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Berkeley’s Newspaper siNce 1871 24/7 News Coverage at dailyCal .orgBerkeley, Ca • thursday, JuNe 2, 2011 - suNday, JuNe 5, 2011
ASUC
ASUC Auxiliary oversight to changeHigHer edUCAtion
The business arm of the ASUC will soon re-port to a new campus office for stated reasons of aligning similar services and efficiency.
Currently, the ASUC Auxiliary sits in the Office of Administration and Finance and re-ports to Ron Coley, associate vice chancellor of business and administrative services. But as of July 1, the auxiliary will exist under the campus Division of Student Affairs and report to Jonathan Poullard, assistant vice-chancel-lor for student affairs and dean of students.
The move comes as the result of months of discussion within the administration, input from student leaders and a recommendation from the campus cost-cutting Operational Ex-cellence initiative.
“Initially, the entire unit is moving under the Dean of Students, but I think we should anticipate that there will be changes based on the most appropriate or effective alignment that student affairs thinks the ASUC would need to fit in appropriately with the other or-ganizations that are part of student affairs,” said Auxiliary Director Nadesan Permaul.
The auxiliary was formally incorporated on March 19, 1998, as part of the Commercial Activities Agreement between the ASUC and the UC Board of Regents. Its responsibilities include overseeing the financial activities of the ASUC as well as its commercial operations and administrative services.
According to Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Harry Le Grande, the final decision to move the auxiliary was made on May 3 by himself and John Wilton, vice chancellor for administration and finance.
Despite the significant shift, Le Grande said he does not anticipate any major changes to the auxiliary’s operations.
“My first desire would be to really look at service level and service delivery and enhanc-ing that part of it, said Le Grande. “I don’t know if there’s any money to save, because I don’t know enough about their operations. If there’s any synergy, I think we’re going to ex-
By J.D. Morris | [email protected]
the asuC auxiliary will exist under the division of student affairs in order to align similar services.AnnA Vignet/Senior StAff
ContraCt: PaGE 2
AB 540 lawsuit may go to Supreme CourtHigHer edUCAtion
After nearly six years of peti-tions and appeals, a class action suit against the UC Board of Regents may advance to the U.S. Supreme Court by the end of June.
A group of 42 former UC, Califor-nia State University and California Community College students — all of whom are U.S. citizens — filed a formal request to take Martinez et al. v. UC Board of Regents et al. before the Supreme Court on Feb. 14. The court has yet to announce a decision regarding the petition, but the case has been tentatively scheduled for review at the June 2 conference.
The plaintiffs’ original complaint — filed Dec. 14, 2005, in Yolo Coun-ty Superior Court in Woodland, Ca-lif. — took issue with California As-sembly Bill 540, which was signed into law on Oct. 12, 2001.
AB 540 allows students who com-plete at least three years of in-state high school, graduate from high school in California or complete a GED pro-gram and sign an affidavit to pay in-state tuition for higher education, re-gardless of citizenship or residency.
By True Shields | [email protected]
The plaintiffs — each of whom paid out-of-state tuition — contend the board owes them damages equal
ChECk onlinEwww.dailycal.org
True Shields comments on AB 240 and compares it to similar legislation in Arizona.
Nurses throughout the University of Cali-fornia voted last Thursday to ratify a multi-year labor agreement with the university — the first in nearly a decade.
The 26-month pact is the first multiyear agreement in years with the California Nurses Association — which represents nearly 11,000 nurses systemwide, including over 30 nurses at UC Berkeley’s Tang Center — and includes pay increases that will average at least 11 per-cent over the next two years. Nurses and UC officials have before been at odds over salaries and retirement benefits.
“This contract maintains competitive market wages and benefits for our nurses, recognizing both the difficult financial environment we are in and the unique nursing markets in which we operate,” said Gayle Saxton, UC director of labor relations, in a statement from the university.
The contract affects the thousands of nurs-es represented at the university’s five medical centers — UCLA, UC San Francisco, UC San Diego, UC Irvine and UC Davis — as well as nurses at student health centers at other UC campuses, such as the Tang Center.
Previous attempts to come to an agreement have faltered and resulted in strike threats in 2005 and 2010, both of which were blocked by court injunctions. In June 2010, San Francis-co Superior Court Judge Peter Busch ruled that striking at the five medi-cal centers, as the union had planned, would have violated state labor laws because negotia-tions on a new contract were still underway.
Following the injunc-tion, officials from the association said they would begin bargain-ing another contract with the university.
Negotiations for the approved contract be-gan in August 2010, and the two sides reached a tentative agreement on May 18. On May 26, the CNA informed the uni-versity that union mem-bers approved the tentative agreement.
“UCLA nurses enthusiastically confirmed the multi-year contract,” Manny Punzalan, a registered nurse at UCLA, said in a statement. “That will ensure the recruitment and reten-tion of qualified nurses to continue the critical work of bedside nursing for our high-acuity patients at UC medical centers.”
Ultimately, the agreement was reached through “a very unified and firm” stance from the association, according to CNA spokesper-son Liz Jacobs.
“It’s always a question of waiting the other side out,” Jacobs said. “I think with enough of the other hospitals settling, it ends up being not worthwhile for the university to keep go-ing through negotiations for the same thing — that’s expensive.”
The contract states that the UC will contin-ue its salary-based approach to health insur-ance whereby lower-paid employees pay lower monthly premiums than other employees and define meal and rest breaks for nurses work-ing throughout the day.
“Each unit shall have a mechanism for meal and break relief on each shift which shall be implemented consistent with professional
By Allie Bidwell | Senior [email protected]
UC nurses’ association ratifies labor agreement
to the difference between residential and nonresidential tuition and that AB 540 unconstitutionally affords illegal immigrants a financial edge over citizens, said Michael Brady, a lawyer who represents the plain-tiffs.
Ethan Schulman, a lawyer who
works on behalf of the defense, said similar cases have failed elsewhere due to a lack of legal standing.
“The issue is still pending before lower courts in legal challenges in other states,” he said. “It’s gotten so
lawsuit: PaGE 4
plore that.”Graduate Assembly President Miguel Daal
said the advantages of the auxiliary’s move have not been clearly communicated to students.
He said he was concerned that the move is occurring over the summer, when many stu-dents are not on campus, and that he would rather it wait until Aug. 15 to allow for “neces-sary involvement for students in the change.”
Furthermore, Daal called for a memoran-dum of understanding and a list of benefits that the change will bring to students.
“From the student point of view, it hasn’t been made clear what the benefit to students will be in this change,” Daal said. “They say that we will receive higher-quality service from the auxiliary, but they haven’t been spe-cific as to what that means.”
But Le Grande said the change is beginning on July 1 because it will coincide with the start
of the university’s fiscal calendar. A mecha-nism for making such changes later in the fis-cal year, he said, is not in place.
Daal also cited concern that the move could make the student government susceptible to potential conflicts of interest that may arise due to the role of the student affairs office in matters of student discipline and student conduct.
Le Grande, however, did not agree. He said the office does provide advice on
such matters but that in the end, the deci-sion rests solely with those to whom advice is given.
With the auxiliary’s move now just short of one month away, Le Grande said it will allow his position to better function as a voice for students and assist in his efforts to “own the student experience.”
“I’m actually looking forward to it,” he said in regard to the transition. “I think it’s going to be a good move, and I hope the students feel we’re not the people they need to fight.”
J.D. Morris is an assistant news editor.
This con-tract main-tains compet-itive market wages and benefits for our nurses, recognizing ... the difficult financial environment we are in ...
—Gayle Saxton UC Director of
Labor Relations
PerSiA SAlehi/StAff
See P6
SUperSoniC eleCtroniC:
Yeasayer get dynamic at the Fillmore.
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J.D. Morris comments on the commercial activities agreement and the creation of ASUC Auxililary.
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2 News The Daily Californian
The Daily ClogGOURMET GLUTTON: Just when we thought the Gourmet Ghetto couldn’t get any more nom-tastic, we found out about Off the Grid — a veritable cornucopia of foodie fabulousness that will congregate on Northside every Wednesday from now until forever. Winning!
Sex on Tuesday BlogOPINIONS ON PORN: It may or may not strike you as surprising that there is a major generational gap when it comes to the question of porn’s morality. Just how major? Check out Sophie Lee’s musings thereon to find out.
The Football BlogThE hOT SEaT: Rivals.com has released its run-down of college coaches who currently stand on pretty thin ice. Cal’s own Jeff Tedford clocks in at number ten. Fair? Jack Wang gives his two cents on the Football Blog.
Battle of Bears: Cal faces Baylor to open NCAAs
eugene w. lau/staff
Alcorn State or the Owls. The four teams in the region will play round robin-style until all but one team has two losses. The winner advances to the Super Regionals. ...
The Cal baseball team slumped its way to the end of the year, finishing its regular season by being swept at home by Stanford. Offensive troubles, pitching stum-bles and defensive missteps plagued the Bears in turn — and sometimes simultaneously — as they fell to sixth in the year-end conference standings. But, thanks to Monday’s invitation to the NCAA tournament, Cal can rewrite a whole new ending to its roller coaster of a year. The Bears kick off their postseason Friday at noon at the Houston region-al, hosted by eight-seed Rice. Cal plays Baylor first, followed by either
Last Thursday’s article “Company buys historic house” incorrectly stated that the Education Realty Trust Inc. purchased Wesley House in November 2010. In fact, the company began managing Wesley House in November 2010.
The article also incorrectly stated that Westminster House is the second hous-ing complex at UC Berkeley that is owned by the company. In fact, it is the first.
The Daily Californian regrets the errors.
CorreCtions
Thursday, June 2, 2011 - Sunday, June 5, 2011
Study: fund flexibility leads to program cuts
State deregulation of about $4.5 billion in funds for K-12 education has resulted in deep cuts to popular programs, as school districts have at-tempted to use the now-flexible money to balance their budgets, according to a study released last Thursday.
Authored by researchers from the RAND Corporation and Policy Analy-sis for California Education, the study analyzed 10 districts from across Cali-fornia that were chosen based on fiscal health, centralization, size and geo-graphic location, with equal represen-tation for both sides of each criterion.
In the study, the responses of indi-vidual districts to the greater flexibility in program funds were compared with one another to track whether there were similarities between the changes being made to categorical-aid programs.
The categorical-aid programs — meaning the funding was intended for specific uses such as adult schools, arts and music and libraries — were gradually implemented over the last few decades in California until they numbered around 60. Increasing bu-reaucratic complications appeared as the programs expanded, and there was a call for deregulation to free up fund-
By Tiffany Chiaoand J.D. [email protected]
ing.Two years ago, the state government
agreed to loosen restrictions on cat-egorical aid for 40 K-12 programs with the intent of allowing local school dis-tricts to have more opportunities to fix their budgets in the face of continued cuts from the state.
“We kind of talked about this deregu-lation as a double-edged sword,” Bruce Fuller, a UC Berkeley education profes-sor and co-author of the study, said. “It gave local school boards more options as to how to balance their budget, but at the same time, it allowed them to severely cut popular programs.”
According to the study, the cuts had a definite negative impact on low-achieving students because programs that were directed toward these stu-dents — such as tutoring and summer school programs as well as textbooks — were some of the programs being cut as a result of the funding flexibility.
“There were some exceptions, but by and large, it particularly hammered programs for low-achieving kids,” said Fuller.
According to Fuller, the study is the second of four reports on the topic. He said the first report, a much shorter statistical report released in January, tracked the formally tied-up money in the districts.
“After doing that analysis, that was how we knew that, by and large, most of this $4.5 billion went to low-achiev-
ing kids,” he said.The third report will be composed
of a survey of superintendents to see whether the pattern found in the sec-ond can be generalized, and the fourth will be a wrap-up summary report, said Fuller.
Mark Coplan, spokesperson for the Berkeley Unified School District, said he did not find the results of the study com-pletely applicable to the district because its funding is strengthened in part by the roughly $22 million it receives annually through a local parcel tax.
“Berkeley is one of the few districts that is actually flourishing and sur-viving in this really critical situation around education,” Coplan said.
Currently, the district is looking at its smallest cut in years in state fund-ing after Gov. Jerry Brown’s May revi-sion of the state budget provided $3 billion more in funding for K-12 than had been anticipated back in January. As a result, Coplan has said the district will likely see a cut of $700,000.
According to Coplan, though the district has made efforts to avoid cuts to the classroom, it has been cutting in other areas — such as eliminating ad-ministrator, manager and supervisor positions — for the last five years.
“We’ve been cutting positions and programs, but we haven’t been taking and shifting and shuffling dollars to fill holes,” Coplan said. “We’ve been mak-ing straightforward, honest cuts.”
LoCaL sChooLs
From Front
ContraCt: Meal and rest breaks a key part of agreement
nursing judgment and patient care needs, in order to ensure that required staffing is maintained during meal and rest periods,” the contract states.
Association officials have said staffing ratios were not enforced during break times, which caused nurses to often deny themselves meal breaks in order to care for patients because there is no one to take their place while away.
UCSF nurses “were pleased with the
significant protections requiring break relief coverage maintaining safe staffing at all times for our patients ... and they solidly affirmed the agreement,” said Erin Carrera, a UCSF nurse, in a statement.
According to Jacobs, provisions in the contract that define meal and rest breaks are of great importance to the association, as she said many nurses have said such breaks would improve their performance in the workplace.
“The meal and break rest issue is very a important patient safety issue,” she said. “You’ve got to be able to be on your toes. If you cant do that, if you’re working in an environment where you’re con-stantly running ... it’s physically as well as emotionally challenging because you’re watching, keeping on top of a lot of dif-ferent patients whose status is constantly changing.”
Allie Bidwell is the news editor.
The debut album from Cults delights listeners
Just when you think that you’ve heard all there is to hear in the realm of experimental music, newcomers Cults emerge on the scene. Captivating ears with their ragged blend of girlish vocals and action-packed backings, Cults deliver one of the year’s most promising listens with their self-titled debut. Their warm, fuzzy collection of tinkling hooks and lazy chords bring a much-needed freshness to a music scene that has grown tired and pre-dictable.
San Francisco natives Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion are the minds behind this pop project and have already achieved fame long
One man was arrested after alleged-ly shooting another man with a BB gun in People’s Park on Sunday afternoon.
At about 2:16 p.m., UCPD received a call regarding a man who possibly had a gun in the park, according to UCPD Lt. Alex Yao. Yao said the victim had run to the park after he was approached and surrounded on the corner of Haste Street and Telegraph Avenue by the
Man arrested for alleged battery near People’s Park
suspect — whom a UCPD crime alert identified as Michael-James Kifayat Ali, 22 — and two other ju-venile suspects, who allegedly yelled a racial slur at the victim.
As the victim ran toward the park, Ali shot at him with an imi-tation weapon, which was subse-quently found to be a BB gun, Yao said. ...
before the release of their debut. After merely a few seconds into the album, it’s not hard to understand why. Exploring the universal themes of love and loss, the duo convey a sort of quiet pleasantry that still manages to excite. ...
this publication is not an official publication of the University of California, but is published by an independent corporation using the name the Daily Californian pursuant to a license granted by the regents of the University of California. Advertisements appearing in the Daily Californian reflect the views of the advertisers only. they are not an expression of editorial opinion or of the views of the staff. opinions expressed in the Daily Californian by editors or columnists regarding candidates for political
office or legislation are those of the editors or columnists, and are not those of the Independent Berkeley Student Publishing Co., Inc. Unsigned editorials are the collective opinion of the Senior Editorial Board. reproduction in any form, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from the editor, is strictly prohibited. Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.
Published monday through Friday by the Independent Berkeley Student Publishing Co., Inc. the nonprofit IBSPC serves to support an editorially independent newsroom run by UC Berkeley students.
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A man was arrested Tuesday night for alleged aggravated battery of mul-tiple individuals between People’s Park and Caffe Mediterraneum after he ar-rived at the cafe and falsely accused another man of possessing a handgun.
At approximately 10:38 p.m., the suspect, 27-year-old Jerry Thomas, flagged down a UCPD officer on patrol outside the cafe and claimed that a pa-
tron sitting inside the cafe had just attempted to rob him at gunpoint and that he still had the gun on his person, according to UCPD spokes-person Lt. Alex Yao.
Yao said UCPD officers as well as the Berkeley Police Department were called in to assist with the search of the individual Thomas claimed was in possession of the gun. ...
3OPINION & News The Daily Californian
Look before you leap
Jack Wang [email protected]
off the beat
Few argue Bill Russell’s case as the greatest player of all time, but he has enough rings to fill up both hands, with one left over for show. Stockton, Malone, Barkley and Miller all had the misfor-tune of being born at the wrong time, but they should not be excluded them from greatness just because they are without rings..
It’s called confirmation bias, this ten-dency to pick and choose evidence that supports our preconceptions. Rarely do we temper our most irrational tenden-cies here, because it is here we can escape from the nuances of real life and indulge in a simple proxy for war.
And again, we have storylines here in the pinnacle of professional basket-
ball, perhaps better than the actual series can hope to live up to.
It’s a changing of the guard, the clear end of the post-Jordan era, the first NBA Finals since 1998 without either Kobe, Shaq or Tim Duncan.
In the Mavs, you have a group of ring-less veterans — many of whom have come tantalizingly close — coming together for one last run to the moun-taintop. At stake for Dirk is a chance to keep Wade from forever haunting his career.
The Heat are the Evil Empire, a con-spicuously manufactured team that embodies the threat of major-market collusion, a case study of what’s wrong with today’s athletes.
The narrative dictates that Dirk needs a ring to secure his place among the all-time greats, that LeBron must win to validate taking his talents to South Beach. Neither is true, exactly. Dirk is just as good a player with or without a championship, regardless of public opin-ion. LeBron and the Heat will be title favorites for the foreseeable future, so their chances of greatness cannot be tethered to this one championship.
So as the rest of the playoffs roll on, remember that no one game can define a career. Remember that one postseason doesn’t make Russell Westbrook the next Starbury, that Pau Gasol hasn’t com-pletely erased his championship contri-butions with his last two series, that missing late-game free throws isn’t always going to be Derrick Rose’s thing.
Remember that Jerry Seinfeld once boiled down sports fandom to rooting for different shirts, seeing what we want to see. And remember that, regardless, it’s been one hell of a show.
Exhibit No. 1: LeBron James is drifting on the weak side of the court, wholly uninvolved in the
last home game he will ever play in Cleveland. He throws the ball out of bounds and misses 11 of his 14 shots. “I spoil a lot of people with my play,” he explains afterward. This is LeBron, the coward who would abandon his city in a self-aggrandizing special on national television about a month later. Turns out his decision was wrong.
Exhibit No. 2: LeBron James is nail-ing clutch three after clutch three, and you’re surprised when one draws iron. He hammers in an emphatic alley-oop, three wins away from his first title. This is LeBron, the greatest talent the league has ever seen, finally blossoming on its biggest stage. Maybe he made the right decision after all.
The sports narrative is a curious thing. They’re largely formed on what the public wants to see and often come with sudden, rollercoaster turns, as Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong know well. We want to find saviors, even if they always inevitably turn out to be human.
The two scenes are only a year apart — less if you trace back to the public relations mess that was “The Decision.” And when LeBron scorned the Cavs last July, he was vilified in part because he betrayed the narrative of the underdog, the hometown hero lifting an entire, downtrodden town upon his broad shoulders, resurrecting a city on the brink of collapse.
He’s not the only one who’s been stuck with a certain reputation. Dirk Nowitzki choked in 2006, the story goes. His Dallas Mavericks were six minutes away from a 3-0 finals lead over the Miami Heat — then Dwyane Wade hap-pened, and the Mavs lost in six. When the MVP was blitzed by the upstart, eighth-seeded Warriors a year later, his reputation was cemented, and he played superlative, if relatively ignored, ball through the next few seasons.
Now, finally back in the NBA Finals, he’s a sure-shot Hall of Famer — this generation’s Larry Bird, armed with a step-back jumper that might be basket-ball’s most unstoppable weapon since Kareem’s sky hook.
The basketball gods saw fit to put LeBron — who else? — in his way, two one-of-a-kind players pushing back against their histories like Sisyphus nearing the hill’s peak.
We slap these labels on because we’re quick to judge, and we’re
quick to judge because we want to make some sense out of games that, for the most part, carry too many variables for the outcome to be shoved onto one man. Jordan had one Hall of Famer with him for his first three titles, and two for the latter three. But his Airness wasn’t charged with decades of sporting heart-break, and his running mates weren’t announced on an ESPN special.
Winning tends to override everything, fair or not. But as much as people like to use championships to define great play-ers, the measure is woefully inaccurate.
Thursday, June 2, 2011 - Sunday, June 5, 2011
Crime & Courts
A jury announced Tuesday that it handed down guilty verdicts to two men in an Oakland triple-murder case — nearly four and a half years after the incident occurred.
After deliberating for nearly a week, the jury found Asmerom Gebreselassie, 47, and Tewodros Gebreselassie, 43, guilty of all 14 charges filed against them, including killing three people, kidnap-ping their 2-year-old nephew Isaac and attempting to kill one other person.
They now face life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In 2006, former Berkeley High School student Yonas Mehari, then 17,
By Allie Bidwell | Senior [email protected]
was fatally shot on Thanksgiving Day in his family’s North Oakland apart-ment on Telegraph Avenue, along with his mother, Regbe Bahrengasi, then 50, and his sister, Winta Mehari, then 28. Asmerom Gebreselassie — the brother-in-law of Winta Mehari — was accused of shooting the three victims, while his brother, Tewodros Gebrese-lassie, was accused of helping to plan the shooting.
Prosecutors have said the shooting was an act of revenge in response to the death of Abraham Tewolde — the Gebreselassies’ brother and Winta Mehari’s husband — in March 2006 and that the brothers suspected Winta Mehari had killed Tewolde to acquire $500,000 from his life insurance pol-icy.
The cause of death was not ulti-mately determined, and the Berkeley Police Department has not found any evidence to suggest that Tewolde’s death was a homicide.
The Gebreselassie brothers testified in 2008 that they acted out of self-defense, claiming the Mehari family attacked the two to prevent them from revealing to the community that Mer-hawi Mehari, one of Winta Mehari’s brothers, was gay. The defendants also claimed that Tewolde had revealed to them that Merhawi Mehari was mo-lesting Tewolde and Winta Mehari’s son Isaac.
The two men will be sentenced by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Vernon Nakahara on Aug. 2.
Allie Bidwell is the news editor.
Murder trial ends in guilty verdicts
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4 News & marketplace Thursday, June 2, 2011 - Sunday, June 5, 2011The Daily Californian
housing
Report: city high in renter satisfaction
Affordable housing and convenient public transportation are among several stated attributes that made Berkeley the number one college town countrywide in terms of renter satisfaction, accord-ing to a report released by the website Apartment Ratings last Thursday.
The site’s second annual report, which ranked cities across the country that are home to 100 four-year insti-tutions, compiled results from apart-ment reviews submitted from Janu-ary to December 2010 on the website — the largest user community review site for rental properties. With more than 178 reviews from 63 apartments, Berkeley takes the top spot from Da-vis, Calif., last year’s winner, but both are ranked above other popular col-lege towns, including Buffalo, N.Y., and Ann Arbor, Mich.
“People can go read about apart-ments, and there is a functionality for apartment owners to interact with ven-dors and people giving feedback,” said Ben Meyer, the director of content for Internet Brands, the parent company of Apartment Ratings. “This is not a sample survey — we took actual data from people living in apartments, and we averaged feedback from about 100 or so buildings per city.”
The company was able to isolate the top 100 college cities with the most feedback for specific apartment complexes. This is Berkeley’s first year to be included in the report, since it had less than 10 apartment reviews on the site last year.
By Anjuli Sastryand Jonathan [email protected]
Some say the Gaia Building Apartments are both ‘responsive and accessible.’
anna vignet/senior staff
“It’s fascinating that in one neighbor-hood, one building can have so many positive reviews and another building can have so many negative reviews,” said City Councilmember Kriss Wor-thington. “It’s a testament to the open-ness of the site — it doesn’t delete any-thing negative to appease landlords.”
The report also considered factors such as the pedestrian and bike-friendly nature of cities as well as accessibility to campus and cleanliness of apartments. Berkeley Housing Advisory Commis-sion Chair Vincent Casalaina attributed
the city’s top ranking to its rent stabili-zation law, which provides tenants with increased protection against evictions and intends to provide affordable hous-ing, though he said it lends to negative landlord practices.
“I think that the rent stabilization law is the primary reason that Berkeley is more tenant-friendly,” Casalaina said. “But it works against good maintenance of buildings — there is really very little that a landlord has to do other than maintain the health and safety code, be-cause there is no return on investment if they were going to upgrade windows or insulation to make those buildings more livable, more greener.”
ASUC Executive Vice President Christopher Alabastro, who lives in the Gaia Building Apartments on Allston Way — a top-reviewed apart-ment complex in Berkeley — said his housing company is “responsive and accessible in service.”
“Once, there was an issue with uninvited people entering the build-ing,” Alabastro said. “When the ten-ant community brought the issue to the housing company, they installed security cameras and a security guard for the school year.”
According to Casalaina, Berke-ley’s dense concentration of students as well as the proximity of student housing to campus is the reason for its constantly changing housing envi-ronment, which can lead to a down-ward pressure on rent prices.
“There is a big turnaround in the rental market — last year, there were vacant units in larger apartment buildings, and there was a fair amount of downward pressure on rent, which hasn’t happened in a long time,” said Casalaina.
From Front
Lawsuit: California Supreme Court upheld law in 2010
far because our opponents are intent on pushing it that far, and they’ve made no secret of this.”
Schulman added that his opponents for the case include Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who helped draft Arizona’s SB 1070 — the state’s Senate bill that primarily sought to crack down on those harboring illegal immigrants — and is heavily involved in what Schulman calls the “anti-im-migration movement.”
On Oct. 4, 2006, the Yolo County Superior Court ruled in favor of the board. However, that decision was overturned unanimously on Sept. 15, 2008, through the California Court of Appeal’s 3rd District in Sacramento. In 2010, the case was brought to the California Supreme Court, where AB 540 was upheld as the court over-
turned the 2008 appellate decision.Not satisfied with the court’s deci-
sion, the plaintiffs filed a petition for writ of certiorari — an appeal to a higher court to take up a case — with the U.S. Supreme Court.
Among the issues the plaintiffs find with AB 540 is the disparity be-tween the law and the federal Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. The act requires states to provide in-state tuition benefits to all U.S. citizens if such benefits are given to illegal im-migrants.
“When the state grants in-state tu-ition to illegal immigrants, it encour-ages them to come and stay here,” Brady said. “(AB 540) is directly promoting and incentivizing illegal immigration.”
Distinctions and parallels between
the two bills abound as some state the government is entitled to intervene in the case, said UC Hastings School of Law professor David Levine.
“If this is interpreted as an end-run around federal law, trying to box in people who don’t have all their papers, then arguably California does intrude into this area that it is uniquely Con-gress’s will to interpret,” he said.
This contention might be part of the reason the petition for writ of cer-tiorari might have “been sitting there for a while,” according to Andrea Gunn, a lawyer who represents the CSU system.According to Schulman, a minimum of four of nine federal Supreme Court justices are required to approve the writ, and a decision should be reached by the end of the month.
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SPOT CYAN COLOR ON THIS PAGE.DO NOT REMOVE THE GRAY BAR---KEEP IT IN YOUR DESIGN.
The Daily Californian 5arts & entertainment Thursday, June 2, 2011 - Sunday, June 5, 2011
SPOT CYAN COLOR ON THIS PAGE.DO NOT REMOVE THE GRAY BAR---KEEP IT IN YOUR DESIGN.
From Page 6
yeasayer: Led by frontman Chris Keating, the band added depth to their studio sound
Chris Keating hit an emotional intensity unmarred by the band’s usual bevy of electronic beats. They were free, loose and relaxed. Keating, along with his band, were inspired and impetuous. He, doing his best Thom Yorke impression while strutting about the stage while bassist Ira Wolf Tuton traded some comedic sparring. But, this stripped-down manner which proved successful on their slower, more pop-driven tracks like “Tightrope” and “Madder Red” ended when they entered their more dance-heavy tracks off Odd Blood. Dense with synthesized effects and electronic beats, the tracks off of their second album sometimes near unlisten-able territory. Songs like “Rome” and “Mondegreen” were far less engaging, leaving the audience agape with bore-dom instead of amazement. Though well-played and effectively arranged, Yeasayer seemed so entrenched in pro-ducing the same overly-produced qual-ity of their album. The band seemed stale onstage as Keating danced between microphone and turntable like a bored ballerina. But, this is not to say that the concert was a failure. The truth was far from it. Their electronic material may have been too rehearsed, almost dry, but some of the new material they previewed was promising in its sonic variety. “Henrietta” broke the subdued tranquility of “Tightrope” with a refreshing combina-tion of both new wave riffs and classic rock croons. Think Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon” with the flair of Flock of Seagulls. However, the other two songs, “Demon Road” and “Devil and the Deed,” stumbled where “Henrietta” suc-ceeded in merging Yeasayer’s beat-heavy bent with palatable pop. And, if there was one problem with Yeasayer’s live show, this would be it. On their albums, their work can be daunting in its impenetrable pro-duction. Live, the band seemed to relax and their unrefined demeanor resulted in new, intriguing depths. Like their inability to fuse genres, Yeasayer’s live show, while entertain-ing, was unable to unite their unedit-ed spontaneity whilst retaining their studio refinement.
Secretly canadian/courteSy
6 arts & entertainment & legals Thursday, June 2, 2011 - Sunday, June 5, 2011The Daily Californian
ConCert
Yeasayer evoke a dynamic rawness with their live show
The Brooklyn-based experimental band amplified their studio sound at the Fillmore.Secretly canadian/courteSy
Odd blood and period blood. Thisperversepotpourriiswhattheaudiencewas treated to when Yeasayer steppedintothehallowedhallsofSanFrancisco’sFillmorelastThursdaynight.Touringinpromotion of their latest record, Odd Blood,theyentrancedafullhousewiththeirenthusiasticalt-pop. But it was their first opener, HushHush,thatstoletheshowwithhissexu-allyexuberanceandunhingedcharisma.Withlittlemorethanfiftypeopleintow,theBerlin-based one-man show swag-geredonstagelikethestrangeoffspringof Jack Sparrow and President JamesGarfield’sbeard. And,ifthat’snotenoughtoswayyou,HushHush’sbombasticstagepresenceand soul-driven beats were unexpect-
By Jessica Pena | [email protected]
edly beguiling. Performing with noinstruments,justaniPodandhissexu-ally-deviantself,HushHush’sshoutsof“SexParty”and “BloodySex”were ini-tiallyoff-putting,tosaytheleast.Lyricsabout menstrual cycles and “gettingdown on the floor” are hardly groovy,but that’s what Hush Hush was — afunkaliciousfiend.Whennothumpingthe stage or parading around in hisbejeweledcape,hewouldcasuallyjokewith the audience: “Yeasayerwrote allthese songs. They’re below the stageright now.” There was an irreverentspontaneity toHushHush’s show thatset the mood for Yeasayer’s dynamicperformancelater. Yeasayer stepped on stage with aconfident command befitting theiralready carefully controlled style. Liketheir fellow high school-mates, rockband Animal Collective, Yeasayer is agroup unafraid to indulge in experi- yeasayer: PaGe 5
mentalstyles.Withtheirdebutalbum,AllHourCymbals, theBrooklyn-basedgroupmanagedtomeldintricate,elec-tronic orchestrations with surprisinglycatchypophooks. Itwasanexhilaratingmixtureofold-schoolTalkingHeadsfunkwithamoremodern, synthesized vibe. However,now touring on their second, moremature album, Odd Blood, the bandseemsdrawnbetween the two spheresof rambunctious pop and their moreesoteric, electronic compositions. Andon their albums, the seeming splitbetween thesedisparategenres isusu-ally avoided with polished transitions.But,that’sontheiralbums. Whenplayinglive,theinhibitionsoffinely-tuned production were replacedbyamoreraw,moreintimateYeasayer.Released from the confines of therecordingstudio,thevocalsoffrontman
In the recent summer months, inbetween the gratuitous shots ofvampire and werewolves (now,
faeries?!)on“TrueBlood”andscience-fictionfrenzyof“DoctorWho,”acuriousthoughttrickledthroughmyhazybrain:these shows are better than movies.Perhapsnotbetter,butat leastonpar,andthisstruckmeassomethingnovelinthehistoryofnotonlytelevisionbutmedia ingeneral.Theevolutionof the
Beyond the sitcom
schtick
Jessica [email protected]
off the beatTVshow, fromLucy toArchieBunkerto“Alf”(aclassic!)to“Friends”andonthrough the Liz Lemons and DonaldDrapersofthemoderntelevisioncanon,hashit ahighpointwithmorevarietyandqualitythaneverbefore. That’s not to say that televisionhasbeen abysmally awful until now. Ofcourse, theoddeccentricity—a“TwinPeaks”hereor“FreaksandGeeks”there—providestheexceptiontoanytheorythat television was all precalculatedlaughterandmulti-camerasetupbeforetheheydaysofnow.However,whathaschangedistheavailability.NolongerisHBOthehegemonicrulerofcinematictelevision,butthishighqualitypastichehastransferredintothenetworkswhichused to produce the now seeminglyarchaic work of an “Everybody LovesRaymond”ortheoft-ignored(andright-fullyso)“Becker.”Thedifferencesamongformat,style,andtonerangesinastro-nomicaldiversityontelevision,unprec-edentedinpreviousdecades. This diversity, from the musically-liberatedhigh schoolhallsof “Glee” tothe Werewolf Bar-Mitzvahs of “30Rock,”showsnowhaveavoicebesidesthatoftheprerecordedaudiencelaugh-ter—avoicewhichisoriginalanddis-tinguishable.Probablyinlargepartdueto the creative risk that was “ArrestedDevelopment,”thecutflashestostrange,off-beatreferences,thesarcasticcandorofRonHoward’snarrationandthesim-
plyun-sitcomyschtickwhichcharacter-ized the show’s bizarre qualities alsoenhanced it as being a truly originalmeansofcomedicexpression. Nolongerwastherethestultificationofsitcomrules—themultiplecameras,the predictable jokes delivered to fakeaudiences, or the trite plots of “twodatestotheprom,whattodo?”orthe“it’s not at all a plot contrivance thatwe’retrappedinthisbasementandhavetotalktoeachotherand/ormakeout.”Wow. That’s a long one. Even longerwhen one recognizes it’s been donemorethaneighttimesfrom“CharlesinCharge”to“Diff-rentStrokes.” Take, for instance, the previouslyubiquitous clip show. Used by nearlyeverysitcomfrom“TheGoldenGirls”totheirmodern,youngercounterpartson“SexandtheCity,”theclipshowiskingwhenitcomestotelevisionproduction.You’veseenitbefore.Youturnonyourfavorite show, expecting your favoritecharacters to indulge themselves in afresh series of shenanigans and then,youseeit.It’sjustahalf-hourfilledwithflashbacksfrompreviousepisodes,ten-uouslytiedtogetherwithtritedialogue.Clip shows were, and still are, a cost-saving tool for the tight budgets thatsitcomsendure.Now,withmore inno-vativeandimaginativeshowslikeNBC’s“Community,”theclipshowisnolongera creativehindrancebutanoutlet.Ontheir recent episode “Paradigms of
HumanMemory,”insteadofflashbacksfrom old material, we witnessed new,never-before-seen scenes which notonlyaddeddepthtothecharactersbutalsoprogressedthestoryline. The format has changed. But, alsotheexpectations.Nodoubtthevariationoftelevisionandtheabundanceofcre-ativeapproachestooldtimeslotformu-lashasarisenoutoftheneedtosatisfyanever-decreasingaudiencesize.Gonearethetimeswhen76.3millionpeoplecarve time out of their day to view a“Seinfeld”finale.ThetransferofmediaoutletstotheInternet,OnDemand,orTiVohavenotonlyincreasedtheacces-sibility of television shows but haveopenedupademandforvariationgiventhe increased competition due to thediffuseproliferationofmedia. Nottosaythefamiliarsitcomdoesn’tstill exist. But, even the recognizableformatsofa“HowIMetYourMother”stillproducemomentsofdynamiccre-ative content, musical numbers aboutsuitsbeingoneofthem(thankstoNeilPatrick Harris), which extend beyondtheconfinesofpreviousconventionality.So,whenyourfriendstellyoutheydon’tlike television “because there doesn’tseem to be anything on,” please tellthemthey’rewrong.Forthefirsttime,itnowcontainsmoreoriginalanddynam-ic material than any other previousdecadeandallavailableatthetouchofabutton—remote,mouse,orphone.
FICTITIOUS BUSINESSNAME STATEMENTFILE NO. 450533-34
The name of the businesses: (1) Sugar Mama Bakery and (2) Sugarmama Bakery, street address 4847 Hopyard Rd. Suite 4-109, Pleasanton, CA 94588, mailing address 4847 Hopyard Rd. Suite 4-109, Pleasanton, CA 94588 is hereby registered by the following owners: Thomason Investments, LLC, 4847 Hopyard Rd., Suite 4-109, Pleasanton, CA 94588.This business is conducted by a Limited liability company.The registrant began to transact business under the fictitious busi-ness name(s) listed above on 4/14/2011.This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Alameda County on April 14, 2011.Sugar Mama BakerySugarmama BakeryPublish: 5/26, 6/2, 6/9, 6/16/11
NOTICE OF TRUSTEE'S SALE TSG No.: 09 8 433952 TS No.: 20099077400542 FHA/VA/PMI No.: APN:056 1968 007 YOU ARE IN DEFAULT UNDER A DEED OF TRUST, DATED 06/07/07. UNLESS YOU TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY, IT MAY BE SOLD AT A PUBLIC SALE. IF YOU NEED AN EXPLANATION OF THE NATURE OF THE PROCEEDING AGAINST YOU, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LAWYER. On June 16, 2011 at 12:00 PM, First American Trustee Servicing Solutions, LLC, as duly appointed Trustee under and pursuant to Deed of Trust recorded 06/13/07, as Instrument No. 2007220312, in book , page , of Official Records in the Office of the County Recorder of ALAMEDA County, State of California. Executed
by: TARANEH NOURIAN,. WILL SELL AT PUBLIC AUCTION TO HIGHEST BIDDER FOR CASH, CASHIER'S CHECK/CASH EQUIVALENT or other form of pay-ment authorized by 2924h(b), (Payable at time of sale in lawful money of the United States) At the Fallon Street emergency exit to the Alameda County Courthouse, 1225 Fallon St., Oakland, CA. All right, title and interest conveyed to and now held by it under said Deed of Trust in the property situated in said County and State described as: AS MORE FULLY DESCRIBED IN THE ABOVE MENTIONED DEED OF TRUST APN# 056 1968 007. The street address and other common designation, if any, of the real prop-erty described above is purported to be: 2112 8TH STREET, BERKELEY, CA 94710. The undersigned Trustee disclaims any liability for any incor-rectness of the street address and other common designation, if any, shown herein. Said sale will be made, but without covenant or war-ranty, expressed or implied, regard-ing title, possession, or encum-brances, to pay the remaining princi-pal sum of the note(s) secured by said Deed of Trust, with interest thereon, as provided in said note(s), advances, under the terms of said Deed of Trust, fees, charges and expenses of the Trustee and of the trusts created by said Deed of Trust. The total amount of the unpaid bal-ance of the obligation secured by the property to be sold and reasonable estimated costs, expenses and advances at the time of the initial publication of the Notice of Sale is $532,535.78. The beneficiary under said Deed of Trust heretofore exe-cuted and delivered to the under-signed a written Declaration of Default and Demand for Sale, and a
written Notice of Default and Election to Sell. The undersigned caused said Notice of Default and Election to Sell to be recorded in the County where the real property is located. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the depos-it paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee or the Mortgagee's Trustee. The beneficia-ry or servicing agent declares that it has obtained from the Commissioner of Corporations a final or temporary order of exemption pursuant to California Civil Code Section 2923.53 that is current and valid on the date the Notice of Sale is filed and/or The timeframe for giving Notice of Sale specified in subdivision(s) of California Civil Code Section 2923.52 applies and has been provided or the loan is exempt from the requirements. Date: 05/19/11, First American Trustee Servicing Solutions, LLC 6 Campus Circle, 2nd Floor Westlake, TX 76262 Original document signed by Authorized Agent, Chet Sconyers -- FOR TRUSTEE'S SALE INFORMATION PLEASE CALL (916) 939-0772. First American Trustee Servicing Solutions, LLC May be Acting as a Debt Collector Attempting to Collect a Debt. Any Information obtained may be used for that purpose. NPP0181723 05/26/11, 06/02/11, 06/9/11
NOTICE OF BULK SALEEscrow No. 8120117-LC
To Whom it May Concern:Notice is hereby given to the Creditors of: Pizzavore West Berkeley, LLC, Seller(s), whose business address(es) is: 2124 Center Street, City of Berkeley, County of Alameda, State of
California, 94704, that a bulk trans-fer is about to be made to: Macrobiot ic Restaurant Management, LLC, Buyer(s), whose business(es) address is: 2124 Center Street, City of Berkeley, County of Alameda, State of California, 94704The property to be transferred is located at: 2124 Center Street, City of Berkeley, County of Alameda, State of California, 94704Said property is described in general as: All stock in trade, fixtures, equip-ment, goodwill and other property of that Restaurant business known as Pizzavore, and located at: 2124 Center Street, City of Berkeley, County of Alameda, State of California, 94704The bulk transfer will be consum-mated on or after the 20 day of June, 2011. This bulk transfer is subject to Section 6106.2 of the California Commercial Code. If Section 6106.2 applies, claims may be filed at Fidelity National Title Company, Escrow Division, Escrow #8120117-LC, 601 California Street, Suite 1501, San Francisco, County of San Francisco, State of California, 94108.This bulk transfer does NOT include a liquor license transfer. All claims must be received at this address by the 17 day of June, 2011.So far as known to the Buyer(s), all business names and addresses used by the Seller(s) for the three years last past, if different from the above, are: Pie In the SkyDated: April 14, 2011Fidelity National Title Company as Escrow Agent for the herein buyer and sellerFidelity National Title Company as Escrow Agent for the herein Seller and BuyerBy: /s/ LISA M. DECKER
6/2/11CNS-2109281#DAILY CALIFORNIAN
NOTICE OF BULK SALEEscrow No. 8119941-LC
To Whom it May Concern:Notice is hereby given to the Creditors of: DIG'S BISTRO, LLC, Seller(s), whose business address(es) is: 1453 Dwight Way, City of Berkeley, County of Alameda, State of California, 94702, that a bulk transfer is about to be made to: Ta Krai Hom, Inc., Buyer(s), whose business(es) address is: 1453 Dwight Way, City of Berkeley, County of Alameda, State of California, 94702.The property to be transferred is located at: 1453 Dwight Way, City of Berkeley, County of Alameda, State of California, 94702.Said property is described in general as: All stock in trade, fixtures, equip-ment, goodwill and other property of that RESTAURANT business known as DIG'S BISTRO, and located at: 1453 Dwight Way, City of Berkeley, County of Alameda, State of California, 94702. The bulk transfer will be consum-mated on or after the 20 day of June, 2011. This bulk transfer is subject to Section 6106.2 of the California Commercial Code. If Section 6106.2 applies, claims may be filed at Fidelity National Title Company, Escrow Division, Escrow #8119941-LC, 601 California Street, Suite 1501, San Francisco, County of San Francisco, State of California, 94108.This bulk transfer includes a liquor license transfer. All claims must be received prior to the date on which the Notice of Transfer of the liquor license is received by Escrow Agent from the Department of Alcoholic
Beverage Control.So far as known to the Buyer(s), all business names and addresses used by the Seller(s) for the three years last past, if different from the above, are: NoneDated: May 12, 2011Fidelity National Title Company as Escrow Agent for the herein seller and buyer By: /s/ LISA M. DECKER6/2/11CNS-2110099#DAILY CALIFORNIAN
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME
No. RG11578171In the Matter of the Application of Norma Leticia Caldera for Change of Name.TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner Norma Leticia Caldera filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: Norma Leticia Caldera to Norma Letizia Palmero.THE COURT ORDERS that all per-sons interested in this matter shall appear before this court at the hear-ing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. NOTICE OF HEARING: 7/22/11, at 11:00 AM in Dept. #31, at US Post Office, 201 13th Street, 2nd Floor, Oakland, CA 94612.A copy of this Order to Show Cause shall be published at least once a week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition in the following newspa-per of general circulation, printed, in this county: The Daily Californian in Berkeley, California.Dated: May 31, 2011Jon R. RolefsonJudge of the Superior CourtPublish: 6/2, 6/9, 6/16, 6/23/11
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The Daily Californian 7arts & entertainment Thursday, June 2, 2011 - Sunday, June 5, 2011
Dumpster diving and
consumerism
Amelia [email protected]
Off THe beAT
The sweet, almost angelic warbles of Ben Gibbard’s voice have become a source
of consistency and comfort over the years. With their soft, polite pop and easygoing accessibility, Gibbard and his band, Death Cab for Cutie, have warmed their way into the cockles (yes, cockles) of our hearts like a hot cup of cocoa on a winter’s eve since their debut in 1997. Unfortunately, there’s only so much hot chocolate a person can take before the sugar high wears down and you tire out. And this is the predicament that Death Cab find themselves in with their seventh studio release, Codes and Keys.
It should be clarified that there’s nothing particularly wrong about Codes and Keys. All 11 tracks are tol-erable enough. They have a polished and subtle sound that doesn’t offend with overly-wrought electronic ele-ments or unwanted, instrumental experimentation. Unlike their eight-minute long opus “I Will Possess Your Heart” on 2008’s Narrow Stairs, which at least attempted to integrate a heavier, guitar-oriented sound, Death Cab doesn’t bother with such unorthodox behavior on this album. In fact, save for the songs “Doors Un-locked and Open” and “Unobstructed Views,” no track extends beyond the five-minute mark. And even those songs that do break that time con-straint proffer the same, mid-tempo mumblings that the band can’t seem or don’t want, to escape.
Instead of experimentation or exploration with different styles, what Codes and Keys gives us is a dull rehashing of old material. The pen-ultimate track, “St. Peter’s Cathedral,” drifts along on a sea of melancholy piano and eccentric mutterings like a carbon copy of the 2003 track, “Transatlanticism.” However unlike their 2003 album of the same name, there are no stand-out hits on Codes and Keys. What remains is only a set of mediocre, cookie-cutter croons which are, like Gibbard’s voice, sweet but hardly substantial.
— Jessica Pena
Death Cab for CutieCODES AND KEYS
[Atlantic]
With their self-titled album, the oddly-named Buxter Hoot’n have burst out of
the finger-pluckin’ country-esque mold and have matured into a mul-tifaceted style. Combining sensual melodies, screeching electric guitar solos, twangy harmonica and every-thing in between, the San Francisco group have evolved their sound to include electric swells and slow-building ballads while still adhering to their Southern roots.
Buxter Hoot’n have in no way changed their rustic Americana style in an extravagant way. The bangin’ banjos, bluesy violins and old-west vocals are all present and accounted for. The only difference now is that the Bay Area band has explored more aspects that expand their range beyond gritty folk twangs. The crisp, sometimes funky riffs that guitarist Ben Andrews throws down on electric guitar flow smoothly with the group’s aforementioned Southern vibes. The vocals of Vince Dewald and Melissa Merrill work well on their own, but their har-monies stand out as they sing their soulful lines. Tracks like “Mariel” and “Blue Night” showcase all of these new styles as they build from quiet croons to powerful refrains.
Just when the album lulls you into a bluesy groove, the group tem-porarily retreats back to its country roots. The simple melodies and lyrics bring the album down from the high points of the opening tracks to a melancholy droll. Going further into the record, however, Buxter Hoot’n continue to experiment with new styles. Andrews’ violin evokes a foreign, almost Middle-Eastern tune as the guitar strums elegantly away in the background. This musical exploration justifies Buxter Hoot’n as more than just a local country band. While not every track exudes originality, the S.F. five-piece’s latest effort is a stellar, refreshing album to go along with summer adventures from the bay to the backwoods.
— Ian Birnam
Buxter Hoot’nBUXTER HOOT’N[Buxter Hoot’n]
ALBUM reviews
At the end of each spring semes-ter, the city of Berkeley stations gigantic Dumpsters next to stu-
dent housing units for move-out. Over the course of the a week, the garbage level in these vessels rises, sloshing with anything from discarded furniture to electronics to clothing. A quick sift through any one of these Dumpsters is an audit on student consumerism and material priorities, exposing a remark-ably dismissive take on utility and value. Despite exhaustive efforts to adver-tise sustainability initiatives and energy conservation, the UC Berkeley student dormitories are still producing an insane amount of material waste. Waste, the garbage of lost possibility, is a performed label more than a substan-tive one: these discarded objects are prematurely aborted, often retaining salvageable qualities despite superficial
imperfections. Banished to the oblivion of the Dumpster, these objects go to waste simply by being called waste. But the mass disposal of these objects has its advantages: the so-called “Dumpster diving." Known as the will-ful reclaiming of disposed objects, dumpster diving is a conservationist and creative practice of reuse — a direct challenge to consumer material culture. Scanning the Dumpsters in South Berkeley’s student housing areas, I found materials to furnish my entire future existence: dresser drawers, a wok, office supplies, a desk chair. My acquisitions were aligned with anoth-er’s abandon, mediated through a gigantic metal box. These Dumpsters are not only hold-ing tanks of possibility but also provide for new models of consumer profiling. Usually our consumption is monitored to develop and predict commercial trends, but I could sidestep that cus-tomer documentation by diving into that dumpster. Literally immersing myself in other people’s garbage put me in the position of the commercial taste-makers, auditing people’s waste to determine what they value or desire. So instead of voting with the almighty dollar, I was abstaining through adoption, snagging up prod-ucts for free with a little strategy and a lot of patience. The practice of Dumpster diving aims to subvert a person’s social, political and individual profiles based on consumerism and instead render that person’s status through rigorous reuse and community sharing. While dragging my freshly excavated dresser home, I realized I had become invisible to capitalistic marketing, and I started grinning uncontrollably. When online purchasing becomes easier and more efficient, the consumer is never the only beneficiary: as mar-kets become more accessible, so do we, as demographics. Notwithstanding surveillance through email or search engines, my identity as a purchaser of goods is constantly being developed in
a feedback cycle of supposed needs and actual money spent. I navigate adver-tisements and coupons and come out the other end with my bags full of stuff, furnishing my consumer perso-na. But in the Dumpster, there is no surveillance, and I am not tracked — iberated from materiality! Now it’s easy to talk up dumpster diving’s benefits, but as a practice, there are of course risks. For one, hygiene: diving for food requires more stringent strategies for collection. But the discerning diver who skims, and pays attention, has a good chance of staying out of the salmonella zone. Timing and packaging are of course also important determiners of safety, minimizing festering time and maxi-mizing protection. Strategies of waste reclamation are not without collateral damage. Not only is dumpster foraging an ultimate-ly unsustainable mode of sustenance, but may also infringe upon the resourc-es of people who live without homes,and rely on discarded food entirely. Regardless of legal precedent, diving may be considered stealing, whether out of the bin or from the hands of others. So limiting the goals to non-food-stuffs simplifies matters and becomes a more discriminating practice. Digging through the incredible vol-ume of perfectly usable materials, it’s hard not to be the dog-lover at the pound: you just want to take every-thing home. But I learned very quickly to defend against my hoarding instincts by only taking what I could immedi-ately justify using. The urge to not waste can easily end up in gluttony, and it’s easy to end up with a whole lot of junk. But where there’s lots of waste, there’s lots of choice. And standing in the orca-sized cavity of a Dumpster made visible a cross-section of a cer-tain student consumerism, an amaz-ingly dismissive one. These objects tossed into material oblivion were ripe for the picking, and I have outfit-ted my future apartment.
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3 2 54 1 8
5 9 4
7 4 3 2 1 8 6 5 99 6 2 7 4 5 1 3 88 5 1 9 3 6 2 4 74 8 7 1 6 2 3 9 51 3 5 4 8 9 7 2 62 9 6 5 7 3 8 1 43 2 8 6 5 4 9 7 16 7 4 3 9 1 5 8 25 1 9 8 2 7 4 6 3
# 14
HARD # 14
1 6 23 5 6
6 8 58 5
1 95 9
6 2 13 6 9
1 5 7
5 3 1 6 8 7 9 2 44 2 9 3 5 1 6 8 77 6 8 4 9 2 1 3 59 4 6 7 1 8 3 5 21 8 7 5 2 3 4 6 93 5 2 9 4 6 8 7 16 9 5 8 7 4 2 1 32 7 3 1 6 9 5 4 88 1 4 2 3 5 7 9 6
# 15
HARD # 15
4 2 1 81
2 7 53 8 6 2 5
7 6 8 3 92 8 6
96 5 3 2
6 4 2 1 5 7 9 8 37 1 5 8 3 9 4 6 28 3 9 2 6 4 7 1 53 8 6 9 7 2 5 4 14 9 1 5 8 3 2 7 65 2 7 6 4 1 8 3 92 7 8 3 9 6 1 5 41 5 3 4 2 8 6 9 79 6 4 7 1 5 3 2 8
# 16
HARD # 16
7 2 5 46 7 9 2
81 9
4 3 81 7
29 3 5 6
3 6 8 9
7 9 2 5 6 1 3 4 83 8 6 7 4 9 5 1 24 5 1 2 8 3 9 6 78 6 7 1 5 4 2 9 35 4 9 6 3 2 7 8 12 1 3 8 9 7 4 5 66 7 4 9 2 8 1 3 59 2 8 3 1 5 6 7 41 3 5 4 7 6 8 2 9
Page 4 of 25www.sudoku.com 24 Jul 05
CROSSWORD PUZZLE#4768
ACROSS 1. Mexican dish 5. Edward Everett and Alan10. One-dish meal14. President Arthur!s middle name15. In __ of way; rather16. Animal shelter17. Wander18. Items stocked by
a mechanic20. Beverage21. Article22. Weather condition23. Burdened25. With 13 Down,
Diamond Lil!s portrayer26. Empty28. Fir variety 31. Poetic works: var.32. Place for
open discussion34. Chapped36. Major-__37. Ethical38. Shells and cartridges39. Are moving right to left40. Uninterested41. Means of transportation42. Whole44. Objective45. Stopover46. Reason47. Word with a silent h50. Section51. Barney Fife!s title: abbr.54. Continual badgering57. In a lazy way58. “__ Three Lives”59. Circulatory system part60. Christmas in Paris61. Eastern European62. Word with boat or pool63. Suffix for exist or depend
9. __ Thérèse of Lisieux10. Zodiac symbol11. Rent12. Diminutive suffix13. See 25 Across19. 1 of 150 in the Bible21. Mid-month date24. Mr. Guthrie25. Manhandle26. __ one!s time;
be patient27. Venerate28. Fastener29. Final battle30. Name for a First Lady32. Toward the bow33. Miner!s discovery35. Refuses to37. Daybreak, to a poet38. Timetable abbrs.40. Ties41. Tight43. Long, vehement speech44. __ sauce46. Poem division47. Poker item
DOWN 1. Small pie 2. Skin balm 3. Member of a
riding militia 4. 1/4 and 3/4 5. Rush 6. Colorado resort 7. Rich soil 8. Go wrong
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16
17 18 19
20 21 22
23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30
31 32 33 34 35
36 37 38
39 40 41
42 43 44
45 46
47 48 49 50 51 52 53
54 55 56 57
58 59 60
61 62 63
48. Ring of light49. Russian city50. Saucy52. Monthly bill: abbr.53. Jim Nabors! role55. Houston, for one56. Barn noise57. Suffix for exam or hero
ANSWER TO #1071
T
A G T S L O T L O C A L
A G R O H I V E A D O R E
P O O R O M E N W A L E S
T R U S T W O R T H Y O A
S A T I R E S E E P S
O R B S A R I S E N
A S E T I T E R N E R O
C A P T A D U L T T U N E
O M I T R E B A C A M E L
R E S A L E S N A P
C R A N E D A M S E L
A
O S O M A L F E A S A N C E
M A P L E D A M P S A L A
A G A I N E D I T O R A N
R E L E T R E T S N E T
Answer to Previous Puzzle
1. Mexican dish5. Edward Everett and Alan10. One-dish meal14. President Arthur’s middle name15. In __ of way; rather16. Animal shelter17. Wander18. Items stocked by a mechanic20. Beverage21. Article22. Weather condition23. Burdened25. With 13 Down, Diamond Lil’s portrayer26. Empty28. Fir variety31. Poetic works: var.32. Place for open discussion34. Chapped36. Major-__37. Ethical38. Shells and cartridges39. Are moving right to left40. Uninterested41. Means of transportation42. Whole44. Objective45. Stopover46. Reason47. Word with a silent h50. Section51. Barney Fife’s title: abbr.54. Continual badgering57. In a lazy way58. “__ Three Lives”59. Circulatory system part60. Christmas in Paris61. Eastern European62. Word with boat or pool63. Su�x for exist or depend
1. Small pie2. Skin balm3. Member of a riding militia4. 1/4 and 3/45. Rush6. Colorado resort7. Rich soil8. Go wrong9. __ Thérèse of Lisieux
10. Zodiac symbol11. Rent12. Diminutive su�x13. See 25 Across19. 1 of 150 in the Bible21. Mid-month date24. Mr. Guthrie25. Manhandle26. __ one’s time; be patient27. Venerate28. Fastener
29. Final battle30. Name for a First Lady32. Toward the bow33. Miner’s discovery35. Refuses to37. Daybreak, to a poet38. Timetable abbrs.40. Ties41. Tight43. Long, vehement speech44. __ sauce
46. Poem division47. Poker item48. Ring of light49. Russian city50. Saucy52. Monthly bill: abbr.53. Jim Nabors’ role55. Houston, for one56. Barn noise57. Su�x for exam or hero
# 13
MEDIUM # 13
6 9 3 29 2 5
1 5 63 5 2
2 41 5 3
6 4 37 2 1
9 3 1 7
8 6 5 9 1 3 7 2 49 7 3 4 6 2 1 8 54 2 1 8 5 7 6 3 93 5 9 1 7 4 8 6 26 8 2 5 3 9 4 1 71 4 7 6 2 8 9 5 32 1 6 7 4 5 3 9 87 3 8 2 9 6 5 4 15 9 4 3 8 1 2 7 6
# 14
MEDIUM # 14
6 72 8 9
8 7 3 45 2 1 9 4
4 31 4 3 5 9
1 3 7 55 4 1
7 6
5 6 3 9 2 4 8 7 17 4 2 5 8 1 9 3 68 9 1 7 6 3 2 5 43 5 7 2 1 9 6 4 84 2 9 8 7 6 5 1 36 1 8 4 3 5 7 9 21 8 6 3 9 7 4 2 59 3 5 6 4 2 1 8 72 7 4 1 5 8 3 6 9
# 15
MEDIUM # 15
1 67 3 6 8
9 6 2 16 8 1
8 77 4 5
8 5 6 42 9 3 1
2 7
2 4 8 1 9 6 7 3 51 7 3 5 2 4 6 8 99 6 5 8 7 3 4 2 17 9 2 6 8 1 5 4 35 8 4 9 3 2 1 7 63 1 6 7 4 5 8 9 28 5 7 3 1 9 2 6 46 2 9 4 5 8 3 1 74 3 1 2 6 7 9 5 8
# 16
MEDIUM # 16
4 1 31 6 3
7 28 4 5
5 9 2 16 1 89 8
2 7 47 8 5
8 6 4 5 2 1 9 7 32 1 9 6 7 3 4 5 85 3 7 4 9 8 6 1 23 8 1 7 4 6 2 9 54 7 5 9 8 2 1 3 66 9 2 3 1 5 7 8 49 2 3 1 5 4 8 6 71 5 8 2 6 7 3 4 97 4 6 8 3 9 5 2 1
Page 4 of 25www.sudoku.com 24 Jul 05
# 13
MEDIUM # 13
6 9 3 29 2 5
1 5 63 5 2
2 41 5 3
6 4 37 2 1
9 3 1 7
8 6 5 9 1 3 7 2 49 7 3 4 6 2 1 8 54 2 1 8 5 7 6 3 93 5 9 1 7 4 8 6 26 8 2 5 3 9 4 1 71 4 7 6 2 8 9 5 32 1 6 7 4 5 3 9 87 3 8 2 9 6 5 4 15 9 4 3 8 1 2 7 6
# 14
MEDIUM # 14
6 72 8 9
8 7 3 45 2 1 9 4
4 31 4 3 5 9
1 3 7 55 4 1
7 6
5 6 3 9 2 4 8 7 17 4 2 5 8 1 9 3 68 9 1 7 6 3 2 5 43 5 7 2 1 9 6 4 84 2 9 8 7 6 5 1 36 1 8 4 3 5 7 9 21 8 6 3 9 7 4 2 59 3 5 6 4 2 1 8 72 7 4 1 5 8 3 6 9
# 15
MEDIUM # 15
1 67 3 6 8
9 6 2 16 8 1
8 77 4 5
8 5 6 42 9 3 1
2 7
2 4 8 1 9 6 7 3 51 7 3 5 2 4 6 8 99 6 5 8 7 3 4 2 17 9 2 6 8 1 5 4 35 8 4 9 3 2 1 7 63 1 6 7 4 5 8 9 28 5 7 3 1 9 2 6 46 2 9 4 5 8 3 1 74 3 1 2 6 7 9 5 8
# 16
MEDIUM # 16
4 1 31 6 3
7 28 4 5
5 9 2 16 1 89 8
2 7 47 8 5
8 6 4 5 2 1 9 7 32 1 9 6 7 3 4 5 85 3 7 4 9 8 6 1 23 8 1 7 4 6 2 9 54 7 5 9 8 2 1 3 66 9 2 3 1 5 7 8 49 2 3 1 5 4 8 6 71 5 8 2 6 7 3 4 97 4 6 8 3 9 5 2 1
Page 4 of 25www.sudoku.com 24 Jul 05
CROSSWORD PUZZLE#4768
ACROSS 1. Mexican dish 5. Edward Everett and Alan10. One-dish meal14. President Arthur!s middle name15. In __ of way; rather16. Animal shelter17. Wander18. Items stocked by
a mechanic20. Beverage21. Article22. Weather condition23. Burdened25. With 13 Down,
Diamond Lil!s portrayer26. Empty28. Fir variety 31. Poetic works: var.32. Place for
open discussion34. Chapped36. Major-__37. Ethical38. Shells and cartridges39. Are moving right to left40. Uninterested41. Means of transportation42. Whole44. Objective45. Stopover46. Reason47. Word with a silent h50. Section51. Barney Fife!s title: abbr.54. Continual badgering57. In a lazy way58. “__ Three Lives”59. Circulatory system part60. Christmas in Paris61. Eastern European62. Word with boat or pool63. Suffix for exist or depend
9. __ Thérèse of Lisieux10. Zodiac symbol11. Rent12. Diminutive suffix13. See 25 Across19. 1 of 150 in the Bible21. Mid-month date24. Mr. Guthrie25. Manhandle26. __ one!s time;
be patient27. Venerate28. Fastener29. Final battle30. Name for a First Lady32. Toward the bow33. Miner!s discovery35. Refuses to37. Daybreak, to a poet38. Timetable abbrs.40. Ties41. Tight43. Long, vehement speech44. __ sauce46. Poem division47. Poker item
DOWN 1. Small pie 2. Skin balm 3. Member of a
riding militia 4. 1/4 and 3/4 5. Rush 6. Colorado resort 7. Rich soil 8. Go wrong
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16
17 18 19
20 21 22
23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30
31 32 33 34 35
36 37 38
39 40 41
42 43 44
45 46
47 48 49 50 51 52 53
54 55 56 57
58 59 60
61 62 63
48. Ring of light49. Russian city50. Saucy52. Monthly bill: abbr.53. Jim Nabors! role55. Houston, for one56. Barn noise57. Suffix for exam or hero
ANSWER TO #1071
T
A G T S L O T L O C A L
A G R O H I V E A D O R E
P O O R O M E N W A L E S
T R U S T W O R T H Y O A
S A T I R E S E E P S
O R B S A R I S E N
A S E T I T E R N E R O
C A P T A D U L T T U N E
O M I T R E B A C A M E L
R E S A L E S N A P
C R A N E D A M S E L
A
O S O M A L F E A S A N C E
M A P L E D A M P S A L A
A G A I N E D I T O R A N
R E L E T R E T S N E T
Answer to Previous Puzzle
Keep Berkeley Unique: Shop Locally.Supporting locally-owned, independently operated businesses keeps our city unique, creates more jobs, and makes our economy stronger. Look for this icon the next time you’re shopping for something special.
Find a local business near you at buylocalberkeley.com
A&E “Listen to me carefully, my friend! Killing will not bring you peace.” — Professor Charles Xavier
Thursday, June 2, 2011 - Sunday, June 5, 2011
SPOT CYAN COLOR ON THIS PAGE.DO NOT REMOVE THE GRAY BAR---KEEP IT IN YOUR DESIGN.
film
Superhero origin stories can have a way of refreshingly rebooting a franchise, no mat-ter how squandered the series was before.
Similar to how “Batman Begins” brought a new light (or lack thereof) to the laughable Clooney trilogy, Mathew Vaughn’s prequel “X-Men: First Class” has revived the film franchise with a mag-netizing start that will please mutant-lovers and newcomers alike.
Set in the 1960s, “First Class” depicts the origins of the epic battles between Professor X and Magneto by initially showing how the young men Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) started out as friends. After meeting through individual attempts at taking down Nazi-turned-mutant Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) — who plans on a nuclear Armageddon leaving an apocalyptic Earth run by mutants — Charles convinces Erik that they’re going to need the their own army to fight mutant fire with fire.
With some help from CIA agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) and the Man In Black (Oliver Platt), the duo creates a team of mutants ranging from veteran Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) to newcomers like Banshee (Caleb Landry Jones). After an attack from Shaw and his Hellfire Club, which results in the death of one mutant and the betrayal of another, the first class of X-Men hones their powers and prevents Shaw from sending off nukes in Cuba, thus implement-ing a global nuclear war.
That’s right. The X-Men helped end the Cold War and absolve the Cuban Missile Crisis. While that may seem unrealistic, it actually helps ground the film into some sort of reality along the flying humans and blue-skinned heroes. The post-World War II connections also shape the evolving relationship between Charles and Erik. Charles believes in the good nature of humans and dreams of a society where humans and mutants peacefully coexist. Due to his experience in the Holocaust, Erik believes that humans will reject the mutant minority and attempt to exterminate it because of its differences. These differing viewpoints establish a firm rift between the two friends that will never be resolved, causing them to form separate mutant leagues.
By Ian Birnam | [email protected]
Centered around the dynamics between Charles, Erik and the other mutants, the film slowly builds from gathering the team together and culminates in a colossal confrontation with Shaw and his crew. The pacing never feels slow or over the top with CGI effects. Each scene builds upon the next, drawing the viewers further into the character development.
The tenuous bond that forms between Charles and Erik is shown in the strong performances by both McAvoy and Fassbender. McAvoy captures both the playful bachelor and respected professor personas of Charles. Although he begins by throwing back beers and fraternizing as a Ph.D. grad, McAvoy never fails to add at least a hint of scholarly wisdom in all of Charles’ actions. The character grows into the adorned teacher as he gives each mutant lessons in harnessing and controlling their powers. By the end of the film, it’s easy to see how the young professor becomes the honorable leader that Patrick Stewart portrayed in the previous films.
As we see McAvoy’s character grow, Fassbend-er delves into the ever-darkening world of Erik. Haunted by gruesome memories of a genocide-ridden past, Erik seeks only vengeance on those that took everything away from him, fueling his lack of faith in mankind’s tolerance of mutants. Fassbender’s cold, brutal demeanor characterizes Erik as a dangerous man who, although, is introduced as an antihero, eventually embraces the ideas of the men who he and Charles are fighting against, blindly becoming the villain he fought to defeat. Erik’s descent into evil also creates a leader figure in him, as Fassbender steadily becomes more assertive, convincing mutants to join him in his ruthless conquest. However, the movie is not perfect. For those who actually know the comic-book lowre of the X-Men, most of the characters in “First Class” — as with the past films — are strewn together from vastly different timelines in the comics (Cyclops’ little brother becomes an A-Man before Cyclops does?). Also, the dialogue at times comes off cheesy, as the one-liners, catchphrases and attempted romances become quite tiresome by the time the second hour rolls around, as does Charles’ hackneyed telekinetic stance, which becomes slightly laughable after the tenth time he puts two fingers to his forehead. Regardless of these minor issues, “First Class” wipes the slate clean for the X-Men movies as Vaughn paves the road for a new trilogy of uncanny heroes.
The latest film in the X-Men franchise brings an unexpected freshness to the series, giving us an action-packed look into
the origins of the beloved superheros.ni
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