Palo Alto Weekly 10.14.2011 - section 1 by Palo Alto Weekly

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Spectrum 14 Movies 31 Eating Out 34 Title Pages 36 Home 49 Puzzles 65 N News Locals mount Occupy Wall Street protest

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N Arts U.N. ﬁlms highlight educational struggles

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N Sports A jewel for Stanford women’s soccer

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Upfront

Local news, information and analysis

Locals mount Occupy Wall Street protest Palo Alto residents voice solidarity with New York City movement by Sue Dremann utraged over job losses and corporate and bank bailouts, more than 200 protesters lined El Camino Real in Palo Alto in front of the Bank of America Wednesday evening. Seniors, the middle-aged, those in their 20s and laid-off Silicon Valley

employees gathered in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement, which has been staging an ongoing protest in Manhattan and other large cities against the bailouts, job losses and tax benefits for the wealthy. Drivers in rush-hour traffic honked loudly and gave thumbs-up as they

passed by, as the demonstrators cheered. The protests began at 5 p.m. and lasted for two hours. Bank of America was chosen as the symbolic location for the Palo Alto protest because it is the nation’s largest bank and the recipient of more than $45 billion in federal bail-out money, said Paul George, director of the Peninsula Peace and Justice Center in Palo Alto, which organized the protest. Demonstrators said they are tired

of gridlock in the U.S. Congress and federal assistance for banks and mortgage lenders, which they blame for the erosion of jobs and disenfranchisement of the poor and middle class. Gerry Gras, a laid-off Palo Alto software engineer, said he lost his job two years ago because of the economy. But “if I had a job, I’d want to be here,” he said, adding, however, that he would probably be working long hours that would prevent him from protesting.

Cheryl Petrovich, a former paralegal who is now disabled, said she had joined the demonstration because she is tired of what she called Republican stonewalling in the U.S. Congress. “There’s too much of an inequity right now. With the Republican Congress, there’s no progress at all,” she said. Gras waved an American flag. Its stars were replaced with corporate lo(continued on page 9)

CITY HALL

Firefighter contract may stave off layoffs Long-awaited agreement will save Palo Alto $1.1 million by Gennady Sheyner

P Veronica Weber

Jumping for joy ... and a record Third grader Eileen Guo, center, and about 300 fellow students at Fairmeadow Elementary School in Palo Alto do jumping jacks for a minute at the school Wednesday, Oct. 12, in conjunction with a world-record event led by first lady Michelle Obama to have the most people do jumping jacks for a minute across the world in 24 hours.

HOUSING RIGHTS

Dispute over Jewish tradition could nix Christmas trees Palo Alto Housing Corporation considers banning Christmas trees in common areas at affordable-housing complexes by Gennady Sheyner

or more than a decade, Abraham Berman’s homemade sukkah made an annual appearance on the second-floor patio of Sheridan Apartments, an affordable-housing complex near Palo Alto’s California Avenue Business District. A homemade structure resembling a small booth with curtain walls, a bamboo roof, and ornaments spread out along the ceiling, the sukkah went up every year to commemorate the Feast of Sukkot, a week-long Jewish holiday that kicks off five days after Yom Kippur, the holy day of atonement. This year, Sukkot began Wednesday (Oct. 12) and will con-

clude on Oct. 19. Berman, an energetic 81-year-old with a background in construction, said he began the tradition 11 years ago and has done it every year since as a way to honor his faith and foster an atmosphere of peace. “The whole intention of the sukkah is to make other people come in and share in the experience,” Berman said. This year, this custom has come to an end. The Palo Alto Housing Corporation, a nonprofit organization that manages 20 affordable-housing properties throughout the city, informed Berman last year that he is no longer

allowed to erect the structure in the common area of the 57-unit building. The prohibition has forced Berman into an uncomfortable conflict with building management, who he believes is unfairly keeping him from practicing his religion. Earlier this month, he informed Georgina Mascarenhas, the director of property management at the Housing Corporation, that he planned to erect the sukkah again this year and included newspaper clips of sukkahs going up in other public areas, including in front of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. Once again, permission was denied. (continued on page 8)

alo Alto’s breakthrough agreement with its firefighter union over a new labor contract will save the city more than $1 million in the current fiscal year and will likely keep the city from laying off police officers and closing fire stations, a prospect city officials have been considering since May. The tentative contract, which the city unveiled Wednesday night and the City Council is scheduled to officially approve Monday night, includes a host of structural changes to firefighter benefits, including a second pension tier for new employees and a requirement that employees contribute 10 percent toward their medical premiums. Firefighters will also now be required to chip in toward their own pension plan rather than having the city pay both the employer and employee shares to the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS). Under the proposed contract, union members will immediately start paying 6.5 percent of the CalPERS member contribution — a share that will rise to 9 percent next year. Most significantly, the contract removes the long-standing and controversial “minimum staffing” provision, which requires at least 29 firefighters to be on duty at all times. Instead, the contract sets staffing levels for individual engines, trucks and rescue companies — levels that are “consistent with standards commonly followed in most fire agencies,” according to a report form Interim Human Resource Director Sandra Blanch. The minimum-staffing provision has come under fire over the past two years from the council and City Manager James Keene, who called eliminating it the key to the new agreement with the firefighters. Union President Tony Spitaleri had argued in the past that the provision is necessary to en-

sure adequate staffing levels in the department and maintain safety. “The City and fire union representatives discussed this extensively and agreed that eliminating the shift-staffing provision provides the City with the flexibility to take an engine out of service and/or close, reduce or ‘brown out’ the service of a station if needed for operational, efficiency, financial or any other reason,” Blanch wrote in the report. The minimum-staffing provision has been completely deleted in the new contract and replaced with an “apparatus staffing” section that specifies that each engine, truck and rescue company will be staffed with one fire captain, one “fire-apparatus operator” and one firefighter. The department’s paramedic unit will also be staffed by two personnel. The two sides reached a contract after a 16-month standoff, a declared “impasse” and the launching of binding-arbitration proceedings. In June, the council passed a budget with a $4.3 million hole in it — a hole that the council planned to fill with $2.3 million in concessions from firefighters and $2 million from police officers. In May, Interim Director of Public Safety Dennis Burns reported to the council that without these concessions, the city would have to eliminate 11 police-officer positions and shut down at least one engine company to close the budget gap. At Tuesday’s debate over Measure D — a proposal to repeal binding arbitration for public-safety unions from the City Charter — Councilman Greg Scharff referenced the Burns’ presentation and said laying off 11 police officers was “simply not acceptable to us.” Though the new contract only shaves $1.1 million off the $4.3 gap, the budget adjustments are now un(continued on page 6)

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

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Upfront

I’m just trying to create a ‘house of peace’ — that’s all I want to do.

—Abraham Berman, a Jewish Palo Alto resident, regarding the booth his landlord prevented him from erecting in honor of the Feast of Sukkot. See story on page 3.

Around Town FOR THE MAN WHO HAS EVERYTHING ... Interrupted by a female autograph-seeker, football Hall of Famer and former 49er Steve Young obliged with his trademark politeness as he lunched outdoors with his family Oct. 1 at Stanford Shopping Center’s Palo Alto Creamery Fountain & Grill. But, autograph in hand, the woman unexpectedly began to dance, music began to play — and she was suddenly joined by more than 100 others in a choreographed “flash mob” of birthday greetings for Palo Alto resident Young, who turned 50 on Tuesday. Young’s wife, Barbara, had arranged the surprise with Flash Mob America, a group who says its purpose is “to create joy through surprise.” To see the surprise, go to YouTube.com and search for “Steve Young Birthday Flash Mob.” NEW DAY, NEW VISION ... The area around East Meadow Circle in south Palo Alto has fallen victim to a housing boom over the past two decades as about 500 housing units popped up during the dotcom bust at sites once occupied by industrial and commercial businesses. Now, Palo Alto’s planning officials are looking to reverse this trend. On Wednesday night, the Planning and Transportation Commission unanimously endorsed a new vision for the neighborhood near the Mountain View border when it approved a “concept area plan” for this section of the city. The plan, which would become part of the city’s official land-use vision, seeks to encourage high-end research and development businesses around East Meadow Circle and Fabian Way by allowing increased density for these types of developments. Day care facilities, schools and housing would be severely restricted. The city also hopes to welcome a large, revenuegenerating business such as an auto dealership or a hotel, to the undeveloped parcel on the corner of Charleston and San Antonio roads, across from the Taube Koret Center for Jewish Life. “We’re taking a third of this area and essentially allowing it to be transformed to a very different use and different intensity that exists now,” Planning Director Curtis Williams said at the meeting. The City Council is scheduled to review the concept plan this winter. BLACK AND BLUE ... Admirers of

Apple icon Steve Jobs, who died Oct. 5, are showing that imitation is the best form of flattery. An online push declaring today (Oct. 14) as “Steve Jobs Day” urges fans to sport Jobs’ typical attire — a black turtleneck, blue jeans and tennis shoes — throughout the day in honor of the computer guru’s life and legacy. The website, stevejobsday2011.com, encourages people to post pictures of themselves dressed as Jobs on Facebook and Twitter, discuss favorite Apple products, and read about how others are celebrating Jobs’ worldwide influence. The website states: “We admire his work. We’ve embraced his vision. And we love what he’s brought to the world. Let’s take a day to honor the man himself and say thank you.” The day had been planned since late September, prior to the Palo Alto resident’s death. KEEPING THE BOOKS ... Palo Alto’s effort to rebuild the Mitchell Park Library and Community Center — the centerpiece of the city’s $76 million library bond in 2008 — is facing greater scrutiny these days because of rising costs. The City Council reluctantly agreed last month to add $3.7 million to the project and authorized a 20 percent “contingency” ceiling for unanticipated construction costs. The request for more money was prompted at least in part by incomplete design plans from project architects, Group 4 Architecture. Now, the council is considering if there’s anything the city can do to combat these cost increases. The council is scheduled to meet behind closed doors on Monday night to discuss both the city’s “potential exposure to litigation” and “potential initiation of litigation” relating to the $41 million project. The council also requested monthly reports about change orders for the construction project. According to the first such report, which was released this week, the city has already approved eight change orders with the construction company Flintco — changes that added more than $1 million to the cost. A ninth change order, which would add $223,816 to the order to pay for tube steel and “curb changes,” is now being processed. The project, which is about halfway done, remains about $8 million under the engineer’s initial cost estimate. N

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Upfront EDUCATION

‘Tasting Week’ aims to get kids beyond pizza Top chefs will visit Palo Alto schools in adaptation of French tradition by Chris Kenrick

Labor

(continued from page 3)

likely to be as draconian as initially feared. According to David Ramberg, assistant director of the Administrative Services Department, the city has seen “modest improvements” in the local economy, with sales-tax revenues about $1.2 million higher than projected in the 2011 budget. Under a new proposal, which the council’s Finance Committee is scheduled to discuss Tuesday, the city Page 6ÊUÊ"VÌ LiÀÊ£{]ÊÓä££ÊUÊ*> Ê Ì Ê7ii Þ

Veronica Weber

orrowing a French tradition, students in five Palo Alto schools next week will mark “Tasting Week,” with cooking demonstrations and top chefs visiting their classrooms. Chefs from San Francisco’s Ritz Carlton, Big Sur’s Post Ranch Inn, Palo Alto’s Calafia and others will present “workshops on taste” to kids at Barron Park and Juana Briones elementary schools, Terman Middle School, Gunn High School and the International School of the Peninsula. The event was launched by a group of Palo Alto parents led by Rebecca Scholl-Barbier, who was raised in France. She is a Xerox PARC executive and mother of four children who attend Gunn, Terman, Juana Briones and preschool. Scholl-Barbier said she was inspired by a 22-year tasting-week tradition in France, a week-long celebration of food and flavors that local schools adapt to their own curricula. This year’s “La Semaine du Gout” in France also runs next week. “I was out of school by the time it started, but I always thought it was a fascinating program,” she said. Scholl-Barbier sees Tasting Week as a chance to make food “a positive, exploratory experience — a discovery where a child will actually become more curious.” Though her own favorite food runs to a simple fresh tomato with olive oil and salt, she remembers eating varied hot lunches in the school cafeteria during her Paris childhood, where kids didn’t blink at a main course of rabbit or calf’s liver. Tasting Week should be about “the pleasure of discovering food” rather than the typical approaches of viewing food as reward (“If you do your homework you can have this ice cream”) or nutrition or punishment (“You have to eat this tofu”), she said. “I don’t want to make it a big political issue — I just want to make it a celebration.” Scholl-Barbier sought volunteer teachers and chefs to make Tasting Week happen. She cold-called the Post Ranch’s Craig Von Foerster in Big Sur, who said he’d be delighted to come. Teachers who volunteered were

Rebecca Scholl-Barbier offers a piece of mango to daughter Claire Barbier while son Raphael Barbier fills a bowl with water while preparing a salad. Scholl-Barbier created “Tasting Week” to expose children to a variety of flavors, inspired by an annual event in France. asked to integrate the chefs into their curricula. At Gunn, chef Gerald Hirigoyen of Piperade in San Francisco will give a presentation in French for advanced French students. In schools without kitchen facilities, chefs will just work from tables with samples. “I told the chefs to do whatever they want,” Scholl-Barbier said. She also approached Alva Spence, a manager with Sodexo America who runs the hot lunch program for the Palo Alto Unified School District, and got an enthusiastic response. Throughout Tasting week, Spence will cart around her “A to Z salad bar,” which has a different food for every letter of the alphabet. Participating chef Charlie Ayers said Tasting Week “will be an opportunity to get children to think outside the box and be adventurous eaters.” The former Google chef and owner of Calafia at Town & Country Village stoutly insists that adventurous eaters “end up with higher IQs.” Asked where he got that idea, Ayers attributed it to Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. “Both of them are very adventurous eaters,” he said. “If someone is very narrow-minded and only eats one thing all the time, what’s their likelihood of being a great thinker? Pretty small.”

Parents and educators have a responsibility to get kids to “eat outside the box,” said Ayers, who has a 14-year-old son. “We fall down every day because we want them to be happy and not upset,” he said. “So we end up with a lot of children who only eat pasta or pizza and are not willing to try new things.” Ayers hasn’t decided what he’ll do in his Tasting Week presentation at Juana Briones, but it will possibly involve blindfolds. “I like to surprise myself and everyone else. That’s how to make it fun,” he said. In the first year of what she hopes will become an annual event, Scholl-Barbier estimates the tasting events will reach 450 students. The events run from Monday (Oct. 17) through the following Wednesday (Oct. 26). A free Oct. 25 event for parents will feature cookbook author Georgeanne Brennan talking about how to improve school lunch programs. Tasting Week organizers will hold a wine-tasting and fundraiser Oct. 22 at Lavanda Restaurant and Wine Bar in downtown Palo Alto. The event is open to the public but limited to 60 people. For more information and a schedule for the week go to www.tastingweek.com. N Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be emailed at ckenrick@paweekly.com.

would close the $4.3 million gap with $1.1 million pegged from funds that were set aside for pension and health care increases in 2013 and a $2.1 million transfer from the city’s Budget Stabilization Reserve, which has increased because of the improved economy. If the committee and, ultimately, the council approve the plan, it would effectively close the $4.3 million gap without requiring any significant reductions in service levels. In his report, Ramberg alluded to the layoffs and station brownouts and said that

because “these reductions could have an impact on service delivery, staff is also pursuing labor concessions through contract negotiations with the four public-safety unions.” “It is the City Manager’s recommendation to not proceed with these cost-saving reductions at this time,” Ramberg wrote. “These service-level reduction options could still be considered depending on how negotiations proceed.” N Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@paweekly. com.

Upfront EDUCATION

Charter high school gets new campus

Kindergarten through 8th Grade

OPEN HOUSES

East Palo Alto school combines public, private resources

Primary Grades

by Chris Kenrick

ast Palo Alto students will plant black bamboo at their new charter high school campus Saturday to honor a Japanese family who cultivated the same land as a nursery for more than 50 years. The 305 students at Aspire East Palo Alto Phoenix Academy moved this fall from their previous quarters — a windowless warehouse on Bay Road — to the newly built, 2.7-acre campus on Garden Street. “The students say, ‘We finally have a real school now,’” Principal Tom Madson said. “There’s a markedly different atmosphere. Behavior is more mature and academic.” The $13 million project was jointly funded by the Sequoia Union High School District, private donors and Aspire Public Schools, a charter operator whose 34 schools serve more than 10,000 California students. Saturday’s official ribbon-cutting is intended to thank the many who helped with the new campus, including the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, which supplied most of the $4 million in private donations. Another $4 million came from the school’s chartering agency, Sequoia Union, and the remaining $5 million from an Aspire facilities bond backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Members of the Nakagawa family, who ran a nursery business on the site for decades, will be on hand Saturday to talk about the history of the land, school staff members said. Following a 9 a.m. ceremony, the Palo Alto nonprofit environmental group Canopy will oversee volunteers for the rest of the morning in planting 81 trees on the now unlandscaped school grounds.

Phoenix Academy opened with its first freshman class in borrowed space in 2006. It was launched at the urging of East Palo Alto parents who worried their kids would not graduate if sent out of town to their assigned high schools in Atherton, Woodside or San Carlos. The school graduated its first class of seniors in 2010. All 40 graduates so far have been accepted by — and most are attending — four-year colleges. Madson aims within a few years to grow the new campus to its full capacity of 405 students, as the larger younger classes move up and the campus adds a sixth grade. The addition of sixth through eighth grades will free up sought-after space at Phoenix’s sister elementary school campus, Aspire’s East Palo Alto Charter School (EPACS). Admission to the high-performing East Palo Alto Charter School is by lottery. Phoenix Academy operates with extra support, including mandatory parent participation, uniforms, and a longer-than-usual school day and school year. Summer vacations are typically just four to six weeks long, with two-week breaks in the fall, winter and spring. “Our school has always been scrappy — that’s our history, our roots,” administrator Mike Berman said. “But it’s remarkable to be in a new campus that reflects the results of that. The kids have earned it. There’s something to be said for being in a place that reflects how hard you’re working.” The new campus has 16 classrooms, including a fully equipped science lab, and plenty of natural light. It replaces a seven-classroom warehouse cam-

pus with unfinished cement floors and a parking lot as the only outdoor space. “We had more than 200 people at a back-to-school potluck (at the new campus), and the tables were overflowing,” Madson said. “It gave people who don’t usually get to talk and mix and mingle (a chance) to do that, and the kids were playing in the grass. It’s finally more than a parking lot.” Helen Streck, one of the founding parents of East Palo Alto Charter School back in the 1990s, said the new campus represents a dream. Though her own children have grown, Streck remains on the Phoenix advisory board. “There’s a reason you have dreams,” she said. “I’m always amazed at the dedication of the staff. Children in East Palo Alto have the same capacities and capabilities to learn as the children across the freeway, and they can perform just as well.” The Aspire Phoenix Academy campus is one of two new small high schools built in East Palo Alto this year. The other is a still-unoccupied, gray stucco campus on Myrtle Street, recently completed by Sequoia Union. A sign in front says “Sequoia Union High School District Alternative Campus.” Officials of the Stanford University-affiliated East Palo Alto Academy High School, a charter school now operating from an old elementary campus on Pope Street in Menlo Park, said the school intends to move to the Myrtle Street space next year. N Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be emailed at ckenrick@paweekly. com.

ELECTION ’11

Measure D foes clash over ‘fairness’ in Palo Alto In debate over labor reform, both sides say they’re trying to be fair to city workers by Gennady Sheyner

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he two sides in Palo Alto’s heated debate over labor reform have one thing in common — each claims it is fighting to preserve fairness toward city employees. That was the argument both sides in the Measure D debate made during Tuesday night’s well-attended forum at City Hall on the ballot measure, which would end the city’s 34-yearold tradition of sending disputes between management and public-safety workers to binding arbitration. While proponents of the repeal argued that removing binding arbitration from the city charter would reduce public-safety expenditures and allow Palo Alto to preserve jobs and city services, opponents characterized the repeal as an attack on the labor rights of Palo Alto’s police and firefighters. The debate, which was organized by the Palo Alto chapter of the League of Women Voters, pitted the council’s

two leading proponents of Measure D, Greg Scharff and Karen Holman, against Councilwoman Gail Price and attorney Richard Alexander. Each side claimed it’s trying to be fair to the workers, though each had a different set of workers in mind. Scharff and Holman both pointed to the city’s spiking public-safety expenditures, which Scharff said rose by about 80 percent over the past decade even as spending in other departments remained relatively flat. They both blamed binding arbitration for hindering the council’s ability to make needed changes in firefighter and police contracts. The arbitrators, Scharff noted, have twice turned down the city’s attempts at pension reform for firefighters, including an attempt to create a second pension tier for new employees and an attempt to base pension payments on the average of three highest-paid years, rather than

on the highest year. “Binding arbitration takes local control away from Palo Alto and vests it in a single person with no accountability to citizens of Palo Alto or anyone else,” Scharff said during the debate. Scharff and Holman both said the city’s increasing expenditures on public safety mean it has less money for other city services. Voting to repeal the provision, Scharff said, would be a vote to “protect the value of public services, including funding for parks, streets, libraries and social services.” Holman agreed and called binding arbitration “a legacy we cannot sustain.” “Solving this dilemma will have to be borne by other worker groups such as the SEIU (Service Employees International Union) through ad-

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Upfront

Sukkah

(continued from page 3)

Berman said the Housing Corporation’s prohibition surprised him. The building’s common areas, he noted, often feature religious symbols — most notably the Christmas tree that goes up every year in the dining area on the ground floor of the sprawling building. Berman said he enjoys seeing the tree and occasionally participates, along with other tenants, in

decorating it with ornaments. But when Berman brought up the Christmas tree example to Housing Corporation officials, he said they told him that they would no longer allow Christmas trees — an answer that rankled him even more than the nonprofit’s stance on his sukkah. The last thing he wanted to do, Berman said, is prevent other people in his building and at other buildings managed by the company from celebrating their religious holidays. He was disappointed to learn that his attempt to celebrate

CityView A round-up of

Palo Alto government action this week

City Council The council did not meet this week.

Board of Education (Oct. 11)

Property acquisition: The board approved a tentative $8.5 million deal to purchase 2.6 acres at 525 San Antonio Road, site of the former Peninsula Day Care Center. Yes: Unanimous

Council Rail Committee (Oct. 12)

Letters: The committee approved letters to the Bay Area Council and to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission regarding the Peninsula segment of high-speed rail. Yes: Unanimous Principles: The committee discussed and made updates to its guiding principles. Yes: Burt, Price, Shepherd No: Klein

Planning and Transportation Commission (Oct. 12)

East Meadow Circle: The commission recommended approval of the area concept plan for the neighborhoods around East Meadow Circle and Fabian Way. Yes: Unanimous

For you. Your kids. And their kids after that.

the holy feast may end up hindering future holiday celebrations at all other properties. Mascarenhas said management’s decision to keep the sukkah from going up had nothing to do with religion and everything to do with storing private property in common areas. Last year, when management noticed the sukkah at the patio, Mascarenhas sent Berman a letter citing the rule (“No household or other property may be stored in the patio area, balcony, deck, landing, or anywhere outside the unit”) and asking him to “please remove this immediately.” When she learned that Berman planned to erect a sukkah again this year, Mascarenhas responded by explaining that he does not have permission to do so in any common area at the complex. “It’s not that we’re prohibiting or banning the sukkah,” Mascarenhas told the Weekly. “The issue is that residents are not allowed to put up anything personal in the common area. Whatever they do within their apartments is fine, and we certainly

don’t question that at all. “We have this rule to avoid having to say to one person that they can put something up and saying to another that they can’t.” Mascarenhas said the previous building manager at Sheridan Apartments violated the rules by allowing Berman to erect his sukkah year after year. The manager was replaced last year. Berman said managers suggested that he put up the sukkah in the private balcony that juts out of his second-story apartment. This, he said, is impossible because the sukkah, by Jewish law, has to allow the occupant to see the sky. His balcony, however, stands under an eave that would block the view of the sky. For awhile, both sides in the dispute looked for a compromise. Mascarenhas told Berman that housing officials could consider allowing him to erect a sukkah this year in exchange for a promise not to do it in the future. But after learning that the Housing Corporation is now considering banning

Public Agenda A preview of Palo Alto government meetings next week CITY COUNCIL ... The council plans to hold a closed session to discuss the cost increases in the Mitchell Park Library and Community Center project. The council also plans to hold a joint session with the Public Arts Commission, to hear presentations from the Garden Club of Palo Alto and from the Palo Alto Philharmonic Orchestra, approve the new labor contract with the firefighters union and discuss the California Avenue streetscape project. The closed session will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 17, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.). The joint session will follow. The remainder of the meeting will be held in the Council Chambers. COUNCIL FINANCE COMMITTEE ... The committee plans to discuss the retiree medical actuarial study and possible cuts to police and fire budgets. The meeting will begin at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.). COUNCIL POLICY AND SERVICES COMMITTEE ... The committee plans to discuss the city’s proposed economic-development plan and policies for electric vehicles. The meeting will begin at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.). HISTORIC RESOURCES BOARD ... The board plans to discuss 2080 Channing Ave., a proposal to build 10 homes and rehabilitate two retail buildings and relocate one building at Edgewood Plaza. The meeting will begin at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 19, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.). CITY COUNCIL ... The council plans to hold a closed session to discuss the hiring of a new city auditor. The meeting will begin at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 19, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

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PLANNING AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION ... The commission plans to discuss the Residential Density Bonus Ordinance and its compatibility with Senate Bill 1818. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 19, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.). SCHOOL/CITY LIAISON COMMITTEE ... The committee will discuss the Safe Routes to School program, traffic on Arastradero Road and plans to determine a process for discussing the future of Cubberley Community Center. The meeting will begin at 8 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20, in Conference Room A of school district headquarters (25 Churchill Ave.). ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW BOARD ... The board plans to review a proposal by DGA Architects on behalf of Stanford and Lockheed Martin to build a two-story 82,120-square-foot building in an office park at 3251 Hanover St.; consider a request by Lytton Gateway for a mixed-use five-story building at 355 Alma St., site of the former Shell Station; and perform an architectural review on 2080 Channing Ave., proposed renovations at Edgewood Plaza. The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

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RAIL CORRIDOR TASK FORCE ... The task force plans to continue its discussion of the city’s land-use vision for the Caltrain corridor. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20, in the Downtown Library (270 Forest Ave.). PUBLIC ART COMMISSION ... The commission plans to discuss the Art Center’s “On the Road” program and the Iron Ranger donation boxes at local parks. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

Christmas trees, Berman decided he would not sign any papers that would link him to this ban. “To use my little, tiny sukkah, a temporary, seven-day installation, to change the rules — in my head I knew I cannot do that,” Berman told the Weekly. “I’d rather not have it if you’ll use it to keep the Christmas tree from going up. You cannot use my sukkah as a reason to prevent someone from celebrating their religion.” Seeking an amicable resolution, Berman reached out to the offices of U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo and Santa Clara Supervisor Liz Kniss to explain his dilemma. Kniss’ office directed him to the city’s Human Relations Commission, which oversees issues of social justice and disputes. Claude Ezran, who chairs the commission, then spoke to both Berman and Housing Corporation officials. He said he was informed by housing officials that management would not be putting up Christmas trees anymore — a gesture that he said was undertaken as “excessive precaution” after consultation with an attorney. “The Christmas tree is a borderline case,” Ezran told the Weekly. “Some view them as religious symbols, and others see them as a commercial symbol of the holidays. “It’s a case where there’s no right answer.” On Tuesday, Ezran met with officials from Project Sentinel, a nonprofit that specializes in mediation between tenants and landlords, in hopes of finding an amicable resolution. Project Sentinel staff said they would contact Berman and the Housing Corporation. But Mascarenhas said it’s unlikely that the Housing Corporation will reverse its ban on the sukkah in the common area. She noted that housing officials have not yet made any final decisions about banning Christmas trees at its properties. But she confirmed that the organization began considering the ban after consulting its attorney. “We were told that you can call it a ‘Holiday Tree’ and put up general decorations,” she said. “However, if someone complains and says it’s religious, it could be viewed as one religion versus another. “We’re working through that and thinking that maybe we won’t put up the tree at all.” The proposed rule change has brought little comfort to Berman, who is without his sukkah for the first time in more than a decade. He said he accepted the Housing Corporation’s decision to end his tradition and will comply with it. But what bothers him the most, he said, is the fact that his annual tradition — which he intended as a gesture of peace and inclusiveness — could end up inadvertently tarnishing the holiday season for other families in his apartment complex and others throughout the city. “I’m not here to disturb anybody or to violate any rules,” Berman said. “I’m just trying to create a ‘house of peace’ — that’s all I want to do.” N

TALK ABOUT IT

www.PaloAltoOnline.com Do you think it’s appropriate (or fair) for the Palo Alto Housing Corporation to ban all religious symbols from its properties’ public areas? Share your opinion on Town Square on Palo Alto Online.

Upfront EDUCATION

Palo Alto teachers protest class size trends As labor negotiations continue, teachers say they cannot keep up quality with more students by Chris Kenrick

s negotiators hammer out their union contract, Palo Alto teachers Tuesday night called for a stop to a four-year trend of increasing class sizes. Raising the specter of elementary classes with as many as 30 students, teachers told the Board of Education they could not possibly offer the level of individual attention or inclusion of special-needs students with 30 that they can with a class of 20. “By considering larger class sizes, we’re quickly sliding down a slippery slope,” said Britt Brown, a fourthgrade teacher at Nixon Elementary School. Average class size in Palo Alto elementary schools has gone from 19.9 in 2007-08 to 22.2 this fall as schools have grappled with budget constraints, and state financial incentives for classsize reduction have dried up. Superintendent Kevin Skelly said rumors that elementary class sizes are headed for 27 to 29 “are not accurate. But we understand how this misrepresentation has been created and we’re working on correcting that.” Current class sizes “are at the edge of board and staff comfort levels,” Skelly said. The board quietly dropped a policy numerically limiting class size some time ago, and the issue remains an open item in the school district’s current negotiations with the Palo Alto Educators Association, the union representing teachers. “We’ve been struggling with policies and language in our collective bargaining agreement around class size,” Skelly said. Palo Alto Educators Association President Triona Gogarty said elementary class sizes were 27 or 28 students in the 1980s and early 1990s, but that teachers were supported by paid classroom aides at that time. Teachers’ aide hours were cut back as class sizes fell in the mid-1990s and early 2000s, Gogarty said. This fall, some elementary class-

rooms across the district have 23 to 25 students and some high school calculus classes have enrollments of 32 or 33, Gogarty said. “In these economic times, we know we don’t have 20 to 1 anymore,” but teachers need more support if class sizes continue to rise, she said. Gogarty waved a stack of 120 high school essays that had been corrected with detailed comments from the teacher. At 15 minutes per essay, the corrections and comments represent about 30 hours of work for the teacher, she said. A Gunn English teacher said typical English class sizes are 23 to 25 for freshmen and sophomores, and 28 to 32 for juniors and seniors. Gunn math teacher Rachel Grunsky asked for more specific data on high school class sizes. “At the secondary level, it’s a vague teacher-classroom ratio that doesn’t give you a picture of each department,” Grunsky said. Grunsky said she has 35 students in her AP calculus class and was asked whether she could take one more. “I said, ‘Sure, but can you tell me where to put the desk, because I don’t know where to put it,’” she told the board. The teachers spoke during the board’s “open forum” agenda, under which board members are not permitted to respond. However, earlier in the meeting Skelly spoke of budget constraints that have led to class size increases in recent years. As a district funded under the “basic aid” formula that relies heavily on property tax, Palo Alto does not get revenue based on enrollment. Enrollment growth has led to a revenue reduction of $919 per Palo Alto student in the past three years, he said. “Something has to give, and modest class size increases have to be part of our response, and they have been.” In other business Tuesday, the board

approved a tentative $8.5 million deal to purchase 2.6 acres at 525 San Antonio Road, the site of the Peninsula Day Care Center, which closed in June. “This is a big deal,” Board President Melissa Baten Caswell said. “It’s been a long time since the Palo Alto Unified School District moved forward on acquiring any property, so this is big news.” The property backs up to Greendell School, which is currently used by the school district for preschool and adult education activities. Greendell is contiguous with Cubberley Community Center. School officials have yet to articulate their plans for the day care or Cubberley properties, but have agreed to enter into discussions with the City Council this fall about the future of Cubberley. Fast-rising enrollment, particularly in the younger grades in the southern part of town, has officials scrambling for space and worrying about longterm planning should the trend continue. Also Tuesday, the board was told about a plan to correct an error on the recently mailed property tax bills that came at the expense of $230,000 to the school district. The tax bills failed to include a $12-per-parcel charge to property owners that represents the escalator clause of a parcel tax approved by voters in 2010. Rather than going back to property owners immediately for the additional $12, the school district and Santa Clara County tax collector’s office have agreed to add the charge as a separate item on the 2012-13 property tax bill, the school district’s Chief Business Officer Cathy Mak said. N

Wall Street

“I really think that people, if they don’t know all the numbers, they do know the economic inequality in this country,” George said. “One percent of the population owns 40 percent of the wealth. No other country in the industrialized world comes close to that. That doesn’t happen by circumstance. People know they aren’t getting fair treatment. Americans are fair-minded people and people don’t like it,” he said. Barbara Weinstein and Vikki Velkoff said the protest was a way to connect with other people and to give voice to the difficulties people are facing. “It’s really important for people who felt isolated in the face of all the miserable stuff going on to come together,” Weinstein said. Velkoff, an early-phase drug-development researcher, was laid off in December along with hundreds of others when Roche in Palo Alto closed its

facility. She will start a new job next week, she said. “It’s good to know there are others thinking along the same lines,” she said. Inside the Bank of America a security guard peered through the glass and scowled. Workers glanced toward the protesters. The branch manager did not return request for comment. George said the protests will continue in Palo Alto, and he knows of others who are organizing through the Internet and through groups such as MoveOn.org. “The Occupy Wall Street movement is a truly grass-roots, a truly spontaneous movement. I have no doubt this will keep going in every little town and burg. It goes back to the sense that wealthy corporations and Wall Street are being treated differently from the rest of us,” he said. N Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be emailed at sdremann@paweekly.com.

(continued from page 3)

gos: General Electric, Coca Cola and major news networks. “I think things are not going to be the same afterwards,” he said of the growing movement. “I don’t know where they are going, but they’re not going to be the same.” The Occupy Wall Street protests, which were first proposed by Canadian activist organization Adbusters in July, coalesced in New York City on Sept. 17. Demonstrators throughout the U.S. have since taken up the rallying cry. While protesters in Palo Alto said they support different causes, from global-warming policy to health care reform, the main theme of concern was what many called the “99 percenters” — those Americans who are not the top 1 percent of the wealthy they say controls the country.

TALK ABOUT IT

www.PaloAltoOnline.com Do you think there should be a cap on classroom sizes? Share your opinions on Town Square on Palo Alto Online.

News Digest Head coach wins Athena Award Tara VanDerveer, Stanford University’s head women’s basketball coach, is this year’s Athena Award winner. Selected by the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce, the award goes to an “exceptional woman who demonstrates excellence, creativity and initiative in her business or profession; contributes time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community; and actively assists women in realizing their full leadership potential,” according to a news release. “Tara has had a positive and lasting influence on the hundreds of young women who have benefited from not only the basketball skills she has taught them, but from the life skills upon which she places equal influence. She ... serves as a wonderful role model,” Lanie Wheeler, former Palo Alto mayor, wrote in a recommendation letter. VanDerveer will receive her award at a Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Garden Court Hotel in Palo Alto on Nov. 16; tickets are available by calling 650-324-3121 or www.paloaltochamber.com. N — Palo Alto Weekly staff

AT&T’s antenna plan met with some skepticism AT&T’s plan to install 20 antennae in three Palo Alto neighborhoods is cheering some residents who are looking forward to improved cell-phone reception. But the proposal has left others with grave concerns. Minh Nguyen, AT&T area manager in charge of the engineering and construction of the development known as a “distributed antenna system,” met with residents at an open house Tuesday (Oct. 11) and explained that the trees in and around Palo Alto pose a challenge for the company to deliver consistently strong signals, which causes phone calls to drop and weak connections in some areas. “In order for us to stay competitive in the business,” Nguyen said, “this technology is the ideal solution to the problem, and it can also meet the growing demand for data in this area.” Unlike a single, large cell-phone tower, the distributed system is “a network of smaller, spatially separated antenna nodes that splits the transmitted signal among themselves to provide wireless coverage for areas with difficult topography,” Nguyen said. Twenty antennae would be placed on top of existing utility poles throughout three neighborhoods: Old Palo Alto, Professorville and part of Midtown. Several Palo Altans turned out to object to the plan. Lyala Kent brought her 12-year-old daughter to Tuesday’s meeting. She said she is concerned about the unknown consequences of longtime exposure to radiation as well as the potential devaluation of her house. Broadcast and wireless specialist Lynn Bruno, a consulting engineer from Hammett & Edison, Inc., told residents that there’s no health risk identified in 60 years of relevant research. She said they have tested the antenna and monitored the highest level of radiation emission anywhere within its radius. “The radiation level is comparable to that from a TV and other wireless devices. It’s weaker than what a microwave could generate and much weaker than ultraviolet rays,” she said. N — Yichuan Cao

Investigation: No engine or propeller problems before crash Both the left and right engines and the propeller of the Cessna 310R that took off from the Palo Alto Airport on Feb. 17, 2010, and quickly crashed into an East Palo Alto neighborhood appeared to be working at the time of impact, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report released on Friday, Oct. 7. The cause of the accident, which claimed the lives of three Tesla Motors employees — the pilot Douglas Bourn, a senior electrical engineer and Santa Clara resident; and passengers Andrew Ingram of Palo Alto, an engineer, and Brian Finn of East Palo Alto, a senior manager — is not outlined in the document, known as a “factual report.” But the report confirms eyewitness accounts of the incident and reveals the findings of inspections of the wreckage by the Federal Aviation Administration and makers of the aircraft parts — Cessna Aircraft Company, Teledyne Continental Motors and McCauley Propellers Inc. Speculation spread after the crash that a mechanical failure might have caused the plane to veer suddenly and strike an electrical tower next to the Bay in East Palo Alto. Examination of the Cessna’s left and right engines, however, showed “no pre-impact mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation,” the report states. The report confirms that visibility at the airport was 1/8 of a mile due to fog, with wind at 5 knots, at 7:49 a.m., less than five minutes before Bourn took off for the Hawthorne, Calif., airport. Because the runway was not visible, he was instructed to take off at his own risk by the air traffic controller. The investigation is expected to be completed in mid-November. N — Palo Alto Weekly staff

LET’S DISCUSS: Read the latest local news headlines and talk about the issues at Town Square at PaloAltoOnline.com

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Upfront

PRESENTS

Online This Week

Justin Roberts Live Family Concert

These and other news stories were posted on Palo Alto Online throughout the week. For longer versions, go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news or click on â&#x20AC;&#x153;Newsâ&#x20AC;? in the left, green column.

Come hear Grammy-nominated childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s singer/ songwriter Justin Roberts & The Not Ready for Naptime Players in concert!

Ă&#x2022;Ă&#x192;iĂ&#x2022;Â&#x201C;Ă&#x160;+Ă&#x2022;>Â?Â&#x2C6;Ă&#x152;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;,iÂŤ>Â&#x2C6;Ă&#x20AC;Ă&#x192; UĂ&#x160;*Â&#x153;Ă&#x20AC;ViÂ?>Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*Â&#x153;Ă&#x152;Ă&#x152;iĂ&#x20AC;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160; >Ă&#x20AC;LÂ?iĂ&#x160; UĂ&#x160; >`iĂ&#x160;UĂ&#x160; Ă&#x203A;Â&#x153;Ă&#x20AC;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160; Â?>Ă&#x192;Ă&#x192;Ă&#x160; UĂ&#x160;7Â&#x153;Â&#x153;`Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;-Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Â&#x2DC;i

Sunday, October 23, 2011 Performances at 11am and 2pm Spangenberg Theatre at Gunn High School, Palo Alto

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Former Citigroup employee pleads guilty to fraud A former Citigroup securities representative who worked in Palo Alto pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud Tuesday (Oct. 11) and admitted to stealing $749,978 from clients, according to federal court documents. (Posted Oct. 13 at 11:39 a.m.)

Fallen oak limb damages roof, truck

Tickets: Advance purchase, $13; At the door: $15 Purchase tickets at www.mvpns.org Net proceeds benefit Mountain View Parent Nursery School

www.restorationstudio.com

A large oak limb crashed down on a Barron Park homeownerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s truck at about 1:20 a.m. Wednesday morning (Oct. 12). The limb also damaged part of a neighborâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s roof on Kendall Avenue. (Posted Oct. 13 at 10:01 a.m.)

Worst year to start high-tech company? 2000 Only one in six high-tech companies that started in 2000 in Silicon Valley remained in business at the end of the decade, according to a report released Tuesday (Oct. 11) by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Posted Oct. 12 at 5:09 p.m.)

L U C I L E PA C K A R D

C H I L D R E N â&#x20AC;&#x2122; S H O S P I TA L

PROVIDED BY LUCILE PACKARD CHILDRENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S HOSPITAL

Tesla Model S draws crowd to Menlo Park showroom Dozens of prospective buyers and curious gearheads formed a line on Saturday (Oct. 8) at Menlo Parkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tesla Motors dealership to sit inside the first mass production car to be developed and built entirely by a Silicon Valley company. (Posted Oct. 12 at 8:42 a.m.)

Error on tax bills costs Palo Alto schools

%+( " 0) "* $ , () */ Lucile Packard Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hospital offers classes and seminars designed to foster good health and enhance the lives of parents and children. INFANT MASSAGE CLASS ($ * * $ '+ ) % $ $* # )) "%$ - * * &) *% ( " , ) )* %$ $ )%%* * )%( $ )) % , $ * %$ ) * ) %$ /%+( / %## $ %( $ $*) (%# %$ #%$* % *% ( -" $

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Media Center posts Palo Alto election videos The Midpeninsula Community Media Center has posted videos of proponents and opponents of Palo Alto measures D and E discussing their views on its website and is also broadcasting the programs on local cable TV channels. (Posted Oct. 10 at 6:10 p.m.)

Steve Jobs called Mountain View home as a child A childhood friend of Steve Jobs recalls that Silicon Valleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quintessential entrepreneur was partly a product of Mountain View, where he attended school and lived until his early teens. (Posted Oct. 10 at 2:31 p.m.)

Brochure on suicide response earns recognition

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A mistake on the recently mailed Santa Clara County property tax bills comes at the expense of the Palo Alto Unified School District. The error means the district will get $200,000 to $250,000 less than it should from more than $11 million in parcel tax receipts. (Posted Oct. 11 at 9:49 a.m.)

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A brochure outlining Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s response to a youth suicide cluster has earned Palo Alto an award from the California League of Cities. (Posted Oct. 10 at 9:34 a.m.)

Simitianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s red-light-camera bill vetoed A proposal by Sen. Joe Simitian to set new restrictions on red-light cameras hit the wall Thursday (Oct. 6) when Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed it. (Posted Oct. 10 at 9:07 a.m.)

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First Person: A conversation with Matt Severson Matt Severson, a 2007 Palo Alto High School graduate, started The School Fund, a nonprofit that connects donors with students in developing countries who need help with their annual school fees. (Posted Oct. 9 at 12:45 p.m.)

TCE causes cancer, other health woes, EPA says Despite political pressures to kill it, a long-delayed Environmental Protection Agency report has finally been released confirming the toxicity of the industrial solvent that has contaminated groundwater at a central Palo Alto Superfund site. (Posted Oct. 7 at 3:14 p.m.)

Animal Services launches â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Empty Our Shelters Challengeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Plagued by overcrowding, all six animal shelters in Silicon Valley, including City of Palo Alto Animal Services, are now encouraging qualified adopters in the area to step up and help empty the shelters in honor of National Adopt-a-Shelter Dog month. (Posted Oct. 7 at 11:45 a.m.)

Menlo Park school burglar sentenced LU C I L E PA C K A R D

C H I L D R E Nâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S

After pleading no contest, school burglar Jaime Maldanado, 20, started serving his 16 months in county jail, with credit for 32 days served, the San Mateo County district attorneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office said. (Posted Oct. 7 at 10:21 a.m.)

H O S P I T A L VI S IT LP CH.ORG TO S IG N U P FOR CLAS S E S Page 10Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;"VĂ&#x152;Â&#x153;LiĂ&#x20AC;Ă&#x160;ÂŁ{]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă¤ÂŁÂŁĂ&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;

Want to get news briefs e-mailed to you every weekday? Sign up for Express, our new daily e-edition. Go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com to sign up.

Upfront

Debate

(continued from page 7)

ditional concessions or lost jobs or by the public in reduced city services,â&#x20AC;? Holman said. Opponents of Measure D rejected this argument and said the measure has nothing to do with pensions and everything to do with conflict resolution. Unlike almost all other workers (with some exceptions for â&#x20AC;&#x153;essentialâ&#x20AC;? workers in Utilities and Public Works departments), police officers and firefighters are barred from striking by state law. Price and Alexander both said binding arbitration gives these employees another option for negotiating with the city. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The inability of police and firefighters to strike means there needs to be a reasonable process for dispute resolution,â&#x20AC;? Alexander said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what this is all about.â&#x20AC;? Price also argued that Measure D isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t about cutting costs but about â&#x20AC;&#x153;values relating to treating employees fairly.â&#x20AC;? Both Price and Alexander likened the drive to repeal binding arbitration to the recent effort by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Republican legislators to eliminate collective-bargaining rights for state employees. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s my concern if we go down this erosion path, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll become like Wisconsin and other entities like that,â&#x20AC;? Price said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is very, very disturbing.â&#x20AC;? Scharff and Holman repeatedly noted that 95 percent of the munici-

palities donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have binding-arbitration provisions â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a fact that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop them from reaching agreements with the police and firefighters. The council decided to place Measure D on the ballot in July after a nearly two-year debate and disagreement over whether the provision should be eliminated altogether or modified. The council ultimately decided by a 5-4 vote, with Price, Mayor Sid Espinosa, Nancy Shepherd and Larry Klein dissenting, to place the repeal measure on the November ballot. Vice Mayor Yiaway Yeh, Pat Burt and Greg Schmid joined Scharff and Holman in favor. More than 100 residents packed into the Council Chambers Tuesday to watch the debates on Measure D and Measure E, a proposal to â&#x20AC;&#x153;undedicateâ&#x20AC;? a 10-acre site at Byxbee Park in the Baylands to allow construction of a waste-to-energy facility. Much like Measure D, Measure E has polarized the City Council, with some members saying the parkland should remain such and others pointing to the new facility as a possible solution to the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s composting dilemma. Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s landfill at Byxbee Park closed for good in July, putting an end to the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s composting operation and prompting the city to truck its yard waste to Gilroy. A group of environmentalists, led by former Mayor Peter Drekmeier and Walt Hays, is proposing building an anaerobic-digestion facility capable of processing local food scraps, yard trimmings and sewage sludge next to the waste-water treatment plant in the

Baylands. Drekmeier and Hays squared off Tuesday against former Councilmember Emily Renzel and Shani Kleinhaus, environmental advocate with the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society. Both Renzel and Kleinhaus argued that undedicating parkland would set a bad precedent and that the proposed plant would have an adverse impact on the surrounding parkland. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We should not undedicate parkland as a blank check for future unknown technologies,â&#x20AC;? Renzel said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Once undedicated, parkland is gone forever, and you will have little to say about how itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s being used.â&#x20AC;? Hays and Drekmeier countered that the parcel in question comprises just 8 percent of Byxbee Park and that the measure, while allowing the land to be used for a waste-to-energy facility, doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t require the construction of such a facility if it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t prove to be financially viable. Drekmeier said such a plant would also generate enough energy to power 1,400 homes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This 10 acres is a quarter of 1 percent of Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s parkland that can help us be sustainable when it comes to waste processing and generating renewable energy,â&#x20AC;? Drekmeier said. Tuesdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s debate was co-sponsored by the Palo Alto Weekly, Palo Alto Online and Midpeninsula Community Media Center. Other co-sponsors include Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce, Palo Alto branch of AAUW and Avenidas Senior Center. The debate video will be available at communitymediacenter.net. N

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Divorce: Building Your Strategy Before, During & After A FORUM FOR ALL WOMEN

Saturday, October 22, 2011 10:00 am to 2:30 pm 555 Lytton Avenue, Palo Alto

If you are considering divorce, have recently gone through a divorce, or are still aching from the effects of a divorce, join us for an informative, supportive and enlightening seminar. (VE[MRK JVSQ WSQI SJ SYV EVIEÂ´W Â˝RIWX TVSJIWWMSREPW we will help to guide you through the process, EW [I GSRWMHIV XLI PIKEP Â˝RERGMEP ERH IQSXMSREP PERHWGETI of divorce. In addition, we will be addressing the aspects of career transition, LIPTMRK ]SYV GLMPHVIR GSTI ERH Â˝RHMRK VIWSYVGIW that will help you to heal. The seminar is free and open to the public. If you have any questions, please call us at 650/473-0664. For more information, visit our website: deborahspalm.org

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Yoga Day 2011 PAGE MILL YMCA

PRE-SCHOOL

Sunday, October 23 | 9am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 6pm

Outstanding fullday program.

Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll explore a variety of Yoga and Pilates WHFKQLTXHV WR LPSURYH \RXU ÂżH[LELOLW\ EDODQFH and core strength. Enjoy light snacks and leave feeling rejuvenated.

LANGUAGE

PAGE MILL YMCA 3DJH 0LOO 5RDG %OGJ % _ 3DOR $OWR &$ _ SDJHPLOO\PFD RUJ

Longest running bilingual immersion school in the area. Experienced native-speaking faculty.

This event is FREE and open to the public, so bring your friends.

ACADEMICS Established English curriculum. Rigorous program in a nurturing environment. Low student-to-teacher ratio.

WHEN ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S YOUR CHILD, EXPERIENCE MATTERS. TEACHING MANDARIN CHINESE IMMERSION FOR 15 YEARS. A LEADER IN FRENCH IMMERSION IN PALO ALTO. ACCEPTING PRE-SCHOOL APPLICATIONS.

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Constance “Connie” Williams September 12, 1955 – August 13, 2011

Constance “Connie” Elizabeth Williams, 55, of San Mateo, passed away peacefully at Mills-Peninsula Medical Center in Burlingame, CA on August 13, 2011 following an 18 month bout with cancer. Born in Pittsburgh, PA on September 12, 1955 the oldest daughter of the late Walter H. and Elizabeth Walczak Williams. She was a 1977 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and worked for IBM in both New York and California. Connie was a valued member of the genealogy resource volunteer staff at the Menlo Park Family History Center. Connie is survived by two sisters, Maura Williams (and Mary Lou Hartzler) of Landsdowne, PA and Kristin Williams of Pittsburgh, PA. Connie will be remembered for her generosity, creativity, thoughtfulness and devotion to family, friends and pets and for her appetite for life and strength and determination despite challenges. Connie was still engaged in life and talking about future plans and hopes until the day of her hospitalization on August 5, 2011. Interment took place in Ellwood City, PA near her childhood home of Pittsburgh. A memorial gathering, hosted by friends of Connie, will be held at the Menlo Park Family History Center (Stake House Annex), Saturday, October 15th at 6:00 PM.,1105 Valparaiso Ave., Menlo Park, CA. The gathering will include a potluck dinner, to which attendees may bring a dish to share, if they wish. Memorial contributions can be made in Connie’s name to the Menlo Park Family History Center, c/o Sue Allen, 3784 Grove Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94303. The family requests you view the obituary and sign the guestbook at http://www.tomonfuneralhome.com PA I D

OBITUARY

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

10.

11.

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Title of Publication: Palo Alto Weekly Publication Number: 604-050 Date of Filing: October 1, 2011 Frequency of Issue: Weekly No. of Issues Published Annually: 52 Annual subscription price: $60 1 year Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: 450 Cambridge Ave, Palo Alto 94306-1507 Mailing Address of Headquarters of Publisher: Same Publisher: William S. Johnson, 450 Cambridge Ave, Palo Alto 94306-1507 Editor: Jocelyn Dong, 450 Cambridge Ave, Palo Alto 94306-1507 Managing Editor: None Owner/ Stockholders owning or holding 1% or more of the total amount of stock: Embarcadero Media, 450 Cambridge Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94306 Stockholders owning 1% or more of the total amount of stock: Jean and Dexter Dawes, Ely Trust, & Shirley Ely, Trustee, Franklin P. Johnson, William S. Johnson, Marion Lewenstein, Trustee, Teresa M. Lobdell, Helen Pickering, Trustee, Russella van Bronkhorst Trustee, and Jeanne Ware, all of Palo Alto, California; Margaret Haneberg of San Carlos, California; Robert Heinen of Menlo Park, California; Jerome I. Elkind of Portola Valley, California; Anthony Sloss of Santa Cruz, California; Elizabeth Sloss of Seattle, Washington; Karen Sloss of Bellingham, Washington. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1% or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages or other securities: Shirley Ely, Trustee, Marion L. Lewenstein, Trustee, Helen Pickering, Trustee, Wells Fargo Bank all of Palo Alto, California; Joan Sloss of Santa Rosa, California. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: September 30, 2011 Extent and Nature of Circulation Average no. of Actual no. of copies each issue copies of single during preceding issue nearest to 12 months filing date A. Total Number of Copies (Net press run)

33,500

Transitions Albert Hastorf III

Albert H. Hastorf III, 90, former Stanford University administrator and professor, died Sept. 26, 2011. He was a professor emeritus of psychology and former head of the psychology department, and former dean and provost of the school of humanities and sciences. Born in New York, N.Y., he joined Stanford’s faculty in 1961 and retired in 1990. In addition to his wife of 68 years, Barbara, he is survived by daughters Elizabeth Hastorf of Seattle, Wash., and Christine Hastorf of Berkeley; a sister; and one grandson. He was preceded in death by another grandson. A memorial service will be held

1,407

1,395

9,842

9,834

3. Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, and Counter Sales Street Vendors

7,813

7,657

C. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation

19,062

18,886

D1. Free Distribution by Mail Outside-County

5,484

5,411

D2. Free Distribution by Mail Inside-County

D4. Free Distribution Outside the Mail

6,936

7,157

E. Total Free Distribution

12,433

12,584

F. Total Distribution

31,494

31,470

G. Copies not Distributed

2,006

2,030

H. Total

33,500

60.52%

60.01%

I. Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation

16. Publication of statement of Ownership: 10/14/2011 J Certify that the information furnished on this form is true and complete. Michael I. Naar, CFO, Embarcadero Media

Page 12ÊUÊ"VÌ LiÀÊ£{]ÊÓä££ÊUÊ*> Ê Ì Ê7ii Þ

Alan David Sklar, M.D., 73, a longtime resident of Palo Alto, died Oct. 8, 2011. He was born May 1, 1938, in New York, the second son of Russian and Polish Jewish immigrants. After completing medical school at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, he came to Palo Alto as a resident in psychiatry at the Stanford University Medical School. He remained a resident of Palo Alto except for three years of military service in Maryland and Washington, D.C.

August 1, 1908 – August 21, 2011 Jean C. Miller Aug. 1, 1908 - Aug. 21, 2011, a 60-year resident of Stanford. Born in Scotland, reared in New Zealand, she died peacefully at her home on the Stanford campus at the age of 103. She was the widow of the Rev. Alexander Miller, whom she met and married in New Zealand. He was the first professor of religion at Stanford University and died in 1960. Their only son, David, died in 1984. Jean worked for the Office for Foreign Visitors and the Office of Public Events at Stanford University. She attended church and volunteered at Stanford Memorial Church. She had a life-long love of music. A memorial service is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011, 3 p.m., at Stanford Memorial Church. PA I D

O B I T UA RY

MENLO PARK

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33,500

2. Paid/Requested In County

Alan Sklar

Jean C. Miller

14 $ 15 $ 16

B. Paid and/or Requested Circulation 1. Paid/Requested Outside Co. Mail Subscriptions

Oct. 26 at 3:30 p.m. at Stanford Memorial Church with a reception to follow at the Stanford Faculty Club.

FRIDAY, SATURDAY & SUNDAY 10 AM - 5 PM

90 PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS Presented by

Mernie Buchanan

Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce

$ 3$&,),& ),1( $576 )(67,9$/ pacificfinearts.com

He was a member of the Counseling and Psychotherapy Center, and taught at Stanford University as an adjunct associate professor of psychiatry. He traveled, enjoyed festive holidays and had season tickets to many theatrical and musical productions. He enjoyed tennis, skiing, hiking and bicycling. Playing the violin was a life-long passion; he performed regularly in the Bay Area. He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Alice Jane Sklar; daughters Jessica Nimoy of Agoura Hills, Calif., Emily Wexler of Lake Tahoe, Calif., and Naomi Albertson of Millbrae; and four grandchildren. A memorial service and graveside funeral will be held at Alta Mesa Cemetery in Palo Alto on Friday, Oct. 14, at 11 a.m. Memorial donations may be made to Music @ Menlo (www.musicatmenlo.org) or Laguardia School of Music (www.laguardiahs.org).

Pulse

A weekly compendium of vital statistics

POLICE CALLS Palo Alto Oct. 5-11 Violence related Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Theft related Commercial burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Identity theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Shoplifting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Vehicle related Bicycle safekeeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Driving w/suspended license . . . . . . . . .2 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Misc. traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Vehicle accident/major injury . . . . . . . . .1 Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . .6 Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . 11 Vehicle impound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Vehicle tampering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Alcohol or drug related Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Drunken driving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Open container. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Miscellaneous Animal barking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Disturbing/annoying phone calls. . . . . . .1 Firearm disposal request . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Found animal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Misc. municipal code violation . . . . . . . .2 Misc. penal code violation . . . . . . . . . . .3 Outside investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Psychiatric hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . .3 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Warrant/other agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

VIOLENT CRIMES Palo Alto 300 block Pasteur Drive, 10/5, 5:23 p.m.; battery. 30 block Encina Avenue, 10/7, 11:48 p.m.; battery. 3000 block Middlefield Road, 10/8, 1:38 p.m.; battery.

Menlo Park 1100 block Almanor Avenue, 10/10, 9:20 a.m.; spousal abuse. 100 block Newbridge Street, 10/11, 9:29 a.m.; battery.

Atherton Tuscaloosa Avenue and Austin Avenue, 10/8, 1:27 p.m.; assault and battery.

ANNOUNCING T H E T W E N T Y- S I X T H A N N U A L PA L O A L T O W E E K L Y JUDGES: ADULT/YOUNG ADULT

PRIZES

FOR ADULTS: $500 Cash - FIRST PLACE $300 Cash - SECOND PLACE $200 Cash - THIRD PLACE

Tom Parker, Award winning novelist and short story writer, UC Extension and Foothill College Instructor and former Stanford Instructor Meg Waite Clayton, is the nationally best selling author of The Four Ms. Bradwells, The Wednesday Sisters, and The Bellwether Prize finalist The Language of Light. She lives with her family in Palo Alto, and is at work on a fourth novel to be published by Ballantine in 2013. Pam Gullard, Pamela Gullard’s stories have appeared in the North American Review, Arts and Letters, The Iowa Review, TriQuarterly and other journals and anthologies. With co-author Nancy Lund, she has written three nonfiction books; the latest, Under the Oaks: Two Hundred Years in Atherton, appeared in 2009. Pamela teaches personal narrative and literature at Menlo College.

CHILDREN/TEEN Katy Obringer, Former supervisor of Palo Alto Children’s Library Caryn Huberman Yacowitz, Playwright and Children’s book author Nancy Etchemendy, Children’s book author

ENTRY DEADLINE: All Writers: December 2, 2011 5:30 p.m.

FOR YOUNG ADULT/CHILDREN/TEEN: $100 Gift Certificate - FIRST PLACE $75 Gift Certificate - SECOND PLACE $50 Gift Certificate - THIRD PLACE Certificates are from co-sponsoring area bookstores. Bell’s Books (*ages 15-17) Kepler’s (*ages 12-14) Linden Tree (*ages 9-11) *age as of entry deadline

E N I L D A DE D E D N E T EX

All adult winners and first place young winners in each category will be announced in the Palo Alto Weekly in February 2012. All winning stories will be published online at www.PaloAltoOnline.com

CONTEST RULES

1. The contest is open to anyone who lives, works or attends school full-time in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, Stanford, Portola Valley, Woodside, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, and East Palo Alto. 2. Limit of one entry per person. 3. Stories must be typed, double-spaced. Maximum 2,500 words. Longer stories will be disqualified. 4. $15 entry fee, along with hard copy, for all ADULT stories; $5 entry fee for YOUNG WRITERS under 18. Make checks payable to “Palo Alto Weekly.” 5. Entries may not have been previously published. 6. Signed entry form must accompany story. Author’s name should NOT appear anywhere on pages of story. 7. All winners are required to email their story to the Palo Alto Weekly in a Microsoft Word Document as an attachment. Mail manuscripts to: Palo Alto Weekly Short Story Contest, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302 or deliver to 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto Questions: shortstory@paweekly.com

Category (as of December 2, 2011): Q Adult Q 9-11 Q 12-14 Q 15-17

ENTRY FORM (Please print legibly)

Name:_________________________________________________________ Email: _________________________________________________________ Address: _______________________________________________________ City: ________________________________ Zip Code:________________ Day Phone: _____________________ Evening Phone:________________ School or Work location: ___________________________ Story Title: _____________________________________________________ Exact Word Count________ *must be ﬁlled in to enter

This story is my original work and I received no assistance with it. My story is 2,500 words or less. I understand that the Palo Alto Weekly reserves first publishing and online rights to winning entries. Judges decisions are final. Palo Alto Weekly employees and their relatives and freelancers are not eligible to enter. Stories cannot be returned.

_________________________________________________ Authors Signature _____________________ Date

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Editorial Yes on D: Repeal binding arbitration Palo Alto’s unusual binding-arbitration requirement for fire and police contract disputes should have been repealed long ago

alo Alto voters are finally being given the opportunity in Measure D to decide whether a single outside arbitrator should continue to have final say on police and fire compensation, benefits and work rules when the city and unions reach an impasse. The binding-arbitration provision for fire and police contract disputes was enacted by voters more than 30 years ago in exchange for an agreement by our public-safety unions not to strike, before the courts ruled that such strikes are illegal. Instead of repealing the provision at that time and bringing fire and police negotiations on par with the city’s other employee unions, Palo Alto became one of only a few California cities that relinquished its final authority over the costs of public-safety employees to an arbitrator. In practice, disputes have rarely gone to outside arbitration because city officials have not wanted to risk the unpredictable outcome from an arbitrator who has no responsibility for city finances or accountability to the public. This fear has given unions an unfair advantage in negotiations and has contributed to contract provisions being enacted that weren’t in the community’s best interest, such as the minimumstaffing requirement in the fire department. Opponents of Measure D, led by the firefighters union, argue that without the right to strike, fire and police employees have too little negotiating leverage, so binding arbitration becomes the ultimate threat that forces fair negotiations. Unfortunately for the unions, there is absolutely no evidence to support that position. With 95 percent of California cities operating without any binding-arbitration provision with their public-safety unions, it is ridiculous to argue that arbitration is needed to ensure fair labor contracts. Police and fire union contracts throughout the state provide outstanding pay and benefits to public-safety employees, and any city that imposes unreasonable or unjustified reductions in either will find those employees leaving for other job opportunities. Measure D simply allows Palo Alto to negotiate with its fire and police unions the same way as virtually every one of our neighboring communities. These are tough times for all levels of government, and Palo Alto’s police and fire unions demonstrate two contrasting ways of approaching contract negotiations. The police union has openly recognized that in these economic times it needs to work with the city and be realistic about the need to reduce pay and benefits. The firefighters union has fought to maintain or increase pay and benefits as if completely blind to the world in which they live and to the sacrifices their fellow city employees are making to ease the city’s budget problems. One union is gaining community respect while the other is losing it. The firefighters union insults the community’s intelligence by comparing the possible loss of binding arbitration with the Wisconsin debate over doing away with collective bargaining. Measure D does nothing to change the collective bargaining process, but it does eliminate the power of a single, unelected arbitrator to negotiate in secret and then make unilateral decisions with great financial ramifications for the city. It also puts in place a more neutral, mandatory mediation between city and union negotiators in the event of an impasse. It is ironic but not surprising that on the eve of this election the firefighters union has just agreed to a new contract after a bitter 16-month standoff. The impasse was headed for binding arbitration and the union apparently calculated that its best strategy was to get a contract signed now and hope it might change public perceptions on Measure D. The union has agreed to remove the minimum-staffing requirement, a key goal of the city, and accepted lower pension benefits for new hires and new employee contributions for health care and to the pension plan. But the new contract, assuming it is approved by the City Council on Monday, would save the city about $1.1 million, well short of the $2.3 million the council had targeted for savings from the fire department in the adopted budget. While we are pleased that the firefighters union and city negotiators have reached an agreement, it does not erase the petulant and ineffective union behavior of the last two years. That behavior included last year’s Measure R, a proposal by the union to freeze staffing levels in the department, save for a vote of the electorate. Nor does the new contract change the need for Measure D. Palo Altans have always been strong supporters of its police and firefighters, and Measure D should not be twisted to suggest it is a vote against these public servants or against collective bargaining rights. Measure D will at long last simply get Palo Alto back into the mainstream of public employee labor negotiation practices. N Page 14ÊUÊ"VÌ LiÀÊ£{]ÊÓä££ÊUÊ*> Ê Ì Ê7ii Þ

Spectrum Editorials, letters and opinions

Yes on E Editor, Many thanks to the League of Women Voters for hosting Tuesday night’s debate on Measures D and E. I found the issues presented on both measures very useful as a citizen of Palo Alto desiring to do what’s best for our city. I was interested in the point that Shani Kleinhaus mentioned a couple of times during the debate on Measure E. She said that the measure needed to be defeated to return civility to our community. Civility to me means respecting different opinions and finding ways to work with one another. This often requires compromises by all parties concerned. For me, Measure E provides a perfect compromise between conservation concerns and environmental concerns. With the passage of Measure E, we’d get a greatly enlarged Byxbee Park and the least desirable piece of former dump land to process our waste and provide green energy and compost. It’s like turning a sow’s ear into a silk purse. I’m voting for Measure E and I expect it to pass; but if it doesn’t, I will remain civil towards those who voted it down. That’s what being a responsible citizen is all about. Regardless of how passionate one may be about an issue, not everyone is always going to share your passion. Penny Barrett Patricia Lane Palo Alto

No on E Editor, It isn’t easy to oppose a “green” project. In the abstract, who wants rising ocean levels to swamp our coasts? I want clean local energy. I want to be independent of Middle East oil. Business and Labor agree, we want the jobs created by alternate energy suppliers. Going from the abstract to the specific, however, each “green” project should stand on its own merits. For example, how much should we support High Speed Rail ripping up the Peninsula? Should we drill for oil in the Arctic Sea? Should we limit vacation travel overseas? Palo Alto’s Prop. E proponents have claims but no price tag. What is the hurry to grab parkland? Let an independent group with no “skin in the game” look at the competing costs and benefits. Prepare an Environmental Impact Report then decide on the need for parkland. Vote no on Prop. E. Bob Roth Middlefield Road Palo Alto

Yes on E Editor, The deceptive mailers from No on E have started to hit my mailbox. Yesterday’s flyer pictured a

green wetland trail versus a bleak factory building with a big red X on it. Of course, the reality is that the 10 acres that Measure E would hold back from park development are anything but green. They are right next to the sewage treatment plant and are currently part of the recently closed dump. Contrary to what’s implied in this flyer, Measure E, the Green Energy and Compost Initiative, includes no building plans. Measure E simply gives us the opportunity to further evaluate various options by releasing 10 of the dump’s 126 acres from park designation. Since there are no construction plans, the opponents’ flyer is what’s “misleading,” claiming that Measure E would require digging up tons of already buried garbage. Far from being “untested,” anerobic digestors are commonly used in Europe and others are now planned for the Bay Area. Moreover, if further analysis shows that the concept won’t work (either technically or financially), then the land will revert to park status. The “foolish” risk would be to deny the opportunity that Measure E offers Palo Altans to save money

and generate needed clean energy from our waste stream, while reducing a train of garbage trucks trekking our compostables to Gilroy. Vote Yes on E. Debbie Mytels Louis Road Palo Alto

No on E Editor, A vote to un-dedicate 10 acres of Bay parkland for an organics processor is environmentally and financially risky. Measure E permits only the processing of organics. Since we are already collecting and processing yard and tree trimmings and commercial food waste, an organics processor will only add household food waste to our current programs — a relatively small net increase to today’s recycle/reuse rate of 77%. Other California communities — Los Angeles County, Santa Barbara, Salinas Valley — are developing new regional municipal waste processing plants that could bring their total recycling/ (continued on page 16)

YOUR TURN The Palo Alto Weekly encourages comments on our coverage or on issues of local interest.

What do you think? Should Palo Alto repeal binding arbitration with its police and firefighters? Submit letters to the editor of up to 250 words to letters@paweekly.com. Include your name, address and daytime phone number so we can reach you. We reserve the right to edit contributions for length, objectionable content, libel and factual errors known to us. Anonymous letters will generally not be accepted. You can also participate in our popular interactive online forum, Town Square, at our community website at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Read blogs, discuss issues, ask questions or express opinions with you neighbors any time, day or night. Submitting a letter to the editor or guest opinion constitutes a granting of permission to the Palo Alto Weekly and Embarcadero Media to also publish it online, including in our online archives and as a post on Town Square. For more information contact Editor Jocelyn Dong or Online Editor Tyler Hanley at editor@paweekly.com or 650-326-8210.

Check out Town Square! Hundreds of local topics are being discussed by local residents on Town Square, a reader forum sponsored by the Weekly on our community website at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Post your own comments, ask questions, read the Editor’s blog or just stay up on what people are talking about around town!

Guest Opinion

Two views on Measure D Con: City should modify, not throw out, binding arbitration by Gary Fazzino, John Barton and LaDoris Cordell e believe there is a better solution than the outright repeal of binding arbitration, as proposed by Measure D, and encourage voters to vote no so the City Council, police officers, and firefighters can work together for a compromise alternative. Having served on the city council, we know what it’s like to negotiate contracts with the city’s public safety unions under the city’s binding arbitration law. It isn’t always easy, but it is true that the best solution always comes from agreement at the bargaining table. And that’s how the majority of contracts have been reached over the last three decades, including the successfully negotiated contract agreement that was announced by the city and the firefighters just last month. When the voters of Palo Alto passed binding arbitration in 1978, it was a different time. The city was facing a different financial picture and had different obligations. There is no doubt that times have changed, and laws need to change with those times. That’s why the city council spent the last several months looking at real options to reform binding arbitration, rather than repeal it. A process where the city council works with our police officers and firefighters to craft an updated modification of binding arbitration is the better approach and the fairer approach. It was only by one vote after a controversial debate that outright repeal was put on the ballot in the form of Measure D. In Palo Alto, binding arbitration is a matter of fairness; and Palo Altans value fairness. Unlike other unions in the city, police officer and

fire fighters do not have the right to strike. Their only option in cases where contract negotiations break down is to go to a neutral third-party arbitrator to settle disputes. Without binding arbitration, an alternative resolution process, or the right to strike, police officers and firefighters effectively lose their collective bargaining rights. Binding arbitration gives police and firefighters a level playing field with other city employees. In addition, Measure D is unnecessary because binding arbitration has rarely been used. In the 33 years since binding arbitration was passed by the voters, binding arbitration has been used only six times. In fact, the last time binding arbitration was used for fire fighter wages and benefits was in 1980. (continued on next page)

Gary Fazzino

John Barton

LaDoris Cordell

Pro: Time to stop giving arbiter power over city’s finances by Pat Burt and Larry Klein On Nov. 8, the citizens of Palo Alto will be asked to make a critical decision affecting the long term financial health of our city. Binding arbitration for public safety employees is an outdated practice used by less than 5 percent of California cities. Surrounding communities of Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Los Altos, East Palo Alto and Menlo Park all negotiate fairly without binding arbitration. Currently, third party arbiters get to make final decisions on critical issues that determine the financial well-being of our city. Unfortunately, these arbiters don’t base their rulings on the financial consequences to the city nor do they weigh whether their ruling is fair to other employee groups. Arbiters don’t consider whether an additional union benefit will mean that streets, parks, libraries and social services would suffer as a result. Professional arbiters come primarily from union backgrounds. They may be third parties, but they are not neutral and they are typically biased towards the unions in their sympathies and their rulings. Over the years, the mere threat of arbitration has forced the city to make concessions that are fiscally unsound. The results of this system have been unsustainable: s 0ENSION COSTS FOR FIRE AND POLICE ARE UP over 30 percent between 2009 and 2012. Currently, firemen earn a pension that is 3 percent of their highest years’ salary multiplied by the number of years worked. This means that they can retire at 50 years old receiving 90 percent of their salary for life. s 0UBLIC SAFETY EXPENSES FOR THE CITY ROSE 80 percent over the last decade while costs of

other city departments have been nearly frozen. The recent Santa Clara County Grand Jury report said that binding arbitration was contributing to unsustainable long term financial obligations for cities and they recommended specifically Pat Burt that Palo Alto end its use. Your city council is determined to not allow Palo Alto to slip into a crisis like we are seeing in San Jose and other cities. The fire union strongly opposes Measure D. They will spend large amounts of money, hire lawyers Larry Klein and apply political pressure to defeat this measure. They have already tried to keep it off the ballot, they will spend freely to try to defeat it and then they will attempt to prevent it from being implemented after the election. Public safety will remain the most important service Palo Alto provides its citizens. Our firefighters and police are valued members of the community. However, it is essential that your elected representatives have the ability to negotiate in good faith, but without handing (continued on next page)

Streetwise

How has Steve Jobs’ death affected you? Asked near the Apple Store on University Avenue, Palo Alto. Interviews and photographs by David Ruiz.

Charlotte Epstein

Retired University Avenue, Palo Alto “I’m going to miss him. He was amazing; he knew what we wanted before we did. When I took his products out of the box I was always awestruck.”

Janet Gibson

Writer Waverley Street, Palo Alto “I lived across the street from him long ago and I saw him teaching his children how to ride their bicycles. He’s affected everyone, even my kids.”

Mike Meyer

Retired Nurse O’Connor Street, Menlo Park “I was in line at the Apple Store waiting to get my iPhone when he just waltzed right in. I waved and said hello and he talked to us for a little bit. He was such a warm person.”

Suzanne Shea

Engineer Syracuse Drive, Sunnyvale “It’s tragic. His products had good design and functionality. He’s made technology accessible to everyone and I thank him for that.”

Jennifer Snelgrove

Homemaker Fordham Way, Mountain View “It’s really sad. He was an elegant designer dedicated to his vision. I’m thankful for the time we had with him.”

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Spectrum

Letters

(continued from page 14)

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After all other discounts & coupons. Cannot be combined with any other 'Free' or '$ OFF' Country Sun coupon. One coupon per household per day per purchase of $25 or more.

EXPIRES 10/31/11

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Latest Tools for Understanding and Guiding your Preschoolerâ&#x20AC;? A practical morning of information, tools and tips, examples and light-hearted discussion around the joys and challenges of parenting preschoolers. presented by

Dr. Annye Rothenberg

Thu., Oct. 20 9 a.m. The Harker School | Lower School Campus 4300 Bucknall Road, San Jose

Free admission, RSVP online at www.harker.org/communityevent

About Speaker: Dr. Annye Rothenberg, a noted Bay Area expert in young children, is a child/parent psychologist and child-rearing specialist who has provided unique, short-term, results-oriented guidance for hundreds of families on the Peninsula. She is an adjunct faculty member in pediatrics at Stanford University Medical School and the founder of a major parenting program in Palo Alto. She is the author of four award-winning books for preschoolers and their parents: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mommy and Daddy are Always Supposed to Say Yes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t They?,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Why Do I have To?,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I Like to Eat Treatsâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;I Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Want to Go to the Toilet.â&#x20AC;? This event, along with the Harker Speaker Series and Harker Concert Series, are all part of our ongoing commitment to sharing thoughtful, entertaining and engaging events with the greater Bay Area community.

Lower School Campus 4300 Bucknall Rd. 408.871.4600 communications@harker.org

www.harker.org Page 16Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;"VĂ&#x152;Â&#x153;LiĂ&#x20AC;Ă&#x160;ÂŁ{]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă¤ÂŁÂŁĂ&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;

reuse rates to 98% with green energy output that is 10 times higher per ton of municipal waste than this proposal. Within a year we will have detailed cost and performance data from these new demonstration plants including environmental reviews and consultant reports. We have plenty of local experience that should warn us against refuse options that lag the market. Over the last seven years our landfill operation has lost some $30 million (run down of cash reserves and postponed rental payments) â&#x20AC;&#x201D; money that refuse users will be paying off in coming years. Adding a plant that will cost between $40 and $70 million and deals, at best, with only a small portion of our outstanding waste stream and that threatens the viability of neighboring parkland, is an invitation to financial and environmental disaster. This proposal ties us for the next 25 years into an option that is costly, inefficient and ineffective. Vote No on E. Greg Schmid Janice Way Palo Alto

Potential danger Editor, In the discussion by the Palo Alto City Council Oct. 3 of the Page Mill project of condos above an R&D lab, councilmember Pat Burt brought up a good point â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the potential danger to the condo residents should an accident happen in the R&D lab below. The reply he got was simply that the city had to be strict about the amount of hazardous chemicals used in the lab and the type of experiments conducted. It was suggested that city staff would decide on the restrictions. Like staff includes chemists! This is shocking! The first floor can be retail. No living units should be above any kind of laboratory. The city has tended to be rather complacent about dangers to residents from industries in their neighborhood. This project is going too far. And this danger is in addition to the toxic plume beneath the site. No such project should ever be allowed, no matter the zoning. Insist on retail or other harmless commercial on the first floor. Natalie Fisher Ellsworth Place Palo Alto

California Avenue plans Editor, Reducing California Avenue from four lanes to two was studied since fall 2004, when the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Streetscapeâ&#x20AC;? project began, and I organized a meeting for all city department heads to share their work schedule with CAADAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Board and Canopyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Susan Rosenberg, with the schedule culminating in street re-surfacing. When Rosenberg suggested CAADA hold a stakeholderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;charetteâ&#x20AC;? to brainstorm how they wanted the street to look, I arranged for well-known architects

Tony Carrasco and Judith Wasserman to moderate a gathering, assisted by Sandra Lonnquist at the Chamber. My plan was cancelled when CAADA Board members Terry Shuchat and Elizabeth â&#x20AC;&#x153;Feetaâ&#x20AC;? Bishop formed â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Streetscape Committee,â&#x20AC;? meeting with the city on CAADAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s behalf, designing their own concept plan, drawn, pro-bono, by architect Heather Trossman. Committee Chairman Shuchat went to other communities and worked closely with Bob Morris of Public Works. When their concept plan was presented to the CAADA Board, it was accepted unanimously, including lane reductions from four to two. Were the Streetscape not stopped in September 2009, all street work would have been done by that Thanksgiving, including the lane reduction. A 7-year-old boy was hit in a crosswalk last summer, adding him to the list of others that includes a man in a wheelchair, and a local property manager, all hit in crosswalks. The four-lane footprint from the 1950s does not serve the pedestrian activity of today. The only surprise is that not more people are hit. Two lanes are ideal for California Avenue. Ronna Devincenzi Former President of CAADA Cambridge Avenue Palo Alto

genius behind the gadgets I love, but the love of a father and husband lost all too soon. Ryan Schmidt Oregon Avenue Palo Alto

Jobsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; legacy

Editor, As someone who lost his father at a similar age to a similar cancer, I offer my deepest condolences to the Jobs family. Amid all the rightful reflection and admiration for what Mr. Jobs accomplished professionally, I hope that praise does not distract from or lessen our sensitivity to the profoundly personal loss the family is feeling. While we may not have an example of his personal accomplishments in each of our living rooms, I will be presumptuous enough to assume that they were no less a source of pride. Today I honor not the creative

Editor, A friend asked me â&#x20AC;&#x153;Was Steve Jobs an inventor or someone who took othersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; inventions and rearrange them in a new and cooler way? â&#x20AC;? I think both descriptions entirely miss his genius. Steve Jobs was an artist whose medium was technology. He brought esthetic art to the world of technology. Technology is logical, quantitative and functional. But art is qualitative, emotional, intuitive. So was Steve. His genius was to create artistic technology products. His genius canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be described as just rearranging existing parts into a cooler product. Paint and canvas existed before the Impressionist painters Monet, Cezanne, Cassatt and Renoir came on to the scene. Before them, painting was in the style of Realism. They created a different artistic esthetic, a different goal of painting. Such was the work of Steve Jobs. It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enough what something did (which was what traditional technologists did), but how it did it. The concept he brought was: Doing something, functionally, wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enough. The new goal was to emotionally like what you were doing. Jobs was the artist who brought technology from â&#x20AC;&#x153;Realismâ&#x20AC;? to â&#x20AC;&#x153;Impressionism.â&#x20AC;? He changed the goal of technology. This required more than just the most visible part, making a cool product. It took changing the mindset of the people who worked on the technology, the structure of a technology company and yes, the products themselves. But it also required changing the expectations of the people who used technology, to expect to like using technology. And this, I think, is his biggest and will be his longest lasting achievement. Christopher Radin Ames Avenue Palo Alto

Con

Pro

We urge voters to take a close look at Measure D and realize that there is a better solution that treats our police and firefighters fairly while protecting taxpayers. Updating binding arbitration or finding an alternative that is updated for the 21st century without undermining the collective bargaining rights of police and fire should be our goal. Measure D does not achieve that goal. We urge voters to join us in opposing repeal of binding arbitration. Vote No on Measure D, so the city council can work with police and firefighters to craft meaningful consensus reform that everyone can support. N Gary Fazzino, John Barton and LaDoris Cordell are all former City Council members.

final decision making authority to outsiders who donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to live with the results. Measure D is about fiscal responsibility. Palo Altans have been clear. They want their city government to reform its cost structure to match the economic realities we face. Measure D enables your elected officials to manage the fiscal future of Palo Alto while holding them accountable for the results. Help us restore fiscal responsibility for Palo Alto. Vote for Measure D. N Pat Burt and Larry Klein are members of the City Council.

Steve Jobs

(continued from page 15)

Cover Story

THE OPPORTUNITY CENTER TAKES STOCK Center for Palo Alto’s homeless by Sue Dremann photographs by Veronica Weber

marks five years of service

he five-story, brick-red building with brushed-metal balconies at 33 Encina Way could be a modern condominium complex or office building housing a Palo Alto startup. But its sign, in block letters, speaks of the hope it was established to offer the city’s homeless men, women and children: Opportunity Center. Inside a courtyard, on a Thursday around noon, people picked over clothing on a folding table; others pulled belongings from

services center hung around, waiting for a possible space on the team. A woman, fresh from a visit with her caseworker, emerged in tears. The Opportunity Center opened five years ago in September to offer homeless and at-risk people housing and services that would help them get off the streets and on with their lives. Located next to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, it currently features four floors of apartments — mostly 100-square-foot studios — and

Known as “housing first,” the idea was to provide unhoused people with the stability of shelter so that their efforts could be directed to addressing other problems and obtaining jobs. a row of storage lockers. In a community room, job seekers sat transfixed in front of computer monitors, while other homeless men and women relaxed, knowing no one would tell them to move along. A nearby meeting was punctuated by cheers and clapping, as members of the Downtown Streets Team — which employs homeless people to clean Palo Alto streets in exchange for food and housing vouchers — received accolades for jobs well done. Hopeful visitors to the daily drop-in

Above, case manager Debra Chavez counsels her client Jeff about a potential apartment. Left, Philip Dah is the Opportunity Center’s program director.

a ground floor with a medical clinic and two separate service areas for adults and families. Its opening was historic. Up until then, the city’s homeless would gather for four hours each weekday outside the American Red Cross building by the University Avenue train station for food, coffee, bus vouchers, mail and other necessities. “The initial idea was to find a perma(continued on next page)

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Cover Story Right, Dr. Patty McGann, a physician with the Palo Alto Medical Foundation who provides medical care twice weekly at the Opportunity Center, talks with Michael Cain about getting a free flu shot. Below, Mike Bates works in the computer lab.

But with adjustments in conventional thinking, many people involved with the center said the lessons learned are paying off. “I see a lot of people who are more stable,” said Lisa Douglass, director of the Stanford Law School Social Security Disability Pro Bono Project, who represents clients in disability-benefits hearings and appeals. And though it has taken time, about 120 people who have lived in the Opportunity Center since its opening have moved on to permanent housing, with scores more finding jobs and receiving help for their problems, according to staff.

F Opportunity Center (continued from previous page)

nent indoor drop-in center,” said Dr. Donald Barr, a Stanford associate professor of sociology and human biology who in 1998 convened the first meeting of what would become the Community Working Group, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing affordable housing and services to homeless and at-risk persons and families. But as Community Working Group members began talking with city officials about homeless services, the idea morphed into a housing-and-services center. Known as “housing first,” the idea was to provide unhoused people with the

stability of shelter so that their efforts could be directed to addressing other problems and obtaining jobs. “A ‘housing first’ model had not been done in this area at this time. It was a fairly long learning curve,” Barr said recently. It was not without controversy, as local residents feared that a fullservice center, with housing, would attract more homeless people to the city. That dire prediction has not borne out, as bi-annual counts of the city’s homeless population have actually shown a 50 percent decrease from 2005 to 2011 — from 341 sheltered and unsheltered persons to 151, according to the Santa Clara County Homeless Census and Survey.

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And yet, the road has been bumpy, Opportunity Center staff are the first to admit. Simply providing the stability of housing doesn’t in and of itself address the root causes of homelessness: medical conditions, disability, job loss, mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence and lack of affordable housing. And given the instability of the population living in the center’s 88 units and stopping by each day for services, problems were bound to occur. There have been complaints about noise and disturbances in and around the Opportunity Center, and sometimes people fall through the cracks and don’t receive the available services, staff and police said.

or Kathy Kronquist, 48, and Robert McDonnell, 43, a journey that began in 2006 finally ended with a one-bedroom apartment on Emerson Street on Oct. 1. The couple has lived in a single room with a bath at the Opportunity Center since 2006 and was among the earliest tenants. Kronquist was relatively new to homelessness. McDonnell had been living in his car for four years, he said. “My husband committed suicide in 2003. I lost everything; I couldn’t afford the rent. That’s when I became homeless,” Kronquist said. McDonnell said he and his father were asked to leave a relative’s house in Pacifica. “I was working for Avis Rent-ACar to make payments on my truck so I had a place to stay,” he said. Kronquist’s situation might not have been so precarious had she been able to get disability benefits, but like many homeless people, she didn’t have a paper trail and was rejected, she said. A surprising number of people who are eligible for entitlements are

not receiving them, Douglass said. And yet, said Opportunity Center Program Director Philip Dah, the benefits are key to some people moving out of homelessness. “So much hinges on these benefits. These are monies that people have paid into. It would be very difficult for her to access that money without lawyers,” he said. The Opportunity Center helps clients such as Kronquist to obtain old high school records, medical records and testing to show they have a disability. A team involving a caseworker, medical staff and others assist in assembling a history for the client, Douglass said. Stanford Law School volunteers helped Kronquist and about 60 others to obtain benefits they were eligible to receive, she said. Out of all of those claims only two were rejected at the hearing level, she said. After three years of having their rent subsidized at the Opportunity Center, Kronquist began paying through her disability benefits. McDonnell contributed to the $707 per month rent by working as a crossing guard at Duveneck Elementary School, he said. Getting Section 8 vouchers, the next step in moving out for the couple, often takes years, Dah said. Kronquist and McDonnell recently qualified for Section 8, enabling them to move out after five years. “We’ve been on the (Section 8) list for seven years. We just picked up the voucher the other day,” McDonnell said.

ince opening its doors, the Opportunity Center’s management has had to reconcile many times between theory and the realities of the complex human condition, Dah said.

Cover Story “The first two years were difficult. People had different expectations. In Palo Alto there were residents who thought that once the homeless were here all of their problems would be solved,” he said. But staff found that the public’s hope to see 40 alcoholics regularly gathering in a room for a 12-step program never materialized. Many Opportunity Center clients didn’t feel comfortable in workshop settings. And a small number of the city’s homeless are not comfortable with coming to the center at all, he said. Fifteen people showed up at a workshop explaining how to have one’s criminal record expunged, but after being tasked with bringing records from the court, only three returned, he said. Incentives were offered: gift cards and vouchers for attending meetings. “They took them and left and didn’t participate,” he said. What has worked are one-onone sessions. Clients will return for those. Sometimes it takes three or four meetings before someone is ready to open up, Douglass said. “When you’ve taken that half-hour to really listen, you start to really learn about their needs. You build a great relationship,” she said. Staff also learned they can’t solve all the problems, Dah said. Helping people with diverse needs and abilities is a difficult balancing act, he said. While one person may (continued on page 22)

Clients partake in lunch foods donated daily to the Opportunity Center.

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Cover Story

Seeking stability With government dollars shrinking, center operators look to partnerships for funding

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ike many of its clients, the Opportunity Center is still finding its footing when it comes to financial stability. In the past couple of years, government funding of InnVision, which operates the center, has declined or has been delayed, said Ann-Marie Meacham, InnVision director of development. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The future is unknown,â&#x20AC;? she said, adding that so far private and corporate donations have funded the facilityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s approximately $1 million budget. But, she said, there is also more competition for dollars with other nonprofit agencies that are feeling the pinch. The Community Working Group, which spurred the creation of the center, established a $2.5 million endowment, but recently it has spent into the principal more than the group would like to see, said Dr. Donald Barr, a current board member and former president. Unforeseen expenses, such as a ventilation problem that caused the menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bathroom to mold, have been paid for by the Working Group, he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In the next two to three years, do we need to go back to the community to provide ongoing services? Relying on the Community Working Group to provide services is not a stable long-term solution,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Another interesting twist is that the Community Working Group formed to help the faith community. When the Urban Ministry merged with InnVision, the faith community stepped back. Is there a role in the long term for the faith community to support services?â&#x20AC;? So far, the center hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t had to cut staff, according to Philip Dah, the Opportunity Centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s program director. But Barr said the question is whether the center can continue to maintain or expand its staff levels should it see an increase in demand resulting from the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ongoing economic crisis. Managers of some services offered through the Opportunity Center have sought out new funding possibilities, with success. Eileen Richardson, who directs the Downtown Streets Team, a jobs program, and Peninsula HealthCare Connection, the centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s medical clinic, is looking at partnerships and grants to sustain the programs. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Early on we were begging people for money all the time,â&#x20AC;? she said of the Streets Team. But this year, the team has received $250,000 from an Environmental Protection Agency grant to help clean up Coyote Creek in San Jose. And a Community Development Block Grant through the City of Palo Alto for economic development will allow for two full-time trainers from the employment agency Manpower to work with clients to find jobs, she said. Richardson hopes to expand the model of working with businesses and organizations to make the team self-sustainable. The team still needs to annually fundraise about $50,000 to $75,000 of its budget. Peninsula HealthCare Connection, which serves 800 primary-care patients, is operated by Opportunity Health partners (OHP), a cooperative venture by the Community Working Group, InnVision, Stanford University School of Medicine, the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center. In the last few months, the clinic received its state license and has a community care clinic, making it eligible for Medi-Cal and Medicare billing â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a big step in regaining costs that were coming from other parts of the public and private sector, Richardson said. Doctor visits, X-rays and other testing are performed through the clinic, which offers internal medicine, pediatric care, mental health care and other services. Palo Alto Medical Foundation pays for and provides a primary-care physician who works 20 hours per week; a psychiatrist works two half-days each week. The clinic needs a larger space and to provide more psychiatric services, however, Richardson said. N â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Sue Dremann

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Cover Story

Opportunity Center (continued from page 19)

Kathy Kronquist and Robert McDonnell kiss in their new apartment, which they moved into on Oct. 1 after living at the Opportunity Center since 2006.

be ready to find a job, another needs treatment for his schizophrenia. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have to make sure that people donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fall through the cracks. For some folks who are really mentally ill, there is not much we can do if they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t comprehend the effort. You have to give them the basics: clothing, food, shelter,â&#x20AC;? he said. The reality is that those people probably wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be plucked off the streets and put into affordable housing at the Opportunity Center â&#x20AC;&#x201D; at least not until they are evaluated and given medications to regain stability so they can receive assistance. So the center staff learned, within the first couple of years, to put many of its efforts into what it can do best, Dah said. In short, focusing on the people who could â&#x20AC;&#x201D; with help â&#x20AC;&#x201D; help themselves. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have to identify people with whom we can achieve success,â&#x20AC;? Dah said, adding that people must be willing to work on getting off the street. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think with that new strategy we

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have gotten a lot of people housed, with jobs and benefits,â&#x20AC;? he said. Of the 348 current and previous Opportunity Center tenants, 120 have moved on to more permanent housing. Homeless people who are seeking services donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always agree with those priorities, however, and say they feel theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not getting the services they need. One man who lives in his car said he felt services are given to people who have mental or drug issues but not to those who are homeless because they have lost their jobs. Dah has said the centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s services are open to all, but he reiterated to the Weekly that the center has had to focus on getting housing for those people who are ready. The majority of people living at the center are disabled, for example, and with help getting their benefits, some will be able to move out, he said.

eople familiar with the Opportunity Center acknowledge that problems exist but credit the staff with trying to keep them under control. Palo Alto Police Chief Dennis Burns said when the Opportunity Center first opened police received a number of calls. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There were some disturbances, some fights, but that has subsided significantly in the last couple of years. The Opportunity Center has drawn more vehicle and pedestrian traffic, as it is a destination. This has caused some traffic and parking issues. Noise issues occur with some regularity as well,â&#x20AC;? he said. Dr. Lars Osterberg, who collaborated with Barr to bring health care services to the center in 2004, recognized the publicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perception of a center for the homeless. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The NIMBYism was quite prevalent in the beginning and still exists. This is a common phenomenon in the development of homeless services, since people in the community have concerns about these being a magnet for the homeless and some of the problems this can bring. With help from important community members and adequate security, I think some of the concerns have been mitigated; however, some still exist,â&#x20AC;? Osterberg said. Dr. Francis Marzoni, executive vice president of Palo Alto Medical Foundation, recalled early worries about being located next to the center. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We had concerns about the centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clients during the planning stages and met with (the Community Working Group), the city and the Palo Alto Police Department to see how we might mitigate them. Several of our concerns have been validated. We have had to beef up security, and we continue to work with the operators of the center. I think the centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s staff does what they can to get the day users to follow the rules, and their residents have been great, with few exceptions,â&#x20AC;? he said. Aldo Gomez, manager at AutoPride Hand Wash, which is near the Opportunity Center, said the establishment has had a number of issues with people voiding after the business has closed for the evening. Some people also use benches re(continued on page 26)

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A community health education series from Stanford Hospital & Clinics

A Gentle Touch Proves Its Power In New Breast Cancer Treatments less invasive surgery called a lumpectomy, which removes only the tumor, leaving intact as much of the breast as possible.

By the time Anne Broderick was diagnosed with breast cancer, her grandmother, her aunt, her mother, two sisters and a brother had already been found to have some form of cancer.

Norbert von der Groeben

No Longer the Dark Ages

Her own illness, then, “wasn’t a terrible shock that came out of nowhere,” she said, “but it’s certainly a lifechanging bit of news. At the moment when you first hear the diagnosis, you have no idea of how serious it is or what the treatment will be. It’s still a shock even if you’re not surprised.”

She assumed that she would have the same kind of radiation her sister had had. Broderick became a patient at Stanford Hospital & Clinics; there, she found out, something else was available.

It was June 2005 when, after years of twice-yearly mammograms and monthly breast self-exams, Broderick learned that she had cancer in her left breast. Her doctors classified the cancer as Stage 2. Broderick’s tumor was large, but the cancer had not reached her lymph nodes. They told her that she would have surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Those options were not unexpected, either. Her aunt had had a double mastectomy to remove her breast cancer, her sister had gone through seven weeks of daily radiation as part of her breast cancer treatment. And, Broderick said, “I’d heard all of these stories about chemotherapy.” Instead of a double mastectomy, in which both breasts are removed, Broderick’s tumor was removed with a far

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“The thought of going every day, five days a week for seven weeks was just overwhelming. When I was presented with this shorter option, I just grabbed at it.” – Anne Broderick, patient, Stanford Hospital & Clinics The history of breast cancer care has followed the same path as other medical treatments, becoming more and more refined. “In the 1960s and 1970s, surgeons performed the biggest operation possible. They would remove the breast and the surrounding muscle and lymph nodes and hope for the best,” said Frederick Dirbas, MD, who heads the Breast Disease Management Group at the new Stanford Women’s Cancer Center. “There was much less use of medical therapy and radiation. Physicians didn’t have the information or the tools we have now to combine treatments to care for our patients.” When Broderick met with her Stanford radiation oncologist, Kate Horst, MD,

By the time Anne Broderick was diagnosed with breast cancer, her grandmother, her aunt, her mother, two sisters and a brother had already been found to have some form of cancer. It’s a technique, Horst said, that’s allows patients “to continue to be physically active, to keep working and to take care of their families.”

she was presented with a new treatment option. She was a candidate, Horst said, for radiation that could be given in just five days, not weeks. “The thought of going every day, five days a week for seven weeks was just overwhelming. When I was presented with this shorter option, I just grabbed at it,” Broderick said.

“Physicians knew it was out there. People also said it’s been tried and it didn’t work. We decided we were going to do this in a way that would make it work.”

What researchers at Stanford were exploring was the idea that radiation could be delivered in a more targeted and accelerated fashion. One approach, which takes place during surgery, is called intraoperative radiotherapy. Another method uses external radiation therapy after surgery. Both approaches focus radiation beams only on the margins of the lumpectomy cavity, instead of the whole breast.

Broderick felt such benefit from the Healing Partners program at Stanford, she trained to be a practitioner of the hands-on therapy and now helps others.

– Frederick Dirbas, MD, Leader, Breast Disease Management Group, Stanford Women’s Cancer Center Broderick knew that it was a newer type of therapy, “but I didn’t feel I was at risk. I felt I was in very good hands. When Dr. Horst explained it to me, it made a lot of sense.”

Making It Work Stanford was one of the very first to offer these newer forms of radiation therapy, Dirbas said. “Physicians knew it was out there. Most said it’s been tried and it didn’t work. We decided we were going to do this in a way that would make it work.”

Norbert von der Groeben

When her Stanford radiation oncologist, Kate Horst, MD, offered Broderick a chance at radiation therapy that would last days, not weeks, she said yes.

As important as any other advance, Dirbas believes, is an interdisciplinary collaboration among surgeons, radiologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists, researchers and support programs. The Stanford Women’s Cancer Center, which opened this June, is built on that kind of collaboration and designed to bring together in one setting all those involved in breast and gynecologic cancers to provide the most comprehensive care possible.

special feature

What You Should Know About Breast Cancer t Breast cancer is either invasive or non-invasive. The most common type of breast cancer affecting women today is invasive ductal carcinoma. It begins in the lining of the milk duct, then moves into the surrounding breast tissue.

t Diagnosis at Stanford may include an all-digital mammogram with computer-aided detection, breast MRI, ultrasound and CT scan. t Treatment options include surgery, breast reconstruction, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy and biologics therapy. Stanford offers patients various forms of radiation therapy, including intraoperative radiation and post-operative accelerated partial breast irradiation. Stanford also offers patients a significant group of clinical trial possibilities.

t Some types of breast cancer have been linked to the hormones estrogen and progesterone. When hormone replacement therapy became less common, breast cancer rates began to decrease. t Symptoms may include a lump, change in size or shape of the breast, change in the color or feel of skin and other parts of the breast. Early breast cancer usually does not cause pain; some cancers never cause any symptoms at all.

t Other supportive services include nutritional counseling, a preparation for chemotherapy class, therapeutic writing, support groups, pain management, hypnosis, massage and yoga.

t Risk factors include age, family history of breast or ovarian cancer, early menstruation or late menopause, dense breast tissue, weight gain and obesity after menopause, not having children or having a first child after age 30.

For more information, visit cancer.stanford.edu/breastcancer or phone the new Stanford Women’s Cancer Center at 650.498.6004

Join us at stanfordhospital.org/socialmedia. Watch the new Stanford Hospital Health Notes television show on Comcast: channel 28 on Mondays at 8:30 p.m., Tuesdays at 3:30 p.m. and Fridays at 8:30 a.m.; channel 30 Saturdays at 10:30 p.m. It can also be viewed at youtube.com/stanfordhospital.

The weekly sessions began even before her surgery. “It really felt wonderful,” she said. “I felt so relaxed and peaceful.” Broderick thinks that it helped her avoid any side effects from her chemotherapy, except for tiredness im-

“The way I was treated definitely contributed to my healing. It was clear to me that people cared about me.” – Anne Broderick, patient, Stanford Hospital & Clinics The program became “an essential part of my emotional balance,” she said. “It helped me pay attention to the mind-body connection. The power of touch is something we don’t do much with in our society. It’s very comforting.”

Sharing with Others Broderick became so enthusiastic about the technique that she trained to become a practitioner and now helps other cancer patients.

Norbert von der Groeben

Her weekly Healing Partners treatment started even before Broderick’s surgery. The combination of that program and the reduced side effects of accelerated radiation therapy, she believes, made it possible for her to maintain her career as a psychotherapist and leadership coach.

She has nothing but good things to say about her care at Stanford, from her physicians and nurses to the MRI technicians. “The way I was treated definitely contributed to my healing,” she said. “It was clear to me that people cared about me. Having cancer is never a wonderful experience, but this was as pleasant as it could be.”

Breast cancer was first documented by Egyptian physicians in 1600 BC. Now, nearly one in eight women will develop the disease in her lifetime. The incidence of breast cancer has remained the same in the last decade, but the number of women who survive, like Broderick, has increased steadily as screening has become more common, imaging more sophisticated and treatment possibilities more abundant. After her surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, Broderick took another treatment drug, Herceptin, a medication proven very effective for certain types of breast cancer, for a year. Now 72, she’s continuing her career as a psychotherapist and leadership coach. “I don’t think about cancer very much,” she said. “When I do see women recently diagnosed with breast cancer, I tell them to take good care of themselves, to be proactive about their health care, to be sure their questions are answered.”

“I tell them about the services at Stanford. If you’re going to have cancer, this is the place to have it.”

Norbert von der Groeben

Broderick also discovered that Stanford was a resource for additional treatment elements. Healing Partners offered her a weekly meeting for six months with a practitioner expert in a type of hands-on energy therapy. “Like tai-chi and acupressure it works to get energy flowing through the body so the body can do its own work,” Broderick said. “It sounded a little woo-woo to me, but there was no downside. Anything I could do that would help me, I would try.”

mediately after each session and the typical hair loss. “I wasn’t my usual peppy self. I still worked I didn’t miss a beat there,” she said.

Norbert von der Groeben

That proximity can speed the transition from breakthrough research in prevention, detection and treatment to clinical availability.

Broderick’s husband, Lou, was a mainstay of support during her treatment. Because of her family history of cancer, her own diagnosis of the disease didn’t come as a surprise, “but it is still a shock,” she said.

Stanford Hospital & Clinics is known worldwide for advanced treatment of complex disorders in areas such as cardiovascular care, cancer treatment, neurosciences, surgery, and organ transplants. It is currently ranked No. 17 on the U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” list and No. 1 in the San Jose Metropolitan area. Stanford Hospital & Clinics is internationally recognized for translating medical breakthroughs into the care of patients. The Stanford University Medical Center is comprised of three world renowned institutions: Stanford Hospital & Clinics, the Stanford University School of Medicine, the oldest medical school in the Western United States, and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, an adjacent pediatric teaching hospital providing general acute and tertiary care. For more information, visit http://stanfordhospital.org/.

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Cover Story

Opportunity Center (continued from page 22)

served for staff breaks to do drugs, he said. “We have to tell them to stay out of the property,” he said of people crossing dangerously in front of cars at the carwash. But he said he has attended a couple of community meetings held by the Community Working Group and Dah has been very responsive to the issues, which have been getting better, he said. On Wednesday morning, an argument broke out on the sidewalk on Encina Way, but Judy Frost, who owns Judith A. Frost Company said the occasional minor disruptions are quickly resolved by staff. “I would have to say they have been good neighbors. If we’ve had an issue one or two times, we call Philip and he takes care of it,” she said. Frost echoed the sentiments of many merchants, including those at nearby Town & Country Village shopping center. “Please don’t put them in a negative light. They are trying really

hard to do good work,” she said. Many Town & Country merchants also said they support the Opportunity Center. When it was first proposed merchants attended city meetings to voice their concern. But there have been few issues, they said. “We’ve had a few incidents, but Palo Alto Police Department and Town & Country Village security have always been real prompt in responding,” said Scott’s Seafood General Manager Kim Ryberg. “I don’t have people sleeping in my doorway; I don’t have people accosting my customers,” she said. One man does persistently use profanity when asked to move away while panhandling, but she said he was the exception. Ryberg also cautioned against attributing any homeless persons who might frequent the shopping center to the Opportunity Center. “I don’t know that they are from the Opportunity Center. I don’t know if they’d be here if the Opportunity Center was here or not,” she said. Charne Morris, manager at How-

ie’s Artisan Pizza, said that a homeless couple dines at the restaurant about once weekly and they are always polite and quiet, she said. Ironically “we did get one report from security that someone was harassing a homeless person. It happened through the window here,” she said. Burns said that staff has largely controlled the problems. “The Community Working Group has been very proactive ... with the neighborhood to discuss issues and develop solutions. The staff is more than qualified to handle disagreements and to set fair expectations,” Burns said. On a recent September afternoon Dah demonstrated that commitment after a woman began shouting outside the drop-in center. Dah rose from his interview and within moments the disturbance was quelled. Drinking, drugs and disturbing or inappropriate behavior are not allowed at the center, and violators are asked to leave the premises, he said after returning, adding that he asks people to leave the drop-in center if he smells alcohol on someone’s

ATRIAL FIBRILLATION AWARENESS Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm problem, affecting over 2 million Americans. Without detection and treatment, atrial fibrillation can affect quality of life and cause stroke and heart failure Expert Stanford physician specialists will discuss the signs and symptoms of Atrial Fibrillation and the options for evaluation and treatment, which may improve quality of life and decrease complications. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29 9:30AM – 11:00AM Sheraton Palo Alto (Justine Room) 625 El Camino Real r Palo Alto, CA To RSVP, email: events@stanfordmed.org Please register, seating is limited. MODERATED BY: Paul J. Wang, MD, FACC, FHRS Professor of Medicine Director, Stanford Arrhythmia Service For more information: www.stanfordhospital.org/aﬁb-event

breath. The stringent enforcement is an incentive for good behavior, he said. The center also expects apartment tenants to be drug- and alcohol-free. However, it cannot legally force people to engage in rehabilitation programs as a condition of receiving housing, some of which is subsidized but most of which rents for between $393 and $1,137 a month per room, depending on the person’s income. Some people might use drugs or alcohol in their apartments, Dah said. Staff also can’t force residents to get help for other personal problems. In the center’s adult wing, a man was sleeping on the rug in front of the community room television recently. Debra Chavez, a case manager for adults, called his name loudly, but the man did not stir. “He doesn’t want to go into his room,” Chavez said. “He is a hoarder, and his room is packed with stuff. There are three or four of them we are working with.”

iven the issues of the homeless population, there was never a quantifiable goal of getting a certain number of people off the street with a specified period of time. But Osterberg said the Opportunity Center has been quite effective. “Many clients have benefited from the services, and the range of services is critical for the types of clients seen. It is hard to measure all the benefits that the center has accomplished, but I know many stories of clients who would not be where they are now if not for the Opportunity Center. Some individuals and families I know would not have survived if it wasn’t for the center. I also know of several people who are now productive members of society living on their own after having been supported from the Opportunity Center,” he said. John Chang, 32, said he would still be homeless if it weren’t for the Opportunity Center and the Downtown Streets Team. He became homeless in July 2008 and remained so until December 2010 after losing his job, he said. He used the dropin center services but did not live at the center. Chang found work through a temporary-employment agency and worked for Sears, Sprint and Google before a medical condition and surgery made work difficult, he said. Joining the Downtown Streets Team, Chang earned food and housing vouchers. He became the first person to receive a Section 8 voucher through the program and now lives in an apartment in Sunnyvale, he said. Chang said that while the Opportunity Center worked to get him out of the quagmire of homelessness, some programs don’t push to make people change. Chang said he thinks that while offering people housing, food and other services, each program should urge people to seek jobs or address other issues that led to their homelessness so that they will eventually unwplug from supportive assistance. He is still in Section 8 housing, but with education and a better paying job, he does not intend to use the services forever, he said. “Some people, they get housing and they want to stay their entire lives. Some programs are good — they hold people accountable. If they aren’t accountable, they rely on it. Some (programs) are a crutch. Section 8 can be housing for life,” he said. Chang has a job at a fast-food restaurant now and is working on his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry at DeAnza and West Valley colleges. He wants to become a doctor, he said. “There’s a stigma about homeless people — that they’re all alcoholics or drug users. They’re not. I want to be a model, a poster child for how homeless people can be successful,” he said. N Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be emailed at sdremann@paweekly.com.

About the cover: Visitors, clients and staff congregate in the Opportunity Center’s main courtyard. Photograph by Veronica Weber. Page 26ÊUÊ"VÌ LiÀÊ£{]ÊÓä££ÊUÊ*> Ê Ì Ê7ii Þ

Arts & Entertainment A weekly guide to music, theater, art, movies and more, edited by Rebecca Wallace

Film festival focuses on students getting their schooling in the face of poverty, prejudice and war

Former Uganda child soldiers become students in “The Thing That Happened,” which screens Oct. 21.

by Rebecca Wallace

lobal education has many faces in this year’s United Nations Association Film Festival. It’s a former Uganda child soldier now going to classes. A Roma (Gypsy) youngster helping to desegregate a school in rural Romania. And a camel named Gellow. That sturdy animal vagabond is part of Kenya’s mobile camel library, which brings books through the savannah to remote residents. “In the villages with their houses of mud and dung these tenacious desert ships are wishfully awaited by the people of the nomadic Muslim tribes. Under the shade of acacia trees, especially the children are excitedly turning pages of school books, novels and comics,” reads a website blurb for the film “Caravan of the Books.” The 50-minute movie was made by German filmmaker Herbert Ostwald. Audience members at the festival screenings may come away with a greater appreciation for their own educations when they watch the films’ subjects struggling to teach and learn in the face of poverty, prejudice, learning disabilities, book shortages and wars. The theme for this year’s festival, the 14th, is “Education is a Human Right.” The event runs Oct. 21 through Oct.

30, showing 70 documentary films in Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, Stanford University and San Francisco. Panel discussions and receptions with filmmakers are also planned. The festival has long covered a wide range of topics; others that will be explored this year include the concept of the modern revolution, women’s rights in India, and, closer to home, the battle over preserving San Bruno Mountain. Founder and executive director Jasmina Bojic originally conceived the festival to mark the 50th anniversary of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This year, opening night is Friday, Oct. 21, at Palo Alto’s Aquarius Theatre at 430 Emerson St. Following opening remarks by Palo Alto Mayor Sid Espinosa at 6:45 p.m., “The Thing That Happened” will be shown at 7 p.m. Directed by Andrew Walton, the 20minute Ugandan/American film looks at the Hope North Secondary and Vocational School in Uganda and its efforts to educate children affected by civil war, including former child soldiers. The 96-minute film “Pink Saris,” directed by Kim Longinotto, follows at 7:40 p.m., telling the stories of persecuted women in India and the activist

“Once Upon A Rooftop” will be shown Oct. 21. It looks at the families who live in makeshift dwellings on Hong Kong rooftops.

(continued on next page)

“There’s No Sound in My Head” is a local film about an experimental music score created by Stanford University composer Mark Applebaum (not pictured). It will be shown Oct. 29.

“Caravan of the Books,” which will screen Oct. 23, is about a mobile camel library that brings books to remote Kenyan villages.

In the film “Our School,” which will screen Oct. 22, young Roma (Gypsy) children seek to desegregate a rural Romanian school. *> Ê Ì Ê7ii ÞÊUÊ"VÌ LiÀÊ£{]ÊÓä££ÊU Page 27

Arts & Entertainment (continued from previous page)

Where scholarship and values matter.

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Sampat Pal who tries to help them. The last film of the night is Sybil Wendlerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Once Upon A Rooftop,â&#x20AC;? a 29-minute movie about children and families living in makeshift, illegally constructed dwellings on the rooftops of Hong Kong. The festival then continues through Oct. 30 in various Palo Alto-area locations. Scheduled films include the 94-minute Romanian film â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our School,â&#x20AC;? in which directors Mona Nicoara and Miruna Coca-Cozma profile three Roma children trying to desegregate their village school. It will be shown at noon on Oct. 22 at the Aquarius Theatre. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Caravan of the Booksâ&#x20AC;? will bring the camels to the Aquariusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; big screen at 11:20 a.m. on Oct. 23. Later screenings include sessions at local schools. On Oct. 25, the festival heads for Palo Alto High School at 50 Embarcadero Road, with two films: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Setting the Stage,â&#x20AC;? about teaching Shakespeare in a diverse classroom, is at 2 p.m., followed at 2:45 p.m. by â&#x20AC;&#x153;Original Minds,â&#x20AC;? about teens navigating the American specialeducation system. â&#x20AC;&#x153;American Teacher,â&#x20AC;? which profiles four contemporary teachers in urban and rural schools, will be shown at 4:15 p.m., followed by a panel discussion titled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Teachersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Pay as a Factor in Education Qualityâ&#x20AC;? and a reception with the filmmakers, at Stanford Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Encina Hall. East Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Eastside Prep at 1041 Myrtle St. hosts several screenings beginning with â&#x20AC;&#x153;Raising Yuriya,â&#x20AC;? about girls being educated in rural Egypt, at 4 p.m. Also in East Palo Alto, the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Peninsula at 2031 Pulgas Ave. starts its screenings with â&#x20AC;&#x153;Play Again,â&#x20AC;? about high-tech kids growing up in the real and virtual worlds, at 7 p.m. While technology is certainly an issue on the Peninsula, some of the films are even more local in their subject matter. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s No Sound in My Head,â&#x20AC;? a 20-minute film directed by San Francisco filmmaker Robert Arnold and produced by Stanford University composer Mark Applebaum, looks at Applebaumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experimental-music

project â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Metaphysics of Notation.â&#x20AC;? The pictographic score for the piece, rich with hand-drawn symbols and glyphs, was installed for a year at Stanfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cantor Arts Center, where different musicians came each week to play their own interpretations of it. The film includes performance footage and interviews with Applebaum and other composers. Fittingly, it will be shown at the Cantor, at 2 p.m. on Oct. 29. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Butterflies and Bulldozersâ&#x20AC;? will be screened at 9:20 p.m. Oct. 26 at the Balboa Theatre, 3630 Balboa St., San Francisco. A 62-minute film by Ann and Steve Dunsky, it looks at the conservation fight over San Bruno Mountain and its rare butterflies. And, in the spirit of the festival, it also takes a broader viewpoint. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This film deals with the global dilemma of economic growth versus species preservation,â&#x20AC;? the filmmakers note on their website. â&#x20AC;&#x153;San Bruno Mountain provides a context to explore these complex questions.â&#x20AC;? N

What: The 14th annual United Nations Association Film Festival, with screenings of 70 documentary films, as well as panel discussions and filmmaker receptions Where: The events will be in Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, Stanford University and San Francisco. When: Oct. 21 through Oct. 30, with late-morning, afternoon and evening events Cost: General admission for a film session (oneand-a-half to three hours) is $10. Other tickets include daily passes for Stanford screenings ($20$30). Opening-night screenings and panels are free for everyone, while all screenings and panels are free for students. Info: For a complete schedule and price breakdown, go to unaff.org or call 650-724-5544.

S E L E CT E D H I G H L I G H T S OPENING NIGHT

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Arts & Entertainment

OPER

Mark Kitaoka

Jack Koenig, Laiona Michelle and Matt Jones play a troubled family in “Clementine in the Lower 9.”

‘Clementine’ offers hope, and some lovely jazz Post-Katrina update of Aeschylus tragedy is compelling but flawed by Chad Jones

s a re-telling of Aeschylus’ “Agamemnon,” Dan Dietz’s “Clementine in the Lower 9” fascinates and frustrates. If you didn’t know about this world-premiere play’s Greek roots, it could seem a strangely formal tale set amid the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Why, for instance, would a young junkie named Cassy, supposedly gifted with prophecy, be possessed by the god Apollo? And why would a highly intelligent woman celebrate the return of her husband by lighting candles all over the roof of her badly flooddamaged home in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, thus turning it into an incredible fire hazard? Both of those elements — Cassandra and the lighting of a welcome beacon — are from the Greek but seem odd here. The incongruous meshing of Ancient Greek and contemporary American eventually finds a tentative balance in director Leah C. Gardiner’s TheatreWorks production, largely thanks to a masterful and entertaining performance by Laiona Michelle as Clementine (a jazzy New Orleans spin on the name Clytemnestra). Michelle is a powerful force, especially as mother to her collegeage son Reginald (Matt Jones), on leave from his studies at Columbia, and her daughter Iphy, who was presumed drowned in the flood though her body has not been recovered. Clementine awaits the return of trumpet-playing husband, Jaffy (Jack Koenig), who, along with so many thousands of Katrina refugees, has been trying his luck in Houston for nine months. After a crackling scene between Clementine and Reginald (as they light those infernal candles), Jaffy arrives home with a surprise: a teenage junkie he calls Cassy (Jayne Deely). He’s helping her overcome her addiction (he’s been there, done that), and she utilized her gift of prophecy to help him land some quick cash. Jones’ Reginald is almost as com-

THEATER REVIEW pelling as Michelle’s Clementine. He’s a man of two worlds: black (like his mother) and white (like his father), local (he grew up in the Lower Ninth) and deserter (he’s going to school in New York). Much more than the sketchily drawn Jaffy, we get a sense of Reginald as a young man of tremendous potential and as the troubled child of a (now-recovered) drug addict. Like Michelle, Jones is adept at blending the formality of the Greek myth with the pulse of modern life. Though Deely’s Cassy is well performed, all twitches and starts, the character never seems quite of this world as much as a remnant of Aeschylus that makes the dramatic gears grind. Set designer J.B. Wilson and lighting designer Steven B. Mannshardt convey the destructive clutter of the Lower Ninth Ward with the shell of a house that is barely livable. Electricity is sketchy at best, and surrounding the house is debris, downed power lines and a sense of life in a shattered but somehow barely habitable landscape. There are too many moments when “Clementine” feels like a new play. Characters speak in exposition, telling each other things about history and their family that they already know, so it’s really for our benefit more than any other. There’s a certain classic formality to this kind of filling in the blanks, but in combination with the contemporary rhythms and humor of the dialogue, the mash-up can be jarring. And ultimately, the re-telling of “Agamemnon” set against the devastation of Hurricane Katrina is also jarring. It makes a certain amount of sense, this “blues riff” on Aeschylus as Dietz calls it, and there is some unquestionable dramatic power. But my guess is that this story would carry similar weight even if it weren’t set in the aftermath of a catastrophic natural disaster.

In the Aeschylus telling, Agamemnon has sacrificed his daughter in exchange for winds to blow his ships to battle in the Trojan War. Dietz uses the raging floodwaters (Katrina as dramatic device) to complicate the loss of the daughter, and we never really get to see why Jaffy might have made the choices he made. How would any of us act in a lifeand-death moment? Dietz’s Jaffy makes a choice, but Dietz doesn’t quite substantiate that choice in Jaffy’s character development. Much clearer is Michelle’s Clementine, a respected nurse with her own complications stemming from the flood and her relationship with the man who once helped channel her prodigious talent for jazz piano. This tutor (Kenny Brawner) is less effective as the drama’s ghostly chorus than he is as the pianist in the hot jazz quartet on stage (John Worley on trumpet, Richard Duke on bass and Kelly Fasman on drums). It seems almost law that any story set in New Orleans has to include jazz music, and that law is effectively adhered to here. At first the music, composed by Justin Ellington, sets the scene and allows Brawner to sing some bluesy tunes. As the play progresses, the music becomes essential to the story. Especially important is a five-finger piano exercise that becomes a haunting refrain, allowing us to forget the battle between ancient and modern and connecting us to the heart of a family in trouble. Unlike Aeschylus, Dietz makes room for hope amid the destruction and violence — a hope underscored by beautiful music. N What: “Clementine in the Lower 9” by Dan Dietz, music by Justin Ellington, presented by TheatreWorks Where: Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View When: Through Oct. 30 with 7:30 p.m. shows Tuesday and Wednesday, 8 p.m. shows Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. shows Saturday and Sunday and 7 p.m. shows Sunday Cost: Tickets are $19-$69 with student, senior and educator discounts. Info: Go to www.theatreworks.org or call 650-463-1960.

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Inspirations a guide to the spiritual community

â&#x2014;? We provide high quality, bonded and insured caregivers, who are experienced in care for older adults. â&#x2014;? We are the leader in 24 hours a day, 7 days a week live-in care. â&#x2014;? We provide the culinary training for our caregivers at Sur La Table, to improve their skills and our clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; meals. â&#x2014;? Our experts wrote the books Handbook for Live-In Care and Happy to 102, available on Amazon.com. They are a resource for the industry as well as families.

Inspirations is a resource for ongoing religious services and special events. To inquire about or to reserve space in Inspirations, please contact Blanca Yoc at 223-6596 or email byoc@paweekly.com

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YOU ARE INVITED to come meet our teachers, tour our beautiful campus & participate in a student Q&A panel

OPEN HOUSE

October 22, 2011 10:30-12:00 noon

25th Annual Palo Alto Weekly

s 'RADES s 5# !CCREDITED s STUDENT TO TEACHER RATIO s &OSTERING CREATIVE WELL BALANCED responsible students s &LEXIBLE STUDENT FOCUSED PROGRAMS IN A SAFE STRESS REDUCED ENVIRONMENT

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Entry deadline is December 2nd Visit Palo Alto Online for details

Movies

A PULSE-RACINGâ&#x20AC;? THRILLER.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Peter Travers

OPENINGS

Michael Shannon stars in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Take Shelter.â&#x20AC;?

Take Shelter ---1/2

(Guild) The Biblical notion of signs and wonders gets a workout in Jeff Nicholsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x153;Take Shelter.â&#x20AC;? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no accident that the folks at the center of the film â&#x20AC;&#x201D; father, mother, and deaf 6-year-old daughter â&#x20AC;&#x201D; frequently talk to each other in sign language, and the father turns out to be something of a Noah figure, interpreting visions and dreams as signs of a coming calamity. Storm clouds begin to gather in the filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first scene, as smalltown-Ohio construction worker Curtis LaForche (Michael Shannon) looks heavenward and doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like what he sees. Scarily realistic dreams of twisters and a wild dogâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bite, brown rain and odd-flocking birds unnerve Curtis enough to send him down a path of determined survivalism on behalf of his family. Taking out a â&#x20AC;&#x153;risky loanâ&#x20AC;? and crossing ethical lines in the workplace and his personal relationships, Curtis buys a shipping container, stocks up on canned goods, and sets to work converting his storm cellar into a shelter to withstand the worst-case scenario. At least at the outset, Curtis retains enough reason to hesitate. Primarily, his self-doubt involves a family history of mental illness (as Curtisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; schizophrenic mom, Kathy Baker turns in a performance of career-best subtlety), and he struggles with fear and shame that understandably but mistakenly prevent him from confiding in his wife (Jessica Chastain, maintaining her stellar breakout year). In some ways, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Take Shelterâ&#x20AC;? is a psychological horror film, an ambiguous mood piece that flirts with entering â&#x20AC;&#x153;Donnie Darkoâ&#x20AC;? territory. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also a compassionate and respectful drama about the gray areas of slow-encroaching mental illness. But writer-director Nichols, who first teamed with Shannon on the similarly affecting â&#x20AC;&#x153;Shotgun Stories,â&#x20AC;? has the even greater ambition to fashion an allegory for these days of economic collapse, environmental sea change and increasing talk of â&#x20AC;&#x153;end

times.â&#x20AC;? Any way Nichols slices it, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Take Shelterâ&#x20AC;? cuts deep, proving equally capable of excruciating tension and aching empathy. The story of a Middle American family trying to survive, trying to make impossible choices (deciding whether trusting oneself or not is the mistake), in the most trying of times clearly speaks to the moment. Early on, when his best friend comments, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got a good life,â&#x20AC;? Curtis replies, â&#x20AC;&#x153;It ainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always so easy.â&#x20AC;? But when real strife arrives, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lesson not to take the good life for granted. Even those who find the filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deliberate pace off-putting will have to concede that Shannonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work is superlative, whether in moments of quiet but tortured confusion and stress, or in an inevitable public breakdown, scaled perfectly to life size. Nichols doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t miss any opportunity for irony (a counselor who blithely and unhelpfully remarks, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been kind of crazy around here latelyâ&#x20AC;?), and his ambiguous ending doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t cop out, but rather allows the audience to make their own meaning from Curtisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; journey. Rated R for some language. Two hours. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Peter Canavese

The Big Year --

(Century 16, Century 20) With its near-total absence of humor, birding comedy â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Big Yearâ&#x20AC;? invites its audience to amuse itself with the names of avian species: hoary redpoll, arctic loon, pinkfooted goose and olive-backed pipit, to name but a few. If the mere mention of the blue-footed booby sends you into paroxysms, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Big Yearâ&#x20AC;? is the film for you. For the rest of us, this story of bird-spotters racing to tally up the greatest number of species in a calendar year (an informal, bragging-rights competition known as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;big yearâ&#x20AC;?) turns out to be an unfortunate non-starter. Given its cross-country travel, competition theme and all-star cast (Steve

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

Martin, Jack Black, Owen Wilson, Rashida Jones, Jim Parsons, Anjelica Huston, Brian Dennehy, Dianne Wiest, and so on...), one might well call it â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah World.â&#x20AC;? Directed by David Frankel (â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Devil Wears Pradaâ&#x20AC;?) and scripted by frequent Bill Murray collaborator Howard Franklin (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Quick Changeâ&#x20AC;?) from Mark Obmascikâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nonfiction bestseller, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Big Yearâ&#x20AC;? proceeds from a promising premise that focuses on three birders with something to prove to themselves by doing a big year. Wilsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reigning champion Kenny Bostick fears losing his title, so he sets out into the birding community to keep his eye on his prize. Martinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;rich executiveâ&#x20AC;? Stu Preissler wants to pursue the dream heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been putting off while running a corporate empire. As for Blackâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Brad Harris, he could stand to be a success at anything at long last, so it may as well involve his love of birding. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Big Yearâ&#x20AC;? does several things right, saving it from being a dismal washout. For starters, Franklin educates the audience about birding phenomena, like the boon of a â&#x20AC;&#x153;spring falloutâ&#x20AC;? that brings a rush of rare species where enthusiasts can find them. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Big Yearâ&#x20AC;? also understands the obsessive personality, which can turn a hobby into a homewrecker; Wilsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s character has lost at least one wife to birding, and he appears ready to repeat history with current wife Jessica (Rosamund Pike). And then thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the exploration of unlikely friendships â&#x20AC;&#x201D; between, say, corporate â&#x20AC;&#x153;winnerâ&#x20AC;? Stu and ostensible â&#x20AC;&#x153;loserâ&#x20AC;? Brad â&#x20AC;&#x201D; built on like-minded personalities. So â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Big Yearâ&#x20AC;? has heart, and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something. Perhaps that soft spot also keeps â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Big Yearâ&#x20AC;? conventional, the lack of cynicism precluding wicked humor, but thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a place for this kind of kinder, gentler comedy. The message of choosing the right priorities proves more palatable in this filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hobbyist context than it has been for years (the world doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need another lousy family comedy about a workaholic dad learning to come home to his family). That said, who wants to see Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson take turns whiffing every time they get up to bat? When Martin starts boogie-ing like a â&#x20AC;&#x153;wild and crazy guy,â&#x20AC;? itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a colossal relief for 10 seconds, but also a sure sign of the filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s total comic desperation. Rated PG for language and some sensuality. One hour, 42 minutes. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Peter Canavese

â&#x20AC;?

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Steven Rea

â&#x20AC;&#x153;GRIPPING

AND

PROVOCATIVEâ&#x20AC;?

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Owen Gleiberman

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Movies MOVIE TIMES 2 For 1 - Contagion/Killer Elite Century 16: Fri. & Sun.-Thu. at noon, 2:15, 4:55, 7:30 & 10:10 p.m. Cen20: 11:15 a.m.; 1:20, 3:55, 6, 8:35 & 10:40 p.m. tury (Not Rated) ((( 50/50 (R) (((

Century 16: 11:50 a.m.; 12:50, 2:15, 3:15, 4:40, 5:40, 7:30, 8:30 & 10:10 p.m. Century 20: 11:30 a.m.; 3:10, 4:25, 5:35, 8, 9:25 & 10:30 p.m.; Fri. & Sun.-Thu. also at 12:45 p.m.

Abduction (PG-13) (Not Reviewed)

Century 20: 10:10 p.m.

Anna Christie (1930) )

Stanford Theatre: Wed. & Thu. at 5:50 & 9:35 p.m.

The Big Year (PG) ((

Century 16: 11:40 a.m.; 2:15, 4:40, 7:50 & 10:25 p.m. Century 20: 11:30 a.m.; 12:45, 2, 3:15, 4:30, 5:55, 7, 8:25 & 9:30 p.m.; Sat. also at 10:15 a.m.

Citizen Kane (1941)

Stanford Theatre: Sat. & Sun. at 5:20 & 9:25 p.m.

Cowboys & Aliens (PG-13) ((1/2

Century 16: 10:30 p.m.

Dolphin Tale (PG) 3D (Not Reviewed)

Century 16: 12:20, 3, 6:10 & 9:20 p.m.; In 3D at 11:35 a.m. & 2:20 p.m.; In Fri.-Mon., Wed. & Thu. also at 5 & 7:45 p.m. Century 20: 11:20 a.m.; 4:50 & 10:10 p.m.; In 3D at 2 & 7:30 p.m.

Dream House (PG-13) (Not Reviewed)

The Metropolitan Opera: Century 20: Sat. at 9:55 a.m. Palo Alto Square: Sat. at 9:55 a.m. Anna Bolena (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed) Midnight in Paris (PG-13) (((1/2

Aquarius Theatre: 3, 5:30 & 8 p.m.

Moneyball (PG-13) (((1/2

Century 16: 11:40 a.m.; 12:40, 2:40, 3:40, 5:40, 7, 8:50 & 10:05 p.m. Century 20: 11:25 a.m.; 1, 2:25, 4, 5:25 & 8:25 p.m.; Fri.-Mon., Wed. & Thu. also at 7:10 p.m.; Sat. also at 9:50 a.m.

National Theatre Live: One Century 20: Thu. at 7 p.m. Palo Alto Square: Thu. at 7 p.m. Man, Two Guvnors (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed) Point Blank (R) (Not Reviewed) Aquarius Theatre: 7 & 9:30 p.m.; Fri.-Tue. & Thu. also at 2 & 4:30 p.m. Real Steel (PG-13) ((1/2

Century 16: 11:30 a.m.; 12:20, 2:30, 3:30, 5:25, 7, 8:25 & 10:10 p.m. Century 20: 11:35 a.m.; 12:35, 1:35, 2:35, 3:35, 4:35, 5:30, 6:40, 7:35, 8:35, 9:40 & 10:30 p.m.; Sat. also at 9:45 & 10:10 a.m.

The Rolling Stones Live in Century 16: Tue. at 7:30 p.m. Century 20: Tue. at 7:30 p.m. Texas 1978 (PG) (Not Reviewed) Take Shelter (R) (((1/2

Guild Theatre: 1, 4, 7 & 9:45 p.m.

Century 20: 2:25 p.m.; Fri.-Wed. also at 7:45 p.m.

The Thing (2011) (R) (Not Reviewed)

Drive (R) (((1/2

Century 16: 12:35, 3:50, 7:20 & 10 p.m. Century 20: 11:50 a.m.; 5 & 10:20 p.m.

Century 16: 11:30 a.m.; 12:40, 2, 3:20, 4:30, 5:50, 7:30, 8:40 & 10:20 p.m. Century 20: 11:55 a.m.; 1:15, 3:50, 5:05, 6:20, 7:45, 9 & 10:15 p.m.; Fri. & Sun.-Thu. also at 2:30 p.m.; Sat. also at 10 a.m. & 2:35 p.m.

The Third Man (1949)

Stanford Theatre: Sat. & Sun. at 3:25 & 7:30 p.m.

Footloose (PG-13) p.m. (Not Reviewed)

Century 16: 11:30 a.m.; 12:30, 2:10, 3:10, 4:50, 5:50, 7:40, 8:50 & 10:30 Century 20: 11:30 a.m.; 12:45, 2:15, 3:30, 5, 6:15, 7:45, 9 & 10:30 p.m.; Sat. also at 10:05 a.m.

Top Hat (1935)

Stanford Theatre: Fri. at 5:40 & 9:25 p.m.

The Gay Divorcee (1934)

Stanford Theatre: Fri. at 7:30 p.m.

( Skip it (( Some redeeming qualities ((( A good bet (((( Outstanding

Ghostbusters (1984) (PG) (Not Reviewed)

Century 20: Thu. at 7:30 p.m.

Grand Hotel (1932)

Stanford Theatre: Wed. & Thu. at 7:30 p.m.

The Help (PG-13) ((

Century 20: 8:15 p.m.

The Ides of March (R) (((

Century 20: 11:20 a.m.; 12:25, 1:50, 3, 4:25, 5:40, 8:10 & 10:40 p.m.; Fri.Wed. also at 7 & 9:35 p.m.; Sat. also at 9:45 a.m. Palo Alto Square: 1:30, 4 & 6:30 p.m.; Fri.-Wed. also at 5:15 & 7:45 p.m.; Fri. also at 2:45, 9 & 10:15 p.m.; Sat. also at 9 & 10:15 p.m.; Sun.-Wed. also at 2:45 p.m.

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Your Number? (R) (1/2 Century 20: 1:55 & 6:50 p.m.

Aquarius: 430 Emerson St., Palo Alto (2669260)

Guild: 949 El Camino Real, Menlo Park (266-9260)

Century Cinema 16: 1500 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View (800-326-3264)

Stanford: 221 University Ave., Palo Alto (324-3700) Internet address: For show times, plot synopses, trailers and more information about films playing, PaloAltoOnline.com.

Labios Rojos (R) (Not Reviewed)

Century 20: 11:45 a.m.; 2:15, 4:40, 7:05 & 9:35 p.m.

Century 20 Downtown: 825 Middlefield Road, Redwood City (800-326-3264)

The Lion King (G) (Not Reviewed)

Century 16: In 3D at 11:30 a.m.; 1:50, 4:05, 6:30 & 8:55 p.m. Century 20: In 3D at 11:15 a.m.; 1:30, 3:45 & 6 p.m.

CinĂŠArts at Palo Alto Square: 3000 El Camino Real, Palo Alto (493-3456)

NOW PLAYING

drug use. One hour, 40 minutes. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; P.C. (Reviewed Sept. 30, 2011)

50/50 --(Century 16, Century 20) Will Reiser, the writer of this film, is himself a cancer survivor, so however this semi-autobiographical story may end, it at least comes with the guarantee that it knows whereof it speaks. Like his creator, 27-year-old character Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) discovers heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s developed a spinal cancer. He begins as an overly cautious individual, but as his illusions of order crumble, he allows himself to indulge his emotions and cross behavioral boundaries. Gordon-Levitt excels, partly as an amusingly deadpan straight man to Seth Rogen (playing a version of himself as Adamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best bud) and Anjelica Huston (lovable as Adamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s demonstrative mother), but more importantly as an Everyman navigating his mortality. â&#x20AC;&#x153;50/50â&#x20AC;? proves winningly humane as a carpe diem comedy designed to remind us, gently, that what matters most is being true to one another and ourselves. Rated R for language throughout, sexual content and some

Contagion --(Century 16, Century 20) Wife and mother Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) returns from an overseas business trip with a flulike illness that rapidly spirals from cough to seizures to death. Bethâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s distraught husband, Mitch (Matt Damon), is offered no concrete answers from the perplexed doctors and begins to wonder why he hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t contracted the virus himself. Meanwhile, Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and his colleague Dr. Erin Mears (Kate Winslet) start a fullfledged investigation into the mysterious affliction as more fatalities are reported around the world. Rated PG-13 for disturbing content and some language. 1 hour, 45 minutes. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; T.H. (Reviewed Sept. 9, 2011)

MICHAEL SHANNON

Drive ---1/2 (Century 16, Century 20) The best â&#x20AC;&#x153;wheel manâ&#x20AC;? in L.A. (Ryan Gosling) must decide

JESSICA CHASTAIN

+ "&)) + +! +

if he should help out an ex-con (Oscar Isaac) by serving as his getaway driver. He also finds himself in the role of rescuer to a boy and his mother Irene (Carey Mulligan). Though he mostly looks out for number one, the driver shows loyalty to his boss â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a limping garage owner named Shannon (Bryan Cranston) â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and a sympathy for Irene, for whom the driver clearly longs. Rated R for strong brutal bloody violence, language and some nudity. One hour, 41 minutes. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; P.C (Reviewed Sept. 16, 2011) The Help -(Century 20) Despite being a privileged white girl obliged to play nice with the communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nasty cliques of racists, Skeeter (Emma Stone) has the soul of a rebel. She decides to help the help â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that is, work against the mistreatment of local black maids by getting them to tell her their stories, which Skeeter will fashion into a book sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s writing on spec for a Harper & Row editor (Mary Steenburgen). Rated PG-13 for thematic material. Two hours, 27 minutes. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; P.C. (Reviewed Aug. 12, 2011) The Ides of March --(Palo Alto Square, Century 20) â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Ides of Marchâ&#x20AC;? goes behind the scenes of a Democratic presidential primary race, as seen through the eyes of idealistic, highly placed campaign staffer Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling). Pennsylvania Gov. Mike Morris (George Clooney) is looking good heading into the Ohio Democratic Primary. As the Republican machinery manuevers to get out the vote for Morrisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; less electable rival, Morrisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; team parries and

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TA K E S H E LT E R WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY JEFF

NICHOLS

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Fri and Sat 10/14 The Ides of March 1:30, 2:45, 4:00, 5:15, 6:30, 7:45, 9:00, 10:15 Sat 10/15 The Ides of March 1:30, 4:00, 5:15, 6:30, 7:45, 9:00, 10:15 Mon thru Wed 10/16-10/19 The Ides of March 1:30, 2:45, 4:00, 5:15, 6:30, 7:45 Thurs 10/20 The Ides of March 1:30, 2:45, 4:00, 6:30

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thrusts. Rival campaign managers Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) clearly have read their Machiavelli; the filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s central conflict begins to unfold when Duffy, hoping to poach a keen political mind, makes an overture to Myers. A true believer in his own candidate, Myers declines, but complications ensue when top-tier reporter Ida Horowicz (Marisa Tomei) gets wind of his secret meeting with the other side. Rated R for pervasive language. One hour, 41 minutes. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; P.C. (Reviewed Oct. 7, 2011)

on the cheap â&#x20AC;&#x201D; offers a captivating and often humorous look into the business side of Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pastime. Beane hooks up with young economics whiz Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), an unheralded wunderkind in the value of baseball statistics. Together the duo eschews standard baseball wisdom and begins revamping the team using an analytical/mathematical approach, much to the chagrin of the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more traditionally minded scouting department. Rated PG-13 for some strong language. 2 hours, 6 minutes. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; T.H. (Reviewed Sept. 23, 2011)

Killer Elite --(Century 16, Century 20) Billed as â&#x20AC;&#x153;based on a true story,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Killer Eliteâ&#x20AC;? concerns fallout from the 1970s Oman War. A tribal Dubai sheik seeking revenge for his lost sons holds hostage grizzled special-ops man Hunter (Robert De Niro) to force his mentee Danny (Statham) into exacting justice. To plan and execute the assassinations of the SAS operatives whom the sheik holds responsible, Danny must come out of self-imposed retirement and call in favors with old friends, including the somewhat loose cannon Davies (Dominic Purcell). Rated R for strong violence, language and some sexuality/ nudity. One hour, 45 minutes. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; P.C. (Reviewed Sept. 23, 2011)

Real Steel --1/2 (Century 16, Century 20) In the not-toodistant future, the sport du jour is robot boxing. Seems fight-hungry citizens have tired of watching people beat each other up (weak humans) and prefer to see sophisticated and expensive robots pound each other into scrap metal. One of the most notable robot-boxing trainers (i.e., the guy who works the remote control) is washed-up fighter Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman). Charlie is down on his luck when he gets word that the mother of his estranged young son (Dakota Goyo) has died, leaving Max without a guardian. Maxâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aunt Debra (Hope Davis) and her hubby Marvin (James Redhorn) are eager for custody, but the unscrupulous Charlie sees an opportunity to make a quick buck. Charlie enlists the help of his longtime friend and former lover Bailey (Evangeline Lilly) and plans to hit the robot-boxing circuit with Max in tow. Rated PG-13 for some violence, intense action and brief language. 2 hours, 7 minutes. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; T.H. (Reviewed Oct. 7, 2011)

Midnight in Paris ---1/2 (Aquarius) Owen Wilson plays Gil Pender, an American in Paris beguiled by the notion that â&#x20AC;&#x153;every street, every boulevard is its own special art form.â&#x20AC;? A self-described Hollywood hack, Gil is a successful screenwriter who grinds out movie scripts but longs to write real literature. And then with a magical stroke reminiscent of â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Purple Rose of Cairo,â&#x20AC;? the admirer of 1920s Paris becomes immersed in his favorite period. An incredulous Gil interacts with expatriate icons of the Lost Generation and the artists who contributed to the legendary time and place. Rated PG-13 for some sexual references and smoking. 1 hour, 34 minutes. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; S.T. (Reviewed May 27, 2011) Moneyball ---1/2 (Century 16, Century 20) â&#x20AC;&#x153;Moneyballâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; based on the 2003 novel by Michael Lewis about Oakland Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) and his unorthodox approach to fielding a winning team

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Your Number? -1/2 (Century 20) Anna Faris plays Ally Darling (aww...), whose Boston subway ride is ruined when the Marie Claire magazine tells her the average number of lovers an American woman has in her lifetime is 10.5. Aghast at having nearly doubled that total â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and shamed by her younger sisterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impending marriage â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Ally resolves to stop sleeping with men until she finds â&#x20AC;&#x153;the one.â&#x20AC;? What follows is a frothy and predictable tale, occasionally annoying but perhaps a crowd pleaser for those who donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t blanche at the term â&#x20AC;&#x153;chick flick.â&#x20AC;? Rated R for sexual content and language. 1 hour, 47 minutes. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; P.C. (Reviewed Sept. 30, 2011)

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Trader Vicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 849-9800

Hobeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 856-6124 4224 El Camino Real, Palo Alto Also at Town & Country Village, Palo Alto 327-4111

Burmese Green Elephant Gourmet 494-7391 Burmese & Chinese Cuisine 3950 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto (Charleston Shopping Center) Dine-In, Take-Out, Local Delivery-Catering

CHINESE Chef Chuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 948-2696 1067 N. San Antonio Road on the corner of El Camino, Los Altos 2010 Best Chinese MV Voice & PA Weekly Jing Jing 328-6885 443 Emerson St., Palo Alto Authentic Szechwan, Hunan Food To Go, Delivery www.jingjinggourmet.com Mingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 856-7700 1700 Embarcadero East, Palo Alto www.mings.com New Tung Kee Noodle House 947-8888 520 Showers Dr., MV in San Antonio Ctr. Voted MV Voice Best â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;01, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;02, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;03 & â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;04 Prices start at $4.75 Su Hong â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Menlo Park Dining Phone: 323â&#x20AC;&#x201C;6852 To Go: 322â&#x20AC;&#x201C;4631 Winner, Menlo Almanac â&#x20AC;&#x153;Best Ofâ&#x20AC;? 8 years in a row!

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ITALIAN La Cucina di Pizzeria Venti 254-1120 1390 Pear Ave, Mountain View www.pizzeriaventi.com Fresh, Chef Inspired Italian Food Spalti Ristorante 327-9390 417 California Ave, Palo Alto Ă?ÂľĂ&#x2022;Â&#x2C6;Ă&#x192;Â&#x2C6;Ă&#x152;iĂ&#x160; Â&#x153;Â&#x153;`Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;"Ă&#x2022;Ă&#x152;`Â&#x153;Â&#x153;Ă&#x20AC;Ă&#x160; Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;}Ă&#x160; www.spalti.com

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Fuki Sushi 494-9383 4119 El Camino Real, Palo Alto Open 7 days a Week

Palo Alto/Stanford/Menlo Park Order online at www.siamorchidpa.com

MEXICAN Celiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mexican Restaurants Palo Alto: 3740 El Camino Real 650-843-0643 Menlo Park: 1850 El Camino Real 650-321-8227 www.celiasrestaurants.com Palo Alto Sol 328-8840 408 California Ave, Palo Alto Ă&#x2022;}iĂ&#x160;Â&#x201C;iÂ&#x2DC;Ă&#x2022;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160; Â&#x153;Â&#x201C;iĂ&#x192;Ă&#x152;Ă&#x17E;Â?iĂ&#x160;,iVÂ&#x2C6;ÂŤiĂ&#x192;

STEAKHOUSE Sundance the Steakhouse 321-6798 1921 El Camino Real, Palo Alto Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30 am-2:00pm

Search a complete listing of local restaurant reviews by location or type of food on PaloAltoOnline.com

Dinner: Mon-Thu 5:00-10:00pm Fri-Sat 5:00-10:30pm, Sun 5:00-9:00pm www.sundancethesteakhouse.com *>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;"VĂ&#x152;Â&#x153;LiĂ&#x20AC;Ă&#x160;ÂŁ{]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă¤ÂŁÂŁĂ&#x160;U Page 33

Eating Out FOOD PROFILE

Edgewood keeps on eating Food-truck picnics continue monthly through the winter by Sheila Himmel

Veronica Weber

Shay Dismore calls out an order for a customer at the Old Port Lobster Shack Mobile at Edgewood Eats.

n their first trip to Edgewood Eats, Palo Alto residents Lenore and Carl Jones circled the wagons, all 11 of them. This is a good strategy, because the foodtruck menus range from duck confit spring rolls (Little Green Cyclo) to barbecued ribs (Armadillo Willyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, BBQ Kalbi) and change every time. The popular Monday-night foodtruck fiesta switched to a monthly schedule in October. Rain or shine, it will happen the first Tuesday of each month through February, and then return to weekly Tuesdays. Food quality varies a lot, but servers are uncommonly friendly and accommodating. At Tikka Bytes, Carl Jones was asked how spicy he wanted his burrito-like â&#x20AC;&#x153;naanwich.â&#x20AC;? Before he gave his final answer, they gave him a taste of

spicy so he could know he wanted regular. The Joneses learned about food trucks from their daughter in Los Angeles, where this whole foodtruck thing is really big. They visited a few in LA, whetted their appetites and, as Lenore Jones said, wistfully downing her unagi taco (BBQ Kalbi), â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been searching.â&#x20AC;? You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to be in the know to enjoy Edgewood Eats. My houseguest, 23, an extremely picky eater from the Midwest, doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t eat vegetables, let alone the awesome pickled daikon-topped pork-belly bun ($5.75, Chairman Bao) and garlic noodles ($7.50, An the Go) that we were inhaling. She was thoroughly happy with her grilledcheese sandwich ($4) and potato chips from the Shack Mobileâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

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Veronica Weber

Pork belly and pickled daikon on a baked bun from the Chairman Bao bun truck.

and either welcome or offer advice. They bid you to try such mixed marriages as the sushi tacos ($2) and fried cheesecake rolls ($2) at Mo Bowl. The first is pretty spicy, the second crusted in sugar, both appetizer-size. You’ll have plenty of room for Butterscotch on the Go’s pudding ($4) a textural extravaganza that sane people share. Crescent Park resident Susie Hwang founded Edgewood Eats in September 2010 with the support of Edgewood Plaza owner Sand Hill Properties. Her goals were to repurpose a rundown vacant lot as a neighborhood gathering place, to demonstrate Edgewood Plaza’s potential for vibrant commerce, to provide gourmet food entrepreneurs a foothold in Palo Alto, and to give

busy parents some creative dinner options. Each month, a portion of vendor revenues is donated to organizations such as Second Harvest Food Bank, Doctors Without Borders and Water.org. Food trucks are so popular they’ve got their own reality show, “The Great Food Truck Race.” For the full scoop, Heather Shouse’s definitive book “Food Trucks: Dispatches and Recipes from the Best Kitchens on Wheels” (Ten Speed Press, 2011) tours trucks from Oahu, Hawaii, to Portsmouth, N.H. At Edgewood, bring your own lawn chairs or blankets. For now children run around and dogs are on leashes. When it starts raining, vendors will provide canopies so the made-to-order dinner show can go on. N

Edgewood Eats Intersection of Embarcadero Road, West Bayshore Road and Channing Avenue (right on Highway 101), Palo Alto facebook.com/edgewoodeats Hours: From 5 to 8 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month, through February 2012. In March, the event moves to every Tuesday evening. Reservations

Lot Parking

Credit cards

Alcohol: Bring your own

Takeout Highchairs

Wheelchair access Banquet Catering

Outdoor seating Nearest restrooms at Shell gas station

Veronica Weber

An unagi and kalbi beef taco from the Bulkabi Korean BBQ Taco truck. children’s menu. tled close together, which is why so People do talk about food. I over- many commercial streets now are heard a theory that trucks from wall-to-wall restaurants. It’s called nearby restaurants didn’t have long “the theory of the cluster.” lines because you can go there anyIf you do find yourself in a long time. A contrary theory holds that line, likely someone will ask if all food purveyors profit when nes- you’ve tried this truck before —

CAL L I N G A L L B R ID E S TO TH E

WEDDING OF THE CENTURY! Montalvo Arts Center (Villa Montalvo), in Saratoga, is celebrating its Centennial Year in 2012.

We are organizing an event to celebrate the many weddings that have taken place at Montalvo over the years. Were you, your parents, or your friends married at Montalvo? Interested? Questions? Have a story? Let us know! Email: married@montalvoarts.org CELEBRATING 100 YEARS!

www.montalvoarts.org *> Ê Ì Ê7ii ÞÊUÊ"VÌ LiÀÊ£{]ÊÓä££ÊU Page 35

MOUSING AROUND ... Stanford writer Prudence Breitrose has penned a children’s book about mice — both the animal kind and the computer variety — and will host a launch party at Kepler’s in Menlo Park at 7 p.m. on Nov. 8. Partly set in Silicon Valley, “Mousenet” is a tale about a friendship between a 10-year-old girl and mice that have learned to e-mail, write opinions in mouse blogs, check facts in Whiskerpedia and take online courses. As a bonus, the mice halt climate change. Kirkus Book Reviews wrote of the story: “Genuine goodwill, humor and impressive believability will have readers longing for mice as friends — not to mention political allies.” GOING GLOBAL ... Mary Bartnikowski, a 25-year resident of Palo Alto, has published an e-book, “Kitten Heels in Kathmandu: The Adventures of a Female Vagabond.” It’s a memoir about her six years of full-time travel while pursuing her photography career, hitchhiking, teaching yoga and meditating. Info: bartnikowski.com/book.

AUTHORS AT STANFORD ... Authors aplenty are set to speak at Stanford University, including: Robert N. Sayler, “Tongue-Tied America: Reviving the Art of Verbal Persuasion” (Oct. 21, noon, Hume Writing Center); Andrew Tilin, “The Doper Next Door” (Oct. 26, 6 p.m., Stanford Bookstore); and Abbas Milani, “The Shah” (Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m., Geology Corner (Building 320), Room 105). Info: events.stanford.edu. MORE TALKS ... Authors at Books Inc. at Town & Country Village in Palo Alto include plenty whose books could whet the appetite: Melissa Clark, “Cook This Now: 120 Easy and Delectable Dishes You Can’t Wait to Make” (Oct. 23, 11 a.m.); Kathleen Flinn, “The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices Into Fearless Home Cooks” (Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m.); Emilia Terragni, translator and editor of “The Silver Spoon,” and Rosetta Costantino, “My Calabria” (joint talk about Italian cooking, Oct. 27, 7 p.m.). Info: booksinc.net. AUTHOR, AUTHOR ... Upcoming authors at Keplers, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, include: James Dashner, “The Death Cure” (Oct. 14, 7 p.m.); Buff Whitman-Bradley, Cynthia Whitman-Bradley and Michael Thurman, “About Face: Military Resisters Turn Against War” (Oct. 18, 7 p.m.); Stephen Mitchell, new translation of “The Iliad” (Oct. 19, 7 p.m.); Amitav Ghosh, “River of Smoke” (Oct. 20, 7 p.m.); Michele Borba, “The Big Book of Parenting Solutions: 101 Answers to Your Everyday Challenges and Wildest Worries” (Oct. 20, 7 p.m., at Menlo-Atherton High School, 555 Middlefield Road, Atherton); Barry Eisler, “The Detachment” (Oct. 21, 7 p.m., at Four Seasons Silicon Valley, 2050 University Ave., East Palo Alto); Susan Gal, “Into The Outdoors” (Oct. 23, 11:30 a.m.); Nina Sankovitch, “Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading” (Oct. 24, 7 p.m.); Mark Bowden, “Worm: The First Digital World War” (Oct. 25, 7 p.m., at (continued on next page)

Title Pages A monthly section on local books and authors, edited

by Gennady Sheyner

Making ‘Order’ out of chaos

FRANCIS FUKUYAMA’S NEW STUDY TRACES THE EVOLUTION OF STATE by Gennady Sheyner

“The Origins of Political Order,” by Francis Fukuyama; Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York; 558 pp.; $35 rancis Fukuyama doesn’t shy from sweeping statements, bold pronouncements or the Big Idea. The Stanford University scholar’s best-known work, “The End of History and the Last Man” (an expansion of a 1989 essay), caused a ripple in the political-science world in 1992 by arguing that the global ideological struggle has finally come to an end, with liberal democracy as the undisputed champion. The book served as a retort of sorts to Karl Marx, who had his own ideas about what the “end of history” would look like. Though some critics took the title too literally, the controversy only fueled Fukuyama’s rise to the very pinnacle of America’s politicalscience establishment. Fukuyama’s latest book, “The Origins of Political Order,” will almost certainly cement the reputation, but for starkly different reasons. As the title implies, the work is more a survey than a polemic, though the Stanford professor doesn’t avoid poking holes in the teachings of Marx, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Max Weber and other European thinkers who dominate college syllabi. His aim is to answer the million-dollar question: Why do some nations, like China and Russia, end up with strong but unaccountable governments while others like India and England have political systems that restrict their respective rulers’ authority? Such questions, by definition, are far from straightforward. As Fukuyama explains early on, “Human societies are so diverse that it is very difficult to make truly universal generalizations from the comparative study of cultures.” Not that this will stop him from trying.

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“Origins” is ambitious in its goal, sweeping in its scope and nuanced in its method. Much like Jared Diamond’s “Guns, Germs, and Steel,” which detailed the ways in which geography shaped the differences between civilizations, and Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilization,” which pegged cultural differences as the main driver of conflicts in the post-Cold War world, Fukuyama’s newest work seeks to explain how the world became the way it is. Fukuyama, who dedicates the book to Huntington, traces the history of political development from the time we were swinging from trees to the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. He casts his net across the globe and takes us from the warring tribes of ancient China — the first civilization to invent bureaucracy and create the centralized “modern state” — to the Mamluk warriors of ancient Egypt (whose powerful armies and state bureaucracy were sustained by the nascent institution of military slavery); from the Catholic popes who provided a crucial check to royal power in England to the Brahmins in India, whose dominance of the social order made it nearly impossible for a strong state to emerge. Fukuyama breaks down “political order” into three components — the state, the rule of law and government accountability — and shows how each component evolved over time. Along the way, he challenges the Hobbesian characterization of man as an isolated brute who opted to improve his “nasty, brutish and short” life by forking over his freedom to the “Leviathan” of state in exchange for security. Even chimps band together, elect leaders and more or less follow the Golden Rule, Fukuyama argues. The “presocial state” that Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau wrote about never existed

Veronica Weber

Book Talk

Stanford scholar Francis Fukuyama compares diverse governmental systems in “Origins of Political Order.” in Fukuyama’s universe. We are, by nature, social, family-oriented and capable of reciprocating altruism, he argues. Rather than sign a contract to join a state, we gradually transitioned from smaller, kin-based groups to larger bands, tribes and, ultimately, states, Fukuyama writes. This transition followed various timelines and trajectories in different parts of the globe, with warfare as the major engine of change. China led the way in the third century B.C., when the king of Qin challenged the traditional kin-based social order and began conscripting peasants into his army. He ultimately conquered his rivals and established the modern institution of state throughout most of northern China. The bitter tension between the central state and family-based organization is a continuing thread throughout “Origins.” It helps explain why Chinese emperors employed networks of eunuchs as spies against political enemies (and why China’s Confucian rulers decided to exterminate all the royal eunuchs in the year 165). The Han Dynasty, which followed Qin, took the modern state a step farther and created the world’s

first bureaucracy. Officials were now selected based on merit rather than on family connections, and regional leaders were asked to supply the central government with “fixed quotas” of young men to serve in the bureaucracy, Fukuyama writes. In 5 B.C., there were about 130,000 bureaucrats serving in China. The empire went through numerous shifts and relapses under subsequent dynasties with central authority giving way to aristocratic rule and vice versa. The nation’s Confucian ethos, which encouraged family loyalty, continued to clash with the strong-state “Legalism” of authoritarian rulers. Nevertheless, China succeeded in emerging as the first modern state. The conflict between kin-based tribes and the central state wasn’t restricted to China. It loomed particularly large in the Islamic empires of the Middle East, where the Ottoman Empire fought back against the tribal loyalties by creating a system of military slavery. The slaves in this system were foreigners from conquered nations who were separated from their children and brought in to serve the state. As the empire’s military successes around the year 1500 demonstrated, the system worked like a charm.

The system of military slavery, Fukuyama writes, “emerged as a brilliant adaptation designed to create a strong state-level institution against the backdrop of one of the most powerfully tribal societies on earth.” Other states took far longer to coalesce. In India, where a firmly established caste system ruled the social order, it took centuries for a central state to emerge and when it did, it was far weaker than its Chinese counterpart. But the firmly established social order also gave India something that China lacked: the germ of the rule of law. India’s caste system and Varna system “formed the bedrock organization of society and severely limited the power of the state to penetrate and control it.” The rule of law in India, he writes, came from a power the population deemed superior to the political ruler. Europe also lagged far behind China in centralizing authority, but when a state finally emerged to replace the existing feudal system, it bore little resemblance to the Chinese model. To be sure, some monarchs flexed their muscles, but England had no equivalent of Wu Zhao (a seventh-century concubine-turned-empress who had her predecessor chopped into pieces and stuffed in a wine vat; poisoned the heir apparent; framed her own son for the crime; prompted him to commit suicide; used her army of spies to execute all nobles, then did the same to the police). For that, Fukuyama argues, we can thank the Catholic Church and a monk named Hildebrand. Even before he became Gregory VII in 1073, Hildebrand and his followers argued that popes should exercise legal supremacy over all Christians and had the right to depose the emperor. When Henry IV tried to challenge this doctrine during the “investiture controversy” (in which the church challenged the emperor’s right to appoint bishops), things didn’t go so well for the emperor. Fukuyama writes: “Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV responded by attempting to oust Gregory from Apostolic See with the words ‘Descend, descend, thou ever accursed,’ to which Gregory responded in turn by excommunicating the emperor. Many of German princes, as well as a number of bishops, supported the pope and forced Henry in 1077 to come to Gregory’s residence at Canossa. He waited for three days to present himself barefoot in the snow to receive the pope’s absolution.” The Church and the State ultimately reached accord in 1122 with the Concordat of Worms. The emperor largely gave up the right of investiture, while the church recognized the emperor’s authority in a range of temporal matters. Thus, the European secular state was born, in which “the existence of a separate religious authority accustomed rulers to the idea that they were not the ultimate source of law.” The religious component had thus set England apart from China and Russia, where absolute rule was (and in some ways remains) the norm, and where the rule of law is severely diminished by the power of the political ruler to change it at a whim. The church also introduced to the English monarchy the principle of accountability — the third

ingredient in Fukuyama’s formula for successful political development. It is this trinity that put England on the path toward a strong, functional liberal democracy — a path that Fukuyama terms “the road to Denmark.” Fukuyama’s book overflows with colorful examples of less smooth transitions to political order. There’s 18th-century France, where a rule of law favoring nobility forced kings to grant oligarchs unfair tax exemptions, putting heavy burden on the peasantry. The monarchy discovered accountability the hard way near the end of the century when the peasants revolted and Louis XVI lost his head in the French Revolution. There’s the Russian model in which the rule of law is weak and accountability is virtually nonexistent — factors that allowed despotic rulers to recruit nobility and to terrorize the population at leisure. On the flip side, there’s the Hungarian model of the 14th and 15th century, in which the nation’s oligarchs were more powerful than the state, leaving the country militarily weak and unable to defend itself against the Ottoman invasion. “Origins of Political Order” is the first of two volumes Fukuyama plans to publish, with the sequel focusing on the period between the Industrial Revolution and the present. But even without reading the second volume, it is easy to see the parallels between the historical struggles between tribes and state, or state and citizenry in the modern world, from the rise of the lethal Haqqani network in Afghanistan to the Putin regime in Russia. To be sure, Fukuyama’s basic premise that political order emerges subtly and gradually out of the particular material and historical conditions of each society is unlikely to jibe well with those who believe in the power of the Big Idea to change the world (including Neoconservatives, Islamic fundamentalists and the guy who wrote “The End of History” in the late 1980s). Fans of “The End of History” may end up scratching their heads by the end of “Origins” and ask themselves, “What’s the Big Idea?” But what “Origins” lacks in hubris, it more than makes up for in elegance, scope and keen insight. Above all, it succeeds in showcasing one of the nation’s top political scientists at the height of his power. N Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.

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Items for Book Talk may be sent to Associate Editor Carol Blitzer, Palo Alto Weekly, P.O Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 93202 or e-mailed to cblitzer@paweekly.com by the last Friday of the month.

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Book Talk

the Computer History Museum, 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View); Emily Jenkins and Paul O. Zelinsky, “Toys Come Home” (Oct. 25, 7 p.m.); Jim Newton, “Eisenhower: The White House Years” (Oct. 27, 7 p.m.); Brian Selznick, “Wonderstruck” (Oct. 27, 7 p.m., at the Menlo Park City Council chambers, 701 Laurel St.); Tamora Pierce, “Mastiff: The Legend of Beka Cooper, #3” (Oct. 28, 7 p.m.); Marla Frazee, “Stars” (Oct. 30, 11:30 a.m.). Info: keplers.com. N

“Leadership Palo Alto had a great influ on me. It stre ence ngthened m y understan of our comm dings unity and fo rged close relationship s that contin ue to this day .” Pat Burt, Palo Alto Cit y Councilmem ber and former M ayor

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Sports Shorts

STANFORD SOCCER

A jewel for the Cardinal

OAKS’ REPORT . . . With Ricardo Urruela and Sacred Heart Prep grad Alex Vukic each scoring in the first half, the Menlo College men’s soccer team remained undefeated in Cal Pac Conference play with a 2-0 victory over visiting Cal State Maritime on Tuesday. The Oaks (4-0, 7-3-1) host unbeaten Holy Names in a conference showdown Saturday at 3 p.m. Urruela has four goals in his past three games. Vukic scored his third goal in as many games a few minutes later. Menlo allowed the Keelhaulers (3-2 in Cal Pac play) just six total shots, while the Oaks took 33 of their own . . . Menlo College soccer freshman Steffany Dudley earned Cal Pac Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors after scoring a total of three goals during a week in which the Oaks went 1-0-1. It’s the second weekly honor for Dudley, who is among the national leaders in goals per match and shots per match. Menlo (1-1, 3-8-2) hosts Holy Names in a conference match Saturday at 1 p.m. . . . Matt Pelesasa had experience with poor weather conditions and it came in handy for the Menlo College football team Saturday. Pelesasa threw for a pair of touchdowns within a two minute span of the second quarter, providing all the offense the Oaks would need in a 13-0 victory over host Webber International in Lake Wales, Fla. Webber International outgained Menlo, 244-61, in the nonconference battle but the Oaks stepped up big when they needed a stop. The Oaks (5-1) play at Pacific Lutheran on Saturday at 1 p.m.

LOCAL COLLEGIANS . . . After a tough previous weekend that saw UC Davis drop a pair of matches in the Big West Conference, order was restored as the Aggies swept Cal State Northridge and UC Riverside on Friday and Saturday in Davis, thanks to some solid efforts by Palo Alto High grad Allison Whitson. Whitson, a junior outside hitter, produced 11 kills to lead the Aggies (4-2, 18-3) to a 25-19, 26-24, 25-23 win over Northridge. A night earlier, Whitson had eight kills in a 27-25, 25-19, 25-20 win over Riverside. In the Ivy League, Princeton senior libero Hillary Ford from Palo Alto High had 23 digs to help the Tigers post a 25-20, 25-14, 23-25, 25-23 victory over Cornell on Saturday.

ON THE AIR Friday Women’s volleyball: Washington St. at Stanford, 7 p.m.; KZSU (90.1 FM)

Saturday College football: Stanford at Washington St., 4:30 p.m.; Versus; KNBR (1050 AM); KZSU (90.1 FM) Women’s volleyball: Washington at Stanford, 7 p.m.; KZSU (90.1 FM)

www.PASportsOnline.com For expanded daily coverage of college and prep sports, please see our new site at www.PASportsOnline.com

Stanford freshman Chioma Ubogagu gets a ride from Mariah Nogueira while celebrating one of her two goals with teammates (L-R) Teresa Noyola, Kendall Romine and Camille Levin (2) during a 4-1 win over UCLA.

(continued on page 41)

STANFORD FOOTBALL

PREP FOOTBALL

Hewitt plays role well of new Owen Marecic

Paly’s Boyd tries to keep dream going

by Rick Eymer yan Hewitt, Stanford’s bruising 6-foot-4, 245-pound redshirt sophomore fullback, was recruited as a tight end, and a pretty darn good one at that, ranked as high as 30th in the nation. Hewitt never made it past his freshman spring camp. Then-coach Jim Harbaugh asked if he would consider taking some reps at fullback. Turns out Hewitt is a good fit in the backfield, though he still maintains some connection with the tight ends. “Yeah, I still consider myself an honorary tight end,” Hewitt said. “If they’re out running routes I’ll join them.” Luckily, the Cardinal is deep enough at tight end it can spare one of its parts elsewhere in the offense. There are no plans in the works for him to become a two-way player though, ala Owen Marecic (now

Page 38ÊUÊ"VÌ LiÀÊ£{]ÊÓä££ÊUÊ*> Ê Ì Ê7ii Þ

(continued on page 40)

by Keith Peters t was only one year ago that the Palo Alto High football team was nearly halfway through the greatest season in program history — a 14-0 campaign that ended with a state championship. A few month later the Paly baseball team would begin its season, one that would end in that program’s first-ever Central Coast Section title. Perhaps not too surprising, B.J. Boyd was a big part of both those teams. “It was a dream year,” Boyd said this week as he prepared for yet another big game in a career that has been filled with many of them. It was a dream year that Boyd wouldn’t have enjoyed had not he made a big decision after beginning his sophomore year at St. Francis. “I started the first couple of weeks

Matt Ersted