Arash Azarkhish said he did all he could to help his new neighbors across the street escape from the deadly fire Sunday. 

When he heard shouts that a house was on fire, he said he immediately called 911 and ran across the street to 2610 Martin Luther King Way just as Michelle Plesa was jumping from a smoke -filled, second story window into the arms of another good Samaritan. 

“I grabbed an ax, a pick, a ladder and a hoe,” he said. “I went and broke some windows and smoke came out, but I didn’t hear any screaming or anything.” 

The recent UC Berkeley graduate said that Plesa was screaming that there were three more people in the house. 

But he said that the house went up in flames in a matter of minutes. 

“There was nothing we could do,” he said. “It was very quick – two or three minutes before the fire took over the entire house.” 

“They didn’t really have a chance,” he said of Azalea, 21; Francisco, 46 and Florita Jusay, 46, who perished in the fire. “They didn’t break any windows out or anything. Maybe they couldn’t?” 

The Jusays immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines when Azalea was just three-years-old, said UC Berkeley spokeswoman Marie Felde.  

Azalea was a straight-A student majoring in integrative biology. Last year she had ran her first marathon and was a resident advisor at the Unit 3 dormitory. She was valedictorian at St. Joseph’s High School in Lakewood, in Southern California. 

In a statement to the press, Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl said he was “deeply saddened.” 

“News of this tragedy is so very, very sad. On behalf of the entire campus community, I wish to extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of those who died. To lose a student and her parents in such a terrible fire is difficult for us all to comprehend. We are, however, enormously thankful to the neighbors who assisted in the rescue of the young woman who survived and to the Berkeley firefighters who responded to the fire,” Berdahl said. 

Azarkhish said he woke when he heard shouts of “the house is on fire,” by another man who was passing by on a bicycle and spotted the flame. 

He said that another man who was happened to be walking by also assisted in the rescue of Plesa. 

“We didn’t hear any alarms, it was very quiet,” said Susan Azarkhish, Arash’s mother. 

Gloria Ramirez, who was visiting her mother at 2614 Martin Luther King Way, next door to the house, said that Plesa said she and the Jusays had tried to open the windows the day before, but were unable to because they were painted shut. 

Azarkhish said that Plesa stayed at his house until her mother arrived from Lakewood. 

Jason Smith, the Chapter Director of Public Affairs for the Bay Area Red Cross said that members of the Red Cross disaster action team arrived on the scene to provide support for Plesa and the other young women who have been displaced by the fire. 

He said that the organization has provided two of the young women vouchers for clothing and meals, as well as motel housing, and he was scheduled to meet with another of the roommates. 

He said that they will also provide disaster mental health counseling to the women if necessary. 

Felde said that the university promised the other women that they will help them as much as needed. She said that two studio apartments have already been offered for the students to rent. 

“If that doesn’t suit their needs, we’ll be sure to take care of them,” she said. 

Anyone interested in helping may call the Bay Area Red Cross at 1-888-4-HELP-BAY.

Tuesday, August 22

Meeting to address traffic  

concerns 

7:30-9:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Church 

2727 College Ave. 

First in a series of city-sponsored meetings addressing traffic concerns in the Ashby-College avenues area. 

665-3440 

Dr. Art’s Guide to Planet  

Earth 

7 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. 

Dr. Art Sussman, author of “Dr. Art’s Guide to Planet Earth,” combines scientific demonstrations with audience participation to introduce easy-to-understand principles that explain how our planet works. 

Blood Pressure Measure 

9:30-11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst and MLK Jr. Way 

With Alice Meyers. 

644-6107 

Wednesday, Aug. 23

Disaster Committee 

7 p.m. 

Emergency Operations Center 

997 Cedar Street 

Agenda includes a discussion led by Jeanne Perkins of Association of Bay Area Governments on a housing study by the Association of Bay Area governments and a discussion of disaster preparedness in the schools. 

Low Vision Speaker 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst and MLK Jr. Way 

John Mortimore from Accessibility Incorporated will demonstrate a closed circuit magnifying TV. 

644-6107 

Meeting on Nextel Antennas 

7 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church 

941 The Alameda 

Nextel has applied to the city to install 12 radiation-emitting antennas for cell phone transmisson on the roof of the Oaks Theater. Neighbors are hosting an informational meeting. A Nextel representative will attend.  

524-0121 

Thursday, August 24

Community Dance Party 

7:45-9:45 p.m. 

Live Oak Park 

1301 Shattuck Ave.  

Dance instructions will be provided by The Berkeley Folk Dancers.  

Teens $2, adult non-members $4. 

524-7803 

Movie: Anastasia 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst and MLK Jr. Way 

Featuring Bergman, Brenner, and Hayes. 

644-6107 

Fair Campaign Practices  

Commission 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Health Room 

The agenda will include a discussion with the city clerk about the use of the web site for publicaton of campaign contribution information. 

West Berkeley Project Area  

Commission 

7 p.m. 

West Berkeley Senior Center 

1900 Sixth St. 

Among the items to be discussed are the request for proposals for a parking garage and a Fifth Street public market. 

League of Women Voters  

Luncheon 

noon 

Bay Holiday Inn  

1800 Powell St. 

UC Berkeley Professor Bruce Cain will speak 

$45 

Call: 642-1657 

Saturday, August 26

“Wild about Books” 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Public Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

“Hats Off to Reading!” You’ll hear about lost hats, matching hats, paper hats-and make your own to take home with you. Frog and Toad plant a garden together. 

Sophocles’ “Antigone” 

1:30 p.m. 

Fellowship of Humanity, garden 

411 28th St. and Broadway 

Oakland 

A staged reading of an adaptation of “Antigone” by Walter Springer.  

Contributions. 

451-5818 

Open House Tour of the Dharma Publishing Showroom and Tibetan Aid Project.  

10:30 a.m. - 12 noon 

The tour will show traditional Tibetan book making, sacred art projects, and spinning copper prayer wheels. The video provides a look at the World Peace Ceremony in Bodhgaya, India. A vegetarian lunch will be served to all who stay and volunteer on one of the projects.  

RSVP lunch and volunteers only, 1-3 p.m. 

548-5407 or 848-4238 

Sunday, August 27

“Hearing the Voice of the Lad  

Where He Is: Rosh Hashanah” 

8 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond JCC 

1414 Walnut St. 

Rabbi Ben Hollander, from Israel, presents a free evening lecture, in English, with the cooperation with the Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay. 

World Music Festival 

Noon to 6 p.m.  

Durant Avenue just above Telegraph.  

Telegraph merchants, artists, craftspeople, restaurants, and clubs will participate in this exciting event, which is Free and accessible to the entire Bay Area community. 

Featured artists include ten-piece salsa veterans Orequestra Charanson; the modern Afro-beat band Kotoja; the West Coast's premier zydeco band, Zydeco Flames; and Liza Silva & Voz do Brazil. 

The Festival is seeking volunteers, sponsors, and booth vendors. For further information, call 510-649-9500 or e-mail taa@transbay.net. 

MUSEUMS 

Habitot Children’s Museum 

Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 

“Back to the Farm.”  

Ongoing 

An interactive exhibit gives children the chance to wiggle through tunnels like an earthworm, look into a mirrored fish pond, don farm animal costumes, ride on a John Deere tractor and more.  

Cost: $4 adults; $6 children age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under.  

Monday and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tuesday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.  

647-1111 or www.habitot.org 

Judah L. Magnes Museum 

2911 Russell St.,  

549-6950 

Free. 

Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 

“Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season” 

Through May 2002.  

An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. Highlights include treasures from Jewish ceremonial and folk art, rare books and manuscripts, contemporary and traditional fine art, video, photography and cultural kitsch. 

“Spring and Summer.”  

Through Nov. 4. 

“Chagall: Master Prints and Posters, Selections from the Magnes Museum Collection.”  

Through Sept. 28. 

UC Berkeley Art Museum 

2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley 

“Mandala: The Architecture of Enlightenment,” through Sept. 17.  

An exhibit of rare and exquisite works featuring more than forty mandalas and related objects including sculptures and models of sacred spaces. 

“Doug Aitken/MATRIX 185: Into the Sun,” through Sept. 3.  

An exhibit of works primarily in video and film, using the interplay of art and media to evoke deserted landscapes. 

“Autour de Rodin: Auguste Rodin and His Contemporaries,” through August.  

An exhibit of 11 bronze maquettes on loan from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation in Los Angeles. The bronzes range in style from the artist’s classically inspired “Torso of a Woman” to the anguish of “The Martyr.” Some of the maquettes were cast during Rodin’s lifetime, others have been cast fairly recently under the aegis of the Musee Rodin which alone is authorized to cast his sculptures posthumously.  

“Hans Hoffmann,” open-ended.  

An exhibit of paintings by Hoffmann which emphasizes two experimental methods the artist employed: the introduction of slabs or rectangles of highly saturated colors and the use of large areas of black paint juxtaposed with intense shades of oranges, greens and yellows.  

THE ASIAN GALLERIES 

“Art of the Sung: Court and Monastery,” open-ended.  

A display of early Chinese works from the permanent collection.  

“Chinese Ceramics and Bronzes: The First 3,000 Years,” open-ended. 

“Works on Extended Loan from Warren King,” open-ended. 

“Three Towers of Han,” open-ended. 

$6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

642-0808. 

UC Berkeley Museum of  

Paleontology 

Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley 

“Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing.  

A 20-foot tall, 40-foot long replica of the fearsome dinosaur. The replica is made from casts of bones of the most complete T. Rex skeleton yet excavated. When unearthed in Montana, the bones were all lying in place with only a small piece of the tailbone missing. 

“Pteranodon,” ongoing.  

A suspended skeleton of a flying reptile with a wingspan of 22 to 23 feet. The Pteranodon lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. 

California Fossils Exhibit, ongoing. An exhibit of some of the fossils which have been excavated in California. 

Free. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 

642-1821. 

UC Berkeley Phoebe Hearst  

Museum of Anthropology 

Kroeber Hall, Bancroft Way and College  

Avenue, Berkeley 

“Modern Treasures from Ancient Iran,” through Oct. 29.  

This exhibit explores nomadic and town life in ancient and modern Iran as illustrated in bronze and pottery vessels, and textiles.  

“Approaching a Century of Anthropology: The Phoebe Hearst Museum,” open-ended.  

This new permanent installation will introduce visitors to major topics in the museum’s history, including the role of Phoebe Apperson Hearst as the museum’s patron, as well as the relationship of anthropologists Alfred Kroeber and Robert Lowie to the museum. 

“Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” ongoing. 

This exhibit documents the culture of the Yahi Indians of California as described and demonstrated from 1911 to 1916 by Ishi, the last surviving member of the tribe who wandered out of a forest as “the last savage man.” 

$2 general; $1 seniors; $0.50 children age 17 and under; free on Thursdays. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

643-7648. 

Mills College Art Museum 

5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland 

“The 100 Languages of Children,” through October.  

An exhibit of art created by children from the region of Reggio Emilia, Italy. At Carnegie Building Bender Room. 

Free. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. 

430-2164. 

The Oakland Museum of  

California 

1000 Oak St., Oakland 

“Helen Nestor: Personal and Political,” Aug. 17 through Oct. 15.  

An exhibit of images documenting the Free Speech Movement, the 60s civil rights marches, and women’s issues. 

Artist Reception, Aug. 17, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. 

“California Classic: Realist Paintings by Robert Bechtle,” through Oct. 1.  

An exhibit of 18 paintings and drawings by the Bay Area artist dating from 1965 to 1997. 

SPECIAL EXHIBIT – “Meadowsweet Dairy: Wood Sculpture,” through Sept. 15.  

An exhibit of 12 sculptures made with materials found and salvaged to reveal the beauty of the natural object. At the Sculpture Court, City Center, 1111 Broadway. Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

SPECIAL EVENTS AND LECTURES – Free after museum admission unless noted.  

“Family Workshop: A Sense of Place,” Aug. 20, 2 p.m.  

Create landscape drawings inspired by your personal view of nature. For reservations 238-3818. 

$6 general; $4 seniors and students; free children age 5 and under; second Sundays are free to all. Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; first Friday of the month, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

Call (888) OAK-MUSE or visit www.museumca.org for more information 

MUSIC 

The Greek Theatre 

Gipsy Kings,  

Hearst Avenue and Gayley Road 

Aug. 18, 8 p.m.  

$27.50 to $65.  

444-TIXS 

Freight and Salvage 

1111 Addison St. 

Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 

David Nachmanoff, Aug. 17. $13.50 to $14.50. 

Jack Hardy with Kate MacLeod. Aug. 18. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Dix Bruce and Jim Nunally, Carol Elizabeth Jones and James Leva, Aug. 19. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Burach, Aug. 20. $13.50 to $14.50. 

548-1761 or 762-BASS. 

Ashkenaz 

1317 San Pablo Ave.  

525-5099 

For all ages 

www.ashkenaz.com 

Grateful Dead DJ Night with Digital Dave, Aug. 17, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. $5. 

Johnny Nocturne Band with Kim Nalley, Aug. 18, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Tippa Irie, Root Awakening, Warsaw, Aug. 19, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Near East/Far West with Transition and Edessa, Aug. 20, 8:30 p.m. $11. 

924 Gilman St. 

924 Gilman Street is an all-ages, member-run no alcohol, drugs, and violence club. Most shows are $5. Memberships for the year are $2. Shows start at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted.  

Call 525-9926.  

Raw Power, Capitalist Casualties, Lifes Halt, Tongue, What Happens Next. Aug. 18. 

Dead And Gone, Time In Malta, Run For Your Fucking Life, Suicide Party. Aug. 19. 

The Hoods, 18 Visions, Punishment, New Jersey Bloodline, Lowlife. Aug. 25. 

Tilt, The Nerve Agents, The Missing 23rd, Turnedown, Larry. Aug. 26. 

The Albatross Pub 

1822 San Pablo Ave. 

843-2473 

All shows begin at 9 p.m. 

Mad and Eddie Duran Jazz Duo, Aug. 15 and 29.  

Keni “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar, Aug. 17 and 24. 

Larry Stefl Jazz Quartet, Sept. 2. 

The Jazz School/La Note 

2377 Shattuck Avenue 

845-5373 

Free admission, reservation recommended 

“Vocal Sauce” Vocal Ensemble Directed by Greg Murai. Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. 

Valerie Bach And “Swang Fandangle.” Aug. 20 at 4:30 p.m. 

Vocalists Ed Reed; Vocal group Zoli Lundy and “Zoli’s Little Thing.” Aug. 24 at 7 p.m.  

Walnut Square 

150 Walnut Street near Vine St. 

11:30 a.m., Aug. 12, 19 and 26. 

Chamber Music for the Inner Courtyard, a classical ensemble, will perform the music of Haydn, Bach, Mozart.  

Call 843-4002. 

THEATER 

“The Green Bird” by Carlo  

Gozzi 

Berkeley Repertory Theatre 

2025 Addison St. 

Adapted by Theatre de la Jeune Lune and directed by Dominique Serrand.  

“The Green Bird” runs from September 8 - October 27. For tickets contact the box office at 845-4700.  

“The Philanderer” by George  

Bernard Shaw 

Berkeley City Club 

2315 Durant Ave. 

Performed by the Aurora Theatre company, “The Philanderer” takes on the challenging and often humorous exploration of gender roles and the separations that exist between the sexes. 

Preview dates are September 8-10 and 13, tickets for preview showings are sold at $26. Opening night is September 14, admission is $35. Showtimes run Wednesday through Saturday through October 15 at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees show at 2 p.m., plus selected Sunday evenings at 7 p.m. Admission for regular performances is $30. Student discounts are available. For tickets and information call 843-4822 or visit www.auroratheatre.org. 

“The Caucasian Chalk Circle”  

by Bertolt Brecht  

Zellerbach Playhouse  

Directed by Lura Dolas  

"Terrible is the temptation to do good." (Bertolt Brecht) Based in part on an ancient Chinese tale, Brecht’s epic parable tackles an insoluble human dilemma: How to behave well, act justly, and remain humane in a world in which chaos reigns, good is punished, and evil often triumphs. Played by a cast of 15 actors in 86 roles, this musical rendition of the play features an original gypsy-jazz/klezmer score by John Schott. “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” runs from October 6-15. Shows are 8 p.m. on October 6, 7, 13, 14, and 2 p.m. on October 8 and 15. For Tickets contact Ticketweb at 601-8932 or at www.ticketweb.com 

“Endgame” 

Theatre in Search  

Live Oak Theatre 

1301 Shattuck Ave. 

8 p.m., Aug. 17-19 at 

A one act play by Samuel Beckett about a man who likes things to come to an end but doesn’t want them to end just yet. 

Also, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, Aug. 24 - Sept. 2 at La Val’s Subterranean 1834 Euclid Ave. Berkeley. 

Directed by George Charbak. Call: 524-9327. 

EXHIBITS 

The Artistry of Rae Louise  

Hayward 

The Women’s Cancer Resource Center Gallery 

3023 Shattuck Ave. 

548-9286, ext. 307 

Aug. 12 - Sept. 27 

Rae Louise Hayward, one of the founders of The Art of Living Black, Bay Area Black Artist Annual Exhibition and Open Studios Tour. 

Haywards’ art celebrates the beauty of African culture from its people to its music. The opening reception with the artist will be held Aug. 26 noon-3 p.m.  

Regular gallery hours are Tuesday through Thursday 1-7 p.m., Saturday 12-4 p.m. and by appointment.  

Traywick Gallery 

1316 Tenth St.  

527-1214 

Charles LaBelle 

Sept. 9 - Oct. 15 

LaBelle’s new series of large-scale color photographs highlight nighttime nature in Hollywood. He recreates trees at night using a hand-held spotlight and playing on the beam across the leaves and branches. The opening reception will be held on September 12 from 6 to 8 p.m.  

Blue Vinyl by Connie Walsh  

Sept. 9 - Oct. 15 

This multimedia project combines video, sound and printmaking to explore concepts of intimacy and its relation to private space. 

The opening reception is on September 12 from 6-8 p.m. 

Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday 11-6 p.m. and Sundays 12-5 p.m. 

READINGS 

Judah L. Magnes Museum 

2911 Russell St. 

Aug. 22 6 -7:30 p.m. 

Bat Area poets Dan Bellin, Adam David Miller, Mary Ganz, and others will read from their works in “Poetry through Time.” The program will include a brief open-readings period after the featured poets. Sign-ups will start at 5:45 p.m.  

TOURS 

Golden Gate Live Steamers 

Small locomotives, meticulously scaled to size, run along a half mile of track in Tilden Regional Park. The small trains are owned and maintained by a non-profit group of railroad buffs who offer rides.  

Free. Trains run Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sunday, noon to 3 p.m., weather permitting. Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Lomas Cantadas Drive at the south end of Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley.  

486-0623.  

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 

Scientists and engineers guide visitors through the research areas of the laboratory, demonstrating emerging technology and discussing the research’s current and potential applications. A Berkeley lab tour usually lasts two hours and includes visits to several research areas. Popular tour sites include the Advanced Light Source, The National Center for Electron Microscopy, the 88-Inch Cyclotron, The Advanced Lighting Laboratory, and The Human Genome Laboratory. Reservations required at least two weeks in advance of tour. 

Free. University of California, Berkeley. 

486-4387. 

Berkeley City Club Tours 

Guided tours through Berkeley’s City Club, a landmark building designed by architect Julia Morgan, designer of Hearst Castle. 

$2. The fourth Sunday of every month except December, between noon and 4 p.m.  

2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. 

848-7800. 

MUSIC 

The Greek Theatre 

Gipsy Kings,  

Hearst Avenue and Gayley Road 

Aug. 18, 8 p.m.  

$27.50 to $65.  

444-TIXS 

Freight and Salvage 

1111 Addison St. 

Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 

David Nachmanoff, Aug. 17. $13.50 to $14.50. 

Jack Hardy with Kate MacLeod. Aug. 18. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Dix Bruce and Jim Nunally, Carol Elizabeth Jones and James Leva, Aug. 19. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Burach, Aug. 20. $13.50 to $14.50. 

548-1761 or 762-BASS. 

Ashkenaz 

1317 San Pablo Ave.  

525-5099 

For all ages 

www.ashkenaz.com 

Grateful Dead DJ Night with Digital Dave, Aug. 17, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. $5. 

Johnny Nocturne Band with Kim Nalley, Aug. 18, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Tippa Irie, Root Awakening, Warsaw, Aug. 19, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Near East/Far West with Transition and Edessa, Aug. 20, 8:30 p.m. $11. 

924 Gilman St. 

924 Gilman Street is an all-ages, member-run no alcohol, drugs, and violence club. Most shows are $5. Memberships for the year are $2. Shows start at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted.  

Call 525-9926.  

Raw Power, Capitalist Casualties, Lifes Halt, Tongue, What Happens Next. Aug. 18. 

Dead And Gone, Time In Malta, Run For Your Fucking Life, Suicide Party. Aug. 19. 

The Hoods, 18 Visions, Punishment, New Jersey Bloodline, Lowlife. Aug. 25. 

Tilt, The Nerve Agents, The Missing 23rd, Turnedown, Larry. Aug. 26. 

The Albatross Pub 

1822 San Pablo Ave. 

843-2473 

All shows begin at 9 p.m. 

Mad and Eddie Duran Jazz Duo, Aug. 15 and 29.  

Keni “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar, Aug. 17 and 24. 

Larry Stefl Jazz Quartet, Sept. 2. 

The Jazz School/La Note 

2377 Shattuck Avenue 

845-5373 

Free admission, reservation recommended 

“Vocal Sauce” Vocal Ensemble Directed by Greg Murai. Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. 

Valerie Bach And “Swang Fandangle.” Aug. 20 at 4:30 p.m. 

Vocalists Ed Reed; Vocal group Zoli Lundy and “Zoli’s Little Thing.” Aug. 24 at 7 p.m.  

Walnut Square 

150 Walnut Street near Vine St. 

11:30 a.m., Aug. 12, 19 and 26. 

Chamber Music for the Inner Courtyard, a classical ensemble, will perform the music of Haydn, Bach, Mozart.  

Call 843-4002. 

THEATER 

“The Green Bird” by Carlo  

Gozzi 

Berkeley Repertory Theatre 

2025 Addison St. 

Adapted by Theatre de la Jeune Lune and directed by Dominique Serrand.  

“The Green Bird” runs from September 8 - October 27. For tickets contact the box office at 845-4700.  

“The Philanderer” by George  

Bernard Shaw 

Berkeley City Club 

2315 Durant Ave. 

Performed by the Aurora Theatre company, “The Philanderer” takes on the challenging and often humorous exploration of gender roles and the separations that exist between the sexes. 

Preview dates are September 8-10 and 13, tickets for preview showings are sold at $26. Opening night is September 14, admission is $35. Showtimes run Wednesday through Saturday through October 15 at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees show at 2 p.m., plus selected Sunday evenings at 7 p.m. Admission for regular performances is $30. Student discounts are available. For tickets and information call 843-4822 or visit www.auroratheatre.org. 

“The Caucasian Chalk Circle”  

by Bertolt Brecht  

Zellerbach Playhouse  

Directed by Lura Dolas  

"Terrible is the temptation to do good." (Bertolt Brecht) Based in part on an ancient Chinese tale, Brecht’s epic parable tackles an insoluble human dilemma: How to behave well, act justly, and remain humane in a world in which chaos reigns, good is punished, and evil often triumphs. Played by a cast of 15 actors in 86 roles, this musical rendition of the play features an original gypsy-jazz/klezmer score by John Schott. “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” runs from October 6-15. Shows are 8 p.m. on October 6, 7, 13, 14, and 2 p.m. on October 8 and 15. For Tickets contact Ticketweb at 601-8932 or at www.ticketweb.com 

“Endgame” 

Theatre in Search  

Live Oak Theatre 

1301 Shattuck Ave. 

8 p.m., Aug. 17-19 at 

A one act play by Samuel Beckett about a man who likes things to come to an end but doesn’t want them to end just yet. 

Also, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, Aug. 24 - Sept. 2 at La Val’s Subterranean 1834 Euclid Ave. Berkeley. 

Directed by George Charbak. Call: 524-9327. 

EXHIBITS 

The Artistry of Rae Louise  

Hayward 

The Women’s Cancer Resource Center Gallery 

3023 Shattuck Ave. 

548-9286, ext. 307 

Aug. 12 - Sept. 27 

Rae Louise Hayward, one of the founders of The Art of Living Black, Bay Area Black Artist Annual Exhibition and Open Studios Tour. 

Haywards’ art celebrates the beauty of African culture from its people to its music. The opening reception with the artist will be held Aug. 26 noon-3 p.m.  

Regular gallery hours are Tuesday through Thursday 1-7 p.m., Saturday 12-4 p.m. and by appointment.  

Traywick Gallery 

1316 Tenth St.  

527-1214 

Charles LaBelle 

Sept. 9 - Oct. 15 

LaBelle’s new series of large-scale color photographs highlight nighttime nature in Hollywood. He recreates trees at night using a hand-held spotlight and playing on the beam across the leaves and branches. The opening reception will be held on September 12 from 6 to 8 p.m.  

Blue Vinyl by Connie Walsh  

Sept. 9 - Oct. 15 

This multimedia project combines video, sound and printmaking to explore concepts of intimacy and its relation to private space. 

The opening reception is on September 12 from 6-8 p.m. 

Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday 11-6 p.m. and Sundays 12-5 p.m. 

READINGS 

Judah L. Magnes Museum 

2911 Russell St. 

Aug. 22 6 -7:30 p.m. 

Bat Area poets Dan Bellin, Adam David Miller, Mary Ganz, and others will read from their works in “Poetry through Time.” The program will include a brief open-readings period after the featured poets. Sign-ups will start at 5:45 p.m.  

TOURS 

Golden Gate Live Steamers 

Small locomotives, meticulously scaled to size, run along a half mile of track in Tilden Regional Park. The small trains are owned and maintained by a non-profit group of railroad buffs who offer rides.  

Free. Trains run Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sunday, noon to 3 p.m., weather permitting. Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Lomas Cantadas Drive at the south end of Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley.  

486-0623.

Some citizens have been butting heads with bureaucrats, demanding to see the text that would accompany Measure AA, the schools’ facilities bond measure to appear on the Nov. 7 ballot. 

Rosemary Vimont, a citizen not working with an organized group, and B Soffer, working with the Green Party of Alameda, called the Daily Planet Monday, to say they believed that someone was keeping the text from them.  

They said they could not believe that the schools would come to taxpayers for $116 million and not say exactly where the money was going. 

But, it turns out, that is the case – more or less. 

The expenditures proposed under the bond measure are spelled out in an imprecise paragraph. There is no “full text” of the measure. The following will be before the voters on Nov. 7. 

“To repair, upgrade and add new classrooms to address overcrowding and facilitate reduced class sizes at Berkeley High School, King Middle School and other Berkeley schools, shall Berkeley Unified School District issue $116,500,000 in bonds at interest rates within legal limits, to finance acquisition or improvement of property for school safety and improved environment including building new classrooms; increasing seismic safety; replacing deteriorating floors, windows, restrooms, and roofs; upgrading school kitchens; modernizing science labs; and improving fire safety?” 

Vimont said that is not enough for the voters. “The devil is in the details, when you’re authorizing bonds,” she said. “They could do anything. I want to know where every dime’s going.” 

Vimont is opposing the ballot measure and was trying to write a ballot argument against it. She said that the money might be used to build a baseball field on the former site of East Campus, without citizens’ approval.  

Elaine Ginnold of the Alameda County registrar’s office confirmed that the only documentation she had to put on the ballot was the short paragraph. She said that often bond measures don’t include details, although they can, and if the school district had provided other documentation, she would have included it. 

School Board President Joaquin Rivera said he was not aware that there was not more detailed documentation about proposed expenditures submitted to the county to accompany the summary on the ballot. 

He said specific expenditures had been detailed in a document the school board examined on June 21, when they approved the ballot measure. 

The Daily Planet obtained a copy of the document from school district Public Information Officer Karen Sarlo. 

It details approximately $28 million in expenditures for the high school, $8 million for King Middle School, $4 million for Willard Middle School, about $5 million for Franklin, about $8 million for the adult school, and about $6 million for child care. 

Other district-wide improvements add up to about $27 million. And bond costs and program management, insurance and inflation costs are on top of that. 

Because the Daily Planet received the documentation from the school district after business hours, the weight of the document – whether the school district would have any obligation to follow it – is unknown at this time.

Fire Inspectors have determined that the fire Sunday at 2160 Martin Luther King Way that claimed the lives of UC Berkeley student Azalea Jusay, 21, and her parents, Francisco and Florita Jusay, both 46, of Lakewood, began when someone left a box of clothes or papers on top of or too close to a floor heater on the first floor of the two-story, 60 year-old wooden home. 

Berkeley Fire Chief Reginald Garcia opened a press conference Monday by expressing regret and giving condolences to the family and friends of the victims on behalf of the city. It is a “deep loss for the community,” he said. 

Garcia said that the investigation found that the victims were likely overcome with smoke, and that they have found no evidence of smoke detectors at this point.  

Garcia said that when the Fire Department responded to the call at 6:40 a.m. Sunday, the first floor of the house was completely engulfed and smoke was pluming out the of second-story windows. 

Firefighters from Station 5 aggressively attempted to enter the building, but were unable to do so. Garcia said that they dispatched another alarm upon arrival and that a total of 29 firefighters were able to contain the blaze. 

Sadly, the family had already succumbed to the heavy smoke. They were found in separate bedrooms, he said. 

Michelle Plesa, 21, escaped the fire by jumping out of a second story window at the front of the house after she was alerted by a passing bicyclist who was outside the house yelling that the house was on fire. 

Plesa warned firefighters that there were three other people in the house, but the fire progressed too rapidly for the firefighters to get inside. 

He said that, after the fire, a firefighter was unable to open Azalea Jusay’s bedroom window in the rear of the house. 

An investigation is underway to determine if the owner of the house, whose name Garcia wouldn’t release, was in violation of a city law requiring windows to be able to be opened and to have working smoke detectors in the house. 

He said if violations are found, the results will be referred to the district attorney.  

Capt. Bobby Miller of the Berkeley Police Department said that if the owner is found in violation of city laws, that it would be a misdemeanor offense. Neither the city attorney nor assistant city attorney were available for comment Monday. 

Garcia said that the investigation will address the municipal code, the fire code and housing code, all of which require smoke detectors and operable windows. 

A violation of the fire code requiring smoke detectors carries a $100 fine for the first offense, $200 the second and $500 for repeated violations, Garcia said. 

Garcia said that if the case is not one of criminal negligence, the fire department would rely on code compliance. The district attorney would bring any liability or negligence charges, if they are found. 

Throughout the 30-minute conference, Garcia stressed the importance of smoke detectors in every room. 

“You can’t have enough smoke detectors,” he said. 

Garcia said that investigators sifted through every piece of debris in the area where a detector should be. 

“Generally we find evidence or residue or a battery,” he said. “It’s unusual to find no evidence, but it’s possible.”  

He said the owner of the house told him that a smoke detector was in place at the top of the staircase. 

Supervising Housing Inspector Carlos Romo said that in a single family home, every level with a bedroom requires a smoke detector. But a centrally located detector in a stairwell could serve all the bedrooms, he said.  

The light-blue house had four bedrooms on the top floor, and one downstairs, he said. 

Garcia said that all rooming houses, hotels and dormitories are required to have a smoke detector in every sleeping room, but there is no such requirement for a single family home. 

“We generally wouldn’t inspect that home,” Garcia said. 

Romo said that the last time the house was inspected was in September, 1995, and violations were found. He said that the owners at that time remedied the problem and installed a smoke detector. 

Neighbor Arash Azarkhish, who attempted to help rescue the victims, said he was awaken by a man yelling that the house was on fire, but didn’t hear a smoke detector. 

“It was all very quiet,” he said. 

The house was being rented to Jusay, Plesa and three other young women, all students at UC Berkeley. The Jusays were helping their daughter move in, said Assistant Fire Chief Michael Migliore. 

Geralyn Villaflor, 21, had just moved her belongings in the day before, but decided to stay with her parents that evening at a hotel near the airport. 

Another woman had moved her belongings in Friday, but had gone to Las Vegas, and the other roommate was still in Southern California, Migliore said. 

Garcia said the tragedy was avoidable.  

The city employs a “very aggressive public fire safety education program,” and gives away free smoke detectors to citizens, he said. 

He added that batteries in detectors should be changed twice a year. 

“You should change the battery in a smoke detector every time you change your clock,” he said. 

Migliore urged everyone, especially parents moving their kids into rented houses to check for – and test – smoke detectors. 

“We have never investigated a fatal fire where there was a smoke detector,” he said. “Smoke detectors do save lives.” 

Last November a 17-year-old teen died from carbon monoxide poisoning in a Berkeley apartment where a vent was determined to be clogged. The landlord was not held responsible.

Councilmember Margaret Breland decided to stand up and confront the whispers. At a Monday evening press conference, the 65-year-old councilmember announced that she was fighting a winning battle over breast cancer. 

“I do have breast cancer,” she told the group of reporters outside the Francis Albrier Center at San Pablo Park where she was about to hold a community meeting. “I am going to defeat it.” 

Running for a second term on the council, Breland underscored that she is able to continue her duties as council member through the remaining seven chemotherapy treatments and beyond. “Even though people say I’m sick, I am not,” she said, adding that her doctor has given her the green light to continue her council work and run a re-election campaign. 

Breland discovered she had a malignancy four months ago during a routine mammogram and had a lumpectomy in June at Alta Bates Medical Center. She has had one chemotherapy treatment and will have seven more treatments, each three weeks apart. 

The retired registered nurse is facing four contenders for the District 2 council seat in south west Berkeley. When one reporter asked how the cancer would affect her race, Breland responded: “I think they might try to use it as an advantage to them.” She said there were rumors going around that she is in ill health and unable to serve on the council. 

She emphasized that, in addition to squelching the murmurings about her ill health and inability to hold office, she wanted her discovery to serve as a warning to others that they must get regular mammograms. 

It is not an accident that Breland, who is African American, is the council’s liaison to the city’s Community Health Commission and very active in the work to address last year’s Health Disparity Study that showed that the health in Berkeley’s African American community is dramatically poorer than in the Caucasian hills community, as measured, by the number of premature deaths and premature births. 

Breland said she is thankful she found the malignancy early. “I’m lucky I have insurance and go to the doctor,” she said. “There are those who can’t.”

The Big One never came. But its threat inspired a new generation of public buildings designed to endure the inevitable devastation. Though delayed by a few months, the Ronald Tsukemoto Public Safety Building is scheduled for an early October occupation by the Berkeley Police Department and the Fire Department’s administrative team. 

“We love it,” says Captain Doug Hambleton of the Berkeley Police Department. “It’s earthquake proof. It means we can respond to emergency situations rather than being part of the emergency.” In addition, the new building would be wired for modern internet services, better access for the disabled and ensures public safety in the event of a massive power outage. 

The Tsukemoto building, a “base isolated edifice,” is designed “to stay in one place when the ground moves,” says Lorin Jensen, the supervising civil engineer. Equipped with power generators and enough fuel for 72 hours of off-grid operations, the building “will be up and running within seconds in the event of an earthquake-born power outage,” says Jensen. 

But the building was born of bureaucracy and ordained into existence not by the Berkeley public, but by a city judge, say critics. Its controversial beginnings, claims Kriss Worthington, a member of the Berkeley City Council, smack of backroom political maneuverings that eliminated the public from the decision-making process to build it. 

In 1992, Berkeley voters agreed to Measure G, allocating $12.8 million to retrofit the city’s public safety buildings. The money was earmarked to re-model the existing Hall of Justice and Fire Department headquarters, both built in the 1930’s.  

Instead, both older buildings are set for demolition in the next year – they will be replaced by parking lots - and a new Public Safety Building, housing the entire Berkeley police department as well as the Fire Department administration, will open in early October. 

The building commemorates Ronald Tsukemoto, the first Berkeley officer killed in the line of duty. Born in Tule Lake, CA, one of a dozen “relocation camps” where all west coast Japanese-Americans were sent during World War II, Tsukemoto met his end on University Avenue, when an unknown assailant fatally shot him before escaping in a waiting car. 

“How did a simple bill upgrading “essential services” become the basis for an entirely new construction project?” asks Worthington. “The original ballot (measure), called Measure G, gave money to the fire and police departments to retrofit their buildings- not build a new one,” says Worthington.  

By means of a “validation action,” allowing the City Council to unilaterally re-allocate funds, the $12.8 million delegated for the retro-fitting became the basis for the new hall of justice. 

“This building was decreed when the city sued itself.” says Worthington. “In 1995 it got a judge to switch the intention of the ballot from one objective to another without any public input. The city took a Measure, a binding public decision, and altered it without consulting them.” 

Others disagree, saying Measure G, as it stood, was an inefficient waste of public money. 

“Back in 1995, a cost comparison between upgrading current police headquarters and constructing a new building showed that a new building was a better use of money,” says Lorin Jensen, supervising Civil Engineer of the Department of Public Works. 

“Retrofitting always costs more than construction because there are so many unknowns before actual work begins,” he continues. 

So the $12.8 million Measure G money was put away, earning 1.7 million in interest between 1992 and 1998. Focus swung from a retrofit to a new building and the City Council went through a few designs before settling on the present proposal from S.J. Amoroso, a Foster City based construction crew. With the addition of a $3.5 million state grant, the entire project totaled $18.5 million. 

City officials wax enthusiastic when discussing the new building. 

“We ended up replacing the old Hall of Justice and McKinley Hall (Fire Department administration building) with one single building built to a higher standard of earthquake safety,” says Renee Cardinaux, the city’s director of public works.  

“Now, the 911 response unit and fire department HQ is fully operational even if there is power failure in the city that knocks out the grid,” continues Cardinaux. 

But inside the new edifice is a 43-bed jail, which Cardineaux, laughing, says is for, “our overnight guests.” A temporary holding cell for inmates either on short stays or on their way to Santa Rita jail, it’s the highly nuanced regulations surrounding the building of a new jail cell which are slowing up completion.  

“The department of corrections came in and inspected our jail cells. There were some problems with the spacing of gaps between the bunks and the wall, and the worry is that some inmates could rip their clothes into strips, slip these into the gaps, and hang themselves from the bunk. So there’s welding that’s going on to correct that.” 

Such delays, Hambleton says, are routine in building new police facilities. 

“There are just so many specs that go into a police facility that don’t go into regular buildings, from communication and radio, to internet and jails. Just cleaning those details up is what’s causing the delay,” he adds. 

After these details are corrected, a one month “shakedown cruise” commences, quips Hambleton. 

“We don’t want to settle in until we know everything is in order.” he says. 

And while groundbreaking ceremonies took place last month, largely symbolic of an unmet construction schedule, communication units are already being moved into the building. A fleet of Pac Bell trucks and technicians are busy re-wiring the Berkeley police into the 21st Century.

Sunday was D-day in Berkeley. D stands for “Dorm,” by the way.  

Caravans of U-Hauls containing the possessions of thousands of soon-to-be Cal students stormed the city, while other modern-day packhorses swallowed up virtually every space in the South Berkeley area. This was the official UC Berkeley dormitory move-in day. 

The simultaneous observation of such a great number of family units was unusual. Once disembarked, students and their families stood in lengthy lines awaiting elevator service to the high-rise units, not unlike the line to an outhouse at Woodstock. 

Just what is it that attracts droves of students to the dorms anyway? 

“I don’t want to clean out bathrooms; I don’t want to clean other people’s urine,” says sophomore Ben Yuen of Ida Sproul Hall in Unit 3. “I don’t want to cook my own meals and I don’t want to do dishes. I’ll use that extra time to study more or go out.” 

And there you have it.  

Like many students, the Berkeley housing crunch led Yuen to opt for a second year in the dorms. Not surprisingly, as the Berkeley apartment market grows tighter, the growing number of students in the dormitories have become more and more scrunched together. Rooms built for two students now accommodate three. Former student lounges have been converted into bedrooms (Yuen lives in a former lounge, complete with a big glass window on the door. He chose the room, however, for its ample lighting).  

“I’m not too happy about it, but we’ll work it out,” said Elizabeth Shemaria, a junior transfer who found herself in a converted triple in Unit 2’s Ehrman Hall. “I just didn’t have a lot of time to find housing and it was easier to fill out a form and get housing that way.” 

As a transfer, Shemaria and a bevy of older students in the dorms will have to adjust to a number of overtly paternalistic rules governing everyday life. There will always be a Resident Assistant nearby to make sure you turn the music down, put out that cigarette, don’t lean on the windows, take the hubcap off your bulletin board or put down that bottle of Jack Daniel’s (especially that last one).  

In addition to learning to follow the rules (or elude them), dorm residents are about to undergo one of the joys of co-ed living – sharing the halls, lounges and even the bathrooms.  

“I asked to be on the co-ed floor, but I forgot about men in the bathroom,” said Ida Sproul resident Cynthia Park. “I don’t think it’ll be an issue. Well, at least for right now. I only got here a couple of hours ago.” 

We’ll see how she feels in a few more hours. Other students were more wary of the grooming habits of the opposite sex.  

“My sister goes to Cal Poly and they have male and female wings over there. We went into the male wing and it was so smelly!” said Ehrman Hall resident Jennifer Haug. “Here we have girls in every other room, so that ought to cut the smelly factor.” 

Offending females’ olfactory senses is something one rarely has to worry about at all-male Bowles Hall, the classic “They put me WHERE?” dorm at Cal.  

“I requested Units 1, 2 and 3 and got Bowles,” said freshman Tom Walker. “Co-ed living, I would have liked that. Oh well. It happens.” 

While Walker and others will not be able to participate in the wondrous experience of meeting members of the opposite sex without even trying (at least this year), Bowles Hall residents are rewarded with a gorgeous house, marvelous view and what is traditionally the best Dining Commons on campus.  

The Daily Planet wanted to know about the truth of tales of Grade-D (tasting) meat and walking rice. But one four-year dorm veteran claimed “DC” food was on the up-and-up (and with a straight face!). 

“My freshman year, it was bad. Well, maybe not bad. It was always edible, so that’s good,” says senior Tanveer Makhani, a resident assistant at Ida Sproul. “Dorm food is much improved.” 

Makhani may not know it, but RAs have been saying that since the Campanile was just a gleam in John Galen Howard’s eye. If this year is like any other, more than a few students will actually lose the “Freshman 15,” skipping dorm meals to survive on a diet of Mountain Dew and Clorets. But at least they can suffer in a co-ed environment (sorry Bowles).  

“It’s OK,” says Bowles resident Dan Spence. “It’s only my first year. I’ll get wild and crazy pretty soon.”

Monday, August 21

55 Alive Driving Class 

1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst and MLK Jr. Way 

With AARP. 

Admission fee $10.  

644-6107 

San Pablo Plan 

7-8:30 p.m. 

Frances Albrier Center 

San Pablo Park 

Community meeting with Councilmember Margaret Breland to hear about a strategic plan Breland has proposed for San Pablo Avenue and talk about how the neighborhood will be involved in the planning process. 

644-6400 

Tuesday, August 22

Meeting to address traffic  

concerns 

7:30-9:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Church 

2727 College Ave. 

First in a series of city-sponsored meetings addressing traffic concerns in the Ashby-College avenues area. 

665-3440 

Dr. Art’s Guide to Planet  

Earth 

7 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. 

Dr. Art Sussman, author of “Dr. Art’s Guide to Planet Earth,” combines scientific demonstrations with audience participation to introduce easy-to-understand principles that explain how our planet works. 

Blood Pressure Measure 

9:30-11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst and MLK Jr. Way 

With Alice Meyers. 

644-6107 

Wednesday, Aug. 23

Disaster Committee 

7 p.m. 

Emergency Operations Center 

997 Cedar Street 

Agenda includes a discussion led by Jeanne Perkins of Association of Bay Area Governments on a housing study by the Association of Bay Area governments and a discussion of disaster preparedness in the schools. 

Low Vision Speaker 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst and MLK Jr. Way 

John Mortimore from Accessibility Incorporated will demonstrate a closed circuit magnifying TV. 

644-6107 

Meeting on Nextel Antennas 

7 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church 

941 The Alameda 

Nextel has applied to the city to install 12 radiation-emitting antennas for cell phone transmisson on the roof of the Oaks Theater. Neighbors are hosting an informational meeting.  

524-0121 

Thursday, August 24

Community Dance Party 

7:45-9:45 p.m. 

Live Oak Park 

1301 Shattuck Ave.  

Dance instructions will be provided by The Berkeley Folk Dancers.  

Teens $2, adult non-members $4. 

524-7803 

Movie: Anastasia 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst and MLK Jr. Way 

Featuring Bergman, Brenner, and Hayes. 

644-6107 

Fair Campaign Practices  

Commission 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Health Room 

The agenda will include a discussion with the city clerk about the use of the web site for publicaton of contribution information. 

West Berkeley Project Area  

Commission 

7 p.m. 

West Berkeley Senior Center 

1900 Sixth St. 

Among the items to be discussed are the request for proposals for a parking garage and a Fifth Street public market. 

League of Women Voters  

Luncheon 

noon 

Bay Holiday Inn  

1800 Powell St. 

UC Berkeley Professor Bruce Cain will speak. 

$45 

Call: 642-1657 

Saturday, August 26 

“Wild about Books” 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Public Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

“Hats Off to Reading!” You’ll hear about lost hats, matching hats, paper hats-and make your own to take home with you. Frog and Toad plant a garden together. 

Sophocles’ “Antigone” 

1:30 p.m. 

Fellowship of Humanity, garden 

411 28th St. and Broadway 

Oakland 

A staged reading of an adaptation of “Antigone” by Walter Springer.  

Contributions. 

451-5818

Berkeley’s Impact Theater specializes in new plays for a 20-something audience that grew up on television, film and music, without much experience in live theater. 

In that vein, the company opened its fifth season Friday at Eighth Street Studio in Berkeley with the world premiere of Erin Carr’s play “TV Sucks My Ass.” In line with Impact’s mission, this play is about 20-somethings just out of college, struggling to find meaningful lives and work. 

Running about 75 minutes without an intermission, “TV Sucks My Ass” is a rambling episodic story about a 24-year-old former actress named Van (Alyssa Bostwick) who works as a production assistant on an exploitative and uninspiring television show. 

Feminist Van hates her job and dreams of producing her own television series about a woman who travels backwards in time to meet famous women of history and help them through their times of personal difficulty. 

In her personal life, Van has a crush on musician roommate Adam (Eric Herzog), but since she is not thin and glamorous, Van feels romantically challenged. 

Van’s professional break comes unexpectedly when she is offered the role of a zaftig woman who undergoes liposuction on live television, on a show called “Lighten Up.” From the idea of liposuction, Carr’s play takes its title, “TV Sucks My Ass.” 

A large cast show with more than ten actors, several doubling in multiple roles, “TV Sucks My Ass” is part didactic political dissertation and part romantic melodrama. The show has a feminist spin, and deals with the gender politics of body image and women’s feelings of physical inadequacy. 

But it is a rambling story that zigs and zags disconnectedly in varying directions. At times “TV Sucks My Ass” has the feel of a script workshopped to the point where it has lost its focus. 

Additionally, many of the play’s gags are familiar, and not that funny. For example, an exploitative radio station has the call letters “KRAP.” 

Likewise, the play’s sleazy or macho men (J. McMullen, Noah James Butler and Dominic Vignolo) may be a reality in present-day life, but the characterizations and storylines around their behaviors aren’t fresh. We’ve seen them many times before in television and movies. 

Most important, at the play’s end when Van is faced with the conflicts of working on an exploitative liposuction show that contradicts her personal principles, the story takes a fluky twist. This twist allows the character of Van to equivocate, copping out on the character’s deeper development, and the story’s resolution. 

Under Sarah O’Connell’s hesitant direction, the acting in the show is rough-edged, from a mostly youthful cast. Many of the lines are given heavy sarcastic readings by the actors, but it would take more than hammy satirical posing to maximize the comedy of this script. 

As the play’s central character, Bostwick’s Van is not a strong presence, although she warms to the performance as the show progresses. Noah James Butler’s drag Zsa Zsa Gabor is one of the evening’s funniest bits. 

Director O’Connell has designed an appropriately cheesy living room for most of the action, with satellite spaces for the television production scenes. 

Playwright Carr graduated this past spring from Middlebury College, where she was a theater major. Her plays “Frostbite” and “Communication Breakdown” have both been finalists in the Actors Theater of Louisville National Ten Minute Play Contest. 

Producing new plays is always a gamble, and most established theater companies are afraid to do it. Kudos to the people at Impact for taking chances and avoiding the easy route. Producing world premieres in the theater world makes a difference. 

And if it turns out you are 24 years old, just out of college, and struggling with a career in the film or television business, “TV Sucks My Ass” just might describe your life. 

“TV Sucks My Ass,” presented by Impact Theater at Eighth Street Studio, 2525 8th Street, Berkeley, $5 (students), $10 (general). (510) 464-4468.

City efforts increase danger on University Ave.  

Editor: 

Two of Berkeley’s worst intersections for bicyclists just got worse. 

As a bicycle commuter, I shudder whenever I cross the intersections of Shattuck/University and Milvia/University.  

Both are confusing, alarming – and statistically dangerous: Police reports show that Shattuck/University is the city’s most collision-prone intersection for nonmotorists, while Milvia/University is tied for fifth-worst.  

The city could make both intersections safer by phasing the signals, to separate turning vehicles from nonmotorists (and others) who are going straight.  

Incredibly, the city has instead made both intersections worse. At the southeast corner of Shattuck Square and University, a new concrete “bulb-out” (sidewalk extension) removes cyclists’ ability to turn right on red lights after stopping. 

Across University, another wide “bulb-out” needlessly forces cyclists out into aggressive, rapidly turning traffic. At Milvia and University, still another concrete bulb-out complicates cyclists’ right turns. And at the mid-block crosswalk near the UC Theatre, two more wide bulb-outs infringe on cyclists’ paths. Violating the city’s past promises to cyclists, several of these bulb-outs are considerably wider than parked cars. 

There are two morals to this story. The first: If you see more cyclists riding on downtown sidewalks, please don’t blame the cyclists. Blame the city for taking away our right to use the road safely. 

The second moral is sadder: I suspect that everyone involved in planning these University Ave. changes had the best of intentions. (I’ve met some of these people; they genuinely wanted to make things better.) But good intentions and promises didn’t translate into safe designs or competent concrete pours. So everyone has ended up worse off: cyclists have a more hostile and dangerous downtown; city residents are paying higher taxes to fund these “Measure S” projects; and several downtown merchants lost business for months as construction dragged far behind schedule. 

The moral is that if we can’t make constructive, consensus-based changes, the best option may be no change at all. Too much planning is making Berkeley a dull, gridlocked, inaccessible city. 

Michael Katz 

Berkeley 

2700 San Pablo neighbors not NIMBYS, want lower building 

Editor: 

Amid all the comments about the proposed development at 2700 San Pablo, the opposition has been mischaracterized as being against affordable housing and against development. 

Nothing could be further from the truth. 

We would love to see the site developed and would welcome affordable housing – in fact, a development of all affordable housing would be appropriate. 

We do feel that care must be taken with the part of the site that has not been cleaned of toxics and that a three-story building would be welcomed by our community. 

Bob Kubik 

Berkeley 

Trying to find a place to park downtown before 5 p.m. is about as frustrating as a Rubik’s cube. 

And when the teenage drivers, some 200 employees of Berkeley High School and the thousands of UC Berkeley students and faculty go back to campus, the situation will just get worse. 

School District Superintendent Jack McLaughlin said the school board has until mid-November to solve the school’s tricky parking predicament. 

Currently, Berkeley High School is clearing a space for thirty cars at the corner of Milvia Street and Allston Way by moving the 16 portable buildings – brought in to replace the burned-out B building – to an area along Channing Way, which was formerly a parking lot. 

It will leave a dirt area parking space for roughly 30 cars at Milvia and Allston Way, and there is room for another 30 cars in front of the B building on Bancroft Way, McLaughlin said. 

However, these spaces will be used for construction needs, when the school’s two-year building project begins in November. The construction will include repair of the B building and building new classrooms and a library. 

That will leave the school with only the 75 parking spaces it has leased since the fire from area garages. 

Traffic engineer Jeff Knowles said he recently asked the School Board to put together a detailed list of how many spaces the school will need so a solution can be found.  

McClaughlin said he hopes he will have it by next week. 

But the problem is bigger than BUSD and the solution needs to be broader, city officials say. 

Councilmember Dona Spring says that downtown is reaching a “crisis level” and a partnership between the big four downtown employers – the School District, the U.S. Post Office, UC Berkeley and city – needs to be made to find an answer to alleviate the parking plight. 

“We’re at a peak capacity,” she said. “Our streets are really crowded. We need to start looking at an alternative.” 

Spring says that the four should work together to push for incentives to use public transportation and explore the possibility of shuttling employees.  

“The only way it would be affordable is if it were a partnership,” she said. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington concurs. He says that more should be done in support of public transit, and says the specific reasons why people drive to work should be looked at comprehensively. 

He said if the employers would consider providing day-care, for example, and transit passes, the amount of auto trips could be reduced. 

“This could be an excellent opportunity for all the employers to work together,” he said. 

Planning Commission Chair Rob Wrenn said the city is working on a Transportation Demand Management Study to explore possible solutions to the problem. 

Although the study’s not quite finished, Wrenn said that it concludes that building more parking is not necessary. 

He said the study found that encouraging use of public transportation and better use of existing parking would ease the crammed downtown. 

“Expanding parking within a four block radius of BART sends a message that the city wants people to drive.” 

He said that the TDM study calls for extending the “classpass” program for students, in which a student pays a small amount when they pay their fees, and receive a pass to use AC Transit for the semester. 

“The same principle could be applied to businesses,” he said. 

“A lot of the grumbling is that you can’t park right in front of where you’re going,” he said.  

He pointed out that a 1997 study showed that the city’s major lots are not fully utilized. 

McLaughlin says that he’s looking at ways to encourage public transportation, and said that the district is negotiating with Golden Gate fields to become a satellite lot that may be served by shuttles. 

“We’re looking to locate a place to shuttle,” he said. “It’s a real problem. We first have to negotiate with our employees. Maybe discounts or free BART tickets, but we have to look at the budget first.”

LOS ANGELES — Lisa Fithian marched, jogged, skipped and trudged more than 20 miles this week through the streets of Los Angeles. She pleaded with police officers. She cajoled angry, masked anarchists clad in black. She chanted into megaphones. 

By the end of the week, Fithian, a labor and community organizer, wasn’t tired. She was dancing. 

“We proved this week that the protests are not just a unique, one-time instance,” she said. “This is a new movement. We’re vigorous.” 

Thousands of demonstrators who spent the week of the Democratic National Convention marching in the streets and occasionally clashing with police said they got their message out and energized their movement, one that barely registered during the party’s last convention in Chicago. 

If there was one unified cause in Los Angeles, it was against police brutality. In many protesters’ eyes, that cause took on new meaning after Monday night, the first night of the convention, when police broke up a rally of thousands firing rubber bullets and pepper spray at the crowd. 

“We tamed the LAPD!” proclaimed Sarah “Seeds” Willner, 49, a veteran organizer from Berkeley, as she helped lead the week’s final march to the Los Angeles county jail Thursday. 

The demonstrators also proved their organization, she said, by setting up three to four marches each day of the four-day Democratic convention. 

“We were supposed to get knocked on our butts in L.A., that’s what the police wanted,” Willner said. “If delegates didn’t get the message, then at least the police did.” 

She also claimed a victory in the clash between police and the media after reporters claimed they were targeted by riot police wielding nightsticks and rubber-bullet guns. 

“The media coverage showed things from our point of view because the media was getting knocked around just like we were,” she said. 

The movement, while a continuation of activism that is an intrinsic part of U.S. history, was revitalized last year in Seattle when some 50,000 protesters took over the city center in opposition to World Trade Organization meetings being held there.  

Thousands of anti-globalization protesters again showed up in April in Washington when the International Monetary Fund and World Bank held their spring meetings, and protests also went on just weeks ago during the Republican Convention in Philadelphia. 

In Los Angeles, there were demonstrations for women’s rights, gay rights and youth rights. There were marches against police brutality, against U.N. sanctions imposed on Iraq, against global corporatization. And there were rallies, sometimes as many as 10 a day, where demonstrators with dozens of different causes joined together to chant slogans and listen to speeches. 

“There’s been a resurgence of protesting and activism,” said H. Eric Shockman, associate professor of political science at the University of Southern California and an expert on protest movements. 

“The means look very similar; the goals seem to be different,” he said. “I get a real sense we’re on the cusp of a very different paradigm when we’re looking at the connections of protest movements.” 

Justin Eckert, who watched a demonstration of about 2,000 people trudge through a traffic tunnel in Los Angeles, agreed. He said he was impressed by “a definite groundswell of movement.” 

But, in a concern that was expressed by other protesters, he said he feared the diversity was a drawback: With so many different causes, he doubted any particular message was getting out. 

“Obviously there are a lot of very passionate people here, but there’s no central message,” he said. “I’ve seen a sign for every extremist political cause there is marching past me.” 

David Bolog, who rode his bicycle in most of the demonstrations, said that while everyone has their own cause (his is to support the Green Party), all of the causes remained interrelated. 

On Thursday night, at the end of his last protest of the week, the 30-year-old masseuse from Santa Monica ran his fingers through his sweaty, spiked red hair and said he’s proud of what was accomplished at the convention. 

“By joining together, we were able to realize that there’s a lot more people who are concerned about the well being of this country than we, as caring individuals, originally thought,” he said. 

Alan Wolfe, a sociologist at Boston College, acknowledged that “something’s happening.” But he said the movement seemed passive, responding to events such as the Democratic National Convention rather than setting its own agenda of actions and protests. 

“It’s reacting, rather than taking the initiative,” he said.

It’s not quite big brother, but the Berkeley Unified School District is on the county’s “watch” list. 

That’s because the district’s budget has had insufficient funds on reserve, Alameda County Superintendent of Schools Sheila Jordan said Friday. 

“The district has been walking on the edge,” she said, underscoring that it is not in danger of being taken over by the county, whose job it is to oversee the budget. The situation is not that bad, she said.  

“We’re below the state requirement for 3 percent in reserves,” acknowledged Superintend Jack McLaughlin, noting that the district put a good chunk of its funds into teacher raises last school year. Berkeley teachers had been the lowest paid in the county. 

He added that the situation could change when the first-of-the-school year child count comes in and classified and administrative salary hikes are determined. 

Jordan said the watch list is a prudent measure. “We work on the prevention side,” she said. 

“We’re going to OK (Berkeley’s) budget.” 

Dublin, Oakland and San Leandro districts are also on the “watch” list. 

While Jordan said BUSD needs to be cautious in its expenditures, she lauded the Berkeley schools for its programs.  

“It’s not to say they’re not doing wonderful things,” she said, pointing to the city’s busing program which creates an economic mix in the elementary and middle schools and blunts the divide that might otherwise occur between the lower income flatlands’ children and the higher income hills’ children. Paying the bus drivers, however, is an expense, she said. 

Jordan also lauded Berkeley’s low class size, innovative programs and its ability to support curricula that emphasizes racial and cultural diversity without sacrificing academic achievement. 

She also noted that special education has a “big encroachment” on the regular education budget.  

Jordan, a union activist when she was a special education teacher some years ago, said she would not deny the teachers their raises. “They were at the very bottom,” she said. “They clearly needed the raise.” 

County staff will continue to work with Berkeley staff to see in what areas expenses can be pared down, she said, underscoring, however, that “We don’t tamper with a school board’s autonomy,” except in a situation as in Emeryville where the county advisor plays a greater role. 

That school district required a $600,000 county bailout in the last fiscal year. A county-appointed financial advisor will remain in the district until financial stability is assured. 

McLaughlin said he doesn’t mind being on the “watch list.” 

“As far as I’m concerned, all the districts should be on the watch list,” he said.

Saturday, August 19

“Wild about Books” 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Public Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

“Soap and Water, Please!” Bath time isn’t always the same old thing when “There’s a Hippo in My Bath!” Take a dip with Frog and Toad. 

Re-opening of the United  

Nations Association Info  

Center 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

1403 “B” Addison St. 

The volunteer-operated UN/UNICEF Center will celebrate its grand re-opening at its new location. 

849-1752 

Free Puppet Shows: Program  

on Physical and Mental  

Differences 

Two shows: 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. 

Hall of Health 

2230 Shattuck Ave., lower level 

Performed by The Kids on the Block, this educational puppet troupe promotes acceptance and understanding of physical and mental differences. For children all ages and their parents. Admission is free.  

549-1564 

Introduction to Tibetan  

Medicine 

7-9 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists 

Cedar and Bonita streets 

Sponsored by the Nyerongsha Institute of Tibetan Medicine and Culture. 

$15, $10 for seniors and students 

415-386-8413 

Sunday, August 20 

Cuba from the Inside 

7 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship Hall 

Cedar and Bonita 

Benefit screening of Fidel: A New Documentary by Estela Bravo. Special guests will include Karen Wald, a Havana-based writer, journalist, teacher and foreign correspondent. 

Among the topics she will discuss are human rights, religion, health care, education, economics, race relations and US-Cuba relations. 

Sliding scale $10-$25 per person. 

“The Meditating CEO” 

4-5:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church 

2727 College Ave.  

Arran Stephens, president of Nature’s Path organic foods and creator of Essene Bread, presents a free public talk and personal demonstration of meditation on the inner light and sound. 

635-2290 

Free Hands-on Bicycle Repair  

Clinics  

11:00 a.m. - noon 

REI  

1388 San Pablo 

Come learn how to fix your own bicycle. Bike technicians will teach a free one-hour clinic covering brake adjustments. Bring your bike. Tools and guidance provided. 

527-7377 

Oakland Art, Architecture and  

History by Bike 

10 a.m.  

Oakland Museum of California 

10th and Oak streets 

Oakland 

A leisurely paced 5.5 mile bike tour led by the museum’s bike-tripping docents, focusing on Oakland’s history and architecture. For reservations call 239-3514 

Tickets $2 

Family Workshop: “A Sense of  

Place” 

2-4 p.m.  

Oakland Museum of California 

10th and Oak streets 

Oakland 

Learn the ways artists have captured California’s natural beauty. A museum artist leads a workshop in creating landscape drawings inspired by your personal view of nature. Space is limited. Call for reservations. 

238-3818 

“Fictitious Marriage” 

2-4:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

What happens when an Israeli is mistaken for an Arab laborer? Eldad Natan is a quiet high school teacher from Jerusalem. As he sets out for a trip to New York, he suffers a mid-life crisis where he discards his identity as husband, father, Israeli and Jew. An insightful film which explores the ironies of Israel life and asks what defines us and binds us to one another. 

$2 suggested donation 

848-0237 

Monday, August 21

55 Alive Driving Class 

1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst and MLK Jr. Way 

With AARP. 

Admission fee $10.  

644-6107 

San Pablo Plan 

7-8:30 p.m. 

Frances Albrier Center 

San Pablo Park 

Community meeting with Councilmember Margaret Breland to hear about a strategic plan Breland has proposed for San Pablo Avenue and talk about how the neighborhood will be involved in the planning process. 

644-6400 

Tuesday, August 22

Meeting to address traffic  

concerns 

7:30-9:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Church 

2727 College Ave. 

First in a series of city-sponsored meetings addressing traffic concerns in the Ashby-College avenues area. 

665-3440 

Dr. Art’s Guide to Planet  

Earth 

7 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. 

Dr. Art Sussman, author of “Dr. Art’s Guide to Planet Earth,” combines scientific demonstrations with audience participation to introduce easy-to-understand principles that explain how our planet works. 

Blood Pressure Measure 

9:30-11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst and MLK Jr. Way 

With Alice Meyers. 

644-6107 

Wednesday, Aug. 23

Disaster Committee 

7 p.m. 

Emergency Operations Center 

997 Cedar Street 

Agenda includes a discussion led by Jeanne Perkins of Association of Bay Area Governments on a housing study by the Association of Bay Area governments and a discussion of disaster preparedness in the schools.

Out here in the Bay Area, one doesn’t often find a bayou, riverboat or streets named after distilled liquors. One can, however, find plenty of the music that fits these images – just like cayenne pepper goes with shrimp etouffee.  

“I’m from Eunice, Louisiana, and I was born and raised into that music,” says Danny Poullard, a fourth-generation Cajun musician and one of the elder statesmen of the Bay Area Cajun scene. “The Bay Area, I would say, probably has the biggest Cajun scene other than Louisiana. There’s a whole lot of adrenaline that goes through you when you play that music; it’s really dance music, a happy type of music and fun to dance to.” 

The seeds of Bay Area Cajun culture were planted on December 7, 1941, a day that will live in infamy. When Pearl Harbor catapulted the United States into World War II, Richmond quickly became one of the nation’s largest shipyards. Workers from around the nation traveled westward in search of jobs, many of them from the Louisiana area.  

While many of those original Cajuns are almost all gone, their influence is not forgotten.  

“Well, I’ve seen a dance in a ballroom that’s had 550 people in it have to turn away 100 people,” says Billy Wilson, a Cajun and Zydeco musician for the last 20 years. “That’ll give you an idea of the hardcore dance community in the Bay Area. In the Bay Area alone, there are probably 15 bands that can play this kind of music. I don’t think that exists anywhere other than Louisiana and here.” 

Cajun music’s solid roots in the Bay Area hearken back to the Semien brothers, Joe and Little John, who arrived in the 1940s. Playing at church dances and folk festivals, a young Poullard joined Little John’s band in the early ’60s as a bass player. Picking up tips from Little John and his own father, Poullard learned to play the accordion, and eventually fronted his own bands. Along with the Semien brothers, Poullard taught a number of local musicians his Cajun stylings, including Wilson.  

“What has really kept the culture alive is people who were not from Louisiana got interested in the music and dancing,” says Poullard. “They’ve brought things to where they are today.” 

Rather than playing solely to a Cajun crowd at church socials, today’s musicians play to large, diverse crowds at local festivals. One of the most established is the Cajun & More Festival at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, which is now in its 11th year.  

Scheduled for today at Center Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., this year’s lineup includes Danny Poullard & Friends, Gerard Landry and the Lariats (featuring Wilson on steel guitar), Johnny Harper’s Carnival and Wild Buds (with former Hot Tuna harmonica virtuoso Will Scarlett).  

“The Cajun crowd is the go-for-the-fun crowd,” says Berkeley Farmers’ Market co-manager Kirk Lumpkin, who is also the lead vocalist for Wild Buds. “It’s not like back when I played with the original rock scene when people would always kind of think ‘is this band cool enough that I might want to dance?’ With the Cajun crowd, on the first tune from the first band,  

they’re up and dancing. They’re there to have fun and dance.”  

Offsetting the down-home Cajun and Zydeco of Poullard and Landry (a Poullard disciple), Lumpkin has opened up the field with the “funky New Orleans R & B” of Johnny Harper and “West Coast Mardi Gras” of Wild Buds. 

Harper, the Carnival’s lead singer and guitarist, describes his six-piece band’s music as sounding a bit like The Meters, Dr. John and New Orleans legend Professor Longhair. Setting New Orleans R & B apart from your garden variety R & B is the centrality of the Caribbean-influenced piano and “second-line rhythm” in the percussion session.  

“In a New Orleans parade with a brass band and a bunch of drummers, the second line are people who are not part of the organized parade but are people from the community who come in and join because a parade is a good time to be had,” explains Harper, who used to strum with Poullard as a fill-in guitarist for the Louisiana Playboys 20-odd years back. 

“This adds a tremendous amount of rhythmic complexity and extra percussion.” 

Yet while the format of the Berkeley Farmers’ Market Cajun fest has changed a bit, the end goal is still the same: Have a good time.  

“It’s just fun music, you know?” says Landry. “It always puts you in a good mood.”

The East Bay Chapter of the United Nations Association Information and UNICEF Center is celebrating its re-opening today, next to the Berkeley Gray Panthers headquarters. 

The festivities will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1403 B Addison St. 

The 36-year-old chapter, dedicated to promoting the peace-keeping mission of the United Nations, was forced to leave its larger quarters because of rising rents, said Interim Director Mary Trampleasure.  

The chapter is “narrowing down to more of an advocacy role,” she said. 

Historically, the organization has lobbied the U.S. government to take a larger role in the United Nations and has raised money for the United Nations Children’s Fund by selling greeting cards, United Nations’ member flags and gifts from around the world. 

Trampleasure said that the volunteer organization just couldn’t afford to stay at the location at 1798 Shattuck Ave., where it had been for 10 years. The smaller space means the boutique will sell less merchandise.  

UNICEF cards and gifts, and United Nations-related items, such as books, flags and maps, will still be offered for sale, she said. 

“We don’t mind the smaller space,” she said. “It’s a perfect fit with the Gray Panthers. It’s good unity.” 

She said that the library will continue to be a “source of valuable information on current and historical U.N. topics.” 

Trampleasure said that the Gray Panthers couldn’t afford two rooms and offered the UNA a sub-lease of the adjacent room to their headquarters.  

The East Bay chapter of the organization began in 1964 when the American Association for the United Nations, a citizen-based organization led by Eleanor Roosevelt, merged with the U.S. Committee for the United Nations. 

Trampleasure said she has been with the organization since its local beginnings as a director and volunteer. 

The chapter is one of 175 nationwide and part of the worldwide UNA network in 70 countries.

A California-based animal rights group is doing what it can to force circuses to stop using elephants in their acts, even invoking the Endangered Species Act in its quest. 

At a press conference Thursday at the Oakland Zoo, PAWS, the Performing Animals Welfare Society, spoke out against the use and treatment of elephants in circus acts. They are taking legislative action against using elephants as well as suing Ringling Brothers’ circus to stop what they say is abuse of the animals.  

PAWS says that elephants in circuses pose a threat to trainers and audience members alike. They are supporting HR 2929, a bill to prohibit the use of elephants in traveling shows and elephant rides. HR 2929 is currently in the Crime Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee. 

PAWS claims that the public is at considerable risk from elephants in traveling shows because of the harsh training and the restrictive conditions the elephants endure. The problem is that there is no healthy way to house elephants in a traveling environment. This, says ex-elephant handler Tom Rider, is why elephants shouldn’t be allowed in circuses at all. 

“The reality is that unless you have a facility like (the Oakland Zoo), you can’t take elephants off restraints,” he said.  

PAWS is also bringing suit against Ringling Brothers circus claiming that they routinely violate the Endangered Species Act and the Animal Welfare Act in the training and handling of the elephants. 

Among charges filed, the complaint cites Ringling Brothers with the forcible removal of baby elephants from their mothers before the age of two and with the inhumane use of beatings and chains in training. These are in violation of the AWA, which states that “physical abuse shall not be used to train, work, or otherwise handle animals.” 

“At Ringling facilities, baby elephants are torn from their mothers at an unnaturally young age and subjected to harsh treatment,” says PAWS’ Director Pat Derby. “Both mothers and babies suffer greatly from the unnatural and unethical treatment imposed on them at these training facilities.” 

Feld Entertainment, the owners of Ringling Brothers, argues that there is no basis for the allegations made by PAWS. Their staff “consistently provides the highest standards in the hands-on care of all (their) animals,” they said in a statement issued Thursday. 

We are “outraged by the allegations contained in two lawsuits brought against the company,” the Feld statement said. “(We will) aggressively defend our good name and reputation.”  

Despite these claims by the circus, Derby hopes that the PAWS’s lawsuit will serve as a model for others to follow.  

“Our lawsuit is the first brought against a circus under the Endangered Species Act,” she said. “We hope it will be a pioneer for performing animals rights.”

Panthers join Bay Shore Athletic League, will face schools closer to their own enrollment. 

Well, it’s David versus Goliath no more. 

Beginning this in September, St. Mary’s College High School will join the new Bay Shore Athletic League (BSAL), which means it will be competing against schools as small as it is, rather than the huge schools it was matched against in the Alameda Contra Costa Athletic League (ACCAL) for the past decade. 

But according to St. Mary’s Athletic Director and head football coach Dan Shaughnessy, the old rivalries will still be present, just not necessarily during the regular season. 

“We still want to compete against the schools we’ve been playing for the past 10 years,” Shaughnessy said. “It’ll just have to be in non-league games.” 

Some of the old rivals came with St. Mary’s to the new league. Holy Names, Kennedy (Richmond), Albany, Piedmont and St. Joseph (Alameda) all made the switch, and all have similar enrollments to St. Mary’s, about 500-600 students. Also joining the BSAL are John Swett (Crockett), St. Patrick - St. Vincent (Vallejo) and Salesian. 

But St. Mary’s will no longer be obligated to play schools with gigantic student bodies, such as Berkeley High and El Cerrito High, which have two-to-three times more students than St. Mary’s. 

“We’ve always been a small school competing against larger schools,” Shaughnessy said. “Some of our sports were getting overwhelmed in league play, and this should help us get away from that. The new schools are much more aligned with our size.” 

The new schedules for St. Mary’s teams will be more of a reshuffling, putting the old league opponents into the non-league schedule in many sports. 

“We don’t necessarily want to break our ties with those big schools. We had real good competition with them, and we formed close bonds. Our games with them will still hold bragging rights for the winner,” Shaughnessy said. 

St. Mary’s football schedule, for instance, still contains El Cerrito and De Anza, but the Panthers will battle those teams early in the season as a warm-up for their league schedule. 

One of the new opponents will be St. Patrick-St. Vincent in Vallejo. Their athletic director said that the new league will be good for the teams and players, as the competition should be fierce. 

“It’ll be a very competitive atmosphere and our coaches like that,” said Andrew Strawbridge, who also coaches the men’s basketball team. “We look forward to it with great anticipation. In some sports, like football, we were being overmatched by the larger schools. 

“It’ll be good to play against schools that are similar to us as far as size.” 

The new league is more far-flung than the ACCAL, and the travel will be more demanding for both St. Mary’s athletes and their parents. St. Patrick-St. Vincent and John Swett are both farther away than any school in the old league. But Shaughnessy said travel shouldn’t get in the way of the teams winning or the parents seeing the games. 

“There shouldn’t really be any problems with transportation for the kids, and Mom and Dad will go to Cucamonga to see the kids play,” he said.

Big Mountain 

7:30 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. 

Join the Berkeley Ecology Center, Diane Patterson and Green Eye Records Foundation for an evening of music, information and community.  

548-2220, ext. 233 

Opera: Idomeneo, Part 1 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst and MLK Jr. Way 

644-6107 

Monthly Birthday Party and  

Fish Fry Fund Raiser 

5-10 p.m. 

West Berkeley Senior Center 

1900 Sixth St.  

“John Turk and Friends” will supply music to dance to at this event sponsored by the WBSC Advisory Council. Admission is free, red snapper or catfish dinners are $10. 

644-6036 

Introduction to Tibetan  

Astrology 

7-9 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists 

Cedar and Bonita streets 

Sponsored by the Nyerongsha Institute of Tibetan Medicine and Culture. 

$15, $10 for seniors and students 

415-386-8413 

“Wild about Books” 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Public Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

“Soap and Water, Please!” Bath time isn’t always the same old thing when “There’s a Hippo in My Bath!”  

Re-opening of the United  

Nations Association Info  

Center 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

1403 “B” Addison St. 

The volunteer-operated UN/UNICEF Center will celebrate its grand re-opening at its new location behind Andronico’s University Ave. Market. 

849-1752 

Free Puppet Shows: Program  

on Physical and Mental  

Differences 

Two shows: 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. 

Hall of Health 

2230 Shattuck Ave., lower level 

Performed by The Kids on the Block, this educational puppet troupe promotes acceptance and understanding of physical and mental differences. For children all ages and their parents. Free.  

549-1564 

Introduction to Tibetan  

Medicine 

7-9 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists 

Cedar and Bonita streets 

Sponsored by the Nyerongsha Institute of Tibetan Medicine and Culture. 

$15 regular $10 for seniors and students 

415-386-8413 

Sunday, August 20 

Cuba from the Inside 

7 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship Hall 

Cedar and Bonita 

Benefit screening of Fidel: A New Documentary by Estela Bravo. Special guests will include Karen Wald, a Havana-based writer, journalist, teacher and foreign correspondent. 

Among the topics she will discuss are human rights, religion, health care, education, economics, race relations and US-Cuba relations. 

Sliding scale $10-$25 per person. 

“The Meditating CEO” 

4-5:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church 

2727 College Ave.  

Arran Stephens, president of Nature’s Path organic foods and creator of Essene Bread, presents a free public talk and personal demonstration of meditation on the inner light and sound. 

635-2290 

Free Hands-on Bicycle Repair  

Clinics  

11:00 a.m. - noon 

REI  

1388 San Pablo 

Come learn how to fix your own bicycle. Bike technicians will teach a free one-hour clinic covering brake adjustments. Bring your bike. Tools and guidance provided. 

527-7377 

Oakland Art, Architecture and  

History by Bike 

10 a.m.  

Oakland Museum of California 

10th and Oak streets 

Oakland 

A leisurely paced 5.5 mile bike tour led by the museum’s bike-tripping docents, focusing on Oakland’s history and architecture. For reservations call 239-3514 

Tickets $2 

Family Workshop: “A Sense of  

Place” 

2-4 p.m.  

Oakland Museum of California 

10th and Oak streets 

Oakland 

Learn the ways artists have captured California’s natural beauty. A museum artist leads a workshop in creating landscape drawings inspired by your personal view of nature. Space is limited. Call for reservations. 

238-3818 

“Fictitious Marriage” 

2-4:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

What happens when an Israeli is mistaken for an Arab laborer? Eldad Natan is a quiet high school teacher from Jerusalem. As he sets out for a trip to New York, he suffers a mid-life crisis where he discards his identity as husband, father, Israeli and Jew. An insightful film which explores the ironies of Israel life and asks what defines us and binds us to one another. 

$2 suggested donation 

848-0237 

55 Alive Driving Class 

1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst and MLK Jr. Way 

With AARP. 

Admission fee $10.  

644-6107

Elk-eater should fight crime and poverty, not radioactivity 

Editor: 

Once again, the Daily Planet published a letter from a member of the cult of radiophobes who constantly warns us of the danger of radioactivity. This time a member retold the urban legend of a person who became contaminated by eating elk in Northern Canada. Apparently, this elk-eater kept tripping off radioactive alarms wherever he went. 

Unfortunately, we never learned from the cultist, why the grass in Canada makes people radioactive, while the grass here does not. Also, I wonder where the elk-eater traveled to trip off so many radioactive alarms. At work, I see radioactive monitors; during my travels, I have never seen any.  

Maybe, this legendary elk-eater journeys to other lands than you and I. 

It is fun to have urban legends. We all enjoy the tale of the two youngsters, whose braces get stuck together while kissing. However, it is not a joke when these cultists, who will believe anything bad about radioactivity, convince the Berkeley City Council to spend taxpayers money and time to protect us against these urban legends. It is sad that they divert resources in our community against things such as fighting poverty and crime. 

Howard Matis  

Nuclear Physicist 

Oakland

After enduring yet another arson fire early Saturday morning, the School Board put off a decision to approve the installation of security cameras, which some say could deter such mayhem and protect the students at Berkeley High. 

Superintendent Jack McLaughlin told the board Wednesday night that he didn’t expect them to vote on the matter without more details on exactly how the cameras would be used, how much they would cost and what the ramifications would be.  

“I need more details... we need a very clear policy,” said Board Vice President Terry Doran. “Is there precedent for this, and what is the feeling within the schools that use them?” 

McLaughlin said he would have a detailed policy for the board next week. 

“My concern is the security at the school and the feelings of students at the school. I wouldn’t want a system that would keep kids from acting like kids,” Doran said. 

Newly sworn-in Student Director Niles Xi ‘an Lichtenstein echoed Doran’s comments and asked that a dialogue be opened with the students so they could have a voice in the matter. 

“The cameras may give the feeling that school is becoming more of a controlled area than what school should be,” he said. “There should be communication with the students to find a comfort level.”  

He added that it may prove costly, not just for the installation and use, but because the “Big Brother” atmosphere the cameras could create may make them targets for vandalism. 

“Students would be prone to break the cameras in the hallways, because they represent a symbol of oppression,” he said. 

He added that the cameras might make underclassmen feel a little safer in the hallways. 

“I remember what it was like being a freshman, and being intimidated by the older kids,” he said. 

Speaking in favor of the cameras, School Board President Joaquin Rivera said the cameras would act as a watchful eye on student behavior. The point is to have an aid in investigations and a deterrent for the firestarters and vandals, he said. 

“We’re not putting in the cameras to monitor the students,” he said. “We want to make sure that Berkeley High is a safe place and we want to deter any activity that may harm students.” 

“The truth is security cameras are already everywhere,” he said. 

University of California scientists say the northern half of the Hayward Fault that runs beneath the east San Francisco Bay area may not be as dangerous as previously thought. 

However, they caution the findings don’t reduce the risk of earthquake from that fault and others crisscrossing the region. 

“The hazard is still high,” said U.S. Geological Service scientist David Schwartz. “The shaking doesn’t care where a line on the map is drawn.” 

The new findings, published Thursday in Science magazine, stem from research by UC Berkeley geophysicist Roland Burgmann. Using new measuring techniques, Burgmann and his team concluded that the northern section of the Hayward Fault is moving at about the same rate at the surface and deep underground. 

That means there isn’t the kind of pressure buildup that can result in a catastrophic earthquake. 

The Hayward Fault stretches more than 60 miles and is a branch of the San Andreas Fault. The northern segment begins at the Oakland/Berkeley border and ends in San Pablo Bay. 

Last year, a statewide team of seismologists estimated a 32 percent chance of a major earthquake originating somewhere on the Hayward Fault in the next 30 years. A major quake is one of magnitude 6.7 or greater. 

Looking at the northern half of the fault separately, the team calculated a risk of 16 percent. That figure is unchanged because it took into account the findings by Burgmann’s team, which included scientists from the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC-Davis. 

“In terms of the need for people to be prepared for earthquakes and retrofit their house, this study doesn’t make a difference at all,” Burgmann said. 

The focus of the study, Burgmann said, was the high-tech methods used to study earthquake mechanics. The team used data from satellites measuring ground motion to determine movement of the fault within a few millimeters. They combined that with analysis of microquakes, tremors too small to be felt that indicate movement miles below ground. 

Scientists concluded that the northern segment of the Hayward Fault is slipping underground at a rate of about 5 to 7 millimeters per year, about the same as it does at the surface. 

——— 

On the Net: A radar image of the area around the Hayward fault, http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/download/2000/08/pub5.html

Another arson at Berkeley High School doesn’t bode well for the coming school year, just two weeks away. 

Superintendent Jack McLaughlin said that Saturday morning around 3:40 a.m. someone dumped a flammable fluid through a window screen at the Boys Gym on Milvia Street then tossed a road flare inside to ignite it. 

Deputy Fire Chief Debra Pryor said that the fire occurred in the weight room, and that it scorched a wall, damaged a floor and burned athletic matting. 

She estimated that the fire caused around $26,000 damage. 

She said that the damage, mainly the matting, was valued at $1,000, while the property damage – the floors and walls – was valued at $25,000. 

“The water and smoke damage was pretty significant,” she said. 

The automatic sprinklers extinguished the fire before the Fire Department arrived, she said. 

McLaughlin remained upbeat and said that the school’s doors will open as planned Aug. 30. 

“It might set us back for a moment,” he said. “But we’re moving on and we’ll open up school and get going.” 

“It’s tough, but we’re doing the best we can,” he said. 

The school hasn’t recovered from the April 12 fire that did $2 million in damage to the Administration Building 

That fire forced district officials to set up a colony of portables so students could finish out the year. 

Sixteen of those portables will still be in use when school starts, McLaughlin said. 

Construction for a new library, classrooms and student union will begin in November. 

And construction will also begin in November to repair the fire damaged B Building. Until construction is complete, he said students will have to use the portables. 

McLaughlin said that two security guards on duty Saturday morning said they heard the alarms but did not see the arsonist. 

Robbery appears to be the motive in the shooting murder of Dwight Cornell Garland, 34, of Berkeley early Wednesday morning, Berkeley Police say. 

Lt Russell Lopes said that the man, well known to the area, was “just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” 

“Everything appears to be a robbery,” Lopes said. “He was a true victim in every sense of the word.” 

Police were responding to a report of a shooting at the apartment building in the 1200 block of Haskell Street at 12 minutes past midnight. Lopes said Garland was shot and killed standing in the driveway of the building. 

He was taken to Highland hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. 

Lopes said that there are currently no suspects. 

This was Berkeley’s third homicide this year. 

***** 

A break-in and robbery of the Wicked store at 2431 Telegraph Ave. Monday night looks like the work of professional thieves, police say. 

Lt. Russell Lopes said that the robbers broke in through a skylight, disabled the alarm system and video cameras and stole over 300 blown glass smoking pipes worth over $40,000. 

“It’s a professional job,” he said. 

He said the burglary wasn’t discovered until the business opened the next morning and that there are currently no suspects.

The baubles in Wing York Jue’s “community garden museum” dot the front yard of his home at 2232 McKinley St. which he and his wife Dorothy have shared for 61 years. Each of the treasures has a very unique history. 

Photos of the 87-year-old neighborhood conversationalist with President Bill Clinton and past Wimbledon champ Bobby Riggs stand pasted to posts in one corner, while a five-foot shrine to “Peanuts” comic-strip author Charles Schultz stands in another. 

Nine timeworn cameras that he says “just appeared one day,” beachballs, an old lamp with a toy windmill sticking out of it, a ceramic lion in a birdcage, Berkeley High School memorabilia, and his dog tag that he wore for three years during World War II all sit together with the makeshift towers like a cacophony of keepsakes he says he began to collect two years ago when he got too weak to cut the small, square lawn. 

“I had to do something with the space,” he joked. 

“Some things just show up,” he said, pointing to a porcelain frog with another plastic frog glued on its back. “They are all neighborhood contributions and have their own stories.” 

The Berkeley High School Hall of Famer, former ranked senior tennis champion, harmonica player, war veteran and retired accountant for the state of California is still springy after surviving cancer of the lymph nodes, bones and prostate. 

“I’m making a comeback,” he said gallantly. 

The garden museum is a testament to that comeback made by the spry little gentleman the neighbors simply call York. 

“York is famous around here,” said neighbor Morgan Fichter. “He’s someone who demands that everyone slow down in the neighborhood. There’s not many people like him.” 

Too humble to accept all of Fichter’s praise, he defers the attention to her and says that she’s an acclaimed violinist and has made appearances on Letterman and the Tonight Show. 

“I’ve seen the tapes, she’s not pulling my leg,” he says. “We live in a very talented neighborhood.” 

Now that York has bounced back from cancer, he spends most of his time chatting with the neighbors and passers-by, and playing his harmonica. 

He said he walks up to Shattuck Avenue and Allston Way where he plays his harmonica for donations for the homeless. 

“It gives me a chance to practice and to help,” he said. 

York was forced to give up his beloved tennis two years ago after he was stricken with cancer. But during his playing days, he was ranked fourth nationally in the 80-year-old division, and won the state championship as a 75 year old. 

He was once challenged to play by Riggs for $500. 

“That was in Seattle in ‘81. He was such a hustler,” he said, pointing to the photo with Riggs. “I told him that he would have to play with his left hand.” 

York still carries a card that reads: “W. York Jue, tennis player and conversationalist extraordinaire.” 

Except for his stint in the U.S. Army, when he was a truck driver in New Caledonia – a small island off of Australia he said was a naval depot – during World War II, York has lived his entire life in Berkeley. 

He was elected into the Berkeley High School Hall of Fame in 1999. He recalls talking to the students about finding equilibrium. 

“I’ve learned balance,” he told them. “And I think that’s part of the reason I have lived such a long, happy, enjoyable life.”

Thursday, August 17

Conscious Comedy 

6-9 p.m. 

Martin Luther King Youth Services Center 

1730 Oregon St. 

The Young Adult Project presents its annual end-of the-summer program, which will include veteran stand-up comedians Daryl and Dwayne Mooney, whose comedy is designed to make people laugh and think. The free event includes music, educational displays and free food. 

644-6226 

“Best Sea Kayaking Trips in  

Northern California” 

7:00 p.m. 

REI 1338 San Pablo Ave. 

In tonight’s slide presentation nationally certified kayak instructors Roger Schumann and Jan Shriner will share information from their Guide to Sea Kayaking in Central and Northern California.  

527-7377 

Helen Nestor: Personal and  

Political 

4-6 p.m. 

Oakland Museum of California 

10th and Oak Streets, Oakland 

Opening reception honoring Berkeley photographer Helen Nestor. The exhibition shows a representative series of images documenting the Free Speech Movement, the ‘60s civil rights marches, women’s issues, all seen with a direct, probing eye.  

1-800-OAK MUSE 

World Literature 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Av. 

With Ann Timmons. 

644-6107 

University Avenue Association  

6:30 p.m. 

1810 University Ave. 

The University Avenue Merchants holds its monthly meeting. 

548-4110 

Friday, August 18

Big Mountain 

7:30 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. 

Join the Berkeley Ecology Center, Diane Patterson and Green Eye Records Foundation for an evening of music, information and community, focusing on the issues facing the Dineh (Navajo).  

548-2220, ext. 233 

Opera: Idomeneo, Part 1 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst and MLK Jr. Way 

644-6107 

Monthly Birthday Party and  

Fish Fry Fund Raiser 

5-10 p.m. 

West Berkeley Senior Center 

1900 Sixth St.  

“John Turk and Friends” will supply music to dance to at this event sponsored by the WBSC Advisory Council. Admission is free, red snapper or cat fish dinners are $10 per plate.  

644-6036 

Introduction to Tibetan  

Astrology 

7-9 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists 

Cedar and Bonita streets 

Sponsored by the Nyerongsha Institute of Tibetan Medicine and Culture. 

$15 regular $10 for seniors and students 

415-386-8413 

Saturday, August 19

“Wild about Books” 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Public Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

“Soap and Water, Please!” Bath time isn’t always the same old thing when “There’s a Hippo in My Bath!” Take a dip with Frog and Toad. 

Re-opening of the United  

Nations Association Info  

Center 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

1403 “B” Addison St. 

The volunteer-operated UN/UNICEF Center will celebrate its grand re-opening at its new location behind Andronico’s University Ave. Market. 

849-1752 

Free Puppet Shows: Program  

on Physical and Mental  

Differences 

Two shows: 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. 

Hall of Health 

2230 Shattuck Ave., lower level 

Performed by The Kids on the Block, this educational puppet troupe promotes acceptance and understanding of physical and mental differences. For children all ages and their parents. Admission is free.  

549-1564 

Introduction to Tibetan  

Medicine 

7-9 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists 

Cedar and Bonita streets 

Sponsored by the Nyerongsha Institute of Tibetan Medicine and Culture. 

$15 regular $10 for seniors and students 

415-386-8413 

Sunday, August 20

Cuba from the Inside 

7 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship Hall 

Cedar and Bonita 

Benefit screening of Fidel: A New Documentary by Estela Bravo. Special guests will include Karen Wald, a Havana-based writer, journalist, teacher and foreign correspondent. 

Among the topics she will discuss are human rights, religion, health care, education, economics, race relations and US-Cuba relations. 

Sliding scale $10-$25 per person. 

“The Meditating CEO” 

4-5:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church 

2727 College Ave.  

Arran Stephens, president of Nature’s Path organic foods and creator of Essene Bread, presents a free public talk and personal demonstration of meditation on the inner light and sound. 

635-2290 

Free Hands-on Bicycle Repair  

Clinics  

11:00 a.m. - noon 

REI  

1388 San Pablo 

Come learn how to fix your own bicycle. Bike technicians will teach a free one-hour clinic covering brake adjustments. Bring your bike. Tools and guidance provided. 

527-7377 

Oakland Art, Architecture and  

History by Bike 

10 a.m.  

Oakland Museum of California 

10th and Oak streets 

Oakland 

A leisurely paced 5.5 mile bike tour led by the museum’s bike-tripping docents, focusing on Oakland’s history and architecture. For reservations call 239-3514 

Tickets $2

MUSEUMS 

Habitot Children’s Museum 

Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 

“Back to the Farm.”  

Ongoing 

An interactive exhibit gives children the chance to wiggle through tunnels like an earthworm, look into a mirrored fish pond, don farm animal costumes, ride on a John Deere tractor and more.  

Cost: $4 adults; $6 children age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under.  

Monday and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tuesday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.  

647-1111 or www.habitot.org 

Judah L. Magnes Museum 

2911 Russell St.,  

549-6950 

Free. 

Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 

“Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season” 

Through May 2002.  

An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. Highlights include treasures from Jewish ceremonial and folk art, rare books and manuscripts, contemporary and traditional fine art, video, photography and cultural kitsch. 

“Spring and Summer.”  

Through Nov. 4. 

“Chagall: Master Prints and Posters, Selections from the Magnes Museum Collection.”  

Through Sept. 28. 

UC Berkeley Art Museum 

2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley 

“Mandala: The Architecture of Enlightenment,” through Sept. 17.  

An exhibit of rare and exquisite works featuring more than forty mandalas and related objects including sculptures and models of sacred spaces. 

“Doug Aitken/MATRIX 185: Into the Sun,” through Sept. 3.  

An exhibit of works primarily in video and film, using the interplay of art and media to evoke deserted landscapes. 

“Autour de Rodin: Auguste Rodin and His Contemporaries,” through August.  

An exhibit of 11 bronze maquettes on loan from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation in Los Angeles. The bronzes range in style from the artist’s classically inspired “Torso of a Woman” to the anguish of “The Martyr.” Some of the maquettes were cast during Rodin’s lifetime, others have been cast fairly recently under the aegis of the Musee Rodin which alone is authorized to cast his sculptures posthumously.  

“Hans Hoffmann,” open-ended.  

An exhibit of paintings by Hoffmann which emphasizes two experimental methods the artist employed: the introduction of slabs or rectangles of highly saturated colors and the use of large areas of black paint juxtaposed with intense oranges, greens and yellows.  

THE ASIAN GALLERIES  

“Art of the Sung: Court and Monastery,” open-ended.  

A display of early Chinese works from the permanent collection.  

“Chinese Ceramics and Bronzes: The First 3,000 Years,” open-ended. 

“Works on Extended Loan from Warren King,” open-ended. 

“Three Towers of Han,” open-ended. 

$6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

642-0808. 

UC Berkeley Museum of  

Paleontology 

Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley 

“Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing.  

A 20-foot tall, 40-foot long replica of the fearsome dinosaur. The replica is made from casts of bones of the most complete T. Rex skeleton yet excavated. When unearthed in Montana, the bones were all lying in place with only a small piece of the tailbone missing. 

“Pteranodon,” ongoing.  

A suspended skeleton of a flying reptile with a wingspan of 22 to 23 feet. The Pteranodon lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. 

California Fossils Exhibit, ongoing. An exhibit of some of the fossils which have been excavated in California. 

Free. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 

642-1821. 

UC Berkeley Phoebe Hearst  

Museum of Anthropology 

Kroeber Hall, Bancroft Way and College  

Avenue, Berkeley 

“Modern Treasures from Ancient Iran,” through Oct. 29.  

This exhibit explores nomadic and town life in ancient and modern Iran as illustrated in bronze and pottery vessels, and textiles.  

“Approaching a Century of Anthropology: The Phoebe Hearst Museum,” open-ended.  

This new permanent installation will introduce visitors to major topics in the museum’s history, including the role of Phoebe Apperson Hearst as the museum’s patron, as well as the relationship of anthropologists Alfred Kroeber and Robert Lowie to the museum. 

“Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” ongoing. 

This exhibit documents the culture of the Yahi Indians of California as described and demonstrated from 1911 to 1916 by Ishi, the last surviving member of the tribe. 

$2 general; $1 seniors; $0.50 children age 17 and under; free on Thursdays. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

643-7648. 

Mills College Art Museum 

5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland 

“The 100 Languages of Children,” through October.  

An exhibit of art by children from Reggio Emilia, Italy. At Carnegie Building Bender Room. 

Free. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. 

430-2164. 

The Oakland Museum of  

California 

1000 Oak St., Oakland 

“Helen Nestor: Personal and Political,” Aug. 17 through Oct. 15.  

An exhibit of images documenting the Free Speech Movement, the 60s civil rights marches, and women’s issues. 

Artist Reception, Aug. 17, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. 

“California Classic: Realist Paintings by Robert Bechtle,” through Oct. 1.  

An exhibit of 18 paintings and drawings by the Bay Area artist dating from 1965 to 1997. 

SPECIAL EXHIBIT – “Meadowsweet Dairy: Wood Sculpture,” through Sept. 15.  

An exhibit of 12 sculptures made with materials found and salvaged to reveal the beauty of the natural object. At the Sculpture Court, City Center, 1111 Broadway. Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

SPECIAL EVENTS AND LECTURES – Free after museum admission unless noted.  

“Family Workshop: A Sense of Place,” Aug. 20, 2 p.m.  

Create landscape drawings inspired by your personal view of nature. For reservations 238-3818. 

$6 general; $4 seniors and students; free children age 5 and under; second Sundays are free to all. Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; first Friday of the month, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

(888) OAK-MUSE or www.museumca.org 

MUSIC 

The Greek Theatre 

Gipsy Kings,  

Hearst Avenue and Gayley Road 

Aug. 18, 8 p.m.  

$27.50 to $65.  

444-TIXS 

Freight and Salvage 

1111 Addison St. 

Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 

David Nachmanoff, Aug. 17. $13.50 to $14.50. 

Jack Hardy with Kate MacLeod. Aug. 18. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Dix Bruce and Jim Nunally, Carol Elizabeth Jones and James Leva, Aug. 19. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Burach, Aug. 20. $13.50 to $14.50. 

548-1761 or 762-BASS. 

Ashkenaz 

1317 San Pablo Ave.  

525-5099 

For all ages 

www.ashkenaz.com 

Grateful Dead DJ Night with Digital Dave, Aug. 17, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. $5. 

Johnny Nocturne Band with Kim Nalley, Aug. 18, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Tippa Irie, Root Awakening, Warsaw, Aug. 19, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Near East/Far West with Transition and Edessa, Aug. 20, 8:30 p.m. $11. 

924 Gilman St. 

924 Gilman Street is an all-ages, member-run no alcohol, drugs, and violence club. Most shows are $5. Memberships for the year are $2. Shows start at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted.  

Call 525-9926.  

Raw Power, Capitalist Casualties, Lifes Halt, Tongue, What Happens Next. Aug. 18. 

Dead And Gone, Time In Malta, Run For Your Fucking Life, Suicide Party. Aug. 19. 

The Hoods, 18 Visions, Punishment, New Jersey Bloodline, Lowlife. Aug. 25. 

Tilt, The Nerve Agents, The Missing 23rd, Turnedown, Larry. Aug. 26. 

The Albatross Pub 

1822 San Pablo Ave. 

843-2473 

All shows begin at 9 p.m. 

Mad and Eddie Duran Jazz Duo, Aug. 15 and 29.  

Keni “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar, Aug. 17 and 24. 

Larry Stefl Jazz Quartet, Sept. 2. 

The Jazz School/La Note 

2377 Shattuck Avenue 

845-5373 

Free admission, reservation recommended 

“Vocal Sauce” Vocal Ensemble Directed by Greg Murai. Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. 

Valerie Bach And “Swang Fandangle.” Aug. 20 at 4:30 p.m. 

Vocalists Ed Reed; Vocal group Zoli Lundy and “Zoli’s Little Thing.” Aug. 24 at 7 p.m.  

Walnut Square 

150 Walnut Street near Vine St. 

11:30 a.m., Aug. 12, 19 and 26. 

Chamber Music for the Inner Courtyard, a classical ensemble, will perform the music of Haydn, Bach, Mozart.  

Call 843-4002. 

THEATER 

“The Green Bird” by Carlo Gozzi 

Berkeley Repertory Theatre 

2025 Addison St. 

Adapted by Theatre de la Jeune Lune and directed by Dominique Serrand.  

“The Green Bird” runs from September 8 - October 27. For tickets contact the box office at 845-4700.  

“The Philanderer” by George Bernard Shaw 

Berkeley City Club 

2315 Durant Ave. 

Performed by the Aurora Theatre company, “The Philanderer” takes on the challenging and often humorous exploration of gender roles and the separations that exist between the sexes. 

Preview dates are September 8-10 and 13, tickets for preview showings are sold at $26. Opening night is September 14, admission is $35. Showtimes run Wednesday through Saturday through October 15 at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees show at 2 p.m., plus selected Sunday evenings at 7 p.m. Admission for regular performances is $30. Student discounts are available. For tickets and information call 843-4822 or visit www.auroratheatre.org. 

“The Caucasian Chalk Circle” by Bertolt Brecht  

Zellerbach Playhouse  

Directed by Lura Dolas  

"Terrible is the temptation to do good." (Bertolt Brecht) Based in part on an ancient Chinese tale, Brecht’s epic parable tackles an insoluble human dilemma: How to behave well, act justly, and remain humane in a world in which chaos reigns, good is punished, and evil often triumphs. Played by a cast of 15 actors in 86 roles, this musical rendition of the play features an original gypsy-jazz/klezmer score by John Schott. “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” runs from October 6-15. Shows are 8 p.m. on October 6, 7, 13, 14, and 2 p.m. on October 8 and 15. For Tickets contact Ticketweb at 601-8932 or at www.ticketweb.com 

“Endgame” 

Theatre in Search  

Live Oak Theatre 

1301 Shattuck Ave. 

8 p.m., Aug. 17-19 at 

A one act play by Samuel Beckett about a man who likes things to come to an end but doesn’t want them to end just yet. 

Also, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, Aug. 24 - Sept. 2 at La Val’s Subterranean 1834 Euclid Ave. Berkeley. 

Directed by George Charbak. Call: 524-9327. 

EXHIBITS 

The Artistry of Rae Louise Hayward 

The Women’s Cancer Resource Center Gallery 

3023 Shattuck Ave. 

548-9286, ext. 307 

Aug. 12 - Sept. 27 

Rae Louise Hayward, one of the founders of The Art of Living Black, Bay Area Black Artist Annual Exhibition and Open Studios Tour. 

Haywards’ art celebrates the beauty of African culture from its people to its music. The opening reception with the artist will be held Aug. 26 noon-3 p.m.  

Regular gallery hours are Tuesday through Thursday 1-7 p.m., Saturday 12-4 p.m. and by appointment.  

Traywick Gallery 

1316 Tenth St.  

527-1214 

Charles LaBelle 

Sept. 9 - Oct. 15 

LaBelle’s new series of large-scale color photographs highlight nighttime nature in Hollywood. He recreates trees at night using a hand-held spotlight and playing on the beam across the leaves and branches. The opening reception will be held on September 12 from 6 to 8 p.m.  

Blue Vinyl by Connie Walsh  

Sept. 9 - Oct. 15 

This multimedia project combines video, sound and printmaking to explore concepts of intimacy and its relation to private space. 

The opening reception is on September 12 from 6-8 p.m. 

Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday 11-6 p.m. and Sundays 12-5 p.m. 

READINGS 

Judah L. Magnes Museum 

2911 Russell St. 

Aug. 22 6 -7:30 p.m. 

Bat Area poets Dan Bellin, Adam David Miller, Mary Ganz, and others will read from their works in “Poetry through Time.” The program will include a brief open-readings period after the featured poets. Sign-ups will start at 5:45 p.m.

By Judith Scherr 

Daily Planet Staff 

Irma Parker’s not the type to sit in a rocker and watch the flowers grow. 

She’s got a severe case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and has had two surgeries, which has kept her off of work for two years. 

Still, her disability hasn’t kept her from being active, in particular, volunteering in the schools. Her desire to serve in the schools in not a new thing. She’s been doing it for 15 years.  

And she wants to do more. 

The School Board elections were coming up, and Parker decided serving on the board would be an ideal way to use the time on her hands and to serve the community. 

That’s when things started going wrong. 

Because of her Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Parker cannot go back to her job, so she receives special Social Security payments reserved for disabled people. The payments come with strict rules attached, she said. Recipients cannot earn more than $700. If they do, their payments are cut off. 

School board members are paid $875 per month. That’s OK, Parker thought – at first. She’d ask the district to pay her something like $698 a month and she’d donate the remainder to the schools, if she won the office. 

But at this point, she’s not sure she has the right to do this. A clause in the City Charter explicitly states that “Either the Mayor or any Councilmember may, at his or her sole discretion, reduce the remuneration paid himself or herself.”  

However, there is not a similar clause in the part of the charter referring to the School Board. The attorney for the school district – who did not return the Daily Planet’s calls – told Parker that the district would be unable to pay her less than her colleagues on the board, should she be elected, Parker said.  

Friends and supporters urged the active grandmother to seek further legal council, but the Wednesday, 5 p.m. deadline for filing election papers loomed ahead.  

At about noon on Wednesday, Parker told the Daily Planet she had decided not to turn in her papers for the school board race. 

“I’m not going to run,” she said. “My passion says this is something you want to do, but it should be clear cut.” 

However, Parker got calls throughout the day from supporters urging her to turn in the papers and buy time to seek other opinions. 

When it came down to Wednesday’s 5 o’clock deadline for turning in the papers, Parker was there in the City Clerk’s office. 

It remains to be seen whether she will be able to serve on the board and receive a lesser stipend than the others, so that she does not put her social security earnings in jeopardy. 

It remains to be seen whether she will accept office, if she is elected. 

* * * 

Deadlines for running for school board, like the rent board and the District 5 council seat, were extended from Friday until Wednesday, because incumbents were not seeking office. 

Others running for the two open school-board seats are: Incumbent Joaquin Rivera, John Selawsky, Sherri Morton, Murray Powers. 

Those running in the crowded field for the District 5 City Council seat are: Carrie Olson, Thomas Kelly, Benjamin Rodefer, Mark Fowler and Miriam Hawley.

If Peggy Schioler wins a slot on the Rent Stabilization Board, she will be a lone voice weighing in on the side of property owners. 

But that’s OK, says the energetic septuagenarian, a Berkeley Property Owners Association board member, who spent two years on the Rent Board during 1983-84. Being in the minority and fighting back against rent control is better than sitting at home and being mad, she said. 

If she gets elected to the board Schioler will have a platform from which to speak. “Nobody ever pays attention” to those not on the board, she said. 

All nine members of the current rent board are part of a pro-rent-control block. Three members whose seats are up for re-election are not running again: they are Board President Randy Silverman, and members Mary Kim Kruckel and Mona Patel.  

Kruckel and Patel opted not to run for second terms. Silverman, who has served two terms, is barred by a two-term limit imposed on rent board members. Incumbent Max Anderson is running for a second term.  

The progressive Rent Board slate includes Max Anderson, Matthew Siegel, Judy Ann Alberti and Paul Hogarth. Four seats are open. 

Serving alone doesn’t frighten Schioler. “What the heck,” she says, underscoring that she’s not planning to use the rent board as a step to higher office. “I don’t have to kow tow,” she said. 

Other candidates who may well have represented a point of view different from the current rent board failed to file candidate papers by 5 p.m. Wednesday, the filing deadline. 

Lori Gitter, who had taken out papers for herself, Barbara Reynolds and Kathleen Crandall, invoked “personal reasons” for not running. She said, had she decided to run and was elected, she would have “represented all people” – property owners and tenants – on the board. Neither Reynolds nor Crandall filed papers they had taken out. 

Green-party member Chris Kavanagh, who ran for the progressive slate at last month’s nominating meeting and lost, had also taken out papers. Kavanagh, who ran two unsuccessful council races in opposition to Councilmember Polly Armstrong, did not turn in the papers  

In unrelated election news, the candidacy of Jon Crowder, who is running for the District 2 Council seat, was confirmed by the Alameda County registrar of voters. It was initially thought that a few of the signatures Crowder collected may not have been those of currently registered voters, but the registrar approved the candidacy. 

Neither police nor the Alameda County Coroner are revealing the name of the man murdered on the 1200 block of Haskell Street early Wednesday morning. 

Capt. Bobby Miller said police responded to a report of shots fired at 12 minutes past midnight. 

When they arrived he said they found a 33-year-old man face down in the yard of the residence. He had been shot in the head and upper body, Miller said. 

He was taken to Highland Hospital where he was pronounced dead. 

There are no suspects, and an investigation is underway, said Miller, who noted that detectives were interviewing people in the neighborhood. 

This is the third homicide reported in Berkeley this year, Miller said. There were three last year and two in 1998, he said.

The mantra of virtually every Hollywood horror film from “Frankenstein” to “Jurassic Park” has been the same: Don’t Mess with Mother Nature. Too bad, because that’s what humans do best.  

While two centuries of Manifest Destiny have led Americans to pave from sea to shining sea, a Berkeley couple has found a way to give a little back to the area’s wildlife. Or, more accurately, to give wildlife their backyard.  

When Juliet Lamont and Phil Price moved into their North Berkeley home six years back, they knew the place had possibilities. Codornices Creek – named for the quail Domingo Peralta and his family used to so enjoy blowing to kingdom come – flows through the backyard, shaded by several coast live oaks, redwoods and numerous other native bushes and shrubs. Between the babbling brook and graceful trees, the yard resembles a set for “The Swiss Family Robinson.” 

“People who want a nice garden might say ‘Gosh, I’d like some pretty flowers,’” says Lamont, an environmental consultant and UC Berkeley doctoral student in the Environmental Planning Department. “You can pick any flowers or maybe pick a flower that also happens to be the source of nectar for a hummingbird or a monarch butterfly. It’s not only a pretty flower but helps provide a great habitat.” 

In their efforts to create a garden that cooperated with the natural habitat rather than conquering it, Lamont and Price stumbled across the National Wildlife Federation’s Backyard Wildlife Habitat program. The couple followed the program’s guidelines and is now among the 20,000-odd families across the country who have had their front, back and side yards “certified” as wildlife habitats.  

According to the NWF, the four basics of providing wildlife habitat are food, water, cover and places to raise young. Lamont and Price’s backyard cleaned up on these categories, going four-for-four.  

“With the creek and the live oaks and redwoods, most of those things were already here,” says Price, an environmental statistician at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories. “But I don’t want to give the impression that other people can’t provide wildlife habitats.” 

The couple’s front yard is more indicative of what the average urban or suburban dweller may hope to accomplish. Lamont planted hearty native species and built a birdbath. She even installed small prickles around the birdbath so her two cats and other carnivorous beasties wouldn’t set up shop around the bath. Finally, she hooked up the bath and garden to an economical drip watering system.  

If, at this point, you’re thinking that installing native species that attract local wildlife sounds like something you’d like to do but you don’t have the time or money – well, you probably do. “Going native,” so to speak, is actually cheaper and less time consuming than traditional gardening.  

“Native species are the ones that have adapted to this climate. They like it here and you don’t have to do all other sorts of acrobatics to make them grow,” affirms Richard Koenig of the East Bay Nursery on San Pablo Ave. “You don’t have to do any summer watering once they’re established. Nature has been doing this a lot longer than we have.” 

Plants like ceanothus shrubs, snowberries, Pacific irises and flannel trees attract hummingbirds, songbirds, butterflies and a variety of benevolent insects, negating the need for pesticides. Also, as Koenig implied, native plants help cut down on watering costs. Lamont says the drip system she put together could be “installed by a child.” 

“It’s incredibly satisfying to plant plants and actually see birds using them – every day!” says Lamont. “At dawn when the birds start singing you’d have no idea you’re in an urban type environment. It’s like a symphony out back. It’s like being in the country.” 

For information about taking steps to certify your yard with the National Wildlife Federation, call 703-790-4434. 

The lawyer for a Berkeley landlord facing nine federal charges, including conspiracy to bring aliens to the U.S. illegally and bringing foreigners to the U.S. for “immoral purposes,” has asked Federal District Court Judge Sandra Brown Armstrong to dismiss two of the charges on constitutional grounds.  

In papers filed with the court Friday, Ted Cassman, the lawyer representing Lakireddy Bali Reddy, argues that the 1907 law against importing aliens for “immoral purposes,” is vague and archaic. 

“That phrase is an anachronism dating from a by-gone era,” Cassman wrote in court papers. “But if that era ever existed it has long since passed.”  

In a wide-ranging legal brief touching on other laws relating to the history of prostitution codes, the meaning of the word “debauchery,” and Mormon polygamy, he argues that the century-old law is so unclear and outdated that it violates Reddy’s constitutional right to “due process of law.”  

The legal move is aimed at eliminating charges that Reddy, a wealthy Berkeley landlord, brought teenagers into the United States from a village in Southern India so he could have sex with them. 

Under settled legal principles, a court may find a law invalid if a person of ordinary intelligence would have to guess at its meaning. 

Cassman says the alien importation law’s reference to “immoral purposes” meets this test.  

“The term “immoral purposes” is a boundless and essentially meaningless concept,” Cassman wrote, because it is not clear what conduct it forbids. Many references in the criminal code to “immoral purposes” were long ago replaced with more explicit language forbidding prostitution or sex with minors, Cassman argued.  

He called “inexplicable” Congress’ failure to eliminate that phrase from the alien importation section of the code.  

Reddy and his adult son, Vijay Kumar Lakireddy, were arrested in January as a result of an investigation following the November death of the Indian teen, Chanti Jyotsna Devi Prattipati, who died from carbon monoxide poisoning in one of Reddy’s Berkeley apartments.  

Her sister, whom prosecutors say was 15 years old at the time of Reddy’s arrest, and another young Indian woman, also lived in the apartment. Prattipati’s death was ruled an accident, but an investigation of the teens’ living situation led to charges that Reddy brought the girls into the country for “immoral purposes,” and imported others under false pretenses, to work in various other businesses he owns.  

Reddy is Berkeley’s largest residential landlord and has real estate holdings estimated at $70 million. He is currently free on $10 million bail. 

An autopsy of the deceased teenager revealed that she was two-weeks pregnant. Earlier this year, Judge Armstrong ruled that fetal tissue recovered during the autopsy was to be preserved as evidence.  

Reddy’s son is charged with three counts, including conspiracy to bring illegal aliens to the U.S. A third defendant, accused of posing as the girls’ father, also faces federal charges. 

Cassman says his is the first-ever challenge on vagueness grounds to the 1907 law forbidding importation of aliens for immoral purposes. Quoting from a U.S. Supreme Court opinion, he wrote in his brief that “vague laws may trap the innocent by not providing fair warning.” Besides arguing that the law is void for vagueness, Cassman says he plans to show that the girls were not minors at the time of the incident. Regarding the sex charges, he told the court that “there is no suggestion that any alleged sexual contact was forced or non-consensual.” 

Cassman’s motion to dismiss the sex charges was supposed to be filed Aug. 8, but he and Assistant United States Attorney John W. Kennedy agreed to extend the deadline. The federal government’s reply brief is due on August 25.  

Cassman’s office did not return numerous phone calls from the Daily Planet seeking comment. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office said she would have no comment while the case was pending. 

Wednesday, Aug. 16

Bridge 

1 p.m. 

Live Oak Community Center 

1301 Shattuck Ave. 

The games are open to all players. For partnership and other information please call Vi Kimoto: 223-6539. 

Recipe Demonstration 

11:30 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst and MLK Jr. Way 

Chill out in the August heat with Natalie. 

644-6107 

Human Welfare & Community  

Action Commission Meeting 

7-10 p.m. 

South Berkeley Center 

2939 Ellis St. 

Issues on the agenda include the use of child care training stipends. 

665-3475 

Citizens Human Commission  

Meeting 

7 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Agenda items include a euthanasia policy and the commission’s role in plans for a new shelter. 

Thursday, August 17

Conscious Comedy 

6-9 p.m. 

Martin Luther King Youth Services Center 

1730 Oregon St. 

The Young Adult Project presents its annual end-of the-summer program, which will include veteran stand-up comedians Daryl and Dwayne Mooney, whose comedy is designed to make people laugh and think. The free event includes music, educational displays and free food. 

644-6226 

“Best Sea Kayaking Trips in  

Northern California” 

7:00 p.m. 

REI 1338 San Pablo Ave. 

In tonight’s slide presentation nationally certified kayak instructors Roger Schumann and Jan Shriner will share information from their Guide to Sea Kayaking in Central and Northern California.  

527-7377 

Helen Nestor: Personal and  

Political 

4-6 p.m. 

Oakland Museum of California 

10th and Oak Streets, Oakland 

Opening reception honoring Berkeley photographer Helen Nestor. The exhibition shows a representative series of images documenting the Free Speech Movement, the ‘60s civil rights marches, women’s issues, all seen with a direct, probing eye. The exhibition on view through Oct. 15 

1-800-OAK MUSE 

World Literature 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

With Ann Timmons. 

644-6107 

University Avenue Association  

6:30 p.m. 

1810 University Ave. 

The University Avenue Merchants holds its monthly meeting. 

548-4110 

Friday, August 18

Big Mountain 

7:30 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. 

Join the Berkeley Ecology Center, Diane Patterson and Green Eye Records Foundation for an evening of music, information and community..  

548-2220, ext. 233 

Opera: Idomeneo, Part 1 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst and MLK Jr. Way 

644-6107 

Monthly Birthday Party and  

Fish Fry Fund Raiser 

5-10 p.m. 

West Berkeley Senior Center 

1900 Sixth St.  

“John Turk and Friends” will supply music to dance to at this event sponsored by the WBSC Advisory Council. Admission is free, red snapper or cat fish dinners are $10.  

644-6036 

Introduction to Tibetan  

Astrology 

7-9 p.m. 

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists 

Cedar and Bonita streets 

Sponsored by the Nyerongsha Institute of Tibetan Medicine and Culture. 

$15, $10 for seniors and students. 

415-386-8413 

Saturday, August 19

“Wild about Books” 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Public Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

“Soap and Water, Please!” Bath time isn’t always the same old thing when “There’s a Hippo in My Bath!” Take a dip with Frog and Toad. 

Re-opening of the United  

Nations Association Info  

Center 

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

1403 “B” Addison St. 

The volunteer-operated UN/UNICEF Center will celebrate its grand re-opening at its new location behind Andronico’s University Ave. Market. 

841-1752

Hoffman’s radiation health risk factors not based on science 

Editor: 

A city wide meeting was held on August 10 on the subject of releasing radioactive water into the air in Berkeley. At the meeting, Lawrence Laboratory’s environmental consultant, Mr. F. Owen Hoffman, belittled concerns for cancer production by radiation from tritiated water.  

In his half hour presentation, one remark was worthy of note: He mentioned in passing that the National Institutes of Health, for lack of experimental data, have not assigned a health risk factor to radioactive water ingestion. So Mr. Hoffman took it upon himself to assign a health risk factor of two to radioactive water ingestion. (As a comparison, having one’s X-ray taken was assigned a risk factor of one.)  

In his study, as it is with all scientific studies, so major an assumption must be demonstratively valid if one is to draw any logical conclusions. Unfortunately for Mr. Hoffman, his assumption cannot be shown to be based on science, thus invalidating his study and conclusions. Mr. Hoffman’s work is simply not up to the standard of our preeminent university. 

A.C. Shen 

Berkeley 

City has a pattern of disruptive scheduling 

Editor: 

Regarding the article about University Avenue being clogged by “improvements.” We all know that there is an operating rule devised by the geniuses in the Berkeley Public Works Department which requires all major street repair projects to be at their height of disruption in late August.  

This assures visitors, students, and business people that the inconveniences to all parties will be maximized just as the University resumes classes.  

Then the rains come and the city has an additional excuse for not finishing on time, on budget.  

This, of course, bewilders returning alumni here for Saturday afternoon football games. 

This is not a one-time event! 

Steve Schneider 

Berkeley 

Intersection of Channing and Telegraph a disaster waiting to happen 

The Daily Planet received this letter addressed to Police Chief Dash Butler: 

I realize that it’s the custom in Berkeley, as in many other places, to wait until something disastrous happens before taking action, but I wonder if just this once we might break with tradition and prevent an accident. 

On the corner of Channing Way and Telegraph Avenue, it is usual for many people to cross against the light. Possibly, they were absent from kindergarten the day “green means go and red means stop” was taught, or they’re making a statement against cars, or they still believe they’re immortal, or they’re just plain stupid. 

Often the traffic is really close, not blocks away. If you’re driving, you have to stop short, risking being rear-ended by the next driver. At the same time, there are some cars speeding down Channing Way. 

So far I’ve seen lots of near collisions, but I wonder how long luck will last. If this sounds familiar, it’s because my letter about this several years ago was printed in one of our local papers, but nothing changed. 

Also, less dangerous, is the matter of the 24-7 whimsically enforced Telegraph Avenue loading zone. How about a 20-minute green zone, 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. daily for delivery trucks, pizza eaters, shoppers, errand runners, on-or off-loaders, etc. At present, no one knows what to do. 

Oh yes: clear, readable one-way signs. We have visitors and new people all the time who turn right on Tele and get embarrassed. 

Ruth Joan Bird 

Berkeley 

Republicans share the blame for the Lewinsky scandal 

Editor: 

Again the Republicans are trying to make a campaign issue of President Clinton’s lapse in regard to Lewinsky and in allowing himself to be entrapped by Counsel Starr. 

Nobody mentions the GOP responsibility in the matter. It is time that it was stressed. The Gingrich Republican “revolution” shut down the government and paid employees had to be laid off. Monica Lewinsky was an unpaid intern and had free run of the area and by her own testimony to seduce the president. 

Orrin Hatch, chair of the Senatorial Judicial Committee, had been sitting on Clinton’s judicial appointments so there were only Reagan and Bush appointees on the bench. One of these took the Paula Jones case, nursed it along until Starr brought in President Clinton, gave a misleading definition of “having sex” and Starr managed his questions to entrap Clinton into what could be claimed as a lie. Long after the Jones case had been dismissed on grounds that lay in the original plea, so it should never have come to trial, still months after that the judge hit Clinton with a fine way out of line for the alleged offense. 

Clifton Amsbury 

Richmond

Ever hear of an urodeles? How about a qoph? 

Most of the population would probably think these words aren’t in the lexicon, or would guess that an urodeles is an ancient Greek musical instrument, and if you said qoph, they’d probably tell you to cover your mouth. 

In fact, these words – a type of amphibian and a Hebrew letter – are the ammunition of the Scrabble elite; a group of wordsmiths that get together once a year to, ahem, squabble for the title of the best Scrabbler and a cool $25,000. 

Berkeley’s own Adam Logan, a 25-year-old postdoctoral fellow in mathematics, yes mathematics, at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute at UC Berkeley is a former champion and Scrabble maven. 

At this year’s National Scrabble Championship in Providence, R.I., Adam finished fourth out of 79 experts to win $2,500 with a record of 21-10. 

The native of Ottawa, Canada, and owner of a Ph.D. in mathematics from Harvard says that he’s been playing Scrabble since he was just a kid. 

“My mother happened to find a book on Scrabble, which I devoured. Subsequently she heard an ad on the radio for the only official tournament that was ever held in my hometown of Ottawa, and somehow talked the organizer into letting me play,” he said. 

Since then, Adam guesses he’s played in 60 tournaments and says his total winnings would be in the range of $30,000 to $35,000, but said he “doesn’t keep track.” 

He said that the overall rankings aren’t quite worked out since the tournament finished on Aug. 10, but estimated that he’s probably fourth overall in the Scrabble ranks. 

In 1996, he won the title and $25,000 in the Scrabble championship. 

So how exactly does a mathematician become a Scrabble champion? 

“There has been much speculation about the cause of this,” he said. “I believe that the general agreement is that a large vocabulary isn’t all that important as it tends to include a lot of words too long to be of any use in the game.” 

“The relevant skills are the ability to find words on your rack, which is a more combinatorial sort of thing, chess-like calculation near the end of the game, and a sort of strategic sense in the midgame. All of which are more of the province of mathematical types,” he said. 

Besides, that whole left-brained right-brained thing is overhyped, right? 

“I think the dichotomy is somewhat false,” he said. “Many mathematicians, in my experience, are very interested in words and word origins.” 

He’s obviously on to something. He said that four out of the last five Scrabble champs have been in the field of mathematics. 

It could be because the scoring system is so dang confusing. At the tail of a tournament Scrabble player’s score is a point spread, in Adam’s case he was 21-10 with a plus 1,116 this year. This number, used in ranking players, is the total points one beats his opponents by, minus the total points his opponents beat him by. 

“If you prefer, the sum of my scores less the sum of their scores,” he said. 

Yvonne Gillispie, one of the National Scrabble Association’s organizers, said Adam played “fantastically” at this year’s competition, the largest in the history of the competition. 

Over 600 players from 40 states and five countries came out to lay down words like “zaribas,” which means impoverished stockades, or “oxeye,” a flowering plant. 

Just to show what kind of player Berkeley’s finest Scrabbler is, Gillispie said that Adam was late on the first day of competition and showed up with just 23 seconds on his clock, but still managed to score 480 points in three minutes and 23 seconds and drummed his opponent 440-293. He was penalized 40 points for going three minutes over. 

“I overslept on the first day,” he said non-chalantly. “Jet lag, misset alarm clock, etc.”

As many as 30 Berkeley High School students may get to spend two weeks as ambassadors to one of the United States’ most inveterate political foes. They’ll live in the homes and study the agrarian ways of their Cuban hosts. 

School Board Vice President Terry Doran says he hopes to send a diverse group of Berkeley High’s finest to Cuba, with the help of the San Francisco non-profit Global Exchange, one of the few organizations in the country licensed as a Cuban Travel Service Provider by the U.S. Treasury Department. 

The school board will be asked Wednesday night to approve the trip. 

Originally planned for November, the trip will probably be tabled until January because of a lack of funds, Doran said.  

“We were a little optimistic and we thought we would be able to raise the money (by November),” he said. “But it’s definitely going to happen.” 

Doran, who hopes to take the trip as well, said that an earlier trip to the island nation with Global Exchange, combined with the introduction of a brand new environmental curriculum at Berkeley High, provided the impetus for the excursion. 

The new environmental program, called Common Ground, will be introduced this school year. It will feature a constellation of 10 environmental courses that will satisfy college requirements for students who plan to study or work in the field in the future. 

Students from the environmental program, as well as from the Communication and Arts and Sciences programs, and some others, will be selected by faculty for the trip, Doran said. 

“Our goal is to have as diverse a group as possible,” he said. “We want the group to reflect the population of Berkeley High.” 

Doran himself took a trip to Cuba with Global Exchange in the summer of 1993 as part of a Cuba Reality Tour offered by the group. 

Malia Everette, Director of the Reality Tours Program for Global Exchange, said that helping the students break through a political barrier and promote person-to-person ties with Cubans their age is a goal for her organization. 

She said it has never been illegal for anyone to travel to Cuba during the four-decade long trade embargo the U.S. has enforced on the country. It has, however, been illegal to spend any money there. 

“Over the years we have been finding different ways for people to travel to Cuba,” she said. “It is one of our most popular destinations because of its isolation.” 

She added that about a year ago the Office of Foreign Assets in the Treasury Dept. issued Global Exchange a specific license to obtain permits for groups to travel to Cuba. 

“We will submit an educational objective for the tour, and we’ll be able to get a license for the students and the teachers,” she said.  

Cuba presents a fantastic opportunity for students studying environmental protection and alternative farming, Everette said. The long-standing trade embargo has forced Cuba to revert back to organic farming procedures, because it has been unable to purchase pesticides and other equipment. 

As a result, Cuba has developed safer alternatives to sustaining the food supply, she said. 

Global Exchange has taken students to Cuba from other Bay Area high schools, Everette said. The School Board is in touch with faculty from one of them – Redwood City High School – to help with the process. 

Besides the academic and practical motivation, Everette said that the students will get the chance to “meet their Cuban counterparts.” 

“They’ll see what it’s like to live in an (isolated) country of 11 million and see how they’ve been able to survive, and thrive.” 

Doran said that the School Board is working on developing a list of possible individuals interested in sponsoring students. He added that a few musical groups have offered their time to hold benefits for the students. 

He estimated the trip would cost about $1,500 per student. 

“Each student will be committed to raising a portion of the cost, depending on what is realistic, like $500 to $700. We hope to subsidize the rest.” 

He said that he hopes to take between 15 and 30 students, and says that he would love to take more. But “it all depends on raising the funds,” he said. 

Doran said that he hopes the interest of students and other groups in Cuba will help ease the economic and political tension between the U.S. and Cuba. 

“The benefit of direct people-to-people contact, and the exchanging of ideas is very important to working toward that goal,” he said. 

He said that it’s their intention to arrange for the students to stay with Cuban families, and perhaps, “have a few Cuban exchange students attend Berkeley High next year,” he said. 

People interested in supporting the students can contact Doran at 644-6550.

In the final part of a three-part interview with Deputy City Manager Weldon Rucker, who will begin a stint as interim city manager next week, Rucker speaks to the Daily Planet about how he plans to help the council streamline its workload. 

Daily Planet: Does the city manager’s office play a role, or ought it to play a role, in organizing the City Council’s workload? 

RUCKER: Well, that’s a major role the city manager’s office needs to play. I just think there’s been such an abundance of issues that have surfaced. As a result, I think the council agenda has become somewhat overwhelming and on overload. I think we’re going to have to work a little closer with the mayor and the council-majority leadership to focus on dealing with conducting the business of the council agenda and making the meetings more efficient.  

DP: How would you do that? 

RUCKER: One way to do that is we have to get to a realization that we can’t do everything. They just can’t place all the items on the agenda, every week and expect some type of work plan completion out of some of these ideas.  

I think they’re going to have to be a little more diligent and strategic about their recommendations and start holding themselves to a similar standard that they hold the city staff to in preparation of items and the number of items. One thing that I intend to do is to try to get a lot of those items that have just been riding the agenda, off the agenda. 

From that standpoint, I intend to meet – I’ve requested the city clerk to take a look at identifying all of the outstanding items on the agenda, who sponsored the item, and who had a concern with the item. And to try to facilitate a collaboration between those individual council members to see if we can arrive at: what is the problem? is there a simple solution to this? Is it possible to move the item forward? 

If there is a need to have a tremendous debate over an item, well, that’s fine. But is it really worthy of a tremendous debate? needs to be determined.  

I think a lot at it is an attempt to get them to have a dialogue on some of these issues, recognizing that the council has a responsibility to conduct the affairs of the meeting and the business affairs of the city in a way that is conducive and responsive to the public. They are going to have to figure out a way to start talking to one another and compromising on some of this behavior that has been demonstrative of the last several months. 

DP: That’s pretty general. That’s what people say is needed, but...  

RUCKER: But to actually sit down. Well, I intend to talk to them and say, look, would you mind having a meeting with me and Councilmember So and So, so we can discuss this item? I don’t know how more specific I can get. If they say no, I’d say, “Come on, we have to take care of some business here. We have to have some responsibility.”  

DP: So, you’re going to work directly with the council. 

RUCKER: Yes, I don’t think we can do it publicly. That’s when you get into difficulty. I think as I’m meeting with them and I see these issues as impediments to conducting the business, then we’re going to have to figure out a way to communicate and so trying to get them to focus. Really, I think they try to do too much.  

On one level, it’s fine to say, yes, “we’re doing this and that,” but you’re not really doing it. 

Let’s be strategic about helping to shape the agenda. That’s what I think is necessary, getting the leadership of the council – the mayor and the leadership from the other side – for me to sit down with them to help with the agenda. 

Maybe I’m naive, maybe it’s a very simplistic approach. But I think that’s where we’re going to start? But I think that if people communicate and have dialog around any issue, then I think we can begin to arrive at some kind of solution of resolution. If we are behaving “Well, I can’t talk to you and you can’t talk to me,” well, that’s not really providing leadership in my opinion. 

And I’ve witnessed some councilmembers of the past, they would have tremendous debates over issues that they would carry throughout the night over an issue and continue it to the next week. For the most part, there wasn’t the same level of intensity. 

DP: You’re saying, before, there was one issue that they’d debate. Now it’s a lot more issues.  

RUCKER: Yeah, there’s no differentiation between a pothole or a major million dollar expenditure. And there are some philosophical issues that divide the council. And that’s fine. That’s the beauty of democracy, but, you know, in any democratic forum they debate and discuss the issues in a way that people are very passionate about and they say what they have to say, then you vote it up or vote it down. And then you move on. 

But all this other stuff. So again, I may be very naive. They may say, well, “One thing I agree on is I want you out of here.” That’s a possibility, I don’t know. 

You know, I don’t have anything to lose. I feel I can be very honest with the council. I can take those kinds of risks. Going back to your earlier question, about how I feel being an “acting” or “interim” manager, or whatever I’m going to be, it really doesn’t matter to me, because I’m going to be myself. I’m going to be very direct and very honest.  

And I’m also very respectful of them. They have a heck of a job. The problem is that they take on  

I’m respectful of them. They do a lot of work. Most of them work way beyond what they are required to work. When you look at the charter, it’s really a part-time position.  

But, some of them work seven days a week, 10-15-20 hours a day. I respect each and every one of them and the amount of energy they devote to this.  

But the question is, collectively, how do we pull all this together.

Berkeley Police say that two armed robberies a week apart may be connected.  

Sgt. Cary Kent said the description of two suspects who are believed to have robbed a man and a woman in a parked car Aug. 3 on Parkside Drive and The Uplands at gunpoint, fit the description of two suspects believed to have committed another armed robbery Aug. 10 at 1:22 a.m. on the 2500 block of Hillegas Avenue. 

Kent said that the suspects are both “scruffy-looking” white males in their 20s. One commits the robbery with a semi-automatic handgun while the other provides the getaway vehicle, he said. 

Kent said one suspect was described as being between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet tall, weighing around 180 pounds. He was reported to be wearing a black leather jacket during the first robbery, and a three-quarter length blue parka during the second. 

The driver’s description is sketchy. He was said to be driving a white, two-door sedan during the first robbery. The car used in the second robbery was described as a boxy, perhaps black, older American-make automobile, Kent said.