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Berkeley’s Newspaper siNce 1871 24/7 News Coverage at dailyCal .orgBerkeley, Ca • thursday, May 19, 2011 - suNday, May 22, 2011
UC Regents
Board wary of unreliable state funds
the uC Board of regents discussed several solutions to its budget woes at its meeting.AnnA Vignet/Senior StAff
By Damian Ortellado and Aaida [email protected]
SAN FRANCISCO — Following the re-lease of Gov. Jerry Brown’s revised budget on Monday and with the threat of a possible $1 billion cut to the UC looming overhead, the UC Board of Regents’ meeting Wednes-day was focused on long-term solutions to create stability to counter the state’s unreli-able and decreasing funding.
At the meeting, the regents discussed short-term solutions to deal with the $500 million cut the UC faces, improvements to financial aid, long-term plans for address-ing the state’s reduced funding and the ir-reparable damages a $1 billion cut to the university could have on its core ideals of access, affordability and excellence.
“It’s been a very, very unstable situation, particularly over the last three years,” said UC President Mark Yudof at the meeting. “We cannot take the shortcut at this point in our history. We can do some very de-structive things. It can take over 100 years to establish a great research university ... but they can be destroyed in a very short period of time.”
At the meeting, UC leaders reiterated the need for flexibility in developing and implementing solutions to handle the cuts but said no decisions would be made on proposed solutions until a later date.
Cuts to state funding for the UC are
FaCes oF BeRkeley
Campus graduate takes new first steps
UniveRsity FigURes
student regent resigns after sex crime allegations
Jesse Cheng officially announced his resignation from his position as the UC Student Regent on Monday, end-ing his term that had been marred by controversy.
Cheng’s term took a contentious turn when he was arrested by Irvine police in November on suspicion of sexual battery. Accused of inappro-priately touching a woman who only identified herself as “Laya” in order to protect her identity as a victim of an alleged sex crime, Cheng was later found responsible of a student con-duct violation for sexual battery by the UC Irvine Student Conduct Of-fice in March.
Though Cheng decided to appeal the office’s decision, his appeal was denied. He received a sanction of probation until the end of the quarter.
Announcing his resignation via a letter on the UC Re-gent Live blog, Cheng specifically addressed the office’s ruling, stating that he felt stepping down now was the right decision despite the fact that he did not agree with the findings.
“It is a much lower standard of evidence than a crimi-nal court, but I also recognize that the process neverthe-less applies to me as a student,” Cheng said in the letter. “Seeing how it will be my last meeting as a Student Re-gent, and how much of a distraction from other serious student issues that this issue has continued to cause, I think it would be best for the students and the University of California if I step down at this time.”
But the decision to resign did not come out of the blue, Cheng said. Rather, the idea to resign had been months in the making — since January, according to Cheng.
“One of the reasons I didn’t do it sooner was because we still had stuff going on, and I was working on a proj-ect I wanted to get out of the way and accomplish before I resigned,” he said. “I am pretty much a lame duck stu-dent regent now and there was no real reason for me to continue on.”
Cheng added that officially assuming the student re-gent position after serving as the Student Regent-Desig-nate for one year was not what he expected, saying that his assumptions of what the position demanded — time, energy and travel — were not what he planned, admit-ting that late night drives from Irvine to Sacramento and staying in motels took its toll on his personal life and his academics.
Cheng submitted his resignation letter on May 13, though the UC Board of Regents Chair Russell Gould did not formally accept Cheng’s decision to vacate his position until Monday. The board released a statement Tuesday confirming Student Regent-Designate Alfredo Mireles Jr.’s immediate take-over of the position.
By Katie Nelson | Senior [email protected]
austin whitney, paraplegic for nearly four years, walked across the stage to receive his diploma.
Jeffrey Joh/StAff
Cheng: PAge 3
JeSSeCheng
UC Berkeley’s graduation day this year was symbolic for graduate Austin Whitney because he was able to experience it in an ordinary way.
Not only did he earn his degree, but he received it while standing upright, looking Chancellor Rob-ert Birgeneau directly in the eyes. Whitney, who has been paraplegic for nearly fours years, walked.
Strapped into an exoskeleton and leaning on a walker, Whitney took a few steps Saturday before he shook the hand of Birgeneau and hugged him, all the while receiving a standing ovation from his fellow graduates.
Four years ago, Whitney was “just like any-body else — walking,” according to his father, Jim Whitney. But a typical night partying with friends
By Mary Susman | [email protected]
the summer after graduating from high school permanently altered his world.
After driving 100 miles that night, all the while drunk, Whitney lost control of his car in the last quarter of a mile from home, and his car wrapped around a tree. The crash instantly severed Whit-ney’s spine and broke his rib cage, and his friend was thrown out of the vehicle.
Whitney spent 41 days in the hospital while a “wine-bottle amount of blood” was taken out of his lungs each day due to internal bleeding, he said. Both Whitney and his friend survived, but Whitney did not immediately realize the extent of his injuries.
“No one ever tells you, ‘You severed your spinal cord — you’re never going to walk again,’” he said. “I really wished the car would have killed me.”
Meanwhile, his father had stage four thyroid cancer. Although his family thought both might die, his father also survived.
Whitney pushed forward focused on the power of attitude, thanks to his uncle, whose own son died at Whitney’s age. Instead of going to the University of Michigan in the fall, Whitney en-rolled in community college a week after the ac-cident and transferred to UC Santa Barbara for the spring semester. He then transferred to UC Berkeley for his sophomore year.
“I’m a happier person now than I was before the accident,” Whitney said. “All this wheelchair stuff is minor, knowing I’m alive.”
Whitney has shared his story at high schools so students recognize the risk of drinking. He has spoken to over 40,000 students in three states so far, hoping that at least someone learns from his mistake.
“If one does, that gives all of this purpose and meaning,” he said.
Whitney: PAge 3
CheCk Online
www.dailycal.org
Aaida Samad and news editor Allie Bidwell dissect details from the Board of Regents’ Wednesday meeting.
UC spared additional cuts in budget revision
Regents: PAge 5
While the University of California escaped further funding reductions Monday morning in Gov. Jerry Brown’s revised state budget, should spending cuts and tax extensions the new proposal relies upon fail to be carried out, additional cuts to the UC and CSU are likely, doubling a $500 million dollar cut to
By Aaida Samad | [email protected]
$1 billion for each university system.At a press conference Monday, Brown pre-
sented his revised budget plan, which relies on a combination of tax extensions, unan-ticipated state revenues and spending cuts to bridge California’s estimated $9.6 billion budget deficit. However, without tax exten-sions, the cuts to the UC would double to $1 billion — possibly resulting in a mid-year tu-ition increase next January, program closures throughout the UC and employee layoffs, ac-cording to UC President Mark Yudof ’s May 6
testimony before the state senate budget com-mittee.
According to the revised budget summary, an all-cuts budget would require an additional cut of $500 million from each university sys-tem, which would in turn create “necessary” fee increases exceeding 30 percent for each system.
“Reductions of this magnitude would significantly impair the universities’ criti-cal role in training the state’s workforce and
state BUdget
RevisiOn: PAge 4
CReate: BAM’s latest exhibit highlights the hidden artistic depths
of the disabled.See Page 6
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
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The UC Board of Regents elected Regent Sherry Lansing, the board’s current vice-chair, to serve a one-year term as the new board chair and Regent Bruce Varner to serve as the new board vice-chair at their meet-ing Wednesday.
Lansing suc-ceeds Russell Gould, who has served two consec-
UC Board of Regents elects new chair and vice-chair at meeting
on the blogs
“Hesher” combines heavy metal and indie cred
newmarket films/courtesy
Berkeley man found dead in Yosemite National Park
The Sports BlogHEY BATTER BATTER: Daily Cal Senior Staff writer Katie Dowd turns a critical eye to the Cal baseball team and assesses the players as well as their chances of bringing the regular season to a victorious close. Looks like it could be a tough few weeks for a team that really needs some of its bats to wake up.
The News BlogUC BOARD OF REGENTS APPROVES NEW UC MERCED CHANCELLOR: At their Wednesday meeting, the UC Board of Regents announced their approval of a new chancellor for UC Merced. Starting this July, Dorthy Leland will serve as UC Merced’s chancellor, the campus’s third thus far.
Like an apparition with ADD, Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) floats in and out of the lives of the Forneys, a depressed middle American family whose members don’t have much to say to each other. This is Any Place, USA. It is a beige world of junkyards, dirty swimming pools and sad checkout lanes. This is a town full of people who lose their shit at a fender-bender. This is a place with dollar grocer-ies you imagine people shopping in after dark, ambling along with their carts to the hum of frozen food
According to major media outlets, the body of Dunbar, 35, was discov-ered as rescuers were retrieving the body of Kent Butler, associate dean for research and operations in the School of Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin, who had slipped and became lodged in rocks in the river and drowned. ...
Berkeley resident James Dunbar was found dead Friday afternoon by Yosemite National Park rangers who were attempting to recover the body of another man who had drowned in the Merced River, which runs through the southern part of the park and the Yosemite Valley.
The May 9 op-ed “Koch money influences climate science” incorrectly stated that the Koch brothers are the largest contributors to the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature study. In fact, the Charles G. Koch Charitable foundation is the second-largest contributor.
The photo caption for Monday’s article, “Cal dispatches Trojans, advances to round of 16,” incorrectly identified the photographed player as Mari Andersson. In fact, the player was Jana Juricova.
The Daily Californian regrets the errors.
CorreCtions
2 News Thursday, May 19, 2011 - Sunday, May 22, 2011The Daily Californian
sherrylansing
utive terms as chair. Varner will succeed Lansing, who has also served two consecutive terms as vice chair.
After being appointed to the board by former Gov. Gray Davis in 1999 and again by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010 for a 12-year term, Lansing has held the position of chair of the board’s Health Services Committee and served on the Educational Policy and Governance committees. Varner was appointed by Schwarzenegger to a 12-year term in 2006 and has served as chair of the board’s Committee on Compensation, vice chair of the Committee on Finance and vice chair of the Committee on Governance. ...
Group within union formally protests electionGsi Union
Just a week after a reform caucus swept the majority of leadership posi-tions in a union representing UC aca-demic student employees, a group of union members have challenged the integrity of the election, calling for an invalidation of the results and another election run by a neutral third party.
On May 15, exactly a week after the election results were certified for the United Auto Workers Local 2865 — which represents nearly 12,000 gradu-ate student instructors, readers and tutors — a group of union members, many of whom are affiliated with in-cumbent union leadership, filed a for-mal protest against the election with the union’s executive board, calling for another election due to “irregularities”
By Aaida Samad | [email protected]
they asserted were present, according to a statement from United for Social and Economic Justice — a caucus affil-iated with the incumbent leadership.
The protest was filed in accordance with both UAW International and UAW Local 2865 bylaws that allow a challenge of an election to be filed within seven days of result certification as well as multiple appeals of any decision made about the election. The protest included 41 chal-lenges to the integrity of the election.
“The election that occurred was marred by irregularities, deception and intimidation,” said Xochitl Lopez, a graduate student and head steward-elect at UC Davis. “We are calling for a fair election.”
The union recently concluded one
of the most highly contested elections in its history. The election and subse-quent vote counting were marred by multiple breakdowns and allegations of fraud, negative campaigning and aggressive tactics from both slates.
On May 8, the results were certified by the union’s Election Committee fol-lowing more than a week of punctuated vote counting. Members of Academic Workers for a Democratic Union — a reform caucus — swept all 10 execu-tive board positions and the majority of Joint Council positions.
According Lopez, members who signed the petition would like to have the balloting run by a neutral third party. She added that the petition calls for an agreement by both sides that the election be conducted in a fair manner.
Among the irregularities and concerns listed were the security of the ballots and
election: PAGe 3
check onlinewww.dailycal.org
Listen to Aaida Samad and assistant news editor Kaite Nelson discuss the election.
San Francisco’s Audium reinvents soundscape
audium/courtesy
Shaff conceived of Audium over fifty years ago, as a unique way to represent the spatial and immedi-ate qualities of sound, and as a space that embraced hearing as humanity’s most contingent sense. The actual Audium building, tucked away north of Japantown just west of Van Ness, is described by Shaff in an email interview as a “potential composing tool,” where the audi-ence is part of the performance the moment they walk through the door. The foyer to the performance space is an art gallery, with each piece of art somehow relating to Shaff ’s per-
formed composition. During a visit this past April, the works reverber-ated with plays on light imaging-projection, drawing similarities between the substances of light and sound. ...
cases and one-hit wonders. You can see dreams slowly collapsing here, like the demolition of a building. ...
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The Daily Californian 3News, OpiNiON & MARKeTpLACeThursday, May 19, 2011 - Sunday, May 22, 2011
FROM FRONT
Whitney: Team plans to market exoskeleton model
Whitney is also finding meaning in the accident by working on the exo-skeleton with the team of engineers, who said Whitney’s graduation was “symbolic” for them, too.
Professor Homayoon Kazerooni had been working with a team of graduate students on exoskeletons for years when Whitney heard about the work from a friend this fall and went to the profes-sor’s office looking to get involved.
Whitney became an essential member of the team by showing what did and did not work.
“Nothing really meant anything until an end user got into it,” said con-trol designer Jason Reid.
According to mechanical designer Wayne Tung, Whitney uses the exo-skeleton by squeezing handles that tell the computer in the back of the device
what he wants to do. The computer tells two motors in the back, which power the mechanism in the hip, then powering the knees. Whitney can even control what type of step he wants — such as feet together or a full step.
They “hit a minor glitch” at Whit-ney’s graduation — he was supposed to walk across the stage but ended up only taking a few steps with help from the engineers — because Whit-ney did not shift his weight properly, which the engineers said was because he was too excited. Yet Tung said the walk was important for the team to see what still needs work.
Whitney said he is especially excited for this exoskeleton because the team plans to put it on the market. Because this exoskeleton has a simpler, “smart-er design” than other exoskeletons too costly for most disabled people, Tung
said it will be affordable for people to use in their everyday lives.
The exoskeleton allows Whitney and his family to enjoy what most take for granted.
“It’s the simple things like being able to hug your mom,” Whitney said. “It’s the simple things you miss.”
Although Whitney graduated, he plans to stay in Berkeley and continue tweaking the exoskeleton, which has been named “Austin.” He will also travel more for speaking engagements, which he plans to do for a few more years — “as long as kids can relate.”
But right now, Whitney is soaking in his graduation.
“I’m still so speechless ... Less than fours years ago, I was in a hos-pital bed thinking I was going to die,” he said. “I can think of no greater gift.”
FROM FRONT
chenG: New student regent to assume position immediately
“Regent Mireles’ service on the Board will begin immediately after Regent Cheng tendered his resigna-tion to ensure that the student per-spective on the board is without in-terruption,” the statement reads.
Mireles said he was fully prepared to take the student regent position despite the fact that he was assuming it early. He said he has been “gear-ing up for a while” for the position by constantly communicating with Cheng throughout the year so that he would be as ready as possible for
when he assumed the position, which was originally scheduled to be at the July regents meeting.
“It’s not like I had to bleed infor-mation out of him. We had constant communication,” Mireles said of his time serving with Cheng. “(Jesse Cheng) really came of age through his leadership, and he really invested in grassroots action. I’ve been trying to plant those roots myself, but I still have a lot of work to do.”
Cheng, who will be graduating from UC Irvine in June, said he feels
comfortable stepping away from the position and that he still hopes to be a part of student advocacy groups wherever he goes.
“Personally I don’t think I accom-plished very much as I focused more of my work on supporting others,” he said. “Life is a journey. I was remind-ed that I’m still young, and I still have the chance to live life. I’m still 22, and for me, it’s important to always be po-litically active.”
Katie Nelson is an assistant news editor.
FROM PAgE 2
election: Challenge to be addressed at next statewide meeting
voting materials through the voting and counting process and alleged aggressive tactics and campaigning over the course of the election.
However, according to Charlie Eaton, the union’s recently elected financial secretary and a graduate student at UC Berkeley, “members of AWDU held themselves to a high standard of con-duct in the election,” and moving for-
ward wanted to unite all members.“We think it’s really important that
everyone have confidence in the elec-tion outcome, and we certainly want everyone’s concerns to be openly dis-cussed and heard,” Eaton said. “Now that the election is over, we are focused on trying to unite all the members around making the union more bot-tom-up, more empowered and more
effective in fighting the budget cuts.”The election challenge is sched-
uled to be addressed at the union’s next statewide membership meeting at UC Berkeley on Saturday where, if a quorum of 100 people is met, mem-bers present will be able to vote on the challenge.
Aaida Samad is the lead higher education reporter.
I got defriended this week on Facebook, by someone whose cyber-allegiance I would never
have questioned. If you asked me to list potential friendship renegers, it would be a long index, including people from high school and people who misunderstand my sometimes taciturn nature for disdain. (“You may seem unfriendly, at least to me, but that’s not the REAL you,” a friend wrote me in a letter.)
I myself have done my fair share of defriending — I don’t care for your status updates on the benefits of Diet Pepsi and feel uneasy at the thought of 500 intimate friends ac-cessing information I’d rather keep less-than-public. But this particular friend, I would’ve never thought the defriending kind.
I came back a year and a half ago to find that everyone had gone. Or it felt that way — the majority of my friends had been upperclassmen when I’d left for Thailand, and in the two years I’d been abroad, they’d taken it upon themselves to graduate and move away.
It was nervously that I met one in particular with whom I’d had a fall-ing out: In my daydreams concern-ing my long-awaited return, our is-sues had disappeared into the ether. I figured that he’d play a prominent role in my carefully concocted future. I’d reserved a privileged spot for him in my life.
This friend isn’t the same as the defriender. He’d die before losing face, before indulging in something so seemingly insignificant as to use a button to make a pointed statement. But I understand the impulse, to no longer want to know about the latest details of a person’s life, to stop the impulse to look at their images, if only for some peace of mind.
We met at a diner, where we sat through potfuls of coffee and egg yolks gone runny. And while I had hoped for some great reconciliation, some gestures to a warmly-recollect-ed past, instead he talked at me for hours, listing his achievements in the intervening months since we had spoken.
He told me his life plan — go to Harvard (“If you look at the statistics I should get in”) and work on Capitol Hill for a few years — never once bothering to offer even a perfunc-tory “how was it” about my time away. What he did extend, however, were some unsolicited reflections: “I can feel the maturity gap between us even more now, especially since you’re still at school and I’m living in the city.”
He told me he’d like to be friends again, though he wasn’t the
friend I’d remembered at all. It took a long time for me to realize that he had changed, and what had hap-pened at the diner wasn’t significant
Sobering reflections of a grad
OFF THE BEAT
enough to eradicate the memories I’d cherished of a time together years before. At the time, it was a huge loss and disappointment, one that’s subsided only upon reflection. But fuck it, I’m graduating.
Commencement is tomorrow and after four (or five) years, leaving
for good is an easy pill to swallow. It’s a much more agreeable farewell than the idea of leaving Berkeley even after freshman year, and only for summer vacation. In fact, it’s a relief. The idea of losing touch with friends isn’t as traumatic as it once was, as if I’ve gained calluses with practice.
With study and internships abroad and semesters of academic hiatus, I’ve been slowly acclimatized to the cyclical ebb and tide of itinerant friendships. Now, it’s less of a painful prick when inevitably yet another person departs.
I’ve always remembered a story my friend Kate told me, about re-uniting with friends who’d left to study abroad. Who’s hanging out with new people, they’d asked. Who has new friends? And they came to the realization that no one had, save for Kate. You don’t really make new friends, they concluded. You just lose them.
That idea has come to shape my perspective on meeting new people since college. My life now is marked more by nostalgia and remembrance than it was in high school, when every moment was staunchly rooted in the present. Spontaneity and daring were a hallmark of those years, and what is now mundane seemed novel and unprecedented, especially when in the company of friends.
But that bright-eyed enthusiasm, that insistence to forge the condi-tions of the world in which I lived, has given way to a set of lowered expectations and progressive acqui-escence to the sometimes lonely way things are. Maybe the present isn’t as exciting as before, if only for the fact that the threat of the future, once mythical, now looms uncom-fortably near.
My friends, like me, have embraced those promises of success. In the process, something had to give.
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alternative news and entertainment | clog.dailycal.orgTHE DAILY CLOG
4 News Thursday, May 19, 2011 - Sunday, May 22, 2011The Daily Californian
Joy chen/staff
FROM FRONT
Revision: Yudof says all-cuts budget could lead to another tuition raise
encouraging innovation,” the sum-mary reads.
In a statement following the re-lease of the revised budget, Yudof said a $1 billion cut to the UC would be “unconscionable ... to the univer-sity, its students and families, and to the state that it has served for nearly a century and a half ” and would present a “dire challenge to the uni-versity and a retreat by the state from its historic support of higher public education in California.”
According to the statement, if the cut is doubled, the state’s contribu-tion to the UC’s core funds — money used to “pay professors and staff members, light the libraries, main-tain the campuses, and all the rest” — would be reduced to roughly $2 bil-lion, a level not seen since the 1990’s. This in turn would likely result in a “need to yet again raise tuition.”
In April, Brown predicted tuition could rise to $20,000 or $25,000 per year under an all-cuts budget plan. At the beginning of May, Yudof said in his testimony to the state sen-ate budget committee that Brown’s prediction was “not far off.”
“In the end, it is California that would stand at risk,” Yudof said in the statement. “Now is not the time to abandon what has been the key catalyst for making California such an exceptional place — a commit-ment to providing, as a common good, an affordable, world-class higher education for all who earn a spot at our public universities and colleges.”
While Brown’s revised budget did not cut further from higher educa-tion, it utilized a combination of cuts to other state expenditures, tax ex-tensions and unanticipated revenue to bridge the budget gap. While he acknowledged that the state will re-ceive $6.6 billion more in revenue in the next 13 months than had been anticipated, Brown called for tax ex-tensions to avoid large budget defi-cits in years to come.
“We still have a $10 million struc-tural deficit and a wall of debt for
years to come,” he said. “This is not the time to delay or evade. This is the time to put our finances in order, and that’s precisely what this May Revi-sion intends to do.”
The revised budget would elimi-nate 43 state boards and commis-sions and 5,500 jobs, while at the same time increase funding for public schools by $3 billion. In light of the increased revenues, the revision proposes tax extensions that have been reduced by $2.9 billion and eliminates new income taxes.
Brown’s initial January budget proposed $14 billion in tax exten-
sions and a $12.5 billion cut in state expenditures. He was un-able to get the two-thirds majority vote required to place the ex-tensions on a June ballot, and only $11.2 billion in cuts were signed into law in March.
With state r e v e n u e s higher than anticipated, the budget deficit has been pro-jected to be $9.6 billion — $4.8 billion from carry-in
from the 2010-2011 fiscal year and an operating shortfall of $4.8 billion for 2011-2012. The revised budget calls for $10.8 billion in solutions to bridge that deficit and create a $1.2 billion reserve.
The state’s lawmakers have until June 15 to approve a budget.
Aaida Samad is the lead higher education reporter.
MeMorial stadiUM
regents rescind retrofit approval
The ongoing legal battle surround-ing revisions to the building plans for the renovation and retrofit of Califor-nia Memorial Stadium continued at the May UC Board of Regents meeting this week, with a board committee and the board itself unanimously voting to partially rescind their previously ac-cepted stadium project approval.
On Nov. 29, 2010, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch is-sued an order that determined UC Berke-ley had improperly used an addendum to detail changes to the stadium renovation project, which included a 15,000-square-foot servicing and ticketing facility and a 546-spot parking structure located next to Maxwell Family Field.
Roesch ruled that the addendum — approved in January 2010 by the board — did not adequately analyze the environmental impacts of the pro-posed changes to the project and that the campus should not have updated the original environmental impact re-port through an addendum because it
By Katie Nelson | Senior [email protected]
did not follow California Environmen-tal Quality Act guidelines.
According to those guidelines, ma-jor changes in the building projects require a new Environmental Impact Report to be issued, and local resi-dents should be allowed to view and comment on the changes. Though the campus did make the addendum avail-able for public review, the court ruled the new analysis should have been pre-sented as a subsequent EIR.
While the campus eventually re-leased a subsequent EIR for the project in January and held a public hearing in February, the court requested March 25 that the campus provide further documentation of the changes made to the addendum because local groups, including Stand Up for Berkeley!, chal-lenged the legality of the addendum used to make changes to the project.
Though both parties approved the partial rescission of the board’s original approval at the meeting on Wednesday, no further decisions will be made until the regents reconvene in July.
“Construction continues apace and we are confident that as a result of this process, the Court’s concerns will be fully addressed without stopping or delaying
the construction activities that will fulfill our commitment to improve the seis-mic safety of the Stadium,” said campus spokesperson Dan Mogulof in an email.
According to UC spokesperson Steve Montiel, both the Committee on Grounds and Buildings and the board unanimous-ly approved to rescind some components of the January 2010 design approval. This includes the use of simulated crowd noise for temporarily relocated football practices at Witter Field and the con-struction and the use and occupancy of the Athletic Service Center — which will house gameday ticketing, loading, solid waste, service, recycling and minimal storage needs for the Student Athlete High Performance Center and the stadi-um project — and to set aside and vacate portions of the addendum until they can re-examine the issues in July.
At that time, Mogulof said in an email that according to the regents’ agenda item on the project, the subsequent EIR could be considered by the committee for certification along with a request for reapproval of the portions of the rescind-ed design approval and adoption — or re-adoption — of the CEQA findings.
Katie Nelson is an assistant news edi-tor.
UC Regents voted to partially rescind approval of Memorial Stadium’s renovation after its addendum was found to violate policies.simone anne lang/file
bUsiness
Pet shop may occupy planned GoodwillPet Food Express may open a store in a Solano Avenue space after Goodwill ceased negotiations about occupying the property.
anna vignet/senior staff
After failed negotiations with the landlord and resistance from the business community over the open-ing of a Goodwill store on Solano Avenue, plans are in the works to instead bring a Pet Food Express in its place.
The Goodwill Industries of the Greater East Bay store — which would have occupied a 5,000-square-foot property that was previously the World of Dance studio at 1831 Solano Ave. — ceased negotiations in March due to concerns over competition with existing businesses and logistical op-erations of general business. Pet Food Express, a locally owned and operated Bay Area chain that provides general pet food and pet care products, has yet to apply for a permit for the location but is currently negotiating with the landlord.
Though Goodwill received a city operating permit in July 2010, plans
By Anjuli Sastry | [email protected]
to move forward with business were compromised due to outside party re-sistance. In particular, Goodwill’s idea to tear down the dividing walls that would connect to an adjacent vacant space once occupied by Front Row Video, thereby increasing location size, was not well received, according to Allen Cain, executive director and events manager of the Solano Avenue Association.
“What is ultimately to blame are failed negotiations with the landlord, the concern of lower foot traffic on Solano Avenue and business commu-nity resistance,” Cain said. “Some mer-chants on the street, particularly on a three-block radius from the location, felt that Goodwill did not meet the boutique character of the east end of Solano Avenue.”
Goodwill representatives could not be reached for comment.
As for the prospective opening of a Pet Food Express, Co-Founder and President Michael Levy said that the business has to go through an approval process, which could take anywhere from three months to a year.
“We would definitely like to open a store on Solano, and on average it’s probably a three-month process or could be a lot longer,” Levy said. “My understanding of reception so far is that overall it’s very positive — our customers from the North Berkeley area would love for it to be closer to them.”
However, some merchants said they feel that though Pet Food Ex-press may be a good fit, Goodwill should have been better welcomed into the shopping district because it would have generated much needed revenue.
“It’s unfortunate that a store that was willing to spend $1 million couldn’t be more welcomed into the neighborhood — we don’t need more empty storefronts,” said Shelly Alva-rez, manager of the nearby gift store Greetings. “I will say that Pet Food Express will not be as nice as having Goodwill, but it will fit into the neigh-borhood since customers have lots of dogs and (the nearby pet shop) Pug-nacious Pet Provisions also gets a lot of business.”
This is not the time to delay or evade, this is the time to put our finances in order, and that’sprecisely what this May Revision intends to do.
—Jerry Brown,Governor
Place your Legals with us.The Daily Californian is an independent, student-
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Email our Legals Department at [email protected] or call 510-548-8300.
loCal sChools
School district may see smaller cuts
For the upcoming school year, the Berkeley Unified School District may be looking at its smallest budget cut in years, since Gov. Jerry Brown’s May revision of the state budget released Monday provides more money for K-12 education than local districts had earlier anticipated.
Over the past few weeks, the district has been considering multiple budget scenarios for the 2011-12 school year, the most drastic of which would have cut about $7 million from the district’s total budget of $100 million. In March, the district released a set of proposed reductions totaling nearly $4 million, which included a handful of furlough days and teacher layoffs, an increase in class sizes and more than $1 million worth of cuts to the Berkeley Adult School.
But the revision of the state budget that Brown presented this week, which takes into account an unexpected tax revenue surge of $6.6 billion for the state, provides an additional $3 billion for K-12 education over the proposed January state budget. According to district spokesperson Mark Coplan, the most likely fate for the district would be a total cut of $700,000. This would include slashing $225,000 from the adult school’s budget and also us-ing the Berkeley Schools Excellence
By Soumya KarlamanglaSenior [email protected]
Program — a fund generated by a spe-cial local tax passed by city voters in 1986 that helps keep district class sizes down — to cover a $475,000 expense previously paid from the district’s gen-eral fund.
This proposed cut of less than $1 million comes as a welcome change for the district. Over the past three years, the district has approved cuts totalling $12 million, and over the past seven, about $21 million have been cut, ac-cording to Coplan.
However, the economic future that Brown outlined this week is contin-gent upon extending a sales tax and vehicle license fee, which are set to ex-pire in June, for five years — a decision that would require a two-thirds major-ity vote from the state Legislature. But this poses a challenge for Brown, be-cause Republicans in the Legislature have historically opposed increasing taxes to fill the state’s budget hole.
“I’m not going to give the Republi-cans a road map to ruin,” Brown said at a press conference Monday follow-ing his presentation on the revision. “I’m going to give them a road map to success.”
While Brown did not say what his plan would be if the tax extensions do not go through, with the state’s $9.6 bil-lion deficit that he is looking to mend with $10.8 billion in cuts to generate some reserve funds as well as what he called the “wall of debt” — a mul-tibillion dollar debt caused by years of
deferring payments to the future — it would presumably mean much deeper cuts that would plunge public educa-tion into further financial troubles.
With this uncertainty, local school districts remain skeptical of the bright future for education that Brown paint-ed in the Monday press conference.
In the Oakland Unified School District, a cut of about $12 million seems most likely, according to district spokesperson Troy Flint. Although the information presented in the May re-vision comes as somewhat of a relief — the district had considered cutting $30 million this year, which would have followed the $122 million cut last year, according to Flint — he said the situation remains unclear because the tax extensions have not yet been ap-proved.
“There’s no guarantee,” he said. “The scenario has not changed that much. We’re pleased with what the report suggests, but whether that’s actually viable in the current political environ-ment still creates a lot of uncertainty in the budget.”
The state has until June 15 to approve a budget for the fiscal year, which begins July 1. The Berkeley Unified School District Board of Education will look over a proposed set of cuts based on the May revision at its meeting on May 25, according to Coplan. The board has until June 30 to approve a final budget based on the state’s final budget.
man arrested after allegedly breaking into southside home
A man was arrested Wednesday after allegedly breaking into a Southside home and barricading himself in another.
The approximately three-hour inci-dent began a few minutes before 7:00 a.m. Wednesday morning when a male resident reported a burglary under way inside his home in the 1300 block of Parker Street, Berkeley police Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said in an email. When Berkeley police officers arrived on scene, Kusmiss said in the email that the suspect was seen wielding a machete and a tree saw running as he away from the home.
According to Kusmiss, the suspect fled to another unit on Parker Street.
“The suspect then broke a pane of glass in the door to the unit, dove inside and was barricaded with two potentially deadly weapons,” Kusmiss said in the email.
Members of the Barricaded Suspect Hostage Negotiation Team were on duty and began attempting dialogue with the suspect, Kusmiss said in the email. At about 10:20 a.m., Kusmiss said in the
news in brief
city council votes to increase fees for marina boat dwellers
The Berkeley City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve an increase in fees for boat dwellers in the Berkeley Marina.
The increases include a 6 percent boost in berth fees plus a $20-per-month surcharge for houseboat owners, mean-ing some people will be paying about $700 per month to live in the marina — which is self-funded through revenues from berth fees and leases.
FROM FRONT
ReGents: UC hopes to shift focus to long-term solutions
beginning to surpass potential short-term solutions, said Patrick Lenz, the UC vice president for budget, in his presen-tation to the board. He said strategies to handle the $500 million in cuts include initiatives at both a campus and UC level to increase efficiency as well as outright cuts to programs and budgets.
A central idea that was emphasized at the meeting was shifting the focus from short-term solutions to exploring longer-term plans to mitigate the impact of the state’s inconsistent and rapidly declining funding for higher education.
“Everybody clearly is looking to-wards longer-term solutions,” said Regent Monica Lozano. “The idea of being buffeted around year after year ... the lack of predictability, the lack of stability is not good for the students, it’s not good for the families and it’s certainly not good for chancellors who are trying to plan ahead.”
Other regents said California is an “unreliable partner,” saying the state has declined to meet its commitment to fund higher education in recent years and that the UC has to plan accordingly. While UC Board of Regents Chair Rus-sell Gould said “healthy skepticism” was appropriate, Regent Richard Blum said his faith in the state was better charac-terized as “frigging disbelief.”
“I’m all in favor of you and the ad-ministration trying to come to an agreement with the state, but if you had one, why would you believe it?”
Blum said. “Once fooled, shame on you, twice fooled — we’re into tenth fooled ... I don’t want to discourage you from doing this, but I wouldn’t count on it for one night’s sleep.”
A potential long-term solution that was raised that generated much debate was differential tuition by campus — an idea that has stirred controversy in the weeks leading up to the meeting.
While some said that all options needed to be on the table, others cau-tioned that differential tuition would have a multitude of negative impacts on the university, including increasing counterproductive competition be-tween campuses and unequal qualities of education from campus to campus.
“At some point, if we start to say you’re getting a different product at a different campus, what we end up do-ing is we create an expectation that a higher price campus is better, and that expectation becomes a reality,” said Daniel Simmons, chair of the UC sys-temwide Academic Senate.
In light of the potential increases to tu-ition, improvements to financial aid were also discussed at the meeting. Proposals included increasing access for students at all income levels by raising the income ceiling for financial aid eligibility.
“We’re trying very, very hard to build on what I think is a great legacy at the University of California — admitting low and middle-income students,” Yu-dof said.
A contingency plan for the potential $1 billion in cuts outlined in Brown’s budget summary for the UC was not presented at the meeting. According to Nathan Brostrom, the UC executive vice president for business operations, this was due to the fact that campuses are at the limit for the cuts they can handle, and additional decreases in funding would require inevitable increases in tuition to counter the cuts.
“Essentially, what we have said is that our campuses have taken all that they can absorbing the current $500 million, so if we were to look at an ad-ditional $500 million we would have to look at replacing that largely ... with tu-ition increases,” he said. “The numbers are very scary once you go beyond this.”
However, Yudof said in the event that an all-cuts budget is passed, the UC will have to struggle to fill the gap in a short period of time using a bridging strategy and a 32 percent midyear fee increase the board would have to approve.
“We’ve looked at the numbers until we were blue in the face,” he said regard-ing the potential fee increases should an all-cuts budget pass. “We’ve enrolled the students we’ve enrolled, we’ve hired the faculty we’ve hired, we have promises to keep ... and we have pasted together a strategy for the fall that we will present to the board for consideration which will have a fee increase in January.”
Damian Ortellado and Aaida Sa-mad cover higher education.
email that the suspect — identified as Kamal Abdul Khalid — agreed to exit.
As of press time, members of the Berkeley Fire Department had trans-ported Khalid to an emergency room for assessment and to be deemed “fit for incarceration,” upon which he will be booked for residential burglary, accord-ing to Kusmiss.
No community members were injured during the incident, though Kusmiss said in the email that Khalid and the officers did sustain some cuts.
— J.D. Morris
According to the proposal, berth fees are the single largest source of revenue for the marina, followed by licenses and leases, which cannot be changed until at least 2014. The increase in berth fees will contribute $188,800 in new annual revenue and the $20 surcharge will offset $3,120 of an annual $3,600 fee the marina pays in sewer fees, accord-ing to the proposal.
However, many residents of the marina have expressed concern over the increasing fees, which have nearly dou-bled over the last 10 years in part due to the fact that houseboats are not subject to the city’s rent control laws, which govern changes to existing rent levels.
Marina resident Roger Boyvey, who has lived on his houseboat since 1967, told the San Francisco Chronicle that if houseboats were subject to rent con-trol laws, fees would have increased by only 18 percent over the past 10 years, as opposed to the 94 percent he calcu-lates that they have.
In 2001, the monthly base berth rate per foot for berths 25 to 29 feet was $5. Under the new fee rates, the price for the same size will be $8.20.
— Allie Bidwell
As the open-ended summer adventures begin — the kind involving late-night road-trips
and crackling campfires – Ben Harper’s Give Till It’s Gone provides a crisp soundtrack for those sunset shenani-gans. His first solo album in five years, Give Till It’s Gone continues Harper’s harmonious blend of funk lines, flow-ing jam-rock and soulful ballads with a fresh splash of overdrive thrown in that makes each track go down smoothly. With members of Relentless7 as part of his backing band, Harper gives this album a more bluesy vibe, as the electric six-string plays a more domi-nant role here than in his past solo efforts. Fans will be happy to hear that the elements of a Harper album are still in place. His ballads and chord progressions can be found throughout the album as Harper’s vocals inter-weave through each track from raging screams to intimate falsettos. Harper’s varying vocal range brings to life the emotions that run thick throughout the album. Tracks such as “I Will Not Be Broken” exude raw feel-ings through fervid guitar strums. On the other end of the spectrum, “Rock N’ Roll Is Free” shows an unfettered Harper wailing on his guitar, barraging listeners with screeching solos as his band locks in the rhythm on Harper’s usual genre-mixing course. Whether it’s his recent marital prob-lems, his time spent with Relentless7 or something else entirely, Harper has brought an edginess to his latest solo album that refuses to go down quietly. Give Till It’s Gone showcases Harper’s heavier sound as a welcoming addition to his melodious grooves. The distor-tion is a slight departure from Harper’s regular solo material, but it’s one that complements his traditional style with a fresh, punchy attitude.
—Ian Birnam
Ben harpergive till it’s gone
[virgin records]
Cd reviews
British rapper Tinie Tempah (real name: Patrick Okogwu) defi-nitely looks the part of a hip-
hop superstar. He rocks the dark-shade swagger of a Jay-Z, has the innovative lyrical flow of a Kanye West, but also exudes the nerd chic of a Lupe Fiasco. He’s all these things rolled into one and in his newest album, Disc-Overy (released in the U.S. for the first time), there seems a style for everyone’s taste. He’s a rapper who is fairly accessible even for those who aren’t avid followers of hip-hop. Tracks like “Written in the Stars” (feat. Eric Turner) or “Pass Out,” with their catchy hooks, bass-busting beats and polished production, are hits with mass appeal. Tinie Tempah’s var-ied collaborations, ranging from royal favorite Ellie Goulding to Kelly Rowland, are a testament to his eclec-tic tastes. “Till I’m Gone,” a collabora-tion with the “Black and Yellow” brag-gart Wiz Khalifa, is sure to become a dance club classic with its over-amped synth while “Illusion” features a more stripped-down, lyrically complex track. Disc-Overy is all over the place and while Tempah’s experimentation with genre is exciting, it’s also problematic. Though songs like “Written in the Stars” and “Pass Out” are sure to be hits, the disparity between the two’s styles become emblematic of Disc-Overy’s split personality. The former is a piano-driven ballad while the latter is an electronic haven. One invokes indie cred with a Massive Attack name-drop, while the other boasts about bitches and champ. It’s a puzzling dichotomy. And although Tempah’s lyrics can often be humorous and surprisingly geeky (“I wish that I could be in Narnia”), his unique voice becomes lost in his collab-orations. Disc-Overy, while an impres-sive introduction, lacks a mature, indi-vidual style.
—Jessica Pena
tinie tempahdisc-overy[Parlophone]
William Scott’s “Girlfriend is Back (Donna King)” is one of the many skilled pieces. Berkeley art museum/courtesy
FROM PAgE 6
cReAte: BAM’s latest exhibit displays an expansive array of artistic talents
gestures. We can see straight through their bodies as if through X-ray. But not all the artists stick to the canvas. Judith Scott’s wrapped sculp-tures bring 3-D texture to the exhibit. These mixed media cocoons ordinary objects like a chair or a tire in varie-gated string, scarves, high heels and broken Christmas lights, to name a few. Scott’s sculptures are like pack-ages from a living, breathing junk-yard, where stuff begets more stuff. There’s nothing derivative about these works. Still, anytime we look at art, we can’t help but think of what we’ve seen before. Though Mullen
looks something like Matisse, and Belknap perhaps like Lee Krasner, it’s hard to say if these artists knew the canon at all. Free from the archaic forms of institution that ended in the ’70s, these savants made their work in Bay Area centers where develop-mental disability is never a hin-drance. And it’s certainly not a hin-drance at the CREATE exhibit. Through these numerous visionary paintings, sculptures and art objects, we can see artists seeing the world as no one has, and that is phenomeno-logically and phenomenally, as if for the first time.
The Daily Californian 5 News & ARTs & eNTeRTAiNMeNTThursday, May 19, 2011 - Sunday, May 22, 2011
6 arts & entertainment & legals Thursday, May 19, 2011 - Sunday, May 22, 2011The Daily Californian
Arts & Books
Bertha Otaya’s “Serpiente” is an example of the eclectic and aesthetically stunning works from over 20 disabled artists. berkeley art museum/courtesy
Fear is like this: Someone like a woman that you grab ahold of her hand and going down the
escalator when of a sudden you hap-pens to be holding a stranger hand not realizing that she isn’t your moth-er is scary.” This is just one of the many fears in Michael Bernard Loggins’ wall-sized list-art “Fears of Your Life,” one of the highlights of CREATE, the Berkeley Art Museum’s new exhibit running until September 25. Despite a devel-opmental disability, a condition all the showcased artists share, Loggins taps into a universal feeling that we all understand but don’t know how to express, distilling it into a chicken scratch manifesto. This is the frame of mind that CREATE primes you to
BAM exhibit creates visual wonder from unlikely sourcesBy Ryan Lattanzio | Senior [email protected]
enter. This startling, strange and entirely mesmerizing new exhibit culls from three of the nation’s leading centers for artists with disabilities, all located in the Bay Area. Featuring the work of 20 artists from San Francisco’s Creativity Explored, Oakland’s Creative Growth Art Center and Richmond’s National Institute of Art and Disabilities, CREATE displays the development of disabled minds in medias res. These are artists perpetu-ally coping with the world, and such ontological labor finds its place in the BAM. A couch with stuffed animals and balls of yarn sewn to its arms is the exhibit’s preamble. It is as colorful as a bowl of Fruity Pebbles. This kitschy, almost alien attachment of inanimate objects to a piece of furniture we’d otherwise never notice captures the spirit of CREATE, where the ordinary is colorfully turned on its head.
And, wow, there is color here. The paintings of Mary Belknap, whose sprawling technicolor mosaics are as enticing to the eye as an optical illu-sion, contain spectral bands of hues that seem inclined to drip out of the canvas. Marlon Mullen’s paintings have a similar physicality, where lay-ers of paint create an embossed effect. The watercolors of Aurie Ramirez, at once feminist and feminine, look like David Lynch’s lost prototypes. Ramirez, whose paintings are all called “Untitled,” uses the iconography of Venetian masking and macabre doll faces (think KISS) to imagine a world of camp and pretty cadavers. Equally disturbing and icono-graphic are Dwight Mackintosh’s felt pen frenzies, which subvert ordinary notions of anatomy drawings. “Untitled” shows a trio of bushy-haired men making masturbatory
create: PaGe 5
FICTITIOUS BUSINESSNAME STATEMENT
FILE NO. 450865The name of the business: SA Artisan Foods Company, street address 2018 9th Street #F, Berkeley, CA 94710, mailing address 2018 9th Street #F, Berkeley, CA 94710 is hereby registered by the following owners: Diane S. Lee, 2018 9th Street #F, Berkeley, CA 94710.This business is conducted by an Individual.This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Alameda County on April 22, 2011.SA Artisan Foods CompanyPublish: 4/28, 5/5/, 5/12, 5/19/11
FICTITIOUS BUSINESSNAME STATEMENT
FILE NO. 450669The name of the business: Café Platano Partnership, street address 2042 University Ave., Berkeley, CA 94704, mailing address 2042 University Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704
is hereby registered by the following owners: Nicolas A. Sanchez, 1460 Jones Ln., Tracy, CA 95377 and Juan F. Sanchez, 1390 Jones Ln., Tracy, CA 95377.This business is conducted by a General Partnership.This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Alameda County on April 19, 2011.Café Platano Partnership Publish: 5/5, 5/12, 5/19, 5/26/11
FICTITIOUS BUSINESSNAME STATEMENT
FILE NO. 450548The name of the business: Pranic Connection, street address 6114 La Salle Ave #297, Oakland, CA 94611, mailing address 6114 La Salle Ave #297, Oakland, CA 94611 is hereby registered by the following owners: Kelly Ann Coxe, 6114 La Salle Ave #297, Oakland, CA 94611.This business is conducted by an Individual.The registrant began to transact
business under the fictitious busi-ness name listed above on 8/30/2010.This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Alameda County on April 15, 2011.Pranic ConnectionPublish: 5/5, 5/12, 5/19, 5/26/11
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF:
HERMAN MATHIS THOMASCASE NO. RP11574048
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both of Herman Mathis Thomas.A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by Linda H. White in the Superior Court of California, County of ALAMEDA.THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that Linda H. White be appointed as personal representa-tive to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests the dece-dent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for exami-nation in the file kept by the court.THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking cer-tain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent adminis-tration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: Jun 6, 2011 at 9:30AM in Dept. 201 locat-ed at 2120 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley, CA 94704.
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objec-tions or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the per-sonal representative appointed by the court within four months from the date of first issuance of letters as provided in Probate Code section 9100. The time for filing claims will not expire before four months from the hearing date noticed above.YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person inter-ested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code Section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court
clerk.Attorney for PetitionerDuane M. Leonard1936 University Avenue, Suite 380Berkeley, CA 94704Publish: 5/12, 5/16, 5/19/2011
NOTICE OF APPLICATION TO SELL ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
To Whom It May Concern:The Name(s) of the Applicant(s) is/are:Ta Krai Hom IncThe applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to sell alcoholic beverages at:1453 Dwight WayBerkeley, CA 94702-2156Type of license(s) applied for:41 – On-Sale Beer and Wine – Eating PlaceDate of Filing Application: May 9, 2011
Publish: 5/19/11
5-31-11
The Daily Californian 7arts & EntErtainmEntThursday, May 19, 2011 - Sunday, May 22, 2011
theater
‘As You Like It’reinvents the classic
Duke Senior (Brian Clark Jansen), Jacques (Gregory Wallace) and William (Shinelle Azoroh) light up the stage with their wit.AmericAn conservAtory theAter/courtesy
The title of Shakespeare’s popular comedy “As You Like It,” practi-cally begs you to well, like it.
And it’s hard not to appreciate a play that’s as frivolous and fun as Shake-speare’s manic masterpiece. There’s cross-dressing, whimsical songs, puns, poetry and wrestling. It has everything a theater-goer could love, plus there’s mention of deer-meat. The Ameri-can Conservatory Theater’s latest production manages to exude all of the exuberance that made this play a classic while maintaining a fresh and playful perspective.
Playing at the Zeum Theater, located adjacent to San Francisco’s Children’s Museum, the location already lends this production a youth-ful flair. In addition, this is A.C.T.’s latest showcase for its Masters of Fine Arts class of 2011, a group of refresh-ing faces befitting a play already filled with the follies of the young. After her father, Duke Senior, is banished by his younger brother (Duke Fred-erick), rosy-cheeked Rosalind and her cousin Celia flee to the magical Forest of Arden where love, music and gender lines merge. Rosalind has fallen for the winsome Orlando, but she’s disguised herself as the pageboy Ganymede. All the while, mistaken
By Jessica Pena | [email protected]
identities flourish as romantic en-tanglements ensue. It’s a complex plot, but one that is made easily accessible in this production.
When Rosalind first encounters the dashing Orlando, he is set to wrestle a minion of Duke Frederick. Only, in-stead of Elizabethan neck ruffles and fisticuffs, we get a tattooed vagrant in a Mexican wrestler’s mask. It’s slight off-putting at first, but director Mark Rucker’s production can have that effect. Instead of the traditional route, he’s gone rogue and the result is an exciting new spin. Rosalind dons a a Victorian dress in once scene while her father does his best Davy Crockett impression (fringed coat and all) in the next. There’s a definitive sense of anarchy in the costume decisions, but even though it’s initially unsettling, the oddball ruffles of Rosalind or the feather headdresses make sense in a play all about rule-breaking.
This may be why the first act feels stilted and slightly stale. The beginning of “As You Like It” is set entirely within the grim court of Duke Frederick. He’s usurped the crown so the feeling is bound to be a little tense. But it doesn’t help that the actors overly-enunciate their dialogue and the staged fights feel stodgy. However, once the curtain falls and we, like Ro-salind and Celia, flee from the icy con-fines of the court, the Forest of Arden welcomes us with warmth, joy and a lively lawlessness. Instead of the dour,
minimalist set of the first act, we get a knitted wonderland where trees are fashioned like quilts out of patch-work fabrics. And in lieu of stony facades, the actors freely dance about the stage, revel in delightful musical interludes and dabble in masterful games of wit. It’s in the relaxed and liberating atmosphere of Arden where A.C.T’s “As
American Conservatory Theater’s Master of Fine Arts class offers a fresh take on one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies.
You Like It” truly shines. Max Rosenak (Orlando) and Ashley Wickett (Rosalind/Ganymede) have a fiery chemistry in addition to an already colorful set of characters including a sarcastic Touchstone the clown and the melancholic, but wise Jacques. Played by A.C.T’s seasoned, core members Anthony Fusco (Touchstone) and
Gregory Wallace (Jacques), their impeccable timing and amusing asides occasionally outshine the others. But instead of diminishing the other cast member’s talent, their inclusion only enhances an already sterling ensemble. Funny, touching and wildly creative, A.C.T.’s production of “As You Like It” lives up to its name and then some.
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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
# 13
HARD # 13
3 6 96 7 1
3 4 78 3
4 8 96 1
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#4764
ACROSS 1. Middle Easterner 5. Heeds
one!s alarm10. __ question; query14. Ancestral knowledge15. Happening16. Luau dishes17. Place of exile18. Virginia seaport20. 4121. Speaker who puts you to sleep22. Lane23. Linger25. Nothing26. Lady of the Evening28. Peach and orange31. __ apple32. Ground covering34. Old French coin36. Deteriorates37. Breathing38. Biblical book39. Major-leaguer40. Proverb41. Single42. Obliterated44. Slips45. Soldiers, for short46. Portable shelter47. Word with bed or in50. Envy and sloth51. Drink like Rover54. Reductions57. In addition58. Barn resident59. Nimble60. Rose, for one61. White-tailed eagles62. Prominent63. Make corrections to
10. Deity who exemplifies
manly youth11. Spirit12. Windy day item13. Pallid19. Puts a letter in the box21. Abbr. after Smith or Marx24. Charity25. Schnozzola26. Musical instrument27. Love greatly28. Ancient abode29. Did major work
on one!s house30. Biscuit!s cousin32. Gratified33. Sail arrangement35. Takes advantage of37. Summer drinks38. “I cannot tell __.”40. On the shelf41. “Heidi” setting43. Marbles44. Felt46. Book spine info47. Identical
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
DOWN 1. “Jeopardy!” host 2. Bakery purchase 3. Go-between 4. __ Arthur 5. Formal account 6. Piano key material 7. Parched 8. Suffix for correspond
or transcend 9. Ambrose & Anthony: abbr.
48. Ski lift49. Make50. In a __; sore52. City in Italy53. Byron or Tennyson55. “Wow!”56. Conceited one!s focus57. Act like
ANSWER TO #1067
E
T A B B A T S C L A Y S
W I D E A B E T H O U S E
I D O L N I N A A S T E R
T A B L E T E N N I S O R
S L E E V E D R E A M
E R G O O R N A T E
A L T R M A N N I T A L
B U R L T A T A S O I L S
A S E A O N E R U N C L E
S T A T E R R Y A N
D E N S E L I B R A S
E
T O M C O N S T I T U E N T
A M I N O T O R E R I T E
P O L A R E R I N S N I P
S O L V E R E P S A S S
Answer to Previous Puzzle
1. Middle Easterner5. Heeds one’s alarm10. __ question; query14. Ancestral knowledge15. Happening16. Luau dishes17. Place of exile18. Virginia seaport20. 4121. Speaker who puts you to sleep22. Lane23. Linger25. Nothing26. Lady of the Evening28. Peach and orange31. __ apple32. Ground covering34. Old French coin36. Deteriorates37. Breathing38. Biblical book39. Major-leaguer40. Proverb41. Single42. Obliterated44. Slips45. Soldiers, for short46. Portable shelter47. Word with bed or in50. Envy and sloth51. Drink like Rover54. Reductions57. In addition58. Barn resident59. Nimble60. Rose, for one61. White-tailed eagles62. Prominent63. Make corrections to
1. “Jeopardy!” host2. Bakery purchase3. Go-between4. __ Arthur5. Formal account6. Piano key material7. Parched8. Su�x for correspond or transcend9. Ambrose & Anthony: abbr.
10. Deity who exempli�es manly youth11. Spirit12. Windy day item13. Pallid19. Puts a letter in the box21. Abbr. after Smith or Marx24. Charity25. Schnozzola26. Musical instrument27. Love greatly28. Ancient abode
29. Did major work on one’s house30. Biscuit’s cousin32. Grati�ed33. Sail arrangement35. Takes advantage of37. Summer drinks38. “I cannot tell __.”40. On the shelf41. “Heidi” setting43. Marbles44. Felt
46. Book spine info47. Identical48. Ski lift49. Make50. In a __; sore52. City in Italy53. Byron or Tennyson55. “Wow!”56. Conceited one’s focus57. Act like
# 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#4764
ACROSS 1. Middle Easterner 5. Heeds
one!s alarm10. __ question; query14. Ancestral knowledge15. Happening16. Luau dishes17. Place of exile18. Virginia seaport20. 4121. Speaker who puts you to sleep22. Lane23. Linger25. Nothing26. Lady of the Evening28. Peach and orange31. __ apple32. Ground covering34. Old French coin36. Deteriorates37. Breathing38. Biblical book39. Major-leaguer40. Proverb41. Single42. Obliterated44. Slips45. Soldiers, for short46. Portable shelter47. Word with bed or in50. Envy and sloth51. Drink like Rover54. Reductions57. In addition58. Barn resident59. Nimble60. Rose, for one61. White-tailed eagles62. Prominent63. Make corrections to
10. Deity who exemplifies
manly youth11. Spirit12. Windy day item13. Pallid19. Puts a letter in the box21. Abbr. after Smith or Marx24. Charity25. Schnozzola26. Musical instrument27. Love greatly28. Ancient abode29. Did major work
on one!s house30. Biscuit!s cousin32. Gratified33. Sail arrangement35. Takes advantage of37. Summer drinks38. “I cannot tell __.”40. On the shelf41. “Heidi” setting43. Marbles44. Felt46. Book spine info47. Identical
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
DOWN 1. “Jeopardy!” host 2. Bakery purchase 3. Go-between 4. __ Arthur 5. Formal account 6. Piano key material 7. Parched 8. Suffix for correspond
or transcend 9. Ambrose & Anthony: abbr.
48. Ski lift49. Make50. In a __; sore52. City in Italy53. Byron or Tennyson55. “Wow!”56. Conceited one!s focus57. Act like
ANSWER TO #1067
E
T A B B A T S C L A Y S
W I D E A B E T H O U S E
I D O L N I N A A S T E R
T A B L E T E N N I S O R
S L E E V E D R E A M
E R G O O R N A T E
A L T R M A N N I T A L
B U R L T A T A S O I L S
A S E A O N E R U N C L E
S T A T E R R Y A N
D E N S E L I B R A S
E
T O M C O N S T I T U E N T
A M I N O T O R E R I T E
P O L A R E R I N S N I P
S O L V E R E P S A S S
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
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Email our Legals Department at [email protected] or call 510-548-8300.
A&E “I read your diary. At first, I didn’t know it was your diary. I thought it was a very sad, handwritten book.”
—Annie’s roommate, “Bridesmaids”
Thursday, May 19, 2011 - Sunday, May 22, 2011
film
Chick flick and dick flick have spawned an unlikely progeny: With Paul Feig’s “Bridesmaids,” the trappings of the typi-
cal female-geared genre (you know, weddings and women) and dude-oriented entertainment (bodily fluids) merge to produce a movie that, in its execution, is much more than the sum of its parts. Paul Feig’s latest directorial effort — written by Annie Mumalo and Saturday Night Live’s Kristen Wiig — frames the female character in a mocking yet serious light, with empathetic underpinnings. Wiig softens the typically unforgiving archetype of the lonely 30-some-thing spinster as Annie, a failed cake-shop entrepreneur whose easygoing charm offsets a dampened sense of self-worth. After the engagement of best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph), Annie is appointed maid of honor and head of the motley bridal crew. Fumbling in a league more suitable for the prettier, richer, more capable Helen (Rose Byrne) — a member of the bridal party and rival for Lillian’s bestfriendship — Annie finds herself overwhelmed and slowly pushed into irrelevancy. She’s woefully unimpressive in light of Helen’s daunting skill set (the competi-tion picked up Thai while on vacation), and the wedding preparations lie in wait of a Helen-instigated siege. The plot itself isn’t anything novel, and the guiding maxim for the film is predictable: Things get worse before they get better. Subject to a particularly bad brand of luck, Annie is perpetually shifted to the periphery. Her temporary roommate kicks her to the curb, while an attractive jackass shoves her out of the conjugal bed. You’ve already come to
By Liz Mak | Senior [email protected]
believe that no one’s quite as unlucky as Annie by the time she gets shunted out of the wed-ding by Lillian herself. The pitiful trajectory of her life can be linked to one understated detail — she lives in Milwaukee (that’s in Wisconsin). If you’ve seen the trailer — largely com-posed of takes not included in the film — it’s easy to confuse “Bridesmaids” for an on-the-road movie chronicling the stresses of organiz-ing a bridal shower. And while the wedding activity propels the film (must … get to … wedding scene), the plot structure is one of the least notable qualities of a work more largely concerned with detours and indulgenc-es. These are asides that add little to plot com-plications and more to the film’s overall tone and atmosphere. It’s interesting to note that “Bridesmaids” — “the new Apatow flick” — was marketed as the work of its producer, bro-film ambassador Judd Apatow, though it’s largely the product of (more capable) female hands and one Paul Feig (of “Freaks and Geeks” fame). Apatow is receiving a lot of the credit for a film that, though it admittedly has its footing in the rudiments of his own pictures, far exceeds the limitations that his have set. “Bridesmaids” has its fair share of the “dude” prerequisites: Akin to the groan-induc-ing groin-blow, there’s the tit-hit, and bodily functions supply their fair share of laughs. Melissa McCarthy’s Megan, too, channels an atypical femininity that lends itself to fart jokes and physical aggression. With a largely absent male cast, it’s a natural inclination to question whether the female-oriented film can exist without a typcially masculine presence. But it’s also a great leap forward for the chick flick to include women who can just as uncon-ventional and divergent as those in the film. And while the dude-crude humor and
devices fluctuate between the subtle and over-wrought, “Bridesmaids” has managed to craft a constantly undulating tone, flexible in its range. From SNL-derived mumbling rambles to slapstick and gross-out humor, the film manages to go too far without losing the view-er’s faith and willingness to suspend belief and be swept along with the movie: Even its partic-ularly theatrical (and hilarious) bridal shower scene succeeds as Annie’s motivations remain emotionally relevant and true. There’s an undercurrent of compassion that pervades “Bridesmaids” which airs out the grievances of women concerned with their friendships and insecurities more than getting the guy (who, in a great boon to authenticity, is attractive for personality first). For all the high drama, it’s an incredibly realistic film if only for its dialogue and dynamics, unmarred (but for one intentional exception) by an understat-ed soundtrack. Annie’s relationship with Lillian is one of the most convincing — and extremeley watchable — in recent romantic comedies, distinctive for a believable vulnera-bility and solicitude that strikes a personal chord. As for Annie, viewers won’t root for her out of pity but because they’ve been in her shoes before. “Bridesmaids” is a women’s film for a more general audience, and with the recent release of other witty, unconventional comedies to the tune of “Easy A,” it heralds the slow-but-sure transition to bucking the formula. Here, get-ting the guy is an aside. It’s not the driving motivation for characters who sidestep the rut of convention into which female characters usually (prat)fall. Wiig and Mumalo have added meat to the bare-bones romcom female profile, scripting women whose ambition is self-generated and geared towards their own self-improvement, not anyone else’s. Their women are women of the flesh.
WOMEN
O
NTHEVERGE
Univ
ersa
l pi
ctUr
es/c
oUrt
esy
