "They are the engine for local site management, accountability, and participation." However, according to Woestehoff, the councils were undermined first by a "business- and politician-driven movement" under Mayor Richard Daley, and later by Education Secretary Arne Duncan when he headed Chicago schools. 

Like Woestehoff, many education activists believe other alternatives offer more parental control than parent trigger laws. Steve Peha, president of Teaching That Makes Sense, says, "More choices doesn't always mean better choices. The [California parent trigger] law seems to encourage a dangerous polarization of an important issue ... Why not vote to 'improve' a failing school and then take direct responsibility for contributing to that improvement? With more than 50% of any parent community behind improvement (as opposed to restructuring or closure), a school could make immediate and significant gains on many fronts." 

Judith Browne-Dianis, co-director of the Advancement Project, asserts, "Signing a petition to close a school does not engage parents in a dialogue, visioning or powerful decision-making ... It's short-sighted and underestimates the power of communities to make systemic change. Additionally, it runs a serious chance of abuse and racial polarization where intentions behind the petition may not be just about academics." 

Perhaps responding to similar doubts, Austin claims that in the future, Parent Revolution's campaigns in California may not actually result in the formal filing of petitions. "The most transformative use," he says, "is not to use it at all. Parents can organize to bargain, by using the petition to say, 'we tried to change through traditional routes, and now we have the power to fire you, so you have to sit down and negotiate.'" DeTemple adds that "we're trying to build parent chapters, and we expect them to ally with teachers and administrators, using the petition as leverage with the district." Neither would specify a school or district in which this use was taking place, however. 

The Los Angeles Times, which is viewed today with extreme hostility by UTLA and most teachers, suggested another modification. "It makes more sense for the parent petition to have the power to force major transformation, but for the local school board to make the actual decision on which option should prevail." But when the legislature held hearings on modifying the California law to include teachers in the petition process as well as parents, the even more union-hostile Orange County Register fumed "These proposed rules protect bad schools and take power away from parents and give it back to the unions." 

In July the California State Board of Education adopted new regulations for the process. They require posting a sample petition on a website, public disclosure of financial support, including the payment of full-time staff, for groups circulating petitions, and forbid paying for signatures. Signatures will be verified by comparing them to existing school records. The regulations still don't require public meetings of parents, however. According to the California Teachers Association, which supported the new regulations, other state laws still require that any charter conversion have the support of a majority of teachers at the affected school, but the new regulations are silent on that issue. 

At McKinley, meanwhile, PTA president Cynthia Martinez thinks the school should be given a chance. "The educational level is not where it should be, but it's gone up over the last two years," she believes, and credits the change to Principal Robinson. "A school isn't something you can change from one day to another." 

But there's still no cover over the bench where parents wait. They still get citations when they park in front to drop kids off. Education quality aside, you can imagine a mother holding a $51 ticket deciding that the next time that petition comes around, she'll sign. 

---

This article first appeared on Rethinking Schools, Fall 2011  

For more articles and images, see http://dbacon.igc.org

“Hot” is not what makes toys great, because “hot” gets cold fast. What is more important is play value of the toy, appropriateness for child’s age, interests and abilities plus the child’s ability to be playful, and engage with the right toy that best matches the child. Dr. Toy reminds parents and teachers that “play is children’s work” and should be respected and understood by all adults. We should be thinking: “What products or ‘tools for play’ can we obtain to provide wholesome experiences for children and plenty of positive play interactions?” 

Let’s start Gift Suggestions with Dr Toy’s Ten Best Basic Toys every child should play with anytime: 

 

1. BALL—available in all sizes and shapes so find the one your child can pick up and play with most easily
2. BOARD GAME- many different ones are excellent and fun for child and whole family to play with
3. CAR- and other transportation toys like a truck or train engage child in role playing and active play.
4. CONSTRUCTION TOY- wonderful diversity of construction toys from plastic, metal to wood each provide skill building and logical thinking and great for eye hand coordination and imagination
5. CRAYONS –colorful crayons help the child learn colors and discover their artist within as they explore what they can do with self expression
6. DOLL- choices abound as your child enjoy friendship, communication, sharing secrets, learning to dress and undress, and further develop socially and emotionally.
7. PUPPET-perfect for reading books aloud and for role playing anytime.
8. PUZZLE- excellent for learning to match, discovery and manipulation skills.
9. TELEPHONE- the right choice for communication and language development.
10. WOODEN BLOCKS-basic tools for building and stacking as child wishes.

 

Dr Toy selects Best Products in different categories to support children’s learning, variety of skills, physical activity, and creativity. See Dr Toy’s Guide www.drtoy.com for more details on these products and others selected throughout the year including Best Classic, Vacation, Green Best Picks, and other great play products. The winning products include socially responsible, innovative toys, games, books, videos, audiotapes, software, CDs, DVDs, crafts, and other children's products. 

Dr. Auerbach believes, "parents need help to get a head start locating new, diversified products that children will enjoy using while they increase learning skills, enhance instruction, and expand creativity.” 

To help make choices for appealing and worthwhile gifts here are Dr. Toy’s winners matched to skills. 

 

 

• Active Play – Alpha Toys (Alphabeasts), Carrera (Porto Corsa Racing), Constructive Eating (Three Garden Utensils), Fisher-Price (Big Action Construction Site), Funrise Toys (Tonka Strong Arm Cement Mixer), Funtastic/QuickSmart (QuickSmart Scramble Bug), Green Toys (Flatbed Truck & Race Car), Gryphon House (Budding Chef), iStar Entertainment (FyrFlyz), Jennara Productions (Miss Barbara's Pirate Adventure), Manhattan Toy (Quadrilla Twist & Rail Set), Metro Design (48" Play Wheel), MGA (Little Tikes Cozy Truck), Spin Master (Air Hogs Hyperactive), uKloo Kids (uKloo Treasure Hunt), Wishbone Design (Wishbone Flip), WowToyz (3D Dinosaur Puzzles).

• Construction Play – Citiblocs(Little Builder Rattle Blocs), Fat Brain Toy (Tobbles ), Fisher-Price (Big Action Construction Site), HABA (Animal Upon Animal), Innovation First Labs (Hexbug Nano Hive Habitat), Laser Pegs Ventures (3D Lite Board), LEGO Systems (Ninjago: Fire Temple), Yoshiritsu (Hamacron Constructor).

• Creativity & Art – Colorforms (Original Colorforms Set), Fat Brain Toy (Tobbles), Giddy Up! (Movie Make Up), Int'l Playthings (Glamology Enhancing Pack 4), Learning Materials (Coloraturo), Little Kids (Bend & Build Foamstructure), Patch Products (Design 'N' Doodle Silly Zoo), ThinkFun (Cartoon It!), Tiny Green Bee (Crunch a Color™), Wild Republic (Nuts & Bolts).

• Creativity & Music – APA Animation Prod. (Sookie & Finn), Copy-Kids (Eat Fruits & Vegetables), Maestro Classics (My Name Is Handel), Music Intelligence Proj. (Tuneables:I Love Music!), MusiGo (Going Places), QuaverMusic.com (Quaver's Marvelous World of Music), Right Road Prod. (Right Road for Kids! Episode 1: You Are Special!), Rock 'N Learn (Sight Words), Sockeye Media (Nursery Rhyme Singing Time), Whistlefritz (Las Estaciones).

• Technology – ClickN Kids (Looney Tunes ClickN READ), Cognitive Kid (Ansel & Clair's Adven.-Africa), Gund (Peek-A-Boo Bear), Hasbro (Cookie, My Playful Pup), Learning Journey (ABC WordPad), Smart Bomb Interactive (National Geographic Animal Jam), SmartLab Toys (Recon 6.0 Programmable Rover), Super Duper® Pub (Funzee Everyday Go-Togethers Software), Visions of the Millenium (Tell Me What Am I – Animal), VTech (2-in-1 Discovery Table), Your Baby Can (Your Child Can Discover!).

• Language/Learning/Math & Reading Readiness – Abligio Books (Best Multiplication Workbook EVER!), Alpha Toys (Alphabeasts), Bailiwick Press (Cahoots ), BrillKids Int'l (Little Reader Deluxe), Critical Thinking (Crypto Mind Benders: Famous Quotes), Discover w/Dr. Cool (Break Open Real Geodes), Griddly Games (Oversight), Kids II (Sensory Plush Pals), Klutz (Guide to the Galaxy), K'NEX (Classic K'NEXosaurus Rex), Leo Marshall Designs (LeCardo), Lucky Cat Prod (Math Park).

• Puzzles & Logical Thinking Games – b. dazzle (Temple in Paradise), Bloco Toys (Primates of the World Collection), Blue Orange (Fastrack), Cepia (DaGeDar), Continuum Games (Barnyard Stampede), FoxMind Canada (Fauna), Fun and Function (Social (e)Motion), Gamewright (Mermaid Beach), GaZima Games (Stomple), INI (Dabble), Lindergaff (Synonyms), Non-Trivial Quest (Non-Trivial Quest), POOF-Slinky (Our America Game), Pressman Toy (Ultimate Mastermind), Techno Source (Tetris Link), University Games (Kids Battle the Grown Ups), USAOPOLY (Telestrations).

• Social & Dramatic Play – ALEX (Ready, Set, Tell Time!), Alpha Toys (Alphabeasts), Aeromax (My 1st Career Gear Assortment), B. by Battat (Car Go CarGo), Berjuan Toys (Breast Milk Baby Doll), Corolle Dolls (Bébé Amour), Chicco (Lemmy My First Puppy), Fashion Angels (Fashion Design Projector Set), Giddy Up! (Movie Make Up), Golly Gee-pers! (Table Manners Cards), Int'l Playthings (Glamology Enhancing Pack 4), MGA (Mini Lalaloopsy Treehouse), Ragananda (Ragananda Doll), Royal Council (Every Kindness Counts), Zing Toys (IckeeStikeez).

• Socially Responsible Products – ALEX (Ready, Set, Tell Time!), b. dazzle (Temple in Paradise), Berjuan Toys (Breast Milk Baby Doll), Connor's Science Universe (Crystal Explosion), DuneCraft (Rainforest Biosphere), Giddy Up! (Movie Make Up), Golly Gee-pers! (Table Manners Cards), Int'l Playthings (Glamology Enhancing Pack 4), Royal Council (Every Kindness Counts), Tiny Green Bee (Crunch a Color), Worry Chest System (Worry Chest System).

 

Dr Toy’s Ten Best Toys-2011 

 

 

• Citiblocs (Little Builder Rattle Blocs),
• Fisher-Price (Big Action Construction Site),
• Green Toys (Flatbed Truck & Race Car),
• nnovation First Labs (Hexbug Nano Hive Habitat),
• Star Entertainment (FyrFlyz),
• Laser Pegs Ventures(3D Lite Board)
• LEGO Systems (Ninjago: Fire Temple )
• Little Tikes/MGA(Little Tikes Cozy Truck),
• Spin Master (Air Hogs Hyperactive)
• oshiritsu (Hamacron Constructor).

---

*Dr Toy’s Best Toys Awards 

"Dr. Toy's 100 Best Children's Products" was developed by noted child development authority, Stevanne Auerbach, Ph.D. (a.k.a. "Dr. Toy") as a service to consumers who desire to purchase safe, affordable, educationally oriented, and stimulating toys and products for children. Dr. Auerbach introduced “Dr. Toy's Guide” when she saw the need for more year-round resources for consumers to identify and choose the most appropriate, safe and engaging learning and developmental products for all children. Dr. Toy’s Guide www.drtoy.com was the first website about toys. Her book, Dr Toy’s Smart Play/Smart Toys: How to Raise a Child with a High P.Q. (Play Quotient) for parents, and others who care about children. In addition to her "100 Best Children’s Products," Dr. Toy awards for the “Best Classic,” the “Best Green,” and the “Best Vacation. “ All award winners are carefully chosen from among many hundreds that Dr. Auerbach reviews at toy fairs, in catalogs, and through many sources. She uses extensive criteria that she has developed over many years. For more information, go to http://www.drtoy.com. 

As Jimmy Durante used to say, ever’body wants tuh ged in tuh duh’act. (If you’re too young to remember him and/or don’t come from Brooklyn, Everybody Wants to Get into the Act.) After a frustratingly slow start, the Occupy Wall Street action finally has legs.

Over the weekend, it became front page news in the big national papers. They all ran approximately the same story, recounting how the previously invisible campers took to the road and were arrested in impressive numbers while trying to cross the Brooklyn Bridge in the auto lane. Most of the stories featured approximately identical quotes from various Poli Sci professors at second-tier institutions, ones easily located in the metropolitan areas where the newspapers were published, on the order of “If they want to accomplish anything, they’ll need a program and identified leaders.”

Well, no. The most useful analysis of what seems to be going on could be found on the front page of yesterday’s New York Times Science Section, in a fascinating article about slime molds. Here’s the basics: 

“Slime molds are a remarkable lineage of amoebas that live in soil. While they spend part of their life as ordinary single-celled creatures, they sometimes grow into truly alien forms. Some species gather by the thousands to form multicellular bodies that can crawl. Others develop into gigantic, pulsating networks of protoplasm. 

While naturalists have known of slime molds for centuries, only now are scientists really starting to understand them. Lab experiments are revealing the complex choreography of signals in some species that allows 20,000 individuals to form a single sluglike body. “ 

These congeries of creatures can move long distances as a group, consume all kinds of fodder, and generally take over the world by concerted action. Kind of like the Wall Street Occupyers, isn’t it? 

And now they’ve started spreading around the country. They’ve been detected in places as diverse as Chicago and McAllen, Texas, wherever that might be.  

They’re even in Berkeley, have been for a while now. The first wave was a group of Red Diaperish older people who spontaneously organized a “Tax the Rich” sign-waving in front of the empty Oaks Theater on Solano in mid-September, with allusions to the ongoing Wall Street action but no formal affiliation. The original convenor of that group, an artist friend of mine, doesn’t even use the Internet, but she found someone to publicize their second appearance on Solano with a commentary in these pages.  

The message was all over the web before it hit the big papers, of course. But national press, complete with videos of 700 people getting arrested, did wonders for spreading the word.  

Now even U.C. students, a bit slow off the dime, are poised to get into the act, according to the Daily Californian. A couple of planning meetings have already happened. There will be an official planning meeting (“General Assembly”) at noon this Saturday in front of the Bank of America at Center and Shattuck, followed by a full-dress Occupy Berkeley action in the same location the Saturday after that.  

These new folks are fully up to code in their use of modern media. They’ve got a web site, http://www.occupyberkeley.org/, a Facebook page, Twitter (@occupyberkeley), and even a telephone number (1-510-924-0268) and an Email address for questions.  

Of course, using all this stuff as they are, they haven’t quite managed to free themselves from corporate shackles. The first item on the website is an invitation to join a Google Group, and Facebook and Twitter are also somewhat corporate, aren’t they? 

So what’s the message? Well, it seems to be whatever you need it to be, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There has even been sotto voce speculation, in Twittering and commenting in various venues, that some Tea Partyers might want to make common cause with Occupyers, since none of them have anything good to say about big banks. 

The possibly apocryphal story about what President Franklin Roosevelt is supposed to have said to African-American union leader A. Phillip Randolph comes to mind: “Go out and make me do it.” Roosevelt supposedly knew what the right and just way to deal with “Negro” demands was, but was reluctant to take the intiative to set things right without pressure from Randolph and his troops.  

This story has been reported to be a favorite of President Barack Obama’s. He might be hoping that the Occupyers will “make him do it.” 

Whatever, of course, “it” is. That’s the problem. So much is wrong, it’s hard to know where to start. Lists of grievances have been produced in New York, Berkeley and elsewhere, but solutions are not so easy.  

It’s all about money and moneymen, though, as it always is. There’s another Roosevelt presidential quote for that one: “malefactors of great wealth”—but it’s from a different president, trust-busting Teddy, way back in 1907. The malefactors been around for a while, and they’re still up to the same old tricks. 

Commentators on current events are talking about “right” and “left” populism, but the distinction continues to be fuzzy. Those of us who didn’t sleep through our European history lectures can’t help remembering what we learned about other periods, especially the 1930s, when the many populist streams initially seemed to be flowing together into a mass almost as powerful as a slime mold on the move.  

Slime has a bad name in some quarters, but this is not intended to be a pejorative analogy. Slime molds are one of nature’s many forces, neither good nor bad intrinsically, just what happens.  

We’ve been down these paths before. Commenters on Occupyer websites and Facebook pages are already citing Mario Savio’s famous Free Speech movement exhortation. 

And these new populists could easily take as their manifesto Franklin Roosevelt’s 1936 speech announcing the Second New Deal, in which he denounced all of the same evils being catalogued this week on Wall Street. What’s often forgotten is that America’s most powerful homegrown Fascist, Father James Coughlin, started out as a strong supporter of the New Deal and denouncer of bankers. He cleverly manipulated radio, the modern media of his day, to build a strong national following for diatribes that sounded not unlike some of the speeches which are now being made in New York and elsewhere, if you leave out his anti-Semitism.  

The populism of the 1930s eventually diverged and re-coalesced into a variety of mass movements, some good and some bad. Even Hitler started out as a populist.  

Some of my Old Left descended friends now organizing for this new movement can remember family stories about the horror with which some of their parents and grandparents greeted the 1939 Hitler-Stalin pact, though it eventually collapsed. They don’t want to make the same mistakes their parents did, but they don’t necessarily have a completely new strategy to cure the ills of society.  

Meanwhile, we can expect the Major Media to continue to look for The Leaders, because that makes reporting so much simpler, doesn’t it? Just a simple quote or two and home to bed. Both publishers and politicians searched furiously for the “Negro Leaders” in the 1960s, and were continually confounded by the likes of Fanny Lou Hamer, who didn’t fit their stereotypes of what a leader looked like.  

In the end, all we really know now is that this movement, whatever it will turn out to be, is on the move. Why and where are yet to be determined. It will be fun to watch. 

 

 

 

 

We're trying this week to use the issue with Friday's date all through the weekend for consistency. If you have time, keep checking for updates. The issue with Monday's date will appear midday. 

 

Also, the editorial until further notice will be kept up until it's replaced by a new one.

Today the Planet received a press release from the office of Senator Loni Hancock (D-Oakland), touting a bill she sponsored that would let homeowners borrow against the value of their property to finance installing solar energy systems, backed by government bonds, with payback billed with property taxes. This plan is similar to one originally floated in Berkeley by her husband Mayor Tom Bates's then assistant, Cisco DeVries.

The release describes the Berkeley experiment as being "highly successful" but for another point of view, see Berkeley's Solar Plan Goes Dark, The city has decided to abandon its once-touted home-solar financing program. an article by Judith Scherr in the East Bay Express.

You be the judge. Here's the release: 

 

 

HANCOCK BILL SIGNED BY GOVERNOR CREATES NEW PROGRAM TO HELP PROPERTY OWNERS FINANCE ENERGY EFFICIENCY & WATER CONSERVATION SYSTEMS 

Sacramento – Senator Loni Hancock (D-Oakland) welcomed the Governor’s decision today to sign SB 555, a bill she authored that creates a new program for the voluntary financing of energy efficiency and water conservation systems on residential and commercial property. 

SB 555 enables general law cities, counties, special districts and regional planning agencies to establish a voluntary “community facility district” (CFD) to help property owners invest in energy efficiency, alternative energy and water conservation improvements on their property. The new program is completely voluntary. Only property owners who “opt-in” to the financing scheme will participate. 

“For many years now, Californians have been looking for ways to reduce emissions and water consumption while decreasing their own utility bills. This new law will do just that,” Senator Hancock stated. “While the cost savings to property owners in the new law are important, we will all benefit from reduced emissions, reduced energy and water use, energy independence and job creation. All this comes at no cost to taxpayer.” 

Under SB 555, property owners who voluntarily agree to participate will realize immediate savings on their utility bills while paying off the high up-front costs over time on their property tax bills. Funding for the program will come from a bond issued the new CFD and repayment will be guaranteed by future property taxes, even if the house if sold. 

The bill is modeled after the City of Berkeley’s highly successful “Financing Initiative for Renewable and Solar Technology program (FIRST). The $1.5 million pilot program, undertaken in 2008, sold out in less than 9 minutes. [Emphasis added] Fifteen other states have already passed legislation enabling local governments to replicate the Berkeley FIRST program. The signing of SB 555 into law makes California the 16th state to take action. 

 

 

 

Here's a particularly juicy post on Richard Brenneman's blog, pointing to a juicy story on another blog: 

UC mines our brains for the sake of corporate profit 

As is often the case in sleepy Berkeley, there's not much news this weekend. Most likely this issue will be up until Monday, if you're wondering. 

New stories will be added if anything happens.

 

Dan O'Neill

 

The Berkeley occupation, joining some 900 other cities, has begun. Though the original call was for people to come to the B of A grounds at Center and Shattuck to plan an occupation, which would then begin on Saturday, Oct. 15, 100 people showed up, and the decision was made to begin right away. 

The process was inspiring, at least to me. The people, upon arriving at the assemblage, all had different thoughts about what was to transpire, about how to understand the corporate enemy, and with little common conception of what to do first, where to do it, or how. Slowly, over the course of a few hours, those issues were resolved. It was slow, but only those who think that time is money would be frustrated by the rate of speed of the process. What the assemblage sought for most was an understanding in common. 

The procedure was one of consensus, traditionally a difficult process for a large group. Consensus works best for small groups of a dozen or twenty. But for this assemblage, knowing that this had worked in OccupySF, and in OccupyWallSt, and other places, consensus was the means, and it worked. 

The decisions made were first, to start the occupation on that day, Saturday, October 8, which meant that a number of people came forward and said that they would camp out there starting tonight; second, to make it an occupation in the sense that all the others were; third, that the General Assembly for this occupation would meet every day at 6 pm, and be composed of those who were there, acting to support the encampment and the occupation; and finally, that the General Assembly would be the direction and guidance of the occupation, and that all committees and activities would be responsible to it as a decision making body. 

Each of these decisions emerged out of serious oppositions and choices. Whether to start right away raised the issue that it would only be a few people to start, and thus risked creating a great vulnerability. But various resources were offered that strengthened the feeling toward action. The issue whether this should be an "official" occupation, a true "sister" encampment to all the others raised the debate over whether it should be at the B of A or at MLK park, opposite City Hall. Those who volunteered to be the first campers chose the B of A. The issue of the General Assembly meeting each day at 6 was easily resolved. And people took a break to return at 6 that very day to compose the first GA. 

I was amazed and heartened at the ability of the assemblage to come together, even from moments when it was evenly divided pro and con on an issue, and arrive at a consensus. This happened a number of times. People took seriously the notion that process is important, and in fact, primary. 

The first GA (at 6 pm) was composed of about 30 people, almost all of whom had been at the noon assemblage. It addressed the issue of whether consensus worked or not, the question of facilitation, the question of respect for difference, the question of organizing committees to take care of tactical considerations, and proposals on process and organization. The meeting continued after I left at around 7 pm. 

One aspect of these assemblages is particularly noteworthy, and that is the use of the "people's mike" – in place of the electronic technology by which we have become used to speaking to groups. With the people's mike, those who can hear the speaker repeat what the speaker says, so the those who can't hear the speaker can hear the repetition, which is louder because spoken by many in unison. This puts the speaker in a position of speaking only short phrases, and pausing while the assemblage repeats his/her words for those more distant. It means that the speaker can be (and really has to be) more circumspect, more concise, more directly to the point. It is also edifying for the speaker to hear his/her own words in echo. And harangues become very difficult, if not impossible. Things become clearer when one has to slow down, which the "people's mike" requires. As each person is recognzed by the facilitator, s/he says "mike check" to get the attention of those nearby, who then repeat "mike check," and then function as the people's mike for what the person then has to say. 

It is truly wonderful how slowing things down this way really speeds them up. 

Late breaking item: about 6 people slept at the encampment last night (Saturday, oct. 8), divided between activist and some homeless who have been sleeping on that corner for certain lengths of time. Everyone slept well, and there is plenty food there for them. Everyone should get down there when and if they can.

Loni Hancock's press release for this bill that you published is seriously flawed. I wrote [the following commentary about the Berkeley Solar Program]for the (Berkeley) Council of neighborhood Associations' August, 2011 newsletter.

The key problems are:

1) The Federal Housing Financing Authority has ruled that solar property tax liens cannot be accepted for properties with "conforming" mortgage loans.

2) The BerkeleyFirst solar financing scheme was not a success. It was a disaster. Only 13 people went through with it, and, after the FHFA ruling, the City abandoned it. 

---

Mayor Tom Bates speaking about the solar financing program at the City Council meeting of September 16, 2008: 

“I want to compliment the staff on the ingenuity and the creativity that has brought us to this day … This could be the most important contribution we’ve made in turning around global warming, because it can provide the opportunity for people to have affordable solar for their homes and businesses, and do so over a long time at a low rate of interest. It’s not for everybody. But it certainly is an exciting prospect. The world is sort of watching us to see how we do it”. 

In 2008, Mayor Tom Bates recommended that the City Council approve the BerkeleyFirst residential solar program, which they did. I was one of the very few participants in the program. The basic idea was that homeowners would install electrical-generating panels on their roofs, with no batteries, and sell excess power to PG&E, or pay for any net consumption as usual (mainly during winter). The federal government gave a 30% tax rebate, the State then gave about 18% cash to the installer, and the City was willing to finance everything except the state rebate, and add it to your property taxes at an interest rate of 7.75% for 20 years. 

Some people balked at the interest rate, but l already had a mortgage, like most homeowners, conventional refinancing to cover the cost of the solar installation would have forced me into jumbo-lite territory, with stringent qualification requirements and high interest rates. So I thought the interest rate was reasonable, especially as it was possible that the whole of the additional property tax could be deducted from federal tax. My own house was not a very favorable location, as the roof is heavily shaded, but imaginative contractors found solutions that were not absurdly expensive, so in 2008 I went ahead. 

Then my troubles began. The City planned to add a tax lien to each affected property to secure the loans, and issue bonds to recover their money. They described the tax liens as “just like the lien for the taxes you pay to Alameda County”. I'm a born skeptic, and went down to the County Recorders' Office to check this. There is no County Tax Lien, unless you're in default, so the new City lien would stick out like a sore thumb. My standard (conforming) California mortgage contract states that that any tax lien must be paid off immediately. I confronted the City with this, and got pure evasiveness for an answer. The City had subcontracted all financial arrangements to a company called Renewable Funding, LLC. They were charged with answering questions, and did so in as vague and obfuscating manner as possible. 

Meanwhile, the City project manager sat back and appeared to be using commitment-delete software on the few emails that she sent. I contacted my mortgage lender, who said over the phone that the new lien was no problem. However, they would not commit to this in writing. I then posed the question to the City: What if I refinance or sell, so that I am dealing with a new mortgage lender? I got no sensible answer, and the City obviously hadn't done its homework on this issue. The problem was that if my lender, or a new lender, insisted that the lien be paid off, the City wanted all future interest payments for 20 years, which was absurd. When I challenged them on this, they claimed that it was a condition of their contract with the holders of their future bond holders. This became their standard answer to any difficult question. By the time I had obtained my loan, I had exchanged over 300 email messages with the City and Renewable Funding, and found out very little. 

The next thorn became the date when the City would pay me. They refused to guarantee this, which could have left me owing the solar installer a substantial sum of money for some time. Luckily, the installer was patient. 

The final major issues were the administrative fees that I would be charged for the loan, and the dates and amounts of the additional property tax payments. Quite basic, wouldn't you think? However, the standard documentation was so unclear and self-contradictory that I insisted on, and got, a detailed breakdown from the City Director of Finance. 

By then, I had discovered that the whole scheme, including the incredibly complex financing plan was developed by Cisco DeVries, former Chief of Staff of Mayor Tom Bates – and now President of Renewable Funding. Mr. Devries had used his political contacts to set up the BerkeleyFirst financing system, and had approached several other cities as well. 

The initial pilot scheme, for $1 million, was supposed to accommodate 40 homeowners. In fact only 13 completed the program. Last year, the Federal Housing Finance Agency ruled that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should not accept new “conforming loans” with tax liens like Berkeley's on the property, although they grandfathered in existing liens, like mine. This killed BerkeleyFirst, and other similar programs. Belatedly, City management addressed the problems with mortgage lenders, and the Council waived the pre-payment penalty on future interest, so now refinancers and sellers can simply pay off their solar loans in the normal manner. 

Unfortunately, this program is yet one more example of the City having good intentions, but lacking the ability to think through the problems, and develop real solutions.

I have been a Registered Nurse at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center for over 29 years. I love my job. I started at age 24 when it was Merritt Hospital and have worked there through various mergers and labor disputes and strikes. We, as Registered Nurses, have worked very hard through the years for a contract that protects our patients and offers us fair working conditions and upholds our work as a profession. Our contract is upheld by nurses working in other facilities as a Gold Standard. What is happening now, as we are negotiating our contract is unprecedented. Never, in almost 30 years have I experienced what we are now going through. We are asking for language in the contract for better murse-patient staffing ratios and it should be noted that California is one of the only states that has a law that mandates nurse-patient ratios to protect the patients. These have already decreased the number of deaths and poor outcomes in the state. We, as CNA members, are only asking that our previous contract be upheld. We are not asking for anything new, not even a cost of living pay raise. We only want NO TAKEAWAYS. 

The number and type of takeaways proposed by the hospital are unfair and outrageous. They are proposing elimination of all positions less than 4 days a week. There are many nurses working less than 4 or 5 days a week and their benefits are pro rated. Every nurse currently is required to work every other weekend until they have been employed for 15 years. Our previous contract allowed nurses to work every third weekend after 15 years of service and then eliminated the requirement after 20 years of service. Sutter wants every nurse, regardless of years of service, to work every other weekend. Sutter is proposing elimination of ALL sick pay, stating that SDI will kick in after the 8th day of illness. In addition they are proposing cutting back on maternity leave. They are proposing elimination of all 12 hour positions and cutting back on the hours that non-benefited nurses can work. They are proposing large cuts in hourly pay. These are just a few of the more than 72 takeaways that Sutter has offered us! It feels a bit more than trimming the fat. It appears to be more of a union busting technique as the number and type of takeaways are so over the top. 

There have been many figures in the media about how much money nurses make. We are a profession. There are a few nurses who are in a specialty that requires them to be on call and these nurses have the potential to make a lot of money as they usually make half of their hourly wage while they are waiting to be called in. However, this is a time where you are literally waiting for the phone to ring and you do not have total freedom to be any where or do anything you want while you are on call. These are usually high risk areas and are vital should a patient come in needing emergent care. Nurses otherwise make a good salary but if you look at the breakdown in terms of pay per patient the perception changes a bit. If you have 4 patients that you are responsible for and you make $60 an hour, which is average for an experienced nurse, you are talking about $15 an hour per patient. This is for skilled nursing for acute patients such as those out of surgery or medically ill enough to need to be hospitalized with frequent assessments and treatment changes. I know babysitters that get paid more per child and who well deserve it. We are highly trained professionals and are at the bedside 24/7. The figure that you quoted, $130,000, cannot be made hourly by the average nurse and perhaps if you included all of the health care insurance and other benefits might come close but I think it is a stretch. It is a disservice to Nurses to quote that figure since it leads the public to erroneously conclude that we make a huge amount of money per hour and in this depressed economy may not give us support at a time when we need it for ourselves and our patients. 

Sutter Health, a not-for-profit hospital, in 2010 made a "surplus" of $878,000,000. Yes millions!! And this surplus was made by Alta Bates Summit Medical Center only, not all of the hospitals in the Sutter chain. This "surplus" was made while upholding our contract. The very same contract that we are trying to negotiate to keep now. Nothing new for us, just the same contract that still allowed the corporation to collect this huge "surplus". [Sutter executive] Pat Frey received a 43% raise and now makes at least 4 million dollars a year. Who knows how much more he will make when the figures for the 2011 "surplus" are in. Sutter donated 1 million dollars to keep the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento. This is not a corporation that seems to be in financial distress. The term CORPORATE GREED comes to my mind. 

The employees of Sutter Health from the nurses, housekeepers, lab technicians and all the others who keep the hospital running have made that profit, as have the health care consumers. When our negotiations first began and it became clear where we were headed, I felt very disrespected in my mind about how little Sutter seemed to respect my work and that of my colleagues and all the others that work in the hospital. Who did they think made the profit for them? What gets me through this difficult time are the patients. They are why we are here and do what we do. We know we make a difference in people's lives, be it teaching, performing tests, giving reassurance, improving the health or quality of life, or even saving a life. The patients are why we do what we do. We will continue to offer excellent care and are even willing to strike so that we can continue to advocate for them and mandate the highest standards possible for their protection and for our profession.

“If people have an exciting idea, certainly we can try and show community support so that we can encourage the property to move forward,” Worthington said. “Having a vacant lot sitting there is costing the city a lot in terms of lost vitality to Telegraph.”

—Daily Californian 10-4-2011

This quotation was a prominent part of the most recent story on the vacant lot at the corner of Haste and Telegraph currently being demonized by public officials, press, residents, and students. The latest article in the Daily Californian describes University of California architecture students eagerly offering designs for projects-to-be in an atmosphere of urgency.

The article neglects to mention that the vacant lot at Haste and Telegraph was previously a single room occupancy hotel which provided both retail space and 77 units of crucial low-income housing. The building was the victim of deliberate arson, as the previous residents know who received warning the night before one wing was set ablaze. 

Berkeley has systematically destroyed its single room occupancy housing, replacing it with high-end condos and “affordable” rental units which are only affordable to the $80,000 a year median income crowd. Single room occupancy units, which generally are the only option for the lowest income and homeless groups they often shelter, are becoming an endangered species. 

It should matter to us as a community, if we care about helping low-income people and homeless people get off the streets , that we replace and protect such housing, which also offers important alternatives for migrant workers, seasonal workers, artists and musicians who come to town for brief periods, and people who need a starting point before they can contemplate the expensive first-month last-month security deposit requirements of more permanent housing. 

The Daily Californian article also neglected to mention that current lot owner Ken Sarachan submitted a proposal for a combination retail and housing complex which was turned down by an earlier city council. Sarachan is not quoted at all, which implies that he is somehow an obstacle to the lots development, despite the fact that his earlier proposal included affordable units and proposed that it be named for Bob Sparks, a beloved community housing activist. 

A history-free story runs the risk of greasing the wheels for a proposal which may not replace the crucial 77 units of low income housing Berkeley sorely needs. A vacant lot may be characterized as contributing little to the avenue, but a development there which precludes the replacement housing Sarachan once tried to build is a theft of potential housing which is irreplaceable. 

Beware the atmosphere of urgency surrounding potential development of the lot at the corner of Telegraph Avenue and Haste Street in Berkeley. Putting up a building of some kind at that corner might seem urgent from some perspectives. But the need for single room occupancy housing is much, much more urgent. Our community needs to insist that all 77 units of single room occupancy housing be replaced by any new development at the corner of Haste and Telegraph.

Berkeley residents are beginning to understand why there is no money for those nasty potholes, decayed play structures, community pools, and safety-net social services. They are also beginning to see cracks in the whole civic structure as the City is forced to cover tens of millions in unfunded pension and infrastructure liabilities. 

Silently and stealthily, City employee costs have devoured the rest of the City budget. 

In FY 1991, the total City budget was $139,380,776. 64% of this amount, $90,643,816, was devoted to personnel costs (wages, overtime and other cash payouts, and benefits). The rest of the money was there to keep our streets and sewers and parks in good shape. Twenty years later, in FY 2010, without any significant change in population, the total budget rose 226% to $315,000,553 and employee compensation rose to $252,571,909 or 80% of the budget. 

During that same period, the CPI was up 166% but the City budget was up 226% and employee cost was up 224%. How did we fill the shortfall? Instead of tough bargaining with our unions, we caved in to their wish list, and paid for it by short-changing things like parks, road and sewer maintenance, and the like. 

For example, 1991 capital expenditures by the Public Works Department was $13,563,971. In 1992, $27,054,500 was budgeted. Assuming a total City budget of about $140,000,000 for each of those years, this equates to about 10% and 19% respectively, for capital improvements in those years. 

Twenty years later, for Public Works capital improvement, only $12,967,999 was spent in FY 2010 and $8,387,008 was budgeted for FY 2011. This equates to 4% and 3% respectively of the total City budget of $315,000,000. 

When adjusted for inflation the 1991 expenditures of $13,563,971, should have been $22,516,191 in 2010, just to break even. The $27,054,500 budgeted in 1992 should have become $44,910,470 in 2012, just to break even. Looking at just the past two years as compared to twenty years ago, we’re talking about a real dollar decrease of $26,808,190 in what the city has spent for ongoing infrastructure maintenance and improvements. 

It’s clear that part of the budget that was previously devoted to capital improvements and rainy day reserves is being eaten by the out-of-control employee costs. It’s kind of like the cuckoo who lays her eggs in a smaller bird’s nest. The cuckoo babies get bigger and bigger and starve the rest of the fledglings out of their home. 

How we got here is a bit less clear. Certainly it is not the fault of employee unions: they exist to cut as good a deal as they can for their members. But Berkeley’s job is to cut as good a deal as it can for the city as a whole. Are we afraid of being called “anti-progressive” if we bargain too hard? Or is there something structurally wrong making the City Manager chiefly responsible for negotiating wage/benefit packages of which he is a primary beneficiary?  

The City Council knows or should know all of this. But instead of real solutions, it is now ready to ask the voters (yet again) to pay more taxes. In the meantime, other cities, like San Francisco, have bargained with their unions to bring wage/benefit packages into line with available resources. Berkeley should do the same. 

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A new report by the civic group Berkeley Budget SOS reveals that Berkeley has the highest number of employees and highest employee compensation per capita of twelve regional cities of similar size (to view report “City Employee Costs, Proposed Savings and Action Plan” go to www.berkeleycouncilwatch.com). 

Berkeley Budget SOS is a civic organization dedicated to fiscal clarity, accountability and sustainability. It produces articles, analyses, insights and recommendations aimed at resolving the City’s fiscal challenges without additional taxation to its already financially-burdened residents.

Editor's Note: The latest issue of the Pepper Spray Times is now available. 

You can view it absolutely free of charge by clicking here . You can print it out to give to your friends. 

Grace Underpressure has been producing it for many years now, even before the Berkeley Daily Planet started distributing it, most of the time without being paid, and now we'd like you to show your appreciation by using the button below to send her money.  

This is a Very Good Deal. Go for it! 

Official Statement from Occupy Wall Street - 

This statement was voted on and approved by the general assembly of protesters at Liberty Square: Declaration of the Occupation of New York City 

As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies. 

As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known. 

They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage. 

They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses. 

They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one's skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation. 

They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization. 

They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices. 

They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions. 

They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right. 

They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers' healthcare and pay. 

They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility. 

They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance. 

They have sold our privacy as a commodity. 

They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press. 

They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit. 

They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce. 

They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them. 

They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil. 

They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people's lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit. 

They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit. 

They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media. 

They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt. 

They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad. 

They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas. 

They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.* 

To the people of the world, 

We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power. 

Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone. 

To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal. 

Join us and make your voices heard! 

*These grievances are not all-inclusive.

Berkeley's civic leaders have a reputation for making profound declarations on national and global politics but when it comes to decisions regarding quality of life issues of people right here in Berkeley they seem to be incompetent or uncaring. Much can be said about the treatment of people who are poor and homeless or mentally ill but even in small matters one might wonder how decisions are made about what and for whose benefit. My experience is an example.

I live in a senior residence near Dwight and Telegraph and enjoy the shops and restaurants as well as the street life along the Avenue. I also appreciate the easy access to downtown Berkeley on the #1 and the #1R bus which I use almost daily to go to the library and the YMCA. AC Transit is a boon – buses run fast and frequently, but no matter how efficient the system is, riders must always expect to have a wait. That's why benches are placed at bus stops. That's why there was a bench at the bus stop on the corner in front of Peet's on Dwight and Telegraph. On July 10 that bench was removed. That was extremely disturbing. 

I am not young (I'm the same age as Rita Moreno) and have some problems which make it difficult to walk or stand for a long time. Not being able to sit while waiting for the bus is painful for me. And certainly I am not the only senior or disabled person who needs that bench. I immediately emailed the city. This was their reply; “The City requested that the bus bench on Telegraph at Dwight be temporarily removed for several months in order to interrupt illicit behavior that was happening at that location. Berkeley Police and other City staff are monitoring the situation and will request that AC Transit reinstall the bench once it has been determined that doing so will not contribute to antisocial or illegal behavior in the area. We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope to restore the bench as soon as we can.” I find it hard to envision what kind of “illicit or antisocial behavior” can happen on an uncomfortable steel ribbed two seater perched on the edge of the sidewalk! 

My pleas to City hall got nowhere. I was told by the city manager that the TBID had requested the removal. I couldn't' find any way to reach the TBID or Roland Peterson on line so I went to Craig Becker at the Med. He told me he wasn't aware that the TBID had said that but he admitted that they really didn't like benches very much because some people would just sit there “all day long”. It seems to me that benches are intended for sitting! 

The process here is getting increasingly convoluted. I emailed the city manager and got this reply. “Benches are public amenities and the more the better except whe certain individuals privatize this public amenity. We removed the ones at haste and telegraph because an individual insisted on using them to display and sell books. Check with Roland Petersen on the TBID position. Sorry for the inconvenience and hopefully we'll bring it back soon.” This is unacceptable several reasons. At issue is the bus stop corner on Dwight, not Haste where the vendors are located and it obviously is not a place for a bench. I immediately let him know that. That was a week ago. 

Furthermore, his referring me to Roland Peterson makes me wonder who calls the shots around here. Does the TBID, which represents business property owners tell the city what to do. Does Mr. Hynes ask Mr Peterson what amenities the public, that is the people who live here, shall have? And does all this mean we have to worry about the city removing more benches? “Sorry for the inconvenience” won't do it. Do we the people have to organize a demonstration to get results?

First of all, please give me credit for my ability to understand this issue. It is not that I don’t understand, I simply do not agree. 

Secondly: I question the accuracy of your statistics and they have been given without a qualifying context. By this I mean that you haven’t given the “who, what ,where and when” and also in what category these statistics have been gathered. I seriously doubt that there are 74 percent fewer homeless in New York. 48 percent less drug abuse? Unbelievable. Among what category of people, where, what time period and so on have these unbelievable statistics been created? Can you provide a link to a page that would have all of the details of this study? Because so far, you have stated something that is without context and seems improbable. 

Third: Laura’s Law does not specify how the subjects will come to the attention of those who enforce it. That means that the ugly scenario of enforcers going into people’s homes could still happen, even though it may not have been done in the pilot programs. 

Fourth: The homeless need food, medical care, housing, jobs and a purpose to life. Forcing psychiatric treatment on people will not solve the problems of the homeless. 

Fifth: I question the accuracy of your statement that our rights will be protected, and I question the circumstances, and even the existence of such a court appearance. 

Having a court appearance, one in which the counsel’s paycheck is generated by the same corrupt court system, is no guarantee of people’s rights being protected. Few people in their right mind resort to using a public defender if they can possibly afford better counsel. 

And no, I am not confusing Laura’s Law with preexisting laws. Laura’s Law will launch an entirely new and oppressive system of enforcement. 

Huge numbers of people commit infractions to the law, such as drunk in public; most of them do not require psychiatric treatment. When our society across the board medicates all of those who are considered a problem, it’s not mental health being dispensed, it is use of psychiatric drugs as a form of mass punishment. 

Mr. Stone, I don’t think you fully understand the ramifications that will be created by widespread use of this law. 

When you fly to the west coast, you usually pass over the Sierra Nevada mountain range. On a clear day you’ll notice the surrounding forests are irregular; they’ve been “checkerboarded.” Millions of acres have been logged and ”clearcut.” While problematic on many levels, clearcutting imperils the drinking water for 45 million Americans. 

Clearcutting is a logging technique where all trees in a given area are cut down. The valuable timber is hauled away and the residue, the “slash pile,” is burned. Then the ground is scraped and sprayed with herbicides to suppress native vegetation. The area is replanted with one species, typically pine. In recent years, this process has been rebranded as “even-age” timber management. 

In California, clearcutting is only permitted on private land and usually occurs on property owned by Sierra Pacific Industries – the largest private landowner in the state holding over 1.7 million acres. Since 1990 Sierra Pacific has received permission from the California Forestry Board to clearcut over a quarter million acres. 

In 2000, the California legislature debated a bill that would have banned all clearcutting because of concerns about its environmental impact. Democratic Governor Gray Davis killed the law by declaring he would only sign legislation “that was the result of compromise between environmentalists and loggers.” (Sierra Pacific made significant contributions to Davis’ campaign and on July 13, 1999, hosted a fundraiser that raised $129,000 for the Governor.) 

Clearcutting has two major consequences. First, it impacts biodiversity. Replacing native trees and plants with a solitary species, pine, may simplify logging but it disrupts the habitat for plants and animals. Clearcutting fractures the fragile forest ecology causing species to migrate and, in some cases, disappear. And, wherever there is clearcutting there are roads for logging trucks; these roads also impact the environment directly by the introduction of polluting vehicles or indirectly by increasing the number of landslides. 

Second, clearcutting has a savage impact on water resources. 60 percent of California’s water supply comes from watersheds in the Sierra Nevada – 15 percent comes from the Colorado River and the remaining 25 percent from groundwater. The logging practices of Sierra Pacific have three impacts.  

The initial clearing process leaves the Sierra Nevada topsoil exposed and vulnerable. Winter rains often carry the best soil away, clogging streams and damaging habitat far away from the logging site. That’s the problem at Battle Creek a stream that descends from Mount Lassen in California’s Shasta County. The US Bureau of Reclamation is overseeing a $128 million project to revive the Battle Creek Salmon population; five dams are being removed and four others modified so steelhead and winter- and spring-run salmon can return to their spawning habitat. Tragically that same habitat is threatened by erosion resulting from upstream Sierra Pacific clearcutting, authorized by the California Department of Forestry. California doesn’t require loggers to monitor water quality and the agency charged with overseeing fish habitat, California Department of Fish and Game, has been decimated by budget cuts. 

The second impact of clearcutting is alteration of the rate of rainwater absorption. In a natural forest, native tree root systems trap and filter rainwater; as a result water percolates slowly through the soil, gradually recharging streams and aquifers over California’s dry months. In “even-age” forests, this process is altered and water is primarily distributed when it’s not needed. In the summer there is less stream water and this negatively affects fish habitat as well as plants and animals on adjacent properties. 

The third impact is from the introduction of herbicides. Each year an average of 200,000 pounds of herbicides are used to domesticate California private forests. Until recently, the most commonly used herbicide was Altrazine. In 2004, the European Union banned Altrazine “because of its persistent groundwater contamination.” US researchers are alarmed by Altrazine’s effects as an endocrine disruptor and its epidemiological connection to low male sperm count. (Health problems from aerial herbicide spraying have been reported in Triangle Lake, Oregon where most residents have tested positive for atrazine in their urine.) Recently, Altrazine has been replaced by Roundup, the most widely used US herbicide. The European Union classed Glyphosate, Roundup's main ingredient, as "dangerous for the environment" and "toxic for aquatic organisms". 

In 2006, the Union of Concerned Scientists reported on Global Warming and California’s Water Supply: “By the end of the century, if global warming emissions continue unabated, statewide annual average temperatures are expected to rise into the higher warming range (8-10.5°f). This temperature rise will lead to more precipitation falling as rain instead of snow, and the snow that does fall will melt earlier, thus decreasing the spring snowpack in the Sierra Nevada by as much as 90 percent… spring stream flow could decline up to 30 percent.” 

There are many signs that California’s water supply is imperiled by global climate change. Clearcutting increases the probability that the Sierra Nevada watershed will be furthered diminished or rendered unfit for consumption. It’s time for Governor Brown and the Legislature to ban clearcutting in all circumstances. 

Bob Burnett is a Berkeley writer. He can be reached at bburnett@sonic.net

Far too many persons with mental illness literally “drop dead” at too young an age. In many instances, our deaths are the result of preventable health issues that most un-afflicted people address by middle age. The mental health treatment system is failing to provide preventative maintenance to a population which is very vulnerable to premature illness and death through heart disease, type II diabetes, high blood pressure, and emphysema. If the assumption is that persons with mental illness have less competence compared to the mainstream population, then it becomes the responsibility of mental health caregivers to help regulate the diet, smoking and exercise level of their clientele. 

The lives of persons with mental illness are not to be considered trivial because of our lack of position in society or because we don’t come across as being as attractive, brilliant, charismatic or fit as others. I’m saying that our lives should be considered just as valuable as those of non-afflicted persons. This means that a crime is being committed. We are being allowed to die because it is convenient for the mental health caregivers to overlook our physical health issues. 

Neglect for our physical health issues is one of many instances in which persons with mental illness aren’t taken seriously, even though we have serious issues which are genuine and which can create real suffering and death. In past columns I have mentioned that the psychiatric medications cause weight gain and diabetes. I have also said that these medications make it harder to get physical exercise because of the sedating effects. This means that a lot of attention had better be paid to the diet of the psychiatric consumer. Excessive eating must absolutely be avoided. Nutritional foods must be consumed, and “junk food” must be kept at a minimum. It is the responsibility of the mental health treatment system to facilitate these good eating habits by educating people. 

Quitting smoking may be out of reach for many persons with mental illness, due to the sheer strength of the smoking addiction and due to the fact that it is thought to be mentally somewhat therapeutic. (This is not a recommendation for smoking.) Gradually creating good eating habits plus moderate exercise may be the only remaining areas where persons with mental illness still have some “wiggle room,” in our battle against poor health. 

Good eating habits can be phased into gradually, and if so, will have a better chance of being sustained. A person can start by adding a handful of green beans or green peas to one’s pot of macaroni and cheese. A person can switch to ordering one hamburger at a drive thru, instead of two or three. A person can buy a couple of frozen entrees instead of a freezer full. These are changes that won’t “rock the boat” as much concerning one’s comfort level and thus will have a greater likelihood of being sustained. 

There was the story of a board of directors meeting of a large tobacco company. A newcomer started to smoke, and was ridiculed for it. A board member at the meeting said that smoking is for “White trash and n___.” This gives you an idea of how much the tobacco producers believe in their product. 

The same sort of hypocrisy might exist in parts of the mental health treatment system. A mental health treatment venue might provide hamburgers and pizza for their lunches, which sedate the consumers by filling their stomachs; making it easer for them to be managed in the afternoon. Meanwhile, the lunches the therapists eat might consist of some concoction that has kidney beans, brown rice and tofu. Who will die first? 

Meanwhile, the medications that persons with mental illness are essentially required to take cause diabetes and extreme weight gain. All of the well-known atypical antipsychotic medications are known for raising blood sugar and increasing weight. Most mental health treatment venues have switched to these newer medications. This is because they are less likely (compared to the older generation of medications) to cause uncomfortable side-effects, and less likely to cause “tardive dyskenisia,” (a crippling, irreversible and disfiguring movement in the upper body). 

Because psychiatric drugs create obesity and diabetes, drug companies stand to gain even more profits by sales of insulin, high blood pressure medications, and blood thinners. This makes a person question if there could be some conspiracy in which people’s bodies are being harmed for the sake of profit. Whether or not this is too farfetched, it seems that taking one medication leads to taking another, and so on. The scientific community needs to devote some attention to creating psychiatric and other medications that do not cause chronic and deadly health problems. 

 

Elderly musicians hear better than elderly non-musicians. Age-related hearing loss is a significant detriment to quality of life in the aged although it is poorly understood. Oxidative stress causing loss of hearing cells is one theory. Chronic exposure to loud noises in the environment is another. It would seem that listening and playing music throughout one’s life could damage the ear. However, a new study comparing aged musicians to non-musicians suggests that decline in cortical auditory processing may be reduced in musicians whereas decline in cochlear function is similar to non-musicians. According to lead researcher Benjamin Rich Zendel, being a musician may contribute to better hearing in old age by delaying some of the age-related changes in central auditory processing. This advantage widens considerably for musicians as they get older when compared to similar-aged non-musicians. 

The June 1909 issue of The Etude magazine advertised The Home For Aged Musicians in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. “A fully equipped and amply guaranteed residential home located in a desirable part of Philadelphia. This home is maintained to provide for elderly ladies, whose services to the art of music as teachers entitle them to rest, attention and freedom from care for the remainder of their days…236 South 3^rd Street.” You can still view The Home For Aged Musicians. Google MAPS. 

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The University of California, Berkeley’s Music Department is sponsoring the 59^th Annual Noon Concert Series, usually on Wednesdays and Fridays from 12:15 - 1 P.M. in Hertz Concert Hall. Walk north from the intersection of College and Bancroft into the campus, past the fountain. Between the two large buildings, Wurster (Environmental design) and Kroeber (Anthropology) Halls, Hertz is directly in front of you. AC bus routes run along Bancroft Way and Durant Ave. Tickets are not required and admission is free. Events contact is concerts@berkeley.edu or 510-642-4864.

On Wednesday, October 12, enjoy pianist Andrea Wu and Bach, Beethoven and Ginastera.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)’s Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue is one of his best known works, an extravagant work of virtuosity and bold harmonic structure. It is a large, sprawling, emotional piece and unique in its character compared to other Bach music. Ms Wu will also play Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)’s Sonata Op. 31 No. 3. As he grew more deaf, Beethoven’s visitors wrote their conversation down for him to read; 140 of these “conversation books” are known to exist. Her program will conclude with Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (1916-1983)’s Sonata No. 1 . A portion was performed in the soundtrack of the 1980 motion picture, The Competition. Following a visit to the United States in 1945–47, where he studied with Aaron Copland at Tanglewood, Ginastera returned to Buenos Aires and co-founded the League of Composers, later moving back to the United States and from 1970 living in Europe. 

On Wednesday, October 26, enjoy pianist Tony Lin and Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Chopin and Liszt. 

Mr. Lin will play Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828)’s Sonata in A minor, D. 784. Schubert was one of the leading exponents of the early Romantic era in music, and he remains one of the most frequently performed composers. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)’s Dumka, Op. 59 follows. Dumkka refers to a song, especially a Slavic folksong, which has alternating happy and sad passages. Frédéric François Chopin (1810-1849)’s Polonaise-Fantasy Op. 61 follows. Chopin has been called "the poet of the piano". Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor and teacher. His Transcendental Etude No. 10 in F minor concludes Mr. Lin’s program. "Allegro agitato molto" is the tenth Transcendental Etude of a set of twelve by Liszt. It is possibly the most played of the etudes and has a prominent melody. 

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MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Be sure to confirm. Readers are welcome to share by email news of future events that may interest boomers and seniors. Daytime, free, and Bay Area events preferred. pen136@dslextreme.com. 

Thursday, Oct. 6, 2011. 10 A.M. – 1 P.M. Lavender Seniors of the East Bay’s Annual Aging in Place Symposium & Resource Fair for Older Adults. Marina Community Center, 15301 Wicks Blvd., San Leandro. Refreshments, entertainment. Free. Dan Ashbrook at 510-667-9655 Ext 1. Email dan@lavenderseniors.org. 

Thursday, Oct. 6, 12:15 P.M. – 1 P.M. West Edge Opera presents highlights from their upcoming production of Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos. Central Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge. 510-981-6100. 

Thursday, Oct. 6. 6 P.M. Lawyers in the Library. Berkeley Public Library South branch. 1901 Russell. 510-981-6100. Also Oct. 13. 

Mondays, Oct. 10, 17, 24. 11:10 A.M. – 1 P.M. Introduction to Video Production. Learn to use a video camera, script writing, storyboarding, basic lighting and sound to 

produce a newscast and a short documentary. No experience required. Equipment provided. Graduate to the advanced class on October 31, 1:00 P.M.-3:00 P.M. Mastick Senior Center, 1155 Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda. 510-747-7506. 

Tuesday, Oct. 11. 1 P.M. Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) 

Marilyn Ababio and Dorothy Ridley, POLST representatives inform about POLST, a form that spells out the medical treatment you desire during the end of your life + question and answer period. Mastick Senior Center, 1155 Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda. 510-747-7506. 

Tuesday, Oct. 11. 7 P.M. Latin American Music, with. Rafael Manriquez and Ingrid Rubis. Kensington Library, 61Arlington Avenue. Free. 510-524-3043. 

Wednesday, Oct. 12. 12:15 P.M. – 1 P.M. Noon Concert Series Performing Arts - UC,B Hertz Concert Hall. Andrea Wu, piano. Tickets not required. 510-642-4864. 

Wednesday, Oct. 12. 6:30 P.M. – 8 P.M. Drop-In Poetry Writing Workshops. Free. Albany branch of the Alameda County library, 1247 Marin Av. 510-526-3720. 

Thursday, Oct. 13. 10 A.M. Computers for Beginners. Central Berkeley Public Library. 2090 Kittredge. 510-981-6100. Also Oct. 20 and 27. 

Thursday, Oct. 13. 10:30 A.M. New Member Orientation & YOU! Mastick Senior Center, 1155 Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda. Guided tour outlining the various activities, programs, and services, and a coupon to enjoy a complimentary lunch provided by Bay Area Community Services (BACS)! Reserve by visiting the Mastick Office or calling 510-747-7506. 

Saturday, Oct. 15. 11 A.M. Landlord/Tenant Counseling. Central Berkeley Public Library. 510-2090 Kittredge. 510- 981-6100. 

Monday, Oct. 17. 9:30 A.M.- 12:30 P.M. Beaded Jewelry Making. Rose O’Neill, Custom Jewelry Designer. Beads and tools will be supplied unless you would like to go “green” and redesign beads already in your possession. Limited to 10 students. $15 per person. Mastick Senior Center, 1155 Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda. 510-747-7506. (Also Mondays, Nov 21 and Dec 19.) 

Monday October 17. 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM Albany YMCA/Albany Library Brown Bag Lunch Speaker's Forum: Fred Setterberg, Lunch Bucket Paradise has been described as "postwar dreams of a working-class California suburb, and the struggles—comic, tragic, and triumphant—of those who came of age in that time and place.”Contact Ronnie Davis 510-526-3720 x16 rdavis@aclibrary.org 

Monday, Oct. 17. 2 P.M.-3:30 P.M. Queue Rolo, M.A., M.S., Museum Studies, SFSU, will present “W.A.Leidesdorff: America’s 1st Black Millionaire.” Free for OLLI and Mastick Senior Center members. MastickSenior Center, 1155 Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda. 510-747-7506. 

Tuesday, Oct. 18. 12:30 P.M. San Francisco Gray Panthers General Meeting: Program to be announced. Location: Fireside Room, Unitarian Center, 1187 Franklin St. at Geary, # 38 bus. 415-552-8800. graypanther-sf@sbcglobal.net, http://graypantherssf.igc.org/ 

Wednesday, Oct. 19. 12:15 P.M. – 1 P.M. Noon Concert Series Performing Arts - UC,B Hertz Concert Hall. University Gospel Chorus - Another Day's Journey. Tickets not required. 510-642-4864. 

Wednesday, Oct. 19. 1:30 P.M. Alameda County Library San Lorenzo branch, 395 Paseo Grande. 510-670-6283. Social Security Administration Public Affairs Specialist Mariaelena Lemus will address older adults’ questions and present information specifically for them. Program repeats at other branches through December. No reservations required. Free. Library Older Adult Services at 510-745-1491. 

Wednesday, Oct. 19. 7 P.M. – 8 P.M. The Bookeeper’s Apprentice, by Laurie R. King. Book discussion. Alameda County Library Albany Branch, 1247 Marin Av. 510-526-3720. (On Sunday, Oct. 23 @ 2 PM, the author will read and speak. Albany Community Center.) 

Thursday, Oct. 20. 6 P.M. Lawyers in the Library. Berkeley Public Library West branch. 1125 University. 510-981-6270. Also Oct. 27. 

Sunday, Oct. 23. 2 P.M. – 3 P.M. The Albany Library (1247 Marin Av.) presents Laurie King, the author of Albany Reads book, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice. Community Center Hall. 510-526-3720.
Mondays, Oct. 24, 26 and 31. 10A.M. – 12 Noon. Oliver Guinn, Ph.D Economics, returns to teach “Our Damaged Economy: The Financial Meltdown and Economic Inequality.” Free. Mastick Senior Center, 1155 Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda. 510-747-7506. 

Tuesday, Oct. 25. 1 P.M. AC Transit and YOU! Representatives from United Seniors of Oakland and Alameda County will inform about the Regional Transit Connection (RTC) Discount Card Program and the Clipper Card, route changes, and the 10-year AC Transit Fare Policy. Refreshments. Free. MastickSenior Center, 1155 Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda. 510-747-7506. 

Tuesday, Oct. 25. 3 - 4 P.M. Tea and Cookies. Central Berkeley Public Library. A book club for people who want to share the books they have read. Central Berkeley Public Library. 2090 Kittredge. 510-981-6100. 

Wednesday, Oct. 26. 12:15 P.M. – 1 P.M. Noon Concert Series Performing Arts - UC,B Hertz Concert Hall. Tony Lin, piano. Tickets not required. 510-642-4864. 

Wednesday, Oct. 26. 1 P.M. Berkeley Gray Panthers meets at North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst, corner of MLK. Free. 510-548-9696. 

Wednesday, Oct. 26. 1:30-2:30 P.M. Alameda County Library Albany branch. 1247 Marin Av. Great Books Discussion Group. Roman Fever, Edith Wharton short story. Facilitated discussion. Books available at the Library. Parking! 510-526-3720 x 16. 

Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 26/Sacramento and 27/South San Francisco, 2011 . 

"Dementia Care Without Drugs - A Better Approach for Long-term Care Facilities" symposia about misuse of psychotropic drugs as treatment for dementia, difficulty in managing dementia treatment, and non-pharmacological approaches to care. CANHR staff attorney Tony Chicotel presentation, "Stop Drugging Our Elders!" California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform http://www.canhr.org. 415-974-5171. Fax 415-777-2904. http://ossmc.givezooks.com/events/dementia-care-without-drugs-a-better-approach. 

Thursday, Oct. 27. 12:30 P.M. Celebrating a birthday in October? Cake, music, 

balloons, and good cheer. Mastick Senior Center, 1155 Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda. . 510-747-7506. 

Thursday, Oct. 27 1 P.M.- 3 P.M. Fall Dance…Halloween Stomp. Come in costume 

to be eligible for “best costume award”, enjoy door prizes, and refreshments. Volunteers enter free with volunteer badge. Cost is $2.00 per person. . Mastick Senior Center, 1155 Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda. . 510-747-7506. 

Thursday, Oct. 27 1:30 P.M. Music Appreciation with William Sturm, Volunteer Instructor. Piano recital and discussion on “The Sceptered Isle: Music of England”. Mastick Senior Center, 1155 Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda. 510-747-7506. 

Saturday, Oct. 29. 12:15 P.M. Halloween Bingo Bash. Patrons will receive a free Halloween dauber (ink marker) compliments of Center Advisory Board and Bingo Committee. Doors open at 10:00 a.m. with the first game at 12:15 P.M. 18 years of age+ are welcome. Mastick Senior Center, 1155 Santa Clara Av. 510-747-7506. 

 

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Tuesday November 1. 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM League of Women Voters. Albany Library, 1247 Marin Av. Contact: Ronnie Davis 510-526-3720 X16 The League of Women Voters invites you to join them. 

Wednesday, November 2. 1 P.M. Mastick Book Club members review Mastick Senior Center, 1155 Santa Clara Av., Alameda. One Day by David Nicholls will be reviewed. 510-747-7506, -7510. Free. 

Wednesday, November 2. 6-8 P.M Lawyer in the Library. Free. Albany Library. 1247 Marin Av. 510-526-0660 

Wednesday, Nov 2. 7 P.M. Democracy For America Meetup – Pizza 6:30 P.M., Presentation at 7:00 P.M. Rockridge Library, 5433 College Ave, Oakland. . Cindy Young, Statewide Campaign Coordinator for the California Single Payer Coalition, will explain how the California Universal Health Care Act, SB810 will affect you and how to support its passage. Co-sponsored with the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club. Contact Nancy M. Friedman at nmf123@pacbell.net 

Thursday, November 3. 1:30 P.M. SOCIAL SECURITY & MEDICARE. Albany branch of the Alameda County Library, 1247 Marin Av. 510-526-3720. Free workshop. Speaker Mariaelena Lemus from the Social Security Administration. For older adults, family members, service providers. Reservations not required. Continuing into December, program will be presented throughout the Alameda County Library system; for a list of dates and locations, check the Alameda County Library system website. Older Adult Services at 510-745-1491. 

Thursday, November 3. 6 P.M. Lawyers in the Library at South branch, Berkeley. 1901 Russell. 510-981-6260. 

Wednesday, Nov. 9. 6:30-8 P.M. Drop-in poetry writing workshop. Free. Albany Library. 1247 Marin Av. 510-526-0660. 

Saturday, Nov. 12. 12 Noon. Beef Bowl Anime Club meeting for adults. Albany Library, 1247 Marin Av. Contact: Ronnie Davis(510) 526-3720 x16. 

Monday, Nov. 14. 12 Noon. J-Sei Center, 1710 Carleton St., Berkeley. Monday Senior Center Lecture. “Do You Have The Right Insurance?” Speaker: Darrell Doi – CLTC Financial Advisor/Long Term Care Specialist. To place a reservation for the lecture and/or lunch at 11:30am, call 510-883-1106. 

Monday, Nov. 14. 12:30 -1:30 P.M. Albany YMCA/Albany Library Brown Bag Lunch Speaker’s Forum: Bob Lewis, Birds of the Bay Trail . Bob will illustrate this talk with images of birds seen along the Bay shoreline and will discuss identification, migration, feeding habits and nesting. Contact: Ronnie Davis 510-526-3720 x16. 

Tuesday, November 15. 1 P.M. Falls Prevention Discussion Group. Join Tina Maria Scott, Community Health Outreach Worker, with the Senior Injury Prevention Program—Senior Injury Prevention Project, for a Falls Prevention Discussion Group. Focus will be on factors that cause falls. Areas that will be discussed are Changing Behaviors, Nutrition & Medication Management, Fitness, and Home Safety Checklist by way of “Show & Tell”. Participants will receive a Falls Prevention Manual and other useful information that is easy to read. 

Tuesday, November 15. Annual National Memory Screening Day. http:///www.nationalmemoryscreening.org 

Saturday, Nov. 19. 10 A.M. – 4 P.M. Friends of the Albany Library Book Sale. 1247 Marin Av. Please do not bring donations the week prior to the sale. Contact: Ronnie Davis 510-526-3720 x16 rdavis@aclibrary.org Also Sunday, Nov. 20 from 11-4 P.M.
Thursday, November 23. 1:30 – 2:30 P.M. Free. Albany Library. 1247 Marin Av. 510-526-0660. Great Books Discussion Group: John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley 

 

We were bad. Incorrigible, they said. We had curious minds, awkward bodies and awakening hearts. When we disrupted the class with our chattering and chaotic behavior, the teacher asked us to leave the room and stand in the hall until we behaved properly. On our report cards we received "unsatisfactory" for our social behavior.

The year was 1957. Our teacher viewed us as difficult, inattentive, and troublesome, but no one ever suggested to our parents that we had a medical problem or learning disability that required medication.

But that was then, when we were 11 years old and the great waves of hyperactivity/ADHD diagnoses and stimulant medications were still a thing of the future. Now we wonder what would happen if we were misfits in 2007. Would we be referred for medical diagnosis? Would we be among the nearly 10% of children currently treated with psychoactive drugs? 

The truth is, we didn't really care how long we had to wait outside in the hall. We peered through the window and watched our classmates. Don hummed and Peter and I talked about books we were reading. We learned from each other and were glad to be moving, feeling and thinking. 

We loved learning, but we were restless, active and energetic; we just couldn't conform to the constraints of the classroom. We called out before we raised our hands; we didn't stay in our seats; we walked about the room to peer at the goldfish or thumb through the encyclopedia in the back of the room; and we constantly "talked to our neighbors." From the teacher's point of view we disrupted and distracted the class and, she was right. 

Every so often, she'd call out, "Ruth (or Peter or Don) would you please stand out in the hall so we can continue class?" Sometimes, we spent as much as 1/4 of our time out in the hall, frequently talking with each other. Often, we had to stay after school--punishment for our bad behavior. We were three of the more difficult kids in the class, surely a topic of discussion in the teachers' lounge. They probably talked about us and wondered, what will become of them? 

Despite their likely bleak predictions, we all became successful and productive adults. Recently I--one of these troublemakers--had lunch with another of these sixth grade misfits. His name is Peter Conrad and he is a distinguished medical sociologist at Brandeis University. He's perfectly wonderful and quite normal. He has just published a book called The Medicalization of Society. Like Peter, I have also enjoyed a successful career in academic life and became a historian at the University of California, as well as a journalist. Today, I teach write for a variety of magazines and publications. Between us, we've probably published ten books and hundreds of articles. 

Though we're relatively well known in our own small worlds, the third misfit is positively famous. He is Don McLean, the legendary songwriter, whose "American Pie," one of the greatest songs of our generation, gave us the sober words, "that was the day the music died." I still remember Don humming and strumming on his ukulele, before he picked up a guitar and became a professional musician and songwriter. His songs live on. On his website, fans write that their grandchildren are busy memorizing the lyrics of this great poet. 

Yes, we were disruptive and incorrigible. Don wanted to create music; Peter and I were too curious and restless to sit in a class where our veteran but traditional teacher--who seemed like a species from another planet to us--had to deal with a large baby boomer class. 

But we weren't sick, we didn't act manic and nor did we suffer from attention disorder or any learning disability. We needed freedom to express our interests and talents, but drugs were not the solution. 

Half a century later, today's sixth grade misfits are likely to be evaluated by doctors, diagnosed and medicated. By the time they reach college, they have been told repeatedly that they have an array of diagnosable behavior problems and learning disabilities. Every year, the number of university students who have brought me letters that certify their learning disabilities increases. It seems like a growth industry. 

Many young people do, of course, suffer from serious medical problems and learning disabilities. But I confess to a certain skepticism. Are all these "experts" capable of distinguishing between creative kids who simply need a respite from conforming to educational norms and those who require medical help for their own benefit? 

My sixth grade friends share my skepticism and worry about the growing medicalization of today's classroom misfits. After catching up with Peter, Don and I spent hours on the phone fondly recalling our experiences out in that hall and happily discovering how much our values had not changed. 

What happens, we asked each other, to individuality and creativity when our educational system demands compliance and students must demonstrate conformity in order to avoid diagnosis and drugs? Could it be that some students merely need a hallway in which they can chatter and learn from each other? The three of us have reconnected and discovered, much to our pleasure, that we are still rebels, in our different ways, and live successful and satisfied lives with our families and our work. 

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Ruth Rosen, Profesor Emerita of Hisgtory at the University of California, Davis, was a former columnist at the Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle. She is currently a visiting scholar at the Center for the Study of Right-wing Movements at U.C. Berkeley. and the author, most recently of The World Split Open: How the Modern Women's Movement Changed America (Penguin, 2006). She will be contributing occasional columns to the Berkeley Daily Planet.

Lost in debate over whether the Obama administration had the right to carry out the extra-legal execution of Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born Yemini cleric and al-Qaeda member, is who pulled the trigger? It is not a minor question, and it lies at the heart of the 1907 Hague Convention, the 1949 Geneva Conventions, and the 1977 additions to the ‘49 agreement: civilians cannot engage in war.

In the main, laws of war focus on the protection of civilians. For instance, Article 48, the “Basic Rule” of Part IV of the 1977 Geneva Conventions, states, “In order to ensure respect for and protection of civilian populations and civilian objects, the Parties to the conflict shall at all times distinguish between civilian populations and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives and accordingly shall direct their operations only against military objectives.” 

What follows in the 1977 Conventions are nine articles specifying what the general rule means, ranging from prohibitions against attacking power plants and water sources and spreading “terror among civilian populations” to destroying the “natural environment.” There are many civilian-related sections in other parts of the Conventions, but the 10 articles that make up Chapter I, Section I, Part IV on “Civilian Population” are the clearest guidelines about what is allowed when civilians are caught up in war. 

The Conventions were mainly a response to the horrors of World War II, where civilian deaths were more than twice those on the military side. Of the approximate 80 million people who died in WW II, 55 million of them were civilians. In comparison, out of some 17 million who died in World War I, seven million were civilians. 

The logic behind Article IV of the Conventions is that civilians are innocent bystanders, with no ability to defend themselves or inflict damage on an antagonist. However, if civilians take part in hostilities, they lose their protected status. If the warring parties have an obligation to protect non-combatants, civilians also have obligations, the most important of which is that they do not act as soldiers. 

In short, if someone takes a pot shot at you, it is irrelevant if he or she is a civilian, by their actions they are no longer innocent bystanders. Members of a resistance movement may not wear uniforms or be part of a military organization, but if they blow up your Humvee or ambush your patrol, they are combatants. 

Which is why the question of who killed Anwar al-Awlaki (and over 2,000 people in Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen killed by drones) is relevant. If the cleric was killed as part of a military operation—as with, for instance the assassination of Osama bin-Laden—then the arguments are around issues like whether we have the right to execute enemies without a trial (the Conventions say we don’t), or violate another nation’s sovereignty. 

But al-Awlaki was not taken out by Navy Seals, he was assassinated by a member of the Central Intelligence Agency, the organization that runs the drone wars in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. CIA members are civilians. Indeed, the new director, David Petraeus, formally resigned his Army commission to make that point. Even if he had not, however, the CIA is not a military organization and is not under the control of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

Why is this important? Because if civilians in the U.S. are killing combatants in another country, then those civilians lose their protection under the Conventions. Worse, it means all U.S. civilians become potential targets. If a CIA employee based in Afghanistan, the Arabian Peninsula, or Djibouti in Africa kills a Pakistani, Somalian, or Afghan with a Hellfire missile fired from a Predator drone, one can hardly complain if everyday U.S. citizens are targeted for retaliation. 

One could argue that, since al-Awlaki was an American citizen, the hit didn’t really contravene the Conventions and the arguments should be over whether you can order the killing of an American citizen without due process. However, others targeted by the drone war—like members of al-Qaeda, the Taliban, the Haqqani Group, and the Somali Shabaab—do not fall in this category. 

According to the CIA, the drone wars have killed no civilians. “There hasn’t been a single collateral death because of the exceptional proficiency, precision of the capabilities we’ve been able to develop,” John O’Brennan, the Obama administration’s counterterrorism advisor told the New York Times. 

That assertion is almost beyond ridiculous. Even a supporter of the drone war like Bill Roggio, editor of The Long War Journal, says the claim is “absurd.” The United Kingdom based Bureau of Investigative Journalism found that out of the 2,292 people killed by drones in Pakistan, 775 of them were civilians. Pakistan journalist Noor Behram puts the total much higher, telling the The Guardian (UK), “For every 10 to 15 people killed [by drones], maybe they get one militant.” 

The U.S. claim, however false, allows the drone war to continue. There is nothing in the Conventions that bars lying. 

The Obama administration (and the previous Bush administration) argue that drone war is part of the “war on terror” that Congress mandated after the 9/11 attacks: hence we are at “war” with at least the Taliban and its allies, the Shabaab, and al-Qaeda. But the CIA still has no authority to exacute a war. The last two run by the organization—the war in Laos and the Contra war against Nicaragua—were not only unmitigated disasters, they were illegal. 

Many countries have already stretched the Geneva Conventions to the breaking point with regards to civilians and the treatment of prisoners. For instance, by using the term “collateral” to describe civilian deaths, a country sidesteps the Convention’s stricture against “deliberate targeting” of civilians by claiming the damage was “inadvertent.” By calling insurgents “combatants” rather than “soldiers,” the U.S. has water boarded people, thus finessing both the Conventions and the 1984 UN Convention Against Torture. 

One could get cynical about this—aren’t civilians always the victims of war? —but in their own uneven way, the Geneva Conventions have protected civilians. Indeed, it was the Conventions that led to what is now an almost world wide ban on landmines and may end up eliminating cluster weapons in the future. The fact that laws don’t always work, or that people of ill will figure how to contravene them, is an argument for greater adherence to the rules, not ignoring or contravening them. 

The danger is that the U.S. is blurring the difference between civilian and military, and that is a dangerously slippery slope. We already have a former general running the CIA, and former CIA Director Leon Penetta heads up the Defense Department. If we reach a point where there is nothing to distinguish our military institutions from our civilian ones, then all of us are fair game. 

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Conn Hallinan can be read at dispatchesfromtheedgeblog.wordpress.com and middleempireseries.wordpress.com 

Separation

Your absence has gone through me

Like thread through a needle.

Everything I do is stitched with its color.

—W. S. Merwin, b. 1927 

Three lines—one homely, familiar image—the sharp point of a needle piercing my being, dragging the thread of a loved one’s absence, stitching the “color” of this loss through me and into “everything I do.” 

Exactly. Using abstract, even vague terms like “absence” and “separation,” Merwin opens us to the widest possible range of loss, great or small, brief or permanent. In sixteen words, clear to any reader, he says more than hundreds of pages can tell about the loneliness, loss, and grief—of brief or long-term physical or psychic distance—or of the ultimate separation: death. 

Not that we learn something new, but that we are reminded of something that, at a deeper level, we already know. 

And, somehow, we are profoundly, paradoxically, comforted. He has stitched our losses into a color, a texture added to us. 

That’s why we need poets. 

 

 

 

(Send the Berkley Daily Planet a page from your own Commonplace Book) 

 

 

Most persons who have severe mental illness would like to work, if they possibly can. We are often prevented from working by the barriers against us in society and not just by the disability. Having a severe mental illness is a perfectly legitimate reason for not having a job. It would not be accurate to call us bums or freeloaders, any more than someone who suffers blindness or a broken back. While our disability is invisible, it is just as real as a person’s disability that is plainly visible, such as a missing limb. 

Many persons with mental disabilities, when not employed, have a lot of guilt over it. And this is not necessary. Often the persons who are hardest on us are us. The belief that we ought to be employed, while not accurate, can be at the level of obsession. It can create life situations that lead to a relapse of the illness. 

It adds to our problems when family members chime in on our job predicament and criticize us for failed work attempts. It is not supportive to lay guilt and blame on someone for not succeeding in a situation where that person may have tried their best, and had already supplied him or her self with an adequate amount of anguish over their “failure.” 

Just as someone with a physical disability can work at a job in which the disability doesn’t interfere, there are some jobs that a person with a psychiatric disability can readily maintain. Physical work that requires fast movement is often off the table due to the slowing effect of the medication. Skilled work in a situation in which there is little or no immediate pressure has often been a fit for me. However, it is hard to find this in a job; usually employers create a situation in which they can get as much production from each employee as possible. Thus, in my twenties I was good at electronics but often could not handle the job situations. I often tried to do electronic repair as a self employed technician, but this was rarely profitable. 

A lot of persons with mental illness are thrilled to even work at a “bottom of the barrel” job such as sweeping floors. I once did such jobs and have had my fill. It would be nice if “real” professional employment somehow became available to more people with chronic mental illness. However, among those with a severe form and an early onset of illness, professional employment is relatively rare. 

This is not to discount that there are persons with mental illness for whom work isn’t a problem. They may or may not disclose their diagnosis at work. However, the difficulties I am discussing in this article may not exist for them, or may have been overcome years ago. Employment should be embarked upon with an open mind to the idea that it may not turn out to be difficult, or a person may be more than equal to the difficulties. 

I was able to work at various jobs and earn a modicum of pay during my young adulthood. I eventually developed a case of burnout. I attribute part of this to my fighting against the restraining effects of antipsychotic medication. Antipsychotic medication has quite a depressing and slowing effect that ordinarily would make someone unable to work at a competitive rate. I tried to compensate for this by increasing my effort level. The result was that I was able to hold down some of the jobs at which I was hired, but later developed the burnout that I mentioned. 

At some point in life, a person with mental illness may be forced to apply for Social Security in order to have money to live on. I know that there are a lot of middle-class and wealthy people who complain about SSI recipients living off of their tax money and not having to work, as they do. We live in a society in which those who lack the ability to survive are taken care of rather than left to die. Telling us to “go get a job,” comes from a hard nosed attitude that lacks understanding. 

I believe that persons with a disability, if they can, ought to find some way of contributing to society rather than simply taking up space. For example, I have a relative who does volunteer work when not employed. Even babysitting for other family members, I believe, is a good enough thing to do, as opposed to sitting around in front of the television or getting drunk with buddies. In my view it doesn’t matter if one’s venture is intended to make a profit, or not. Either way, one can do something that is useful to oneself and others rather than being a blob. And I believe that most persons with psychiatric disabilities feel the same way as I do; that they ought to do something useful with their time. 

I don’t believe that a requirement to earn our own way in life would be relevant for most people with a major mental illness. We ought to stop comparing ourselves to this standard. And we ought not be looked down upon or condescended upon for having a disability. We deserve the same respect as anyone else does, and that includes respect from ourselves. 

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As always, I welcome your comments and stories which can be sent care of The Planet, or directly to me at bragenkjack@yahoo.com. Also, please note my science fiction short story e-book for Kindle, “Selected Short Fiction of Jack Bragen” which is currently available on Amazon, and my blog, at bragenjack.blogspot.com which has recipes, commentary and fiction.

The Berkeley Arts Festival, now in residence at 2133 University Avenue, carries on throughout October. Here are the events, day by day: 

October 6, 8 pm--Steve Adams Solo and Steve Adams Quartet, Steve Adams, solo woodwinds and electronics plus Lisa Mezzacappa, upright bass; Scott Amendola, drums and electronics; John Hanes, electronics 

October 7, noon--Jerry Kuderna, piano 

October 8, 8 pm-- "Dan Plonsey's New Montrosities in Jazz" Steve Adams and Plonsey saxophones, Jim Bove, drums, Scott Looney, piano and Steve Horowitz, bass. Plus Fred Frith, guitar and Theresa Wong, cello 

October 14, noon--Jerry Kuderna, piano 

October 15, 8 pm--Jerry Kuderna, piano concert 

October 16, 4 pm--India Cooke, violin; Bill Crossman, piano 

October 20, 9 pm--Darren Johnston "Nice Guy Trio" DarrenJohnston - trumpet; Rob Reich - accordion; Daniel Fabricant - bass 

October 21, noon--Jerry Kuderna, piano 

October 22, 8 pm--Phillip Greenlief, Double Duet, Phillip Greenlief/David Boyce, tenor sax duo Plus Kris Tiner, trumpet; Mike Bagetta, guitar duo 

October 26, 8 pm--Dean Santomieri, Three Stories of Music Plus The Glasses Quartet--Chris Grady, trumpet; Larry Leight, troombone; Dave Mihaly, percussion; and Safa Shokrai, upright bass & compositions 

October 28, noon--Jerry Kuderna, piano 

October 29, 8 pm--Nathan Clevenger Sextet: Aaron Novik, clarinets; Sylvain Carton, tenor sax, clarinet; Evan Francis, alto sax, flute; Sam Bevan, bass; Jon Arkin, drums; Nathan Clevenger, compositions, guitar.  

Suggested donation $10-$20 

For more info: www.berkeleyartsfestival.com

The film opens October 7 at San Francisco's Roxie Theater

Last year, filmmaker David Guggenheim's Waiting for Superman created a mega-buzz by pushing the idea that the problem with US education was: lazy, overpaid, unionized, tenure-protected teachers. Guggenheim's solution: "privatizing" education by promoting charter schools (which, in many cases, were publicly supported).

Well, hold onto your cape, corporate crusaders, because a new documentary is set to hit the screen like a load of kryptonite and is guaranteed to blow holes in that argument. American Teacher, a documentary directed by Academy Award-winner Vanessa Roth and narrated by Oscar-winner Matt Damon, puts the superhero cape where it belongs — on the shoulders of the country's dedicated and self-sacrificing teachers.

Instead of looking at the problem through the eyes of desperate parents, anxious children or an über-administrator like Michelle Rhee, American Teacher offers the missing perspective — education as it's seen and lived by the women and men who dedicate their lives to the classroom. 

We've all seen the stats. Among the world's industrialized countries, the US now ranks 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math. Bill Gates spent millions to figure out the best way improve America's educational system. It turns out the answer wasn't to be found in charter schools, test standards, class size, curricula or technology. As Gates admits in the film, "The more we looked at it, the more we realized that having good teachers was the key thing." 

It should be a no-brainer. "Without good teachers, we don't have a democracy," US Education Secretary Arne Duncan tells the filmmakers. And Barack Obama has made it equally clear that "the single most important ingredient inside the classroom is the quality of the teacher." Still, fusillades of anti-teacher vitriol continues to vent from the opinionaires at Fox News where teachers are routinely scapegoated as overpaid public servants who "seem like they are just serving themselves." 

In ten years, more than half of the country's 3.2 million public school teachers will be retiring. That is, if they can last that long. The fact is that today's teachers are quitting the profession in droves and college grads are no longer considering teaching as a profession. 

American Teacher was co-produced by local author Dave Eggers and Nínive Calegari (both of San Francisco's 826 Valencia project). Eggers' mom was a teacher and Calegari is a former SF teacher with a master's degree in education from Harvard. Both teamed with Daniel Moulthrop to write the 2003 New York Times best-seller, Teachers Have It Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America's Teachers. 

In typical doc fashion, the film makes its argument by focusing on the lives of a few iconic individuals. There's Jaime Fidler, a first-grade teacher in New York who heads to school at 7AM and gets home at 6:30PM. In her first year of teaching, Jamie spent more than $3,000 out of her own pocket for classroom supplies. "No pencils, crayons, nothing." She came back from her first day in tears, wondering whether she really wanted to continue. Fidler's case is the norm: More than 90% of US teachers have to spend their own money on classroom supplies. 

Even with 40 chairs in her classroom, Amanda Lueck, a 27-year-old Colorado middle school English teacher, has to seat some of her students on countertops along the windows. There's always too much to do, Lueck sighs. "Maybe if I had three of me, I might be able to get it done." Lueck's candid video diaries powerfully capture the stress of working long hours with little to no support. 

Most of his students know that Erik Benner, a Texas middle-school history teacher, grew up poor in a trailer. Benner's success provides inspiration to many of his students who are living in trailer homes today. "He pushes you really hard," one student says, "but he's also like your friend, too." 

Rhena Jasey, a New Jersey elementary school teacher, recalls how her friends were flabbergasted to hear she wanted to work in the classroom. "Why do you want to teach?" they asked. "You went to Harvard! You should be a doctor or a lawyer. You should make money." 

At San Francisco's Leadership High School, Jonathan Dearman explains his devotion to teaching. He loves challenging his students to rise to meet expectations. His reward is seeing that miracle happen when his students discover that they are capable of more than they would have believed. Dearman is African-American in a school system where 35% of all students are either African-American or Latino but only 15% of the teachers are members of a racial minority. 

Marguerite Izzo, New York State's 2007 Teacher of the Year, disputes the notion that "teachers work short hours and only part of the year." The truth is, the hours are long and the role requires not only a love for teaching, but the ability to make "thousands of decisions each day, tailored to the individual needs of hundreds of students with differing needs. It's an extremely difficult environment." 

On average, a teacher spends 50 hours at school and a minimum of 15 hours a week at home grading papers, preparing tests and lesson plans. Many US teachers routinely work more than 65 hours a week. 

Today's poor teaching salaries are due, in part, to institutionalize sexism. In the early 20^th century, the film explains, women were recruited as teachers "in part, to reduce salary levels." Thousands of talented women (who were smart enough to be lawyers, engineers or astrophysicists) could only find work as secretaries, nurses or teachers. As women began to gain access to other professions in the 1980s, teaching became less attractive and some of the best and the brightest went off to pursue careers in professions that offered better salaries. 

For most of the film, these teachers come across as committed heroes, dedicated and preserving. But before the film ends, there will be bodies on the battlefield, some broken and bleeding. 

When Benner's $27,000 school salary is no longer enough to support his growing family, he has to take a second job driving a forklift in the evenings to pay his bills. With no time off to spend with his wife and two daughters, his marriage suffers. 

Nearly a third of US teachers are forced to work second jobs to pay their bills. If you add coaches, advisors and tutors, two-thirds of the teaching population are holding down second jobs. 

So it's not surprising that US teachers suffer from the greatest burn-out rate of any US profession — 20% quit every year and 46% of US teachers quit within five years, citing long hours, low salary, lack of support and lack of prestige. This attrition is estimated to cost the country more than $7 billion annually. 

In San Francisco, Dearman is forced to give up his "teaching habit" to earn a living in real estate. It is an especially sad moment, having seen earlier footage of Dearman surrounded by his laughing, adoring students. As one student tells the filmmakers: "He was a pillar and you always assume that pillar is going to be there." And then, one day, when a teacher has to leave a classroom that she or he loves to work in a Target store, drive a forklift, become a waitress or sell real estate, "it's traumatic." Kids are left crying in the hallways: "Mr. Dearman is leaving!" And what kind of lesson does that leave behind for the abandoned students? 

The film includes wrenching interviews with a half-dozen award-winning teachers who were forced to quit teaching to find financial security in other professions. They give different reasons — "I burned out," "I couldn't take it," "It was the lack of respect," "The financial realities of the situation" — but they all repeat the same common regret: "I think about going back every single day." 

This shouldn't happen. Our country should not force teachers to live in poverty. Teaching is one of society's most important jobs and teachers should be supported, honored and paid accordingly. While salaries for doctors and lawyers has nearly tripled over the past 20 years, the average teacher's salary has only risen by about one-third (and that's not adjusting for inflation). Because the profession fails to offer comparable rewards, it has become increasingly difficult for America's teachers to pay their bills. 

Rhena Jasey is lucky. She is one of eight applicants (out of a field of 600) selected to teach at a new charter school run by The Equity Project. TEP offers a starting salary of $120,000 (financed by public funds). The benefits of a professional-level salary benefit the schools as well. In Greensboro, North Carolina, increased salaries were accompanied by a decline in attrition rates from 20% to 14%; at the same time, student gradation rates improved nearly 12%. In Denver, Colorado, after teachers' salaries were increased, drop-outs subsequently plummeted 42%. 

The film places the US in an uncomfortable context by comparing America's schools with the world's top three leaders in educational performance — Finland, Singapore and South Korea. Unlike the US, all three actively recruit top college students; all three pay for teacher training (in the US would-be teachers pay for their own training, incurring debt to do so); all three pay teachers top professional salaries (at least 2.5 times greater than US salaries); all three treat teachers with respect (and do not require them to purchase pencils and paper out of their own pockets). There is no burn-out and almost no teacher attrition in Finland, Singapore or South Korea 

Meanwhile, back in the US, Erik Benner, after 15 years as an award-winning teacher and football coach, still has to drive a forklift every night after he leaves his day job. 

In the press packet, Nínive Calegari reflects on her own experience as a teacher and she sums it up nicely: "Teaching wasn't ever just a job for me: it was a way of life and it shaped the way I still think about the magnificence and fragility of our democracy, an honest day's work, creating community, and being responsible for other people." 

If you have friends who were swayed by Waiting for Superman, invite them along to a screening of American Teacher. And don't be surprised if Occupy Wall Street demonstrations start popping up on America's schoolyards.

"Many a singer's career has been ruined by the premature singing of songs."

A play about frustrated personal and social aspirations, about mothers and daughters, men and women, Michelle Carter's new play, Patience Worth was premiered by Symmetry Theatre Company—one of the handful or two of the Bay Area's tiny independent troupes that stage unusual shows with acting and production values that can rival the artistry of the bigger theaters—tells the true story of Pearl Curran (Megan Trout), an almost painfully normal young woman of the nineteen-teens, the pain all her own, a yearning to be somebody better, or of a better class. Pearl had little education besides musical training, but became widely published, the words on the page ostensibly not her own, but those of Patience Worth, a 17th century woman's spirit Pearl claimed to be speaking for. 

From Patience's first manifestation from a ouija board wielded by Pearl's socially ambitious acquaintance Emily Hutchings (Elena Wright) and the reluctant Pearl, through the adoption of a foundling, Patience Wee (Alona Bach—memorable in Just Theater's "Down a Little Dirt Road" at the Berkeley City Club) to satisfy one of Patience the spirit's biddings, through recognition and contention over Patience's "dictation" (or ventriloquism) to Pearl, and the repercussions on Pearl's family of her mediumship, Carter's new play (she's best-known for Ted Kaczynski Killed People with Bombs and others premiered at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco), commissioned by Symmetry, in some ways is novelistic in its approach. It is well directed by Erika Chong Shuch, the choreographer/director who's worked with both Cal Shakes and Shotgun, realizing Pearl's spiritualist possession with a kind of pantomimic dance form for Megan Trout, effective and allusive of entertainment in the days of vaudeville ... 

"Peddle your prowess to another spook!"—Pearl's farewell to Emily as she takes possession of the spirit who possesses her. 

The cast—including Warren David Keith ( a frequent face on Aurora's stage) as Pearl's older husband, as well as the other men—publishers, journalists, "men of the world"—in her story (and Patience's) and Jessica Powell as Pearl's acerbic mother from the Ozarks and a couple more female authority figures (including a great turn as author-lecturer Agnes Reppler at the conclusion)—is strong, plays as a good ensemble and has great flexibility, which brings the story alive. 

Allen Wilner's set and lighting design's also strong—and simple—with good costume design by Jessica Powell and sound by Cliff Caruthers. 

The company's run just ended at Thick House on Potrero Hill in San Francisco; play, playwright, theater company are all deserving of a repeat of this effort, and of audiences for their further ventures. (Symmetry will be producing Emilie by Lauren Gunderson--Exit, Pursued by a Bear--about Voltaire's paramour, at the City Club early next summer. symmetrytheatre.com )

Friends of Negro Spirituals will hold their 8th Annual Heritage Day this Saturday, 3:30-5:30 p. m. at the west Oakland Senior Center, 1724 Adeline, Oakland. Admission: free.  

Honored as Negro Heritage Spirituals Keepers awardees will be 98 year old pianist and choir director Mrs. Juanita Letha Meadows; Grammy nominee, cultural historian and artistic director of the Cultural Heritage Choir, Linda Tillery; and the first recepient of the Marian Anderson Youngest Award, concert pianist and music instructor Dr. Carl Leroy Blake. 

The gathering will also salute the heritage of Negro Spirituals and African and American ancestors. The audience will sing together as a community.

Sunday, October 9th, 2011, 3pm - 7pm, Fremont, CA

On the 10th year of the US/NATO war in Afghanistan, the Afghan community along with their American allies will be gathering in Fremont, CA for “Afghanistan Peace Day”. This will be the first time in Fremont that such a gathering for peace will take place. 

Community leaders such as Imam Zaid Shakir, Samina Sundus, Dr. Arshad Irshad and Dr. Fakhrunnisa Faizani will be speaking. American war veterans and inter-faith community leaders will be speaking as well. A message from the “Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers” inside Afghanistan will be shared. 

Organizers include “Afghans for Peace” and “Muslim Peace Coalition”. 

Schedule: 

3:00pm - Walk for Peace @ Fremont-Centerville Train Station (37260 Fremont Boulevard, Fremont, CA 94536) 

4:30pm - Gather for Peace @ Centerville Community Center (3355 Country Drive, Fremont, CA, 94536) 

6:30pm - Pray for Peace 

Background: 

Fremont, CA is home to the largest Afghan community in the United States. The US war in Afghanistan is one of the longest in recent U.S. history and has surpassed the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The US has spent $460 billion on the war in Afghanistan, while millions of Americans suffer economically in a deep recession. Our tax money is needed right here for education, social services and equal opportunity for all. 

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For more information about this event and/or “Afghans for Peace”, please contact either Adam or Fatima: Adam Hudson: (925) 216-6146, adam@afghansforpeace.org Fatima: (818) 915-3743, fatima@afghansforpeace.org

Taking a play that most literary folk know the myth of and turning it contemporary is a tricky undertaking. Adam Bock has masterfully accomplished this in his new play PHAEDRA produced by the Shotgun Players at the Ashby Stage across from the Ashby BART.  

Euripides wrote two plays about the clash between Aphrodite and Artemis. If you didn’t pay homage to a god, they messed with you. It’s a metaphor to keeping balance in your life. 

The old story: Hippolytus, the son of Theseus and his late wife Hippolyta the Amazon, worships the Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt and Chastity, and eschews the pleasure of love. This pisses off the Love Goddess who makes his step-mom fall in love with Hippolytus—which can, I understand, create a difficult domestic situation. Roman Seneca wrote a play on the myth, Racine in 17^th C. France wrote another; I remember being a teenager in 1962 and overwhelmed by the passion and taboo topic of the black-and-white film with Melina Mercouri and Tony Perkins that set it modern.  

The set reflects the mindset of the people who live in this pristine, orderly, and richly appointed house, beige and spare, and the mistress who urges coasters for every drink. Catherine is a chicly dressed business woman whose “hey-day in the blood” is by no means tame, married to an older man Antonio whose bed and worldview she does not share. Her powerful, judgmental and often absent husband is a modern equivalent of Theseus, if not so heroic and much more Republican. Into this strained tinderbox, fresh out of rehab, comes the prodigal son Paulie, still on drug probation.  

Rose Riordan’s directing is incisive while giving the actors freedom and time to invest their emotional expression of Bock’s tight script, and her staging fully uses the genius set in order to tell the story in pictures. Her encouragement of natural movement and behavior subtly and effectively draws us in.  

The acting is ensemble and superior. The title character is larger than life, a dominant woman in a struggle with an alpha male; she has a robust and buxom body wasted without being touched, her thick, black hair pinned tight cries out to be loosed and have the cascades fall. 

Catherine Castellanos is the perfect Greek domina, set up for a fall into frenzy, a loss of balance into the arms of Eros with no one there to catch her. With hair up or guard down she allows us to see her internal churnings, her moments of embarrassment and doubt, her unguarded Chardonnay-encouraged acting-out. Her voice changes, her bright eyes flash, weep, grow cold. It is a daunting character to embody as written by Bock, and she takes it to a classic level. 

Trish Mulholland as the Cockney maid sets the scene with a show-starting exposition, gives voice to our fears, and does all those things that the chorus performed on a hillside in Athens. She plays the part of the Nurse, essential in all female-titled antique drama, who gives warning and often bad advice, which, when acted upon, brings down their world. Warm and officious, pouring out love, she is the glue that is holding the household together. Too friendly and motherly, she is alternately cherished and spurned, like any servant can expect, and comes back to lick the hand of the master. When compared to her diva Arkadina, in “Seagull in the Hamptons” at Shotgun a season ago, we see her range to be spectacular. 

Lighting by Lucas Benjamin Krech and sound by Hannah Birch Carl allow us to take the time to feel the impact as the clouds gather and the light changes and washes over us in the aftermath of an emotional moment. The Chekhovian sounds resonate in our ears, our chests, our depths. I could not at first discern one of the haunting tones; then I recognized it as the moist finger circling the rim of the wine glass: sensual, ringing, a paean to Dionysus to whom these frenzy plays were made to honor. It is unsettling, not unlike the high-pitch of our nervous systems echoing in our ears in times of extreme stress. 

Nina Ball’s set design has captured the fashionable sterility of the upper-middle-class domicile; it is as if the inhabitants are recreating a temple wherein purification rites are done to bleach out the lurking impurities of life. Her set has an inner-below of Doric columns and marble floors to invoke the culture that spawned drama and its catharsis. Placed at an angle to the audience, Ms. Ball’s set has allowed Director Riordan to make good use of the upstage vertex exits to the rest of the dark house. The actors show the silent desperation and enmity pulsing through the house with their hesitant exits/entrances in the labyrinth. One extraordinary moment was the use of shadows to show Paulie drinking a glass of water in the kitchen: it metaphorically reflected the long shadow he threw over Catherine and the others and gave a nod to Plato’s shadows on the cave wall. 

Maybe I remember too much about Greek theatre and am reading into things, but Valerie Coble’s choice of costumes on Ms. Castellanos were reminiscent of the draping of the chiton and himation we see on statues. Even the skirts worn by Ms. Im seemed peplos-like. Though it is now in fashion to wear boots, the fact that both women are shod in them made me think of the buskins that all the Greeks actors wore; these kothornoi were the grape-pickers boots that were worn to pay further homage to the Wine God. The costumes are all fashionable and pleasing to the eye while furthering character. 

Paulie is our sacrifice, our pharmakos, the innocent (getting clean and sober) who is thrust into the fray and destroyed without having a direct part in the wrongdoing. Bock gives him a diminutive name for a man diminished by his urges and the looming shadow of his father. Lanky, good-looking Patrick Alparone captures the lost boy who is trying to do right, has done his inventory, and is trying to make amends. You can feel his panic and the walls closing in on him in the desperation in his eyes and voice when assaulted and accused from all sides. We can feel his conflict in his body language and his halting speech as he strives to walk the path while every urge moves him to flee. 

Cindy Im, hot off her success in “Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven,” brings an erotically charged wryness in the character of Taylor who was in rehab with Paulie and throws herself at him every time they are alone. She is as manipulative as a labor lawyer’s daughter, as strong-willed as Catherine, and sees through the pretense. It’s rewarding to see a talented actress work her way from great basement productions at Impact Theatre up to higher profile parts. 

Keith Burkland plays the Theseus character Antonio as a looming, bigoted, round-shouldered know-it-all (I find the name tellingly ironic since Bock gives him the profession of being a Judge, while he seems not to have a trace of Italian—is this a shot at Anton Scalia and Samuel Anthony Alito?) All business, all opinion a la Fox News, always with a decanted Scotch in his hand, he makes us hate him, then we rue his destruction in the wake of his impulsive lashing-out. 

Here is the most telling and high compliment from E’s daughter who accompanied us. She is from a little place near Biloxi on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and doesn’t get to much theatre; she said, “I could see it from everybody’s point of view.” That is always a touchstone of extraordinary theatre. 

Adam Bock’s PHAEDRA is another jewel in the ever-burgeoning crown of this little theatre company near the Ashby BART, and you will rue it if you miss it for there will be much talk in time to come about this play and this production. 

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PHAEDRA by Adam Bock 

At SHOTGUN PLAYERS through October 23. 

1901 Ashby Avenue at Martin Luther King Jr, Way, Berkeley, CA  

http://shotgunplayers.org 

510-841-6500 x 303 

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John A. McMullen II is a member of San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, American Theatre Critics Associations, and Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and holds and MA in drama from SFSU and an MFA from Carnegie Mellon  

EJ Dunne edits. 

 

Hop aboard The Magic School Bus Live as they explore “The Climate Challenge” with Ms. Frizzle and her curious class.

Based on the latest book in the popular Magic School Bus series by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen, this energetic new musical follows the adventures of everyone’s favorite Magic School Bus characters—endearingly awkward Arnold, petite powerhouse Wanda, spunky Keesha, and their classmates—as they travel with their exuberant teacher from the polar ice to the tropics and from the ocean to the upper atmosphere to investigate why the world is getting warmer, why we should care, and what to do about it.  

Catch this Bay Area premiere now to see Ms. Frizzle and her students sing up a storm and dance along with their beloved resident reptile, Liz (the Lizard), before their bus takes off for a national tour to more than 20 states, in association with Maximum Entertainment Productions (MEP). 

The show is directed by Tracy Ward and written by Doug Cooney and Scott Elmegreen, with music and lyrics by Scott Elmegreen. 

Co-produced by the Bay Area Children’s Theatre (BACT) and Oregon Children’s Theatre at 

Freight & Salvage 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley  

Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m., October 1 - 23 

http://www.bactheatre.org/ (510) 296-4433 

Tracy Ward (director) focuses on new works for the American theater. Ward worked with BACT on its two national tours of Strega Nona, in association with MEP (2009 and 2010). Recent productions include: The Horses by Brian Thorstenson at AlterTheatre, The Shaker Chair by Adam Bock at Shotgun Players/Encore Theater, JUANA, a new opera by Carla Lucero at Theatre Artaud, and the critically acclaimed, award-winning production of Hunter Gatherers by Peter Nachtrieb.  

Doug Cooney (playwright) In 2009, NOBODY'S PERFECT, his youth musical based on the novel co-written with actress Marlee Matlin, received a national tour through the Kennedy Center. IMAGINE ME, a musical, was produced at South Coast Rep in 2008. His play, THE FINAL TOUR, was developed at the Sundance Theatre Labs 2003 with director Moises Kaufmann. His musicals, THE VERY PERSISTENT GAPPERS OF FRIP and THE LEGEND OF ALEX, premiered at the Mark Taper Forum’s P.L.A.Y. and toured Los Angeles County. THE BELOVED DEARLY was produced by Lincoln Center Institute in a production directed by Elizabeth Swados. 

Scott Elmegreen (playwright, composer, and lyricist) is a playwright, composer, lyricist, and novelist whose work has premiered on Broadway, television, and in film, as well as off-Broadway, regionally, and internationally. Recent projects include the Emmy Award-nominated COLIN QUINN LONG STORY SHORT, directed by Jerry Seinfeld (original compositions; Helen Hayes Theatre, HBO special, national tour), AWESOME ALLIE: FIRST KID ASTRONAUT, COLLEGE THE MUSICAL (NYMF Award for Excellence in Writing, pub. Dramatic Publishing), VOTE FOR ME: A MUSICAL DEBATE (New York Musical Theatre Festival, commissioned by Aged in Wood productions), STRAIGHT (developed by Tony Award-winning producer Andy Sandberg), and THUCYDIDES (Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival Winner, pub. Samuel French). Elmegreen’s original music is featured in PILED HIGHER AND DEEPER THE MOVIE, based on the popular webcomic, PhD Comics. He has scored and orchestrated numerous plays, including WHAT I TOOK IN MY HAND (Ontological-Hysteric Incubator, Brick Theatre), DAGUERREOTYPE (Abingdon Theatre), WE CAN'T REACH YOU, HARTFORD (Fringe First Nomination), Joyce Carol Oates' TONE CLUSTERS (Fringe Report Award - Best Play), and 'S WONDERFUL: THE NEW GERSHWIN MUSICAL (orchestrations; national tour). 

Nina Meehan’s BAY AREA CHILDREN’S THEATRE strives to encourage young people to explore literature, language, and the arts by producing stage adaptations of great children’s books, create touring productions for young audiences nationwide and to reach out to children who might not otherwise experience live theatre with free tickets and touring productions at local schools, libraries and community centers. 

 

I believe it's safe to state that October is everyone's favorite month of the year, with red leaves falling from liquid amber trees and glorious sunsets. You my not know, however, that October derived its name from the Latin "Octo", meaning 10th month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Having provided readers with this fascinating information, we now list some of the unique cultural and educational events taking place this month.  

5th Annual Armenian Bazaar and Food Festival, Friday, Oct. 7th, 5:30 - Midnight; Saturday, Oct. 8th, 7 p.m. - midnight. Authentic Armenian food, dance, music and culture. St. Vartan Armenian Apostolic Church, 650 Spruce St., Oakland. http://www.stvartanoakland.org/.

Greek Food Festival, Oct. 7, 8 & 9. Resurrection Greek Orthodox Church of Castro Valley, 20104 Center St., Castro Valley. Come dance and feed with us. Free admission. www.Greek Festival.me

"Chess", the musical, Oct. 3 - 30th. The Bay Area's Musical Event of the Year; "one of the best rock scores ever" (Time Magazine). Willows Theatre, 1 975 Diamond Blvd. Concord. Tickets (95) 798-1300. www.willowstheatre.org.

Northern California Renaissance Faire, through Oct. 16. Casa de Fruta, Pacheco Pass, Hollister. Find your fantasy; Bacchanal, Masquerade, etc. www.norcalenfare.com.

"Little Shop of Horrors," Oct. l4 -Nov. 13, Contra Costa Musical Theatre, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek. "You'll be screaming with laughter." (925) 943-SHOW.

El Campanile Theatre, Laurence Juber, Two-time Grammy Winner, Sat. Oct. 8th, 8 p.m. and "Hotel California: A Salute to the Eagles" Sat. Oct. 22, 8 p.m. 602 West Second Street, Antioch, Ca. www.ElCampaniTheatre.com.

Berkeley Shot Gun Players, "Phaedra", Adam Bock's red hot adaptation. Through Oct. 23, at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. (510) 841-6500 or www.shotgunplayers.org.

"Hanging Georgia," a new play about Georgia O'Keefe's emergence as a star in the art world and her romance and marriage to Albert Stieglitz. Oct. 7th at the Thick House, 1695 18th St., S.F. (510) 436-5085 or www.theatrefirst.com.

"Full of Words", premiere of Marc Brew's new play about disabled dancers performing in a wheelchair. Brew's international dance career ended when a car crash left him paralyzed. Oct. 7 -9, Malonga Casequelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice Street, Oak. (510) 652-0110 o www.brownpapertickets.com.

"There's No Business Like Show Business," ("God Bless America: A Salute to Irving Berlin") Bankhead Theatre, Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center, 2400 First Street, Livermore, Sun. Oct. 9th, 2 p.m. (925-373-800, or www.livermoreperformingarts.org.

So never say that October is dull, uneventful month -- certainly not with all of the above enticing events!