Letters for the week of August 11-17, 2004

“Maison des Animaux,” Bottom Feeder, 7/14

We’re listening
As a Cal student currently living at the Chateau, I would like to point out our house’s determined commitment to maintain an affordable housing option for students, provide a setting for study, and to be a part of the community in a more open way than is offered by the institutionalism of the dorms or the social atomization of an apartment. That said, we recognize that there is much we can do to be better neighbors and provide a more ideal study environment.

To those ends, over the past few months, we have enacted a sweeping series of reforms, including a system of noise restrictions enforced by a firm system of fines; renovations to our carriage house to create a study area insulated from noise; and outreach efforts aimed at establishing a dialogue with our neighbors and the surrounding community.

As someone who shares George Lewinski’s desire for a quiet life, I would like to say our house is a place where any student can indeed find that, and all of our members are committed to living with our neighbors as a mutually respectful community.
Ian Latta, Chateau board representative, USCA board of directors

Solving the wrong problem
Besides using an overly sensational tagline, you neglected a portion of the co-op’s history which is equally as important as its troubles. As a publication whose primary focus is on local music, why didn’t you investigate how many bands got a start playing at Le Chateau and co-ops in general? Additionally, the Chateau’s albeit rundown exterior is not nearly the eyesore or danger that People’s Park is. For more than thirty years, three acres of university-owned land has sat vacant (just two blocks down from Chateau and its neighbors) while homeless people squat openly and do drugs in the park. What kind of park is it when most students don’t even use it? UC Berkeley can’t afford to shut down existing housing given the shortage and the rising cost of tuition that makes the USCA so appealing. Chateau’s neighbors need to understand that they are essentially living within a college. For this situation to work, compromise is needed on both sides. And the university needs to find a solution once and for all for the park.
Rachel Smith, Berkeley

Another world
Regarding your article about the housing co-op: I lived in the co-ops during WWII. We were all from working-class families, in many cases the first members of our families to go to college. Wild parties and disturbing our neighbors didn’t happen. We were all too poor and hardworking — desperate to make it.

We were one of the few — maybe the only — housing groups that had black students in those days, and we welcomed Japanese-American students when they got out of the US concentration camps. What a sad, sad difference between that time and this.
Nancy Ward, Berkeley

Vitamins or surgery?
William B. Grant, Ph.D, offers dangerous advice when he encourages readers to keep tanning in order to avoid Vitamin D deficiency. He claims that melanoma strikes those with a history of frequent sunburns, fair skin, freckles, numerous moles, a poor diet, and heavy alcohol use. The truth is that anyone is at risk of skin cancer these days as the environment becomes more and more degraded.

Two of my friends developed melanoma — both women in their thirties with dark skin that doesn’t burn, no freckles, few moles, and a healthy diet and lifestyle. If readers are worried about a Vitamin D deficiency (which generally affects dark skinned people of color), take a vitamin supplement. It’s a lot easier than having a big chunk of your flesh carved out.
Stacy Taylor, El Cerrito

The process does work
Wal-Mart is a brand destination that is not likely to go away. They know that, and eventually people in the class-action suit will appreciate their staying power as an unusually effective corporation. So what happens? Likely, as on Wall Street, Wal-Mart will go through initial proceedings and then settle.

What is gained? Some compensation for litigants. Wal-Mart will pay for litigants’ attorney expenses. And some corrective measures will be taken to eradicate the old boys’ work culture. And all in all, that is good, right?

I liked the care taken by the writer. I look forward to following the story.
Hank Maiden, Sequim, Washington

“Rethinking the Media Monopoly,” Feature, 7/7

Actually, book review
Cover story or book review? While I appreciated Will Harper’s review of Ben Bagdikian’s new, or newly revised, book, Mr. Harper falls far short of answering the question posed in the headline, “Has shrinking ownership of mass news outlets really limited our choices?” This was a perfect opportunity to delve into a very important social quandary. Instead Mr. Harper did what he accused Mr. Bagdikian of doing, that being simply repeating what others have said and not researching the issue in question.

I am left still wondering and researching for myself what these consolidations have done to our social conscience and our very democracy. Maybe Mr. Harper should write book reviews, as he did a very thorough job of reviewing this one, and perhaps the Express should assign an investigative reporter to address a very real issue that really is deserving of a cover story.
Eric Dziedzic, Oakland

How much proof do you need?
Will Harper’s piece on the so-called Media Monopoly was great — well researched and fearless — but the resulting letters to the Express may have done an even better job of proving his point than the article itself.

“Americans love a good conspiracy, and they love to think of themselves as fighting that conspiracy,” Harper wrote. And so it was. At midsummer, Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 had grossed $103 million, liberal radio network Air America was on in more than a dozen cities and on two satellite systems, and left-wing Internet pamphleteers were at the Democratic National Convention. TV critics had just named a basic-cable comedy show the best news program of the season, a Web site raised $10 million for homemade anti-Bush commercials, and Al Gore and his friends were preparing their own TV channel.

And Bay Area liberals were flooding the Express with letters about the homogenous, uncritical, right-tilting media.

If media like the Express weren’t engaged in a massive conspiracy to cover up the truth behind Florida and Iraq, then the Democratic Party, Green Party, and demagogues of all stripes might share some blame for the mess we’re in, and that simply cannot be.
Ryan Tate, Berkeley

The masked rider
Thanks to Craig D. Lindsey for his article on black fans of the Canadian rock group Rush. As one myself, I must say that another reason I love them (besides the pure perfection of Subdivisions) is the fact that Neal Peart has been open, brave, and humble enough to travel to Africa and learn from (and share with) master drummers there. He authored a book about his travels a few years ago titled The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa. This kind of willingness to step outside of his comfort zone is another reason Rush is one of my favorite groups.

Greg Markham, San Leandro

Another global yokel for peace
I’m writing to commend you on j. poet’s excellent article on world-music icon Youssou N’Dour, whose expressive vocal gymnastics have long enthralled me.

In light of the anti-Arab sentiment that swept the world after 9/11, it takes a special courage on Mr. N’Dour’s part to record songs that sing the praises of Allah and Islam, and perhaps even greater courage on Mr. poet’s part to offer such a thoughtful, in-depth review of Mr. N’Dour’s work.

We live in suspicious times, during which world musicians are finding it increasingly difficult to enter the United States to present their art. Many are now unable to get visas, depriving Americans of the great variety and unique artistry that music from the world’s “four corners” can offer.

Let us reopen our cultural borders. Let us become “global yokels” — for while the world may be a dangerous place, its varied cultures can offer musical riches of exquisite beauty.
Stephen Taylor, Berkeley

Seattle rethinks bulky trash day
One of my staff gave me a copy of your article on the demise of bulky trash day in the Bay Area. I found it quite interesting.

Several years back, the city of Seattle went away from these bulky trash days for some of the same reasons cited in the article. The next step we took was for residents to bring trash to a central area in their neighborhood (usually a school parking lot). We did this for a few years until costs to transfer these materials got too high and the private haulers were a bit unreliable.

So, we again tried something different. Our goal was to find a way to prevent all the good stuff from going into the dump. What we do now is offer residents a program we call Use It Again, Seattle. The premise of the event offers an easy way for neighbors to freely exchange items that would otherwise go into the dump or trash or stay hidden away in attics or garages.

Here is how it works (simple version). The city secures a site in various neighborhoods each spring (May-June) — we did nine in 2004. Typically, we use school parking lots or similar locations, and we do this on a Saturday. We then send out fliers to folks in the surrounding geographic area promoting the event and ask them to tell their neighbors. The fliers ask residents to bring ONLY usable household items that others might want. Do not bring trash or hazardous materials. We then set up a receiving line where the folks come and take the items out of vehicles, stack them away, and — here comes the kicker — we AUCTION off the best stuff. City workers provide traffic control, assist residents, and keep it all going smoothly.

The auction is conducted by city staff who display the item, ask how many folks want it, and select a number to begin the “lottery” process. Once we have the secret number, we then ask residents interested in the item to guess the number. If they guess correctly, the stuff is theirs — FOR FREE. They are required to take the item immediately to their own vehicle.

On average we get between 350 to 450 vehicles coming to these events. I am still getting figures sorted for 2004, but my guess is that between 60 and 70-plus percent of the stuff is freely exchanged. We do have some professional (flea-market) types come out to the event, but they are treated equal to others. We do not allow those under eighteen to bid on the items. (You can only imagine the advantage you have if you have a family of eight or nine bidding on the items.) Of the stuff left at the end of the day, we recycle as much as possible. We also have a deal with a nonprofit to take all clothing donated — we do not allow the residents to bid on these items. I do not recall us having much of a push from the artistic community at these events.

The community loves the program. We added a similar program for the universities in the Seattle area this year. It went well, but we are looking for ways to improve this next year.

If you want to know more about the program, give Tom Gannon of my staff a call. He is the head mastermind of this effort and knows all the gory details of what works and does not work.
J. Vic Roberson, manager, Seattle Public Utilities, Seattle, Washington

Correction
In our July 28 Food Fetish column about using urine to fertilize your garden (“Where the ‘Gold’ Is Yucky”), we misidentified the woman who conducted the seminar. Her name is Carol Steinfeld, and she is the author of Liquid Gold: The Lore & Logic of Using Urine to Grow Plants.