Palo Alto Weekly 11.12.2010 - Section 1 by Palo Alto Weekly

Palo Alto

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Planning commission debates transparency Page 3

w w w.PaloA ltoOnline.com

Local software developers tap into smartphone craze

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Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund launches

Inside this issue: Holiday Gift Guide N Sports Stanford women open NCAA soccer

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N Arts Bell’s Books celebrates 75 years downtown

Page 34

N Home University South: location, location, location

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Upfront

1ST PLACE

BEST LOCAL NEWS COVERAGE

California Newspaper Publishers Association

Local news, information and analysis

Planning commissioners clash over private meetings Split commission calls for revisions to policy that discourages meetings between commissioners and applicants by Gennady Sheyner Palo Alto policy that discourages planning commissioners from meeting privately with developers whose projects are under review could be on its way out, despite complaints from neighborhood leaders that the change would deal a major blow to transparency. For the second time in two years, the Planning and Transportation

Commission is considering scrapping the policy, which states that “direct conversations or correspondence with an applicant, an applicant’s agency or other interested party about a pending application outside of a public meeting are strongly discouraged.” On Wednesday night, a split commission directed staff to draft revisions to this policy.

A year ago, a similar proposal fizzled by a 3-4 vote, with commissioners Arthur Keller, Karen Holman, Susan Fineberg and Eduardo Martinez dissenting. Since then, Holman has joined the City Council and Greg Tanaka replaced her on the commission. On Wednesday, Chair Samir Tuma joined the proposal’s three authors — Vice Chair Lee Lippert and commissioners Dan

Garber and Tanaka — in directing staff to draft revisions. This year, Keller also voted in favor. In their proposal, the three commissioners noted that the City Council doesn’t have a policy discouraging outside communications with project applicants. This creates a loophole that allows the applicants to appeal directly to the council and ignore the commission’s recommen-

dations. “This conflict has encouraged application process ‘short circuits’ in the past which has, at times, limited the utility of the Planning and Transportation Commission’s work,” the memo stated. “Applicants appear to have used this loop hole to gauge their need to heed or ignore the di(continued on page 8)

EDUCATION

District still undecided on finals before holidays Pre-break finals a possibility, but earlier school-year start, end dates a ‘no go’

or modernize services so they’d attract and increase ridership and revenues. Caltrain is operated by the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, comprised of representatives from three counties: San Mateo, Santa Clara and San Francisco. In February, Caltrain’s average weekday ridership was 36,778, according to the organization’s annual passenger count. That’s a 6 percent decrease from 2009, but also the first decrease in ridership since the implementation of the Baby Bullet service in 2004. The Friends are working on a bal-

by Chris Kenrick hen the dust settled after Tuesday’s rancorous Palo Alto Board of Education meeting, during which an expected vote on changing the academic calendar for 2011-12 was postponed, two issues seemed evident: A clear majority on the board supports the notion of holding firstsemester finals before winter break as a strategy for easing high school students’ stress by giving teens a two-week study-free break from school. But a majority will not support other calendar changes necessary to achieve pre-break finals and still have two roughly even-length semesters — a school year that begins in mid-August and ends before June 1, with a winter break that spills into the first week of January. Those accompanying changes cause problems for too many families, board members said, encroaching on traditional August vacations and forcing working parents to scramble for scarce child care in the first week of January and early June. The Tuesday board vote on the calendar was postponed after dozens of parents and students showed up to voice their opposition to the proposal, which had the 2011-12 school year convening Thursday, Aug. 18, and ending May 31. Superintendent Kevin Skelly said he would return to the board Dec. 7 with a new recommendation after

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Vivian Wong

Checking out the new library Circulation staff member Sue Chang helps Andrew Chu, 7, check out 12 books at the re-opening of the College Terrace Library on Saturday (Nov. 6). Watch video of the event at www.youtube.com/paweekly.

TRANSPORTATION

‘Friends’ seek to save Caltrain Coalition searches for ways to make the rail line financially secure by Sue Dremann

ithout funding to stabilize Caltrain’s operating costs, commuters could find themselves without the rail line on

the Peninsula for the first time since 1864, when two trains a day carried riders between San Francisco and San Jose.

That’s the message a new group, Friends of Caltrain, told nearly 100 people at the Menlo Park Library Tuesday night. The grassroots coalition of cities, neighborhood groups, employers, environmentalists, transit advocates and residents is seeking ways to find a permanent and dedicated source of operating funds for Caltrain. The commuter service could face a $30 million deficit in 2012, its next fiscal year, said former Palo Alto Mayor Yoriko Kishimoto, who is leading the coalition. Caltrain is facing a tipping point, coalition members said. It lacks funds to either run an existing service so as to keep rider levels up

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Upfront 450 CAMBRIDGE AVE, PALO ALTO, CA 94306 (650) 326-8210 PUBLISHER William S. Johnson EDITORIAL Jay Thorwaldson, Editor Jocelyn Dong, Managing Editor Carol Blitzer, Associate Editor Keith Peters, Sports Editor Tyler Hanley, Express™ and Online Editor Rebecca Wallace, Arts & Entertainment Editor Rick Eymer, Assistant Sports Editor Chris Kenrick, Gennady Sheyner, Staff Writers Sue Dremann, Staff Writer, Special Sections Editor Karla Kane, Editorial Assistant Veronica Weber, Staff Photographer Dale Bentson, Colin Becht, Peter Canavese, Kit Davey, Iris Harrell, Sheila Himmel, Chad Jones, Kevin Kirby, Jack McKinnon, Renata Polt, Jeanie K. Smith, Susan Tavernetti, Robert Taylor, Contributors Kelly Jones, Sally Schilling, Sarah Trauben, Georgia Wells, Editorial Interns Vivian Wong, Photo Intern DESIGN Shannon Corey, Design Director Raul Perez, Assistant Design Director Linda Atilano, Diane Haas, Scott Peterson, Paul Llewellyn, Senior Designers Gary Vennarucci, Designer PRODUCTION Jennifer Lindberg, Production Manager Dorothy Hassett, Samantha Mejia, Blanca Yoc, Sales & Production Coordinators ADVERTISING Walter Kupiec, Vice President, Sales & Marketing Judie Block, Esmeralda Flores, Janice Hoogner, Gary Whitman, Display Advertising Sales Neil Fine, Rosemary Lewkowitz, Real Estate Advertising Sales David Cirner, Irene Schwartz, Inside Advertising Sales Cathy Norfleet, Display Advertising Sales Asst. Diane Martin, Real Estate Advertising Assistants Alicia Santillan, Classified Administrative Asst. EXPRESS, ONLINE AND VIDEO SERVICES Rachel Palmer, Online Operations Coordinator Rachel Hatch, Multimedia Product Manager BUSINESS Penelope Ng, Payroll & Benefits Manager Elena Dineva, Mary McDonald, Cathy Stringari, Susie Ochoa, Doris Taylor, Business Associates

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Open House — Nursery, Kindergarten, First Grade Saturday, November 6, 10-11:30 a.m. Children welcome.

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ADMINISTRATION Amy Renalds, Assistant to the Publisher & Promotions Director Janice Covolo, Receptionist Ruben Espinoza, Courier EMBARCADERO MEDIA William S. Johnson, President Michael I. Naar, Vice President & CFO Walter Kupiec, Vice President, Sales & Marketing Frank A. Bravo, Director, Information Technology & Webmaster Connie Jo Cotton, Major Accounts Sales Manager Bob Lampkin, Director, Circulation & Mailing Services Alicia Santillan, Circulation Assistants Chris Planessi, Chip Poedjosoedarmo, Computer System Associates The Palo Alto Weekly (ISSN 0199-1159) is published every Friday by Embarcadero Media, 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306, (650) 3268210. Periodicals postage paid at Palo Alto, CA and additional mailing offices. Adjudicated a newspaper of general circulation for Santa Clara County. The Palo Alto Weekly is delivered free to homes in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley, East Palo Alto, to faculty and staff households on the Stanford campus and to portions of Los Altos Hills. If you are not currently receiving the paper, you may request free delivery by calling 326-8210. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302. Copyright ©2010 by Embarcadero Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. Printed by SFOP, Redwood City. The Palo Alto Weekly is available on the Internet via Palo Alto Online at: www.PaloAltoOnline.com Our e-mail addresses are: editor@paweekly.com, letters@paweekly.com, ads@paweekly.com. Missed delivery or start/stop your paper? Call 650 326-8210, or e-mail circulation@paweekly. com. You may also subscribe online at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Subscriptions are $60/yr.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

‘‘

Commitment To Excellence

Integrity means if someone’s being bullied, you should stick up for them. — Phoebe James, a Walter Hays fifth-grader, on the definition of “integrity.” See story on page 5.

Around Town CLOUDY VISION? ... Palo Alto’s planning commissioners have been brainstorming for months to come up with the perfect “vision statement” for the city’s Housing Element — a document that lays out the city’s housing goals and programs that will be part of a revised Comprehensive Plan. This week they agreed to go back to the drawing board after panning the latest vision proposal: “A city in which all neighborhoods thrive.” The previous statement, which talked about “world-class schools” and “treasured cultural institutions,” was ruled out as being too bland and fuzzy. The new one was dismissed as too sleek and simplistic, almost like a commercial slogan. Commission Chair Samir Tuma said reading the new vision statement made him feel “like I’m in a Kaiser Permanente commercial. ... I know we worked very, very hard during this whole process to make things short, concise and punchy,” Tuma said. “I’m fearful the current vision statement has gone too far.” A further hint that the statement is too much in the clouds rather than down to earth comes from the League of Women Voters of Palo Alto: “We believe it is inappropriate that a Housing Element Vision Statement did not mention housing,” chapter President Phyllis Cassel wrote to the commission. EVERYDAY HEROES ... Scores of Palo Alto teachers turned out Tuesday evening to honor two of their own who made a difference. In a reception at Palo Alto school district headquarters, State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, credited Walter Hays Elementary School kindergarten teacher Diana Argenti and Palo Verde Elementary School reading specialist Natalie Bivas for sparking his sponsorship of the “kindergarten readiness” bill, which has recently become law. The new law requires that children be 5 years old by Sept. 1 — rather than the current Dec. 2 — of the year they enter kindergarten. Simitian said he was skeptical when the pair approached him with a petition 18 month ago. People had tried and failed to pass such legislation for two decades. “It’s been

a hard couple of years to believe the system is working, but these women are proof that when you roll up your sleeves the system can be made to work,” he said. With better-prepared kindergartners, Simitian predicted that 10 years from now “California schools are going to be performing better, fewer (students) will be held back and fewer will unnecessarily be placed in special education.” UTILITY POLL ... Local residents still like City of Palo Alto Utilities, but not as much as they used to. That’s the result of a biannual survey that was funded by the California Municipal Utilities Association and conducted over the summer. About 65 percent of customers said they were “very satisfied” with the city-owned utilities, down from 79 percent two years ago. Utilities officials say the economy is to blame and claim that customers are now more critical about the price and value of electricity. Customers also indicated they are less satisfied with department’s communication than they were two years ago. Many also demand more information about power outages. According to a staff report, 65 percent of customers surveyed said they believe outage information would be very helpful, even if the information were inaccurate 25 percent of the time. FALLING BEHIND ... Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz was in town recently to offer a plug for Strive for College, the nonprofit enterprise of his nephew, Jacob Stiglitz. America’s position in the postrecession world is going to be diminished, the economist warned. “We’re going to be living in a much more competitive world. One of the reasons China and India’s success — particularly China’s — is they’ve realized the importance of education,” in which the United States has underinvested. Strive for College matches lowincome students with Stanford University students and other undergraduates to mentor them through the college-application process. N

Upfront SCHOOLS

COMMUNITY

Nurturing civility in daily life

Annual Holiday Fund campaign commences by Karla Kane t’s that time of year — as the days grow colder and preparations for the holiday season begin, the Palo Alto Weekly kicks off its annual Holiday Fund drive to raise money for local nonprofits helping families and children. “Since the Holiday Fund’s inception in 1993, thousands of people have received critical and caring services, thanks to the $4 million given by generous donors,” said Bill Johnson, Weekly publisher and president of Embarcadero Media, the Weekly’s parent company. “And this year, as in years past, com mun ity members have stepped up to offer matching donations that will make other donors’ gifts go further.” In 2009-10, the fund raised and distributed $240,000 from 430 donors. The majority of the donations are given to Palo Alto and East Palo Alto agencies that serve children and families. Grants are also made to nonprofit child care centers, and scholarships are given to graduating seniors at local public high schools. “Thanks to the grant from the Holiday Fund, we were really able to create something so beneficial for this community,” said Gloria Moskowitz-Sweet, coordinator for Parents Place’s Community Education Center, which received $5,000 last year. With the funding, Parents Place (a division of Jewish Family and Children’s Services) was able to set up a free workshop series for parents and teens focusing on communication. The first workshop, called a “community conversation,” was held in October. “We looked at the needs of the community and found that parents want to foster a connection with teens and with each other,” Moskowitz-Sweet said. Upcoming workshops will cover such topics as “the romance of risk” (tackling risky behavior),

problem solving and staying connected to teens in a 24/7 digital world. Another $5,000 grant recipient, Palo Alto Family YMCA, used its funding to create an after-school health and fitness program open to all fifth-grade students at Fairmeadow and Palo Verde elementary schools. Participants visit the YMCA, are introduced to peers from the other school, learn about nutrition and health and are then offered a choice of a variety of fitness activities — from swimming to working out with machines to athletic games. Each f i f t h -g r a d e r is also given a free family pass to use at the YMCA once a month. Last year, 60 students participated. “We got really good feedback and a lot of interest in that we’d be able to do it again,” said Danny Koba, the YMCA’s senior youth and community director. “The kids really appreciate the social component, having a place to come after school and the fact that they have a lot of freedom. The goal is to empower the kids to make decisions,” he said. The Weekly Holiday Fund is a partnership with Silicon Valley Community Foundation. The Packard and Hewlett foundations are supporting the campaign with matching grants totaling more than $50,000. People may donate to this year’s Holiday Fund online through www.siliconvalleycf.org/givingpaw.html. Donors may also write checks payable to Silicon Valley Community Foundation and mail them to Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund, c/o Silicon Valley Community Foundation, 2440 W. El Camino Real, Suite 300, Mountain View, CA 94040. The campaign runs through Jan. 14, 2011. N Editorial Assistant Karla Kane can be e-mailed at kkane@ paweekly.com.

Daily news you can use

by Chris Kenrick

rotected by a plastic trash-bag smock and a painter’s hat, fifth-grader Phoebe James confidently wielded her paintbrush this week to outline a flower on a wall at her school. “Integrity means if someone’s being bullied, you should stick up for them and not just watch it happen,” she said. Phoebe — with all 541 of her classmates at Palo Alto’s Walter Hays School — is in the midst of creating the third of nine murals in the campus’ Core Values Mural Project, an exercise in nurturing civility in the daily lives of children and adults at the school. In a series of class conversations and assemblies, students reached consensus on what they consider the school’s nine “core values.” Now, with guidance from Principal Mary Bussmann and parent volunteer and professional artist Florence de Bretagne, they’re illustrating those principles of behavior in colorful panoramas across the campus. When the ninth mural is finished, each child, literally, will have left his or her mark on the school, de Bretagne said. As fifth-graders worked to paint “integrity” in rotating small groups this week, de Bretagne asked them to define it. “It means telling the truth and doing the right thing,” Sophie Frick said. Added Nathan Chun: “If you see someone getting bullied, you don’t just stand there — you get help.” “Being true to yourself,” said another. The resulting “integrity” art — a sturdy brown tree trunk bursting with colorful flowers — represents the blooming of a child who is true to him or herself, de Bretagne told the students. “If you’re true to yourself, you will be strong and really blossom and get beautiful,” she said. An already completed “Initiative” mural near the school office depicts a bold field of trees — with one in particular standing out. While painting it, fourth-graders noticed how one of the trees was “really strong and dared to be different, to initiate something new and positive,” de Bretagne recalled. “I asked them to think of a time they had started something new and positive in their lives, and they had trouble with that. “Then we said, ‘If you have a new student in your class and nobody talks to her, somebody can be the one to initiate a conversation.’” The other core values chosen by the students are respect, resilience, cooperation, inclusion, responsibility, perseverance and empathy. Principal Bussmann said children need ways to grasp the relevance of lofty values to their everyday lives. “Social-emotional learning isn’t

Veronica Weber

Weekly’s charitable fund drive helps local youth programs, family nonprofits

Elementary school students claim their ‘core values’ by painting them

Walter Hays Elementary School students Cooper Kim, left, Jordan Cushard, right, and classmates paint flowers on the ‘integrity’-themed mural on Tuesday. a program. It’s not something you order from a company and pull out of a box and give a lesson. “It has to be at the core of what you do every day, every minute of the day, with every child.” The home-grown values project

‘If you’re true to yourself, you will be strong and really blossom and get beautiful.’

—Florence de Bretagne, parent volunteer and professional artist

grew out of Bussmann’s conversations with parents, as well as a series of school-based parent discussions of P.M. Forni’s book, “Choosing Civility,” over the course of last year. “We read the book and talked about what was on our minds, what we were seeing with children, what we saw at school, what we saw at home, what we cared about and what we wanted for our kids,” Bussmann said. The book group led to formation of a school Core Values Committee and assemblies in which kids were asked, “What do you need to learn and grow at Walter Hays?”

Sometimes the kids would come up with stories, and adults would help them find words. “They’d say, ‘We want other people to understand us when we have hurt feelings’ — empathy comes to mind,” Bussmann said. “It’s so important for them to learn how to treat each other but also important for the principal, teachers and parents to live these codes of conduct, these core values, to the best of our ability every single day. “And it’s really hard. We’re not perfect, but we can learn from our mistakes. “If a child’s feelings are hurt, they can learn to say, ‘Can you please stop that? My feelings are hurt.’ “It takes a lot of courage for children and adults to do that.” Bussman sees long-term payoff in the school-wide Core Values Project. “I think the reward will be children that have a great sense of themselves, who are able to speak up for what they need when their feelings are hurt, know how to solve a conflict, be confident and know how to navigate the world maintaining their respect and honor,” she said. N Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be e-mailed at ckenrick@paweekly.com.

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Upfront

Caltrain

(continued from page 3)

lot measure they hope to put before voters in 2012 that would institute a tax to provide a steady source of revenue for Caltrain, Kishimoto said. The rail line also has costly plans for electrification, which would increase the lineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s efficiency, reduce emissions by up to 90 percent and attract more riders, coalition members said. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), in a March 2009 report, found that the regional transit systemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s long-term viability is at risk and not sustain-

able, based on current projections of transit costs and anticipated revenues. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Transportation 2035 Plan for the San Francisco Bay Area,â&#x20AC;? outlined how $218 billion in anticipated federal, state and local transportation funds would be spent in the ninecounty Bay Area during the next 25 years. Caltrain has the second highest ticket-sales revenue among 28 transit agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area, Carolyn Clevenger of MTC said. Caltrain takes in 43 percent through fares, according to preliminary findings by the MTCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Transit Sustainability Project, a follow-up

to Transportation 2035. Nearly 40 percent of Caltrainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s funding comes from three other county transit agencies: Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans); and San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (Muni). But those agencies are experiencing their own crises due to decreased ridership and budget cuts, officials said. Caltrain â&#x20AC;&#x153;is just one competitor for the beleaguered general budgets,â&#x20AC;? Kishimoto said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have to look down this frightening cliff and ask ourselves some basic questions: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Can we imagine life on the Peninsula without Caltrain?â&#x20AC;&#x2122;; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;What structural changes should we examine to control longterm costs and increase our ability to deliver more and better service that will attract more riders, not less?â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;?

Kishimoto and others said the time is ripe to leverage federal stimulus funds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If high-speed rail comes, we want to work with representatives to get electrification for Caltrain. The worst nightmare would be for highspeed rail to come with its own independent funding and for Caltrain to go,â&#x20AC;? she said. But getting joint funding would only be possible if there is an end to the squabbling regarding the California high-speed rail initiative and if there is a common voice on regional transportation planning, coalition members said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is the turning point,â&#x20AC;? Burlingame Vice Mayor Terry Nagel said, after having met with federal representatives earlier Tuesday. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The federal folks are looking for areas that reach consensus.â&#x20AC;? More than $139 million in federal funds could potentially be part of Caltrainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s share if high-

Public Agenda A preview of Palo Alto government meetings next week CITY COUNCIL ... The council has no meetings scheduled this week. FINANCE COMMITTEE ... The committee plans to discuss the Utility Departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s long-term plan for gas acquisition, and discuss a Library Bond Oversight Committeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quarterly report. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.). HISTORIC RESOURCES BOARD ... The board plans to discuss plans for a new home at 405 Lincoln Ave. The meeting is scheduled for 8 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 17, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.). PLANNING AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION ... The commission plans to discuss ongoing transportation projects, including the Arastradero Corridor traffic-calming measures, the update of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan and the California Avenue Streetscape Improvements. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 17, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.). HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION ... The commission plans to discuss its 2010-11 priorities, Project Safety Net and the commissionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s participation in the Community Development Block Grant Process. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 17, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

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HIGH-SPEED RAIL COMMITTEE ... The committee plans to discuss correspondence between Caltrain and California High-Speed Rail Authority; the Nov. 14 rail-authority meeting; and the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s letter to the Federal Railroad Administration regarding the rail authorityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Supplemental Alternatives Analysis Report for the San Francisco-to-San Jose segment of the proposed line. The meeting is scheduled for 8 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.). ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW BOARD ... The board plans to review signage plans for the Mitchell Park Library and Community Center and consider proposed additions to the Main Library. The meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.). LIBRARY ADVISORY COMMISSION ... The commission plans to discuss a possible relocation of the Guy Miller Archives of the Palo Alto Historical Association; follow up on the Link+ program and discuss options for a temporary Main Library. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.). PUBLIC ART COMMISSION ... The commission plans to discuss art projects at the Mitchell Park Library and Community Center, hear a report on relocation of sculptures at the Palo Alto Art Center during construction and hear updates on the California Avenue fountain replacement project and dedication of the recently relocated Filaree statue. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

speed rail receives federal funding, which would fund a study on electrification, according to the coalition. Caltrain board member Arthur Lloyd said modernization provides good potential for financial revitalization. That was shown when â&#x20AC;&#x153;baby bulletâ&#x20AC;? trains were added and ridership increased. Ironically, electrification was explored with a number of engines in 1923, but the project halted during the Depression in 1929, he said. Todd McIntyre, SamTrans community-relations manager, said funding isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t likely to improve from Caltrainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s usual funding sources, the other transit agencies. SamTrans eliminated 60 employees during the last fiscal year, he said. Electrification would help improve financial sustainability by doubling ridership, reducing pollution from trains by up to 90 percent and allowing for more efficient service. One additional train in each direction could run every peak hour, he said. If Caltrain does encounter its â&#x20AC;&#x153;worst case scenarioâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the $30 million deficit in 2012 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; train service could be reduced to one an hour from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and could be eliminated entirely on weekends, he said. Losing Caltrain could have a much greater regional impact on Bay Area quality of life and economics, Metropolitan Transportation Commissioner Sue Lempert said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If Caltrain went out of business, what happens to transit villages along the way?â&#x20AC;? she asked. Palo Alto Mayor Pat Burt said losing Caltrain would have enormous impacts on Palo Alto and Stanford. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Stanford as an entity is helping to subsidize Caltrain more than any other entity,â&#x20AC;? he said. Many university employees and workers in Stanford Research Park, including Facebook, use Caltrain, he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We would have great congestion, and the Stanford campus and (proposed) hospital development are hinged upon Caltrain,â&#x20AC;? he said. The primary recommendation for easing traffic congestion as a result of Stanfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s planned expansion is the GO Pass from Caltrain, which provides unlimited rides for a year for one price. The university accounts for 50 percent of Caltrainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s GO Passes currently. When the hospital is added, Stanford will account for two-thirds of all Caltrain GO Passes, he said. The Friends group plans a summit on Jan. 29, 2011, with an official kickoff to include Rep. Anna Eshoo and the Silicon Valley Leadership Council, among others. A â&#x20AC;&#x153;stakeholderâ&#x20AC;? outreach meeting is planned for spring, with another public outreach meeting for summer or fall 2011. N Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be e-mailed at sdremann@paweekly.com.

TALK ABOUT IT

www.PaloAltoOnline.com What needs to be done to sustain Caltrain? Share your opinion on Town Square, the community discussion forum, at www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Upfront

News Digest Board examines Mandarin Immersion

Palo Alto to require ‘better’ smoke alarms Palo Alto became the second city in California to strengthen its requirements for smoke alarms after the City Council agreed to change the city’s fire code Monday night. The council decided to follow in the footsteps of Massachusetts and require builders, landlords and home renovators to install photoelectric alarms — which become activated when the lights they emit get disturbed — in kitchens. The council made the change upon suggestion of Fire Marshall Gordon Simpkinson, who lauded photoelectric alarms as a safer and more effective alternative to the commonly used ionization alarms, which rely on electric currents. Simpkinson said ionization alarms take longer than photoelectric alarms to become activated during a smoldering fire, in some cases by more than 15 minutes. Furthermore, roughly 20 percent of ionization alarms get disabled by residents because of “nuisance activation,” most notably from cooking fumes. The council considered requiring photoelectric alarms in all new buildings, but reconsidered after learning that ionization alarms could be more effective during flash fires. Mayor Pat Burt recommended requiring builders, landlords and homeowners making major renovation to install either dual-sensor alarms or both types of alarms at areas outside the kitchen. In the kitchen area, where nuisance activation is common, photoelectric alarms will now be required. Simpkinson said the two types of smoke alarms cost roughly the same (about $13). A dual-sensor alarm costs about $25. He recommended making photoelectric alarms a requirement for new buildings, as well as those undergoing renovations or ownership changes. N — Gennady Sheyner

Coldwell Banker acquires Cashin Company Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage announced Thursday (Nov. 11) that it has acquired the assets of Cashin Company Realtors. Founded in 1995 by Emmet J. “Skip” Cashin III, Cashin Company has 270 real estate agents in seven offices in San Mateo County and accounted for more than $1 billion in sales volume in the last 12 months, said Coldwell Banker spokesman Steve Maita. Cashin offices will now operate under the Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage name, he said. Cashin is headquartered in Menlo Park and has offices in Menlo Park, Portola Valley and Woodside. With this acquisition, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage has 60 offices in the Bay Area with 3,500 sales associates who accounted for more than $11 billion in sales last year, Maita said. Cashin Company is “a perfect fit with Coldwell Banker in terms of our respective cultures, our core values and our strength in the local marketplace, especially in the luxury market,” Rick Turley, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in the San Francisco Bay Area, said in a press release. “During this economic climate and challenging real estate market, it’s more important than ever to be the clear industry leader,” he said. Cashin said in a press release that his firm had many suitors in recent years, but decided that Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage was the right choice in terms of the scale and scope of the company, agent support, technological tools, networking opportunities, and cultural fit. N — The Almanac staff

Stores squabble over ‘Ernie’s Liquors’ name Barron Park store owner and former landlord both want the name for competing enterprises by Sue Dremann

ompeting banners hang from the vacant barn-red building with a red-tile roof at 3871 El Camino Real in Barron Park: Longtime tenant Ernie’s Wine & Liquors has moved across the street, one proclaims. But the other offers a conflicting message: “Ernie’s Liquors opening shortly in this same location.” Yet another banner hangs from a storefront at 3866 El Camino Real, a low-slung, L-shaped white building just across Military Way: “Ernie’s Wine — new location.” The battle of the two Ernie’s has begun. The dispute between a tenant and his former landlord over who owns the liquor store’s name is now headed for Santa Clara County Superior Court, with landlord Johny Mathew of San Jose suing former tenant Antony Puthanpurayil, according to court papers. Ernie’s Liquors has been a mainstay at 3871 El Camino Real for more than 56 years, neighboring business owners said. The liquor store was one of only a few such retail outlets for booze south of Stanford University back in the days when Stanford restricted alcohol sales near the campus. Puthanpurayil purchased Ernie’s from Mathew about 10 years ago. He claims he spent about $1 million for the “goodwill” and merchandise combined, although a source close to both men put the figure lower. When the lease expired in October, Mathew and Puthanpurayil tried to renegotiate, only to end up arguing about the lease. Mathew wanted to raise the lease by 5 percent for each of the next 10 years, according to the source, an employee at Barron Park Florist, which is next door to the original Ernie’s. But Puthanpurayil only wanted the one-time lease rise, arguing that to have any other percentage increases would effectively double his rent by the end of the decade. Mathew wanted a lease provision for a percentage increase annually to keep up with inflation, the source said on condition of anonymity. After one month of negotiations — during which time Puthanpurayil said he was going to move but then changed his mind — Mathew told his former tenant the building had been leased to someone else, Puthanpurayil said. Now Puthanpurayil claims he purchased the goodwill from Mathew and that includes the Ernie’s name. Mathew claims the name belongs to the building, the employee said. Puthanpurayil has moved his business into the existing A-1 Liquors at the L-shaped building. He already owned that liquor store as well as Ernie’s, he said, and decided to take the Ernie’s name with him. It was all he had left of the old place, besides his good will with his customers, he said. “My equity, my good will, even the equipment and my customer base” remained with Mathew, he said.

Veronica Weber

Parents, administrators and outside consultants on Palo Alto’s pilot Mandarin Immersion Program Tuesday told the Board of Education the threeyear-old offering has been successful and should become permanent. With 88 K-3 students in four classrooms at Ohlone School, the program has achieved surprisingly good academic results, according to Xiauqui Xu, a Stanford University graduate student and native Mandarin speaker who has been involved in assessing student proficiency in Mandarin and English. The goal of program organizers was an enrollment of one-third from Mandarin-speaking backgrounds and two-thirds from English-speaking backgrounds. That balance has not been maintained precisely and is “something to watch,” said Assistant Superintendent Virginia Davis. Ohlone Principal Bill Overton said Mandarin-Immersion families have integrated well with the rest of the school. “You can see it in playground activities, and when all the grade-level teachers meet,” he told the board. A $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education has funded start-up costs of the Mandarin program, including development of curriculum materials through the fifth grade. School board members questioned program representatives on testing, staffing, financing and admission policies of the Mandarin program. The item will return to the board at an unspecified date for further discussion and a decision as to whether the program should become permanent. N — Chris Kenrick

NEIGHBORHOODS

Ownership of the ‘Ernie’s Wines & Liquors’ name is being disputed. The Barron Park store operator moved his retail operation across the street, right, while the landlord of the old Ernie’s, left, is trying to re-open a liquor store under the same name. New operators have applied for a liquor license under the Ernie’s Liquors name, according to an application filed with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) in San Jose. The licensees, Mathew Chacko and Stephen Joseph, could not be reached for comment. Mathew and his attorney also did not return phone calls. The Barron Park Florist worker observed Thursday that both Puthanpurayil and Mathew might end up with less than they started as a result of the spat. Puthanpurayil “was making a ton of money here. He had no competition,” the employee said. And “the landowner has to get a liquor license. There’s no guarantee the neighbors will allow that to happen.”

He pointed out that other stores, including the owner of Barron Park Market, have tried to get licenses to sell alcoholic beverages and have met with strong neighborhood opposition. Walgreen’s permit application was turned down, as was the grocery store’s, he said. On Tuesday, wine company salesmen at Puthanpurayil’s Ernie’s were arranging and setting up displays and racks of bottles. “I want to make it state of the art,” Puthanpurayil said, taking stock of the new store. “I have promised the neighbors I will beat any price, no matter what. And I’ll offer the best customer service.” N Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be e-mailed at sdremann@paweekly.com.

CityView A round-up of

Palo Alto government action this week

City Council (Nov. 8)

Building code: The council approved changes to the city’s building code to make it more consistent with California’s green-building standards. Yes: Unanimous Smoke alarms: The council approved changes to the fire code to set new requirements for photoelectric smoke alarms and dual-sensor alarms at new houses, rental houses and houses undergoing renovations and ownership transfers. Yes: Unanimous

Board of Education (Nov. 9)

School calendars for 2011-12 and 2012-13: The board postponed a scheduled vote on proposed calendars, pending a new superintendent’s recommendation expected Dec. 7. Action None Mandarin Immersion: The board heard a presentation on the status of the district’s three-year-old pilot Mandarin Immersion Program, including a recommendation that the program’s status be boosted from “pilot” to “ongoing.” Action None

Policy and Services Committee (Nov. 9)

Partnerships: The committee discussed the city’s public-private partnerships, the committee’s role and annual schedule and topics for discussion at the upcoming committee meetings. Action: None

Planning & Transportation Commission (Nov. 10)

Housing Element: The commission discussed proposed revisions to the Housing Element chapter of the city’s Comprehensive Plan. Action: None Communication: The commission directed staff to draft revisions to its policy on ex parte communications. The current policy “strongly discourages” commissioners from holding private discussions with project applicants. Yes: Garber, Keller, Lippert, Tanaka, Tuma No: Fineberg, Martinez

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

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Upfront

Online This Week

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 “News” in the left, green column.

Downtown shoppers: Relaxed parking regulations In the spirit of holiday goodwill, the City of Palo Alto will temporarily relax restrictions in city parking garages to give visitors more time in Palo Alto’s downtown shopping district. From Nov. 15 through Jan. 1, shoppers will be allowed to park for up to four hours for free in certain garages. (Posted Nov. 11 at 12:07 p.m.)

Local students featured as ‘Everyday Geniuses’ Two recent graduates of Palo Alto High School were featured in the San Francisco-based Everyday Genius Institute’s “Think Like A Genius Straight A+ Student” project, which sought to uncover the learning and studying strategies of top high school students. (Posted Nov. 10 at 4:52 p.m.)

Palo Alto taps Mike Sartor to head Public Works Mike Sartor, who has spent the past eight years in the number two position in Palo Alto’s Public Works Department, will fill the department’s top position while the city searches for departing Director Glenn Roberts’ permanent replacement, City Manager James Keene announced Wednesday. (Posted Nov. 10 at 12:14 p.m.)

Liz Kniss to join Caltrain board of directors Santa Clara County Supervisor Liz Kniss will join the Caltrain board of directors in early December, giving Palo Alto and other northcounty cities their first representative on the nine-member board — at a critical time in Caltrain’s future. (Posted Nov. 10 at 9:36 a.m.)

Menlo council approves BevMo with 3-2 vote The Menlo Park City Council upheld the Planning Commission’s decision to let Beverages & More open a store in a spot that’s sat empty for 18 months in the strip mall at 700 El Camino Real that also houses Staples and Big 5. (Posted Nov. 10 at 8:47 a.m.)

Domestic violence leads to kidnapping arrest A Palo Alto man was arrested Friday after storming into a smog shop and forcibly removing and kidnapping his girlfriend, Palo Alto police said. (Posted Nov. 9 at 9:57 a.m.)

White roofing material spills into Matadero Creek About 25 gallons of a white roofing material washed into Matadero Creek during Sunday’s rainstorm. An investigation is under way by Palo Alto fire department and city environmental officials, Ken Torke, manager of environmental control programs, confirmed Monday. (Posted Nov. 8 at 5:29 p.m.)

Boy on bike collides with bus in Palo Alto A 13-year-old boy suffered a broken nose and cuts to his face Monday morning when he collided with a school bus while riding his bicycle in Palo Alto, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said. (Posted Nov. 8 at 1:39 p.m.)

VIDEO: Renovated Library opens to public After a year-long remodel, the doors of the College Terrace branch of the Palo Alto library system were thrown open to the public again Saturday afternoon. It was the first of four branch libraries scheduled for renovation or reconstruction in the next few years. The fifth branch, the Children’s Library, was re-opened in 2007 after an expansion.

School finals (continued from page 3)

consulting with the district’s teacher-dominated Calendar Committee to ascertain whether teachers could work with semesters of up to 20 days’ difference in length. Whatever the outcome, next year’s school start date is likely to be Monday, Aug. 22, or Tuesday, Aug. 23, similar to the recent past, board and staff members said. Several students and their parents Tuesday argued that first-semester finals in December would exacerbate, not reduce, their stress levels. They said there have been no empirical studies to support the argument that pre-break finals ease stress and criticized as unscientific informal polls indicating a wide margin of Gunn and Palo Alto high school students favor December finals. But board members appear not to buy that argument. If teachers can live with uneven semesters, a board majority appeared ready to join a clear Bay Area trend toward pre-winter break finals. In the immediate area, nearly all high schools have made the shift,

Private meetings (continued from page 3)

rection and action of the Planning and Transportation Commission regarding their application.” Garber pointed to the example of Alma Plaza, John McNellis’ mixed-use development that gained the city’s approval last year after years of intense negotiations and neighborhood criticism. Garber said the sense in the community is that the developer basically ignored the commission’s recommendations because he knew he could speak directly to council members, who had the final say on the project. Tanaka said the present rules, by discouraging commissioners from visiting sites or talking to applicants, force the officials to act on incomplete information. The proposed policy would enable commissioners to get more information and, in doing so, actually promote transparency, Tanaka said. “We’re looking at these projects through a very thin straw, and it

including Menlo-Atherton, Los Altos, Mountain View, Woodside, St. Francis, Castilleja and Menlo. Parents and administrators at M-A, Los Altos, Mountain View, Castilleja and St. Francis have said students and teachers are so happy with the shift they would never go back. Attention shifted to the highperforming Fremont Union High School District, which has achieved both pre-break finals and a lateAugust start date by sacrificing semester parity. This year’s first semester in that district, which includes the top-performing Monta Vista High School, is 80 days long and second semester is 100 days long. Palo Alto board President Barbara Klausner, who previously appeared cool toward pre-break finals, said her opinion changed after conversations with board members, parents and administrators in Fremont Union. “I called them because I had issues with whether pre-break finals are actually important,” Klausner said. “I wanted to know if students’ grades had suffered by not having enough time to study for finals, or

if there’d been a problem with college applications. I didn’t hear it; it wasn’t a problem. “There really was not an underlying current of complaint, and that carries weight with me,” Klausner said. But Palo Alto should not move to uneven semesters if it means teachers will be forced to cram excessive material into the first semester, Klausner said. Board member Camille Townsend, who has been the most vocal in questioning the merits of pre-break finals, said teachers in Palo Alto as well as in the Fremont Union High School District should be consulted on a future course. “We can’t compromise instructional integrity,” Townsend said. “There needs to be a conversation with teachers particularly. If unequal semesters undermine instruction, that’s problematic. And I don’t want people pointing fingers at the teachers and saying, ‘They’re the bad guys here.’ “I still have some deep reservations about pre-break finals,” Townsend said. N Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be e-mailed at ckenrick@paweekly.com.

doesn’t do the project or the public justice,” Tanaka said. The memo proposes to add a series of other rules, including ones “strongly encouraging” commissioners to receive training on appropriate communications, to disclose any meetings that had taken place and to publicize any written materials connected with the meetings. It would apply to “planned -community (PC) zone” projects such as Alma Plaza and quasi-judicial hearings. “We are recognized throughout the bay as one of the most difficult cities to get work done (in),” Garber said, citing a recent case in which a resident spent a reported $500,000 over three years to get the city’s approval to demolish and replace a home in the Professorville neighborhood. “There’s nothing to be lost by engaging,” he added. “Cloistering ourselves from the community doesn’t help us — it’s not what Palo Alto is about.” Keller argued vehemently against the memo, but ultimately joined the majority after the authors agreed to add new policies guiding disclosure of information gleaned at the pri-

vate meetings. He said he reserves the right to vote against the memo if these rules aren’t stringent enough. Fineberg and Martinez both argued that the change would create new problems rather than solve existing ones. Fineberg said the commission is now respected for its impartiality and integrity and argued that the proposed change would undermine this reputation. “Anything that we have that allows us to act with impartiality, with a firmness, with compliance and with the difficult issues that are caused by human nature, I think, keeps us in a better place,” Fineberg said. Martinez said the change would add a new problem in the public’s “perception of us as a city.” College Terrace resident Fred Balin, land-use watchdog Tom Jordan and Palo Alto Neighborhoods President Sherri Furman also lobbied the commission Wednesday to hold off on making changes. They noted that the council’s Policy and Services Committee is now revising the council’s own procedures. The changes would prohibit the council from talking to applicants until the planning commission and the Architectural Review Board have completed their deliberations. Furman said one of her group’s priorities is transparency and openness and urged the commission to continue discouraging private meetings with applicants. Balin and Jordan asked the commission to hold off on any changes until after the council makes its revisions. Jordan described the commission’s consideration of the colleagues’ memo as “two ships passing in the night.” “It doesn’t give the citizens of the city a great deal of confidence to have a majority changing the rule one way while the council is changing it the other way,” Jordan said. N Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be e-mailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.

(Posted Nov. 7 at 4:29 p.m.)

AchieveKids celebrates 50 years of service Christmas came early in Palo Alto this year at the Festival of Trees, a charity event held at the Palo Alto Hills Country Club Thursday (Nov. 4), at which specially decorated Christmas trees were auctioned off to raise funds for AchieveKids, an organization celebrating its 50th anniversary of supporting children with mental or emotional disabilities. (Posted Nov. 6 at 11:29 a.m.)

Man on cell phone assaulted, robbed in Palo Alto A man was on his cell phone in the 500 block of Forest Avenue at 12:08 a.m. Friday morning (Nov. 5) when two men jumped out of a car and robbed him of his wallet, Palo Alto police Lt. Sandra Brown said. (Posted Nov. 5 at 3:13 p.m.)

Crime rate has dropped in East Palo Alto Violent crimes have declined significantly in East Palo Alto this year, with homicides dropping by 43 percent and shootings down 51 percent, according to a statistical crime report released by the police department Friday (Nov. 5). (Posted Nov. 5 at 1:34 p.m.)

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Creek project trickles ahead despite spiking costs San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority decides to implement downstream improvements in phases; warns of possible cost-sharing by property owners by Gennady Sheyner

n ambitious proposal to tame the flood-prone San Francisquito Creek might have to be split into phases after a new analysis showed the project’s cost more than doubling, to $20 million. Ultimately, the cost overflow may mean that owners of properties near the downstream portions of the creek may have to help pay to top off the project through a “special financing district” bond measure, according to officials. The downstream project near the Palo Alto Baylands is the first of a series of improvements that the San Francisquito Creek Joint Power Authority is considering as part of its effort to protect Palo Alto, East Palo Alto and Menlo Park from a 100-year flood — an event that by definition has a 1 percent chance of occurring every year. The project focuses on the area east of U.S. Highway 101, considered the most vulnerable area around the volatile creek. In 1998, a flood overtopped the creek, damaging more than 1,700 properties.

The creek authority aims to increase the creek’s capacity and improve flood protection by widening the creek channel, removing an old levee near the Palo Alto Baylands and installing floodwalls. The widening would place new levees on the Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course, requiring a redesign of the course. The authority’s board of directors consists of elected officials from the three cities, the Santa Clara Valley Water District and the San Mateo County Flood Control District. The downstream plan has already won the approval of the agencies and is scheduled to achieve environmental clearance by next summer. But the agencies now have run into a new obstacle: Recent changes in the project’s designs and the authority’s goals have pushed the estimated price tag from $8 million to $20 million. JPA Executive Director Len Materman told the Weekly the jump in the cost estimate isn’t too surprising given recent project revisions.

The previous estimate was based on a “conceptual analysis” and didn’t consider many of the practical design issues now included, he said. The new estimate includes the costs of demolishing the existing levees, relocating PG&E transmission towers along the creek and reconstructing the golf course. It also includes a different design for the floodwalls near the creek, Materman said. The creek authority’s goals have also become more ambitious since the first estimate. Its new criteria call for the downstream project to provide protection from both a 100year flood and from sea-level rise, Materman said. Before, sea-level rise was not a major consideration. “To build something now that doesn’t take into account sea-level rise would be short-sighted,” Materman said. “We wouldn’t want the community in 10, 20 or 30 years to have to go back and rebuild what should’ve been done today.” Under the new plan, the first phase of the downstream project

would include removing the existing levee between the creek and the Baylands, building new levees to create a widened channel, reconstructing the golf course to accommodate the levees, relocating the transmission lines and excavating sediment in the channel. The second phase would include installing floodwalls between Highway 101 and the new levees and connecting the floodwalls to the new Highway 101 bridge, according to Materman’s report. So far, the authority plans on having about $15 million available for the project, most of it from the Santa Clara Valley Water District, which passed a bond measure in 2000 to raise money for flood protection. To complete the project, the authority may need to create a special financing district encompassing sections of Palo Alto, Menlo Park and East Palo Alto near the creek, Materman said. Owners of properties in this district could then be asked to pass a bond to complete the project, he said. The JPA board agreed at the agency’s Oct. 28 meeting that given the new cost estimate the authority should phase the project rather than wait until there is enough money to build the full project. The first phase is expected to protect the downstream area from a 100-year flood — but just barely. If such an event occurs, the creek would be filled almost to the brim, with about a foot to spare, Materman said. While this phase would

constitute “substantial flood control benefit” for the Palo Alto and East Palo Alto residents near the downstream area, it would not be enough to get their properties out of the 100year flood plain or eliminate the requirement for flood insurance. That would have to wait until the project’s second phase is completed. More than 3,000 properties are currently required to contribute to the National Flood Insurance Program because of the creek, according to the JPA. In addition to providing flood protection, the authority aims to use its capital projects to provide new and improved habitats for the area’s golfers and hikers, as well as for endangered species in the creek’s watershed. Rob de Geus, Palo Alto’s division manager for Recreation and Golf, told the City Council in October that up to six holes at the golf course may have to be reconfigured as a result of the new levees. Mayor Pat Burt, who represents Palo Alto on the JPA board, said at a recent council meeting that the disruption to the golf course is expected to take “months, not years” and that it will ultimately result in an improved course, according to golf-course architects. “They believe it will be done in non-peak season for golfing and that it will have a net positive result in the quality and value of the course,” Burt said. N Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be e-mailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.

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Support our Kids with a gift to the Holiday Fund. Give to the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund and your donation is doubled. You give to non-profit groups that work right here in our community. It’s a great way to ensure that your charitable donations are working at home.

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ach year the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund raises money to suppor t programs ser ving families and children in the Palo Alto area. Since the Weekly and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation cover all the administrative costs, ever y dollar raised goes directly to suppor t community programs through grants to non-profit organizations ranging from $1,000 to $25,000. And with the generous support of matching grants from local foundations, including the Packard and Hewlett foundations, your taxdeductible gift will be doubled in size. A donation of $100 turns into $200 with the foundation matching gifts. Whether as an individual, a business or in honor of someone else, help us reach our goal of $275,000 by making a generous contribution to the Holiday Fund. With your generosity, we can give a major boost to the programs in our community helping kids and families.

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Last Year’s Grant Recipients Adolescent Counseling Services ..........$10,000 All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Palo Alto ....$7,500 California Family Foundation ....................$2,500 CASSY (Counseling and Support .............$5,000 Cleo Eulau Center.......................................$2,500 Collective Roots..........................................$5,000 Community Legal Services in EPA ..........$5,000 Downtown Streets Team ........................$15,000 DreamCatchers ........................................$5,000 East Palo Alto Children’s Day Committee ..................................................$5,000 East Palo Alto Kids Foundation ................$7,500 East Palo Alto Youth Court ........................$5,000 Environmental Volunteers ........................$3,000 EPA.net.........................................................$2,500 Foothill-De Anza Foundation ....................$5,000 Girls To Women .........................................$2,500 Gunn High School Green Team................$1,000 InnVision ......................................................$5,000 Jewish Family and Children’s Services ....$5,000 JLS Middle School PTA.............................$3,500 Jordan Middle School PTA.......................$3,500 Kara ..............................................................$5,000 Mayview Community Health Center .....$10,000 Music in the Schools Foundation ............$5,000 New Creation Home Ministries ...............$5,000 Northern California Urban Development ....$7,500 Nuestra Casa ..............................................$5,000 Opportunity Health Center .......................$7,500 Palo Alto Art Center Foundation ..............$5,000 Palo Alto YMCA ..........................................$5,000 Palo Alto Library Foundation .................$50,000 Palo Alto PTA Council Arts ......................$2,000 Quest Learning Center of the EPA Library ..................................................$5,000 Reading Partners .......................................$7,500 St. Elizabeth Seton School .......................$5,000 St. Vincent de Paul Society ......................$5,000 West Meadow Track Watch Patrols.......$5,000 Youth Community Service .........................$5,000 Youth United for Community Action (YUCA) .............................................$2,500 CHILD CARE CAPITAL GRANTS Children’s Center .......................................$3,000 Palo Alto Community Child Care ..............$3,000 PreSchool Family .......................................$3,000 The Children’s Pre-School Center ...........$3,000

Pulse

Credit card forgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Vehicle related Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Misc. traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Suspended license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . .7 Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . .9 Vehicle impound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Alcohol or drug related Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Drunken driving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Miscellaneous Casualty/fall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Disturbing phone calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Other/misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Possession of stolen property . . . . . . . .1 Psychiatric hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Restraining order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . .1 Unattended death. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Warrant/other agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

A weekly compendium of vital statistics

Palo Alto Nov. 2-8 Violence related Armed robbery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Arson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Assault w/ a deadly weapon. . . . . . . . . .1 Attempted suicide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Domestic violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Elder abuse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Kidnapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Theft related Commercial burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Menlo Park

Info. case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Juvenile problem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Medical aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Psychiatric hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Pursuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Suspicious person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Nov. 2-8 Violence related Assault w/ a deadly weapon. . . . . . . . . .1 Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Robbery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Theft related Commercial burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Vehicle related Auto recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Driving without license . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Suspended license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . .2 Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . .3 Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Alcohol or drug related Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Drunken driving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Miscellaneous Cancelled case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Atherton Nov. 2-8 Theft related Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Vehicle related Abandoned auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Misc. traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Suspicious vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . .3 Vehicle code violation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Alcohol or drug related Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Drunken driving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Miscellaneous Animal call. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Be on the lookout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Citizen assist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Disturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Fire call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Foot patrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Hang-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Hazard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Juvenile problem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Medical aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Meet citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Outside assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Perimeter check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Psychiatric hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Public works call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Special detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . .3 Suspicious person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Town ordinance violation . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Tree blocking roadway . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Welfare check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

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,/22!).% &2!.#%3 (!!'

Lorraine Frances Haag, age 93, long time resident of Palo Alto, died peacefully on November 1, 2010. Lorraine was an inspiring woman who enchanted all who knew her with her sparkling wit and wisdom. Born in Roseville, California on March 15, 1917, Lorraine â&#x20AC;&#x153;Skippyâ&#x20AC;? Jacobsen grew up in Redwood City. She graduated Sequoia High School 1935 where she was active in sports, Treble Clef, and operettas. At San Jose State University she was a member of Orchesis, a modern dance troupe, and

graduated with a BA in 1940. In 1942 she married the love of her life, Russell I. Haag, and began a 22 year adventure as a Navy wife. In later years she traveled extensively with Russell throughout the world making lasting friendships wherever they went. She dedicated her life to being a supportive partner to her husband of 57 years, a Mom to Carrol Reid, Sharon Haag, Lesley Haag and John Haag, grandmother to Sherri Gazay, Scott Brink, Lisa Reid, Ryan Brink, Josh Reid, Gilee Corral, Michael Reid, Drew Blaikie, and great-grandson Chase Brink. As the family history bookmaker, she documented in many books the history of the Haag and Jacobsen families. She will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved her. PA I D

O B I T UA RY

#%,%34% (%.:%, Celeste Mariana Schmitt Henzel, 60, of Portola Valley, California, died November 6, 2010. Celeste was born January 10, 1950 in Chicago, Illinois to Russell G. and Rose Schmitt. Celeste received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin and graduated from Rhema Bible Training Center in 1986. She began a successful career in Real Estate in Laguna Beach, California and became a highly esteemed Realtor/Broker in the San Francisco Bay area.

Celeste is survived by her husband, Robert Grey Henzel of Portola Valley, California, her brother, Russell F. Schmitt of Anaheim, California, and several nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her parents, Russell G. and Rose Schmitt. In lieu of ďŹ&#x201A;owers, Celesteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s family requests donations be made to Rhema Bible Training Center, P.O. Box 50126, Tulsa Oklahoma 74150-1026. A service for Celeste will be held at: Memory Garden Memorial Park, 455 West Central Avenue, Brea, Ca. 92821 Friday, November 12th, 1 PM. 714-529-3961. Meal will follow for family and friends. For more information refer to Spangler Mortuaries, 399 So. San Antonio Road, Los Altos, Ca. 94022. 650-9486619. PA I D

O B I T UA RY

#!04!). 7!,4%2 , '/,$%.2!4( Captain Walter L. Goldenrath (MSC) USN, age 92, a long time resident of Palo Alto, California died on the evening of October 28, 2010. His wife, Sylvia, preceded him in death in 2003. He is survived by many caring friends and relatives. Captain Goldenrath graduated from the University of California Berkeley, and served in the PaciďŹ c and Southern Atlantic theatres during World War II. After the war, he returned to UC Berkeley to complete a graduate degree, and later an additional graduate degree from the University of Southern California. He was recalled to active duty during the Korean War and assigned to the US Naval Medical Institute as an instructor in high altitude Physiology, where he trained ďŹ&#x201A;ight surgeons and conducted research on G-protection and explosive decompression. Following his service in the Korean War he returned to UC Berkeley to continue his work on hypertension, and to serve as a lecturer/instructor of Physiology. He taught basic Physiology at the School of Medicine and the School of Pharmacy, and also taught anatomy of the head and neck in the Dental School. In 1955 he returned to active duty as OfďŹ cer in

Charge of the Navyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s research program to develop a high altitude protective pressure suit. The ďŹ rst two NASA astronauts, Alan Shepard and John Glenn, later wore this suit in Project Mercury. In 1970 Captain Goldenrath was appointed Director of the Aero Medical Research Division at the Naval Air Development Center in Warminster, Pennsylvania. Captain Goldenrathâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ nal military assignment was to the NASA-Ames Research Center as a Special Assistant to the Director of Life Sciences and as Assistant Division Chief of the Ames Biomedical Research Division. Captain Goldenrath retired from the US Navy in 1975 and was awarded the Legion of Merit and the Meritorious Service Award from the Surgeon General of the Navy. Following his retirement, Captain Goldenrath continued as a consultant to NASA, helping to transfer NASA biomedical technology to the civilian medical community. Captain Goldenrath was a Fellow and Vice President of the Aerospace Medical Association, and a Life Member of the Safety And Flight Equipment Association. In 2004 he was inducted into the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Hall of Fame, where his name is inscribed on the Wall of Honor. A cryptside service will be held on Friday, November 26 at 1:00 pm at Salem Memorial Park, in Colma, CA. PA I D

Page 12Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160; Â&#x153;Ă&#x203A;iÂ&#x201C;LiĂ&#x20AC;Ă&#x160;ÂŁĂ&#x201C;]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă¤ÂŁĂ¤Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;

O B I T UA RY

Transitions Philanthropist Rosemary Hewlett dies at 91 Benefactor to education was wife of HP co-founder William â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Billâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Hewlett

osemary Kopmeier Bradford Hewlett, the second wife of Silicon Valley pioneer William â&#x20AC;&#x153;Billâ&#x20AC;? Hewlett, died Oct. 29 after a short illness, according to a statement by Menlo College, where she had been a longtime board member. She was 91. Hewlett died at her Atherton home surrounded by her family and loved ones, according to the statement. She graduated from Smith College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and met her first husband, Robert Adam Bradford, of Boston, Mass., while on a ski trip in Sun Valley, Idaho, according to her obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle. The couple married in 1942 and lived in Milwaukee until they moved to Atherton in 1957. Bob Bradford died in 1969. They had five children. She married William R. Hewlett, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard Company, in 1978. The couple was married in Palo Alto and was together for 22 years, traveling and dividing their time between their homes in Portola Valley and Sun Valley, according to the statement. William â&#x20AC;&#x153;Billâ&#x20AC;? Hewlett died in 2001. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Rosemary leaves a long legacy of contribution and accomplishment. That legacy will live on through her generosity of spirit, the love of her family and friends, and her many philanthropic endeavors,â&#x20AC;? a Hewlett-Packard Company spokesperson said on Thursday. Rosemary Hewlett was an active board member of Menlo College where she was the sole donor of the Hewlett Visiting Faculty/Student Exchange with Harris Manchester College at Oxford University in England, from which she received an honorary fellow degree, according to Menlo College. One of her favorite projects at the college was the library. She funded its program for innovative technology resources. Because they loved her, the library staff named its information system ROSIE (the

Harry Sturgeon Harry J. Sturgeon, 79, a former Palo Alto resident, died Sept. 9 in Penticton, Canada. He was born in Palo Alto, graduated from Palo Alto High School received a bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree from Stanford University in economics and an masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree in counseling from California State University, Hayward. He worked as a school psychologist for the Fresno Cty School District and in his wifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s private clinic in Santa Cruz. He is survived by his wife, Mary;

Resource for Online Services and Information Electronically) after her. The interactive system supported the scholarly work of Menloâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s students and faculty and connected them to information resources from around the world, according to the college release. Hewlett was a founding board member of the Peninsula Bridge Program. She also endowed a scholarship for a deserving high school student to attend college through the program, the college said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Rosie was intelligent, caring and has a wonderful sense of humor. Her touch was common and her personality was real. She was very approachable and if she didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like something, she would just say so, which I found very refreshing,â&#x20AC;? Les DeWitt, a founder of the Bridge Program and its executive director, said in a Fall 2002 interview for Menlo Magazine. Hewlett also commented then on her own perspective of leadership: â&#x20AC;&#x153;A leader is a person who puts herself out to make a point, to care about a subject, who guides everyone else along the way to follow. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wonderful and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s terrible, for you must be responsible for where you lead, for the mistakes you make. Those following are looking to you to take them to the right place. She is survived by her children: David Bradford and his wife, Diane, of Tiberon; Robert Bradford of Woodside; Peter Bradford and his wife, Betty, of Portola Valley; Deborah Bradford Whelan and husband Gabe of Atherton; and Jeffrey Bradford and his wife Casey of Kauai, Hawaii, and Sun Valley, Idaho. She also is survived by eight grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. Private services were held Nov. 6. She will be buried in Sun Valley. Donations may be made to the Peninsula Bridge Program, 457 Kingsley Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301, or through www.peninsulabridge.org/support. sister Elizabeth McManis; and three children, Alex Sturgeon, Carol Ellsworth and Katherine Sturgeon.

Mary Davey A memorial service for environmental advocate Mary Davey, who died Oct. 2, will be held Saturday, Nov. 20, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Holbrook-Palmer Park, 150 Watkins Ave., Atherton. The event will be hosted by the Davey family, the Committee for Green Foothills and Hidden Villa.

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%,):!"%4( !.. 2(/!$3 3#/44 *!.5!29 ./6%-"%2 Elizabeth Scott was born in San Francisco and graduated from Lowell High School in 1946, where she excelled in tennis. She was a champion Nor Cal junior’s player, winning many titles, highlighted by the Bay Counties championship. Elizabeth went onto graduate from U.C. Berkeley in 1950 with a B.A. in education. She married Russell F. Scott in 1952, and began her life as a military wife for the next 10 years. Her favorite places to live during that time were, Japan, Boston, and Hawaii.

Elizabeth was a loving and dedicated wife to Russell for over 57 years, the past 40 years residing in Palo Alto. She was passionate about gardening, golﬁng, and spending time with her friends and family. Elizabeth was a member of The Palo Alto Garden Club, Gamble Gardens, and Allied Arts Guild. Elizabeth and Russell were avid travelers; they traveled extensively throughout Europe, Northern Africa and North America. She is survived by her husband, Russell, son, Randy, daughter-in-law, Cynthia, and her two grand-children; Jordan and Jena. Elizabeth will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved her. Memorial service will be held Friday, November 12, 2010 at 2:00 P.M. at Alta Mesa Memorial Park, 695 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto. Reception to follow at 435 Coleridge Avenue, Palo Alto PA I D

OBITUARY

7),,)!- "2/7.).' "!2.%3 Bill Barnes died peacefully on October 27, 2010 at the age of 86. Born in Monrovia, CA with summers spent in the home his loving granddad and dad built in Laguna Beach, Bill was raised in Palo Alto. During WWII, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was trained as a pilot and worked as an investigator. After graduating from Stanford with a Master’s degree in Music, Bill lived in the Bay Area (Palo Alto and San Rafael, and later in Capitola) while continuing his love of ﬂying and developing his career as a private investigator (he had the longest-standing PI license in CA). He was also a piano tuner for over 50 years. Bill lived a full life pursuing his passion in music, his love of horses and trail riding, his interest in prospecting, and his curiosity in geology and minerals. A champion marksman, Bill enjoyed time spent at the pistol ranges in Capitola and Marin County. Bill was well read, well written and well spoken -- a master story teller with a magnetism that drew a crowd, he loved limericks and poems. Bill’s brilliance in the delivery of telling jokes and stories moved most to laugh, many to roar (and

some to wince). Bill experienced true love after ﬁnding his college sweetheart, Barbara, and marrying his “Bebo” 30 years ago. Bill and Barbara moved to Rocklin to be closer to family two years ago. From playing bass in the San Francisco symphony, opera, the Curran Theatre and the Glenn Miller Orchestra to playing his cowboy guitar, Bill made an impact. More than for his accomplishments and interests, Bill was admired for being his own person. He loved spending time with his friends, sharing camaraderie, being outdoors at the summer encampments in the Bohemian Grove and playing guitar with the Strollers, as well as being with friends at The Family Farm. He enjoyed many years of membership and active participation in the Bohemian Club, The Family, the Palo Alto Club, and countless, unforgettable trail rides with the Frontier Boys, the Rancheros Visitadores, the Sonoma County Trailblazers, and The Shack. Bill is survived by his wife, Barbara Ernest Whistler Barnes, brother Stan, children Emilie, Julie (deceased), Diantha (Pat), Crissi, Vicki and Mark (Natalie), grandchildren, nephews and nieces, and his extended circle of beloved friends. In lieu of ﬂowers, the family prefers that donations be given to an organization/charity of your choice or toward the college education of your own family/friends. PA I D

O B I T UA RY

9/53%& 35,%,-!. .!7!3 ./6%-"%2 ¯ ./6%-"%2

Passed away peacefully surrounded by his family at the age of 95. Beloved husband of 55 years to Salwa Jurdak Nawas; loving father of Sulelman Nawas (Dorothea), Samira Nawas (Hans Plesman) and Sami Nawas; caring grandfather of Christina and Joseph Nawas, Andrew Plesman, Stephanie, Melissa and Leila Nawas. Yousef was born in Taybeh, Palestine. He graduated from Terra Sancta College, Jerusalem in 1933. He established the National Institute for Teaching of Languages, Shorthand and Typing. In 1949, Yousef established Nawas Tourist Agency and later became Chairman of Nawas International Travel. Yousef was a pioneer in the travel business. He has a long and distinguished career. He was a member of the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) and served as Director of the International Chapter. He was also a member of the United Federation of Travel Agents (UFTA). In 1971, Yousef was awarded the Gold Medal of the Cedar for his large contribution to Lebanese tourism. King Hussein of Jordan also recognized him with a medal. President Pertini of Italy awarded him the title of Ufficiale on January 5, 1980. He was bestowed the Key to Britain Award on May 28, 1982. He was a member of the Rotary Foundation and was awarded the Paul Harris Fellow certificate. He was a member of the Lebanese American Association. He received an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Bir Zeit University on November 25, 2004. Yousef moved permanently to the United States in 1976. He has been living in Atherton, California since 1992. A man who worked hard, Yousef was a world traveler, a food and wine connoisseur and a true family patriarch. He loved the outdoors and was passionate about life and lived it to its fullest. Yousef will be remembered for his sharp and bright mind; his keen business sense; his dignified and proud demeanor and his contributions to educating young minds. Yousef will be dearly missed by his family; his sisters-in-law; his many nephews and nieces; his cousins and his friends and employees. In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial donations be made to Stanford Hospital and Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Palo Alto A Funeral Mass was held at the Church of the Nativity, 210 Oak Grove Ave. in Menlo Park, on Saturday, November 6, at 10 a.m. For more information contact John O’Connor at Menlo Park Funerals. PA I D

O B I T UA RY

*> Ê Ì Ê7ii ÞÊUÊ Ûi LiÀÊ£Ó]ÊÓä£äÊU Page 13

Cover Story Ankit Gupta (right) and Akshay Kothari (second from right) work in Alphonso Labs’ new office with business developer Cristina Cordova (center).

Veronica Weber

AN APPETITE FOR APPS Local software developers tap into smartphone craze

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On the cover: Center, Ankit Gupta, co-founder of the Pulse application, holds up an iPad in his Hamilton Avenue office. Left and right, Jon Paris and Tim Su’s colorful squid and kangaroo characters serve as icons for their productivity and motivation apps. Photo by Veronica Weber.

hey can give you your horoscope, teach you to play the piano and organize your time. Want to compose a tune on a virtual instrument or create

a digital shrine to your favorite sport? As the iPhone advertisements say, yeah, “There’s an app for that.” Mobile apps — applications for mobile-phone and tablet operating systems such as Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android — are an ever-expanding craze. And technocentric Silicon Valley, home to both Apple and Google, is a mobile-app developers’ hotspot. Apple’s website boasts 273,885 active iPhone apps, each vying to be the next hot, new thing. Communications behemoth AT&T (the carrier of choice for iPhones) recently announced plans to open a multi-million-dollar tech center in Palo Alto for app development, partnering with Menlo Park-based venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, which offers the iFund, a $200 million fund solely for innovations using the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch platforms. The massive — and rapid — success of experts, according to iFund leader Matt Murphy.

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Vivian Wong

the Apple App Store surprised even industry

Tim Su (left) and Jon Paris, self-proclaimed “productivity nuts,” hold up smartphones featuring their mobile apps.

Cover Story

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Mountain View app developer Bohm Kim selects memorabilia to stick on his virtual corkboard. His new app, Corky, allows users to decorate digital â&#x20AC;&#x153;blingboards.â&#x20AC;?

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The Palo Alto area is home to a number of thriving app startups, including Tapulous (www. tapulous.com), a downtown Palo Alto app start-up incorporated in 2007 and responsible for the popular line of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Tap Tapâ&#x20AC;? games for iPhone. Tapulous is still going strong, with 35 million users and at least five trips to the No. 1 spot

on the Apple App Store chart. The company was purchased by Disney in July. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We live and breathe (technology) here; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s part of every-day life,â&#x20AC;? said Menlo Park-based Katherine Barr, a partner with Mohr Davidow Ventures. And although, unlike the iFund, Barrâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s venture-capital firm tends

to invest in larger companies rather than app-only start-ups, she said the high-tech companies she deals with develop mobile apps as part of their overall strategy. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The idea is that companies want to reach users wherever and however they can. Mobile is (continued on next page)

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Pulse co-founder Akshay Kothari, a former student of Stanford Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Launchpad course, works in his Palo Alto office.

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Above, app-development partners Tim Su and Jon Paris exchange glances as they meet at a California Avenue Starbucks. Below, Ankit Gupta and Greg Bayer work on the Pulse news-reading application.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The squid is very polarizing, but a lot of users find it a nice contrast to more bland, corporate stuff. Tim Su, Developer, Astrid Page 16Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160; Â&#x153;Ă&#x203A;iÂ&#x201C;LiĂ&#x20AC;Ă&#x160;ÂŁĂ&#x201C;]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă¤ÂŁĂ¤Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;

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Apps

(continued from page 15)

an extension of the company,â&#x20AC;? she said, mentioning Burlingame-based Wordnik, an online-dictionary company that has received funding from Mohr Davidow Ventures and features a free Android app. he most successful apps either have high-entertainment value or high utility, â&#x20AC;&#x153;with a really good user experience,â&#x20AC;? Barr said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;and of course it needs to be customized to look good on a phone or iPad screen.â&#x20AC;? Bohm Kim, founder of the Mountain View-based company Great

Appaloosa (www.pocketsensei. com), agrees. As with all technology, fresh, innovative ideas are key, he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to make an app, have something youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re excited about. The day has passed when you could just make an app and someone would buy it just because it was out there and new. Have a product thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s compelling and worthwhile, not more of the same,â&#x20AC;? he said. Kim first began professionally developing mobile software more than a decade ago for the Palm Pilot device but has since switched his companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s focus to the iPhone. The companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s original name, PocketSensei, was changed to Great

Cover Story

Vivian Wong

App developer Jon Paris asks Stanford University student Miriam Swords Kalk to test the Todooroo app online. The app provides encouraging reminders and the ability to share to-do lists with friends.

Appaloosa to appeal to a broader audience, “not just techies,” Kim said, reflecting the iPhone’s spread to the mainstream. “We’re always focused on graphics and a good user

‘The day has passed

when you could just make an app and someone would buy it just because it was out there and new. Bohm Kim, founder, Greater Appaloosa

‘

experience and we really like the additional powers (the iPhone offers). It’s exciting,” he said of the potential in app development. His first app was Daymation, which was released for Palm in 2004 and revamped for

iPhone in 2009. The app is modeled after traditional print page-a-day calendars (“You know, like with ‘The Far Side’ or cats,” Kim explained), but with a high-tech twist. “Daymation was originally conceived as a screen saver with fun animations to show off the handheld device. Games usually have tiny little guys; we wanted big characters. The idea was to have a different animation each day,” Kim said. Each day, Daymation shows a fully animated page, complete with virtual sticky notes, facts, colorful characters in motion, information on sporting events, historical dates, trivia and various calendar/clock settings to keep users organized. It’s much less expensive than a paper calendar, Kim said of the $3.99 app. Unlike the old-fashioned variety, Daymation’s continual updates and new additions mean the calendar keeps running even after the year changes. “It will run forever. There are new stories all the time so it doesn’t matter when you start.” Great Appaloosa’s latest offering is “Corky,” a virtual version of a decorative corkboard. Corky, also priced at $3.99, allows users to choose from a wide range of “flair” items, including buttons, pictures, ribbons and other trinkets, to customize their “blingboards.” They can then share them electronically with friends. Example boards have themes such as “Senior year,” “European vacation” and “Pet palooza.”

“It’s just meant to be a lot of fun,” Kim said. Corky is available for iPhone but is even better with Apple’s latest wonder toy, the iPad, Kim said, because of the larger screen size. The biggest challenge for app designers is that the market has become saturated, increasing competition and making it easy to become lost in the crowd, said Kim, whose company does almost all of its design and illustration in-house. “We’ve taken the approach not to crank out as many as we can but focus on quality and not release many,” Kim said. “The volume model isn’t going to work.” “All our apps have at least six months of full team development invested. This is a long development cycle more like desktop development and is actually unusual in the mobile world.”

ore options for developers are cropping up with the expansion of smartphone technology. Phones based on Google’s Android operating system, which overtook the iPhone in sales in the third quarter of 2010, offer another platform for app movers and shakers. Stanford grad Tim Su came up with Astrid (Android’s Simple Task Recording Dashboard), a free to-do list/productivity app, while on a week’s vacation in Las Vegas. He’d never programmed using the Android system

before but said it wasn’t too different from other computer work he’d done. “I just sat down and learned how to do it. I would work on the app during the day and do Vegas things at night,” he said. Despite the utilitarian nature of a to-do app, Su’s Astrid is not all business — the Astrid character takes the form of a cheerful, wisecracking cartoon squid. Today Su, along with business partner Jon Paris (the two met at Stanford and operate from a California Avenue office), are responsible for Astrid and the “Todoroo” line of apps (www.weloveastrid.com), all of which incorporate humor and personality into the apps’ functions. Astrid users set up lists of tasks, such as “finish homework” or “lunch with Emily” (arranged by importance, date or using other options). If the items are not checked off in a timely manner, Astrid pops up and, with a cheeky grin, asks such questions as, “Are you ever going to do this?” “Astrid uses humor and creativity to get under the skin,” Su said. “Some have said to make it more ‘professional.’ The squid is very polarizing, but a lot of users find it a nice contrast to more bland, corporate stuff.” “We try not to make it too annoying — just annoying enough,” Paris added, laughing. Within a week of releasing Astrid, the free (continued on next page)

Palo Alto Weekly • November 12, 2010 • Page 17

Cover Story

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Spin-o-rama, another app by Bohm Kimâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Great Appaloosa, compiles several photos to make a 360-degree view.

Apps

(continued from page 17)

app had more users than Su and Parisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; previous website had total. It was surprising and made them realize the power of mobile. They now work on apps full time. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With apps you can make money through advertising, which we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do, sell premium versions of free apps or get deals with phone companies to pre-install the apps,â&#x20AC;? Su said. Su and Paris have also formed a new site, actfm.com, to merge their apps with their online presence.

Astrid has been featured by Google and by Sprint, a phoneservice carrier using Android. By the end of 2009 the spunky squid had been downloaded more than 400,000 times and has brought in around $25,000 for Su and Paris over the past two months. The pairâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second app venture is a series of helper â&#x20AC;&#x153;roosâ&#x20AC;? (portrayed as cartoon kangaroos) dedicated to particular lifestyle goals or areas. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We came up with the Todoroo idea because Astrid helps people organize, but we wanted to also help people focus and self-improve. The roos nag me so my wife doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to,â&#x20AC;? Paris said. The roos take into account â&#x20AC;&#x153;that

we are forgetful, lazy and easily distracted,â&#x20AC;? the website states. Todorooâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Roo Marketâ&#x20AC;? features a range of characters including â&#x20AC;&#x153;Gary The Relationship Roo,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Tyler The Thrifty Roo,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Rachel The Recovery Rooâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Paul The Bible Roo,â&#x20AC;? all with personalities and styles of their own. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Paul is a little snarky,â&#x20AC;? Paris said of the roo that helps a user study the Bible. What makes the roo apps special, Paris said, is that authors and experts collaborate with the developers. Gary The Relationship Roo was named after Gary Chapman, author of â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Five Love Languages.â&#x20AC;? Gary, the roo, keeps track of

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Cover Story important anniversaries, suggests romance tips, reminds users of what they like about their partners, and offers custom suggestions based on information entered by the user. He will advise the happily married Paris to take his wife on a movie date, for example, or remind him, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a lucky guy.â&#x20AC;? For Isaac The Piano Roo, Su and Paris connected the app to a series of YouTube videos offering a series of piano-tutorial videos that increase in difficulty. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t replace piano lessons but it can augment them, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s certainly more affordable,â&#x20AC;? Paris said of the free app. Initially all the roos were free but some now cost a buck or two, as Su and Paris share revenues with the authors with whom they col-

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC; We didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t

expect it to be this successful. All we hoped for initially was to recover our money for the iPad. Ankit Gupta, Founder, Alphonso Labs

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;

laborate. Paris said in the coming months, several high-profile authorconnected roos will be released, declining to reveal his partners. Although Astrid and the various roos are currently Android-only apps, protoypes for iPhone and iPad are in the works. For Paris and Su, customer satisfaction â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and feedback â&#x20AC;&#x201D; is of the utmost importance as their business grows. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our big challenge is supporting users, making sure they continue to love our products,â&#x20AC;? Su said. Responding to customers constitutes their biggest time and money expenditure. The two even encourage other developers and fans to suggest features and help with development for all their products. Astrid fans have translated the app into 17 languages, while roo users are invited to create a roo of their own to share. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We rely on the wisdom of the community,â&#x20AC;? Su said.

t is perhaps not surprising that Silicon Valleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most prestigious university is on the pulse of the app revolution. Su and Paris met at Stanford, and the university offers an iPhone Ap-

plication Development course. In addition, the Stanford School of Designâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 10-week Launchpad course has helped student teams create and launch innovative businesses. Launchpad professor Perry Klebahn said that while fewer than half of the projects undertaken by students last year were digital, he predicted more app-based projects in future classes. Calling the class a weekly â&#x20AC;&#x153;mosh pitâ&#x20AC;? of ideas, Klebahn said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;What Launchpad does is put students through business hurdles and forces them to break early onâ&#x20AC;? while still under the guidance of the course. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a brutal treadmill,â&#x20AC;? he said of launching a company. One such enterprise conceived of and founded during the course is Alphonso Labs (www.alphonsolabs. com), which originally produced a news-reading app called Pulse for the iPad (now also available for iPhone and Android). Developers Ankit Gupta and Akshay Kothari wanted to create a tool to help readers keep up with their favorite news sites in a user-friendly, visually appealing manner. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We were frustrated with our news-reading experience. When the iPad came out we stood in line to get one of the first ones and once we had it we realized, this is the best consumption device for data. We thought, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;How can we build the best news-reading app for this?â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? Gupta said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was the kind of person who had a lot of RSS (a format for syndicated Web content) feeds all over. My Google Reader (a site-aggregate page) was a bad experience for me â&#x20AC;&#x201D; too text heavy, too cluttered. Once I logged in to find more than 1,000 messages, and it scared me away so I never came back,â&#x20AC;? he said. Kothari, on the other hand, took the opposite approach, visiting many sites daily. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It took too long, they all have different layouts, and it was insufficient for sharing,â&#x20AC;? Gupta said. Enter Pulse, an interface that â&#x20AC;&#x153;makes a mosaic of your news.â&#x20AC;? With little navigation, Pulse takes up to 60 of a userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favorite sites and tiles them across the screen, â&#x20AC;&#x153;like a movie strip.â&#x20AC;? Sharing with Twitter, Facebook and e-mail is easy and the layout is clean and graphic intensive, according to the pair. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re hoping Pulse will become the go-to app (platform) for any kind of news,â&#x20AC;? Kothari said. Pulse, which goes for $2 for iPad and $1 for the â&#x20AC;&#x153;miniâ&#x20AC;? iPhone version, so impressed Apple head honcho Steve Jobs that he featured it in his 2010 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. And though Kothari and Gupta declined to disclose download numbers, Pulse is currently sitting in the No. 2 position on the iPad App Storeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s newscategory chart. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t expect it to be this successful. All we hoped for initially was to recover our money for the iPad,â&#x20AC;? Gupta said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur. App design is something I saw myself doing because

itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very exciting to be able to build something that could have millions of users and that people can use and give feedback on pretty much right away,â&#x20AC;? Gupta said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very satisfying to be working for yourself. There are risks, and there are ups and downs, but we have a good team and good feedback, and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re learning so much. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d learn as much in any other computer job,â&#x20AC;? he said. Though late work nights (often until 3 a.m.) at their Hamilton Avenue office leave little room for a social life, Gupta said itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worth it for the satisfaction he gets from his work. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have Saturday off, but on Saturdays I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wait to get back to the office,â&#x20AC;? he chuckled.

ven local high schoolers have gotten into the app business. In April, four Castilleja School students won $30,000 in venture capital to develop an app for the Google Nexus One Phone. Emily Scharff (daughter of Palo Alto councilman Greg Scharff), Shreya Ramachandran, Lindsey Wang and Emilie Robert Wong formed the award-winning Team ZEAL during their time in the eight-week Technovation Challenge, a program for young Bay Area women to work with mentors from leading Silicon Valley companies and gain skills in technology and business. Team ZEALâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s idea for a high-tech version of the classic â&#x20AC;&#x153;M.A.S.H.â&#x20AC;? fortune-telling game, with results that could be shared via Facebook and Twitter, came away with the top prize: $30,000 in development funding from MobMark and AdMob, along with a $1,000 college scholarship for each team member from Women at Microsoft. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an amazing opportunity and incredibly valuable,â&#x20AC;? said Mohr Davidowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Barr, who served as a mentor and judge at the event. So whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in the future for mobile apps? As the app universe continues to expand, Greater Appaloosaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kim predicted that people will want more apps based on communication and social networking. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to see more connectivity, more social interaction,â&#x20AC;? he said. Barr agreed, also pointing to the success of location-sharing apps such as Foursquare, which allows users to â&#x20AC;&#x153;check inâ&#x20AC;? at real-life locations and broadcast their comings and goings with friends. Paris, too, sees social connections as the future of apps. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think the next thing is adding a social component to everything we do. We are starting to test out a service which will allow users to invite friends to help them with their tasks by providing encouragement, insights or accountability,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Astrid has already helped people complete 7 million tasks. We think with the help of friends, people will continue to have even more fun and get more done.â&#x20AC;? â&#x2013; Editorial Assistant Karla Kane can be e-mailed at kkane@ paweekly.com.

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Palo Alto Weekly â&#x20AC;˘ November 12, 2010 â&#x20AC;˘ Page 19

Editorial

High-level City Hall turnover marks new era The departure of nearly half of Palo Alto’s top city administrators signals decisive leadership by City Manager James Keene and opens opportunities

wave of top-level departures from Palo Alto city management is both an assertion of leadership by City Manager James Keene and an opportunity for potentially sweeping improvements in city operations. It is believed to be the largest clustered departure of top leaders in the city’s 116-year history. Reasons are mixed, ranging from valued administrators retiring to others who are being persuaded or forced to leave. Legitimate concerns about loss of “institutional memory” can be more than offset by having fresh perspectives — as well as having people in charge who are not defensive about past decisions or actions. The Weekly’s Nov. 5 cover story detailed the departures of Fire Chief Nick Marinaro, City Attorney Gary Baum, Library Director Diane Jennings, Public Works Director Glenn Roberts and Human Resources Director Russ Carlsen. With the exception of Baum, who is appointed by the City Council, all the departees report directly to Keene. In 2008, shortly after Keene’s arrival, Police Chief Lynne Johnson and Assistant City Manager Emily Harrison left the city, each in the wake of controversies. Keene says the most recent departures are mostly “just the reality of the Baby Boomer generation coming of age” — which also applies to dozens of lower-level departures. In spite of the diplomatic talk and council resolutions of gratitude, it is no secret that Keene and the council were unhappy with the performance of several of these senior staff members. In particular, Public Works Director Roberts and City Attorney Baum have found themselves cross-wise the council on too many occasions. Whether their departures were technically voluntary or forced is now unimportant. Most of the administrators have served the city for many years, and most are leaving with traditional honors and recognition. The loss of Jennings, who had served on the library staff since 1986 before she was named interim director in 2002 and director in 2006, will be particularly felt as the city embarks on its voter-approved $76 million library reconstruction program. Keene now has an unprecedented opportunity to name a new generation of leaders for Palo Alto, bringing fresh energy and perspectives into a sometimes hide-bound City Hall hierarchy. He has said he believes in open communication and being responsive to citizens and an often hyper-critical community. Those are measurement points on which citizens should insist. He and his new managers, and some key holdovers, face some of the most challenging issues in city history — issues that will affect the community for decades. The rebuilding of Stanford medical facilities and the fate of high-speed rail on the Peninsula are just two examples. The continuing economic crisis of managing city expenditures, increasing revenues and rebuilding community infrastructure is a long-term constant. Forging new labor agreements and reforming retirement-benefits will be extraordinarily difficult — but absolutely necessary. The appointments will be a test of Keene’s judgment and ability to “walk the talk” of open communications, a large factor in his own hiring by the council in 2008.

Weekly’s ‘Holiday Fund’ drive launches today or the past 17 years, the Palo Alto Weekly has conducted a “Holiday Fund” drive to raise money for local nonprofit organizations. Funds raised are awarded to help organizations start or sustain programs that directly benefit children, youth and families in the Palo Alto area. Over the years, the Holiday Fund has raised and distributed more than $4 million to community groups. All administrative costs are absorbed by the Weekly and its partner Silicon Valley Community Foundation, so 100 percent of donations go to the programs or scholarships. The Packard, Hewlett and several family foundations provide matching funds, and proceeds from the Palo Alto Weekly’s Moonlight Run are included. This community tradition is the Weekly’s proud contribution to the welfare of our young persons and their families, part of our commitment to promoting their well-being. Please join us.

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Spectrum Editorials, letters and opinions

Oughta be a law Editor, Each fall, my “There Oughta Be a Law” contest invites Californians to submit suggestions for new laws. After nine years, 16 new laws are on the books. For the 10th round, now under way, scores of constituents already have sent in their proposals. However, I suspect that in recent weeks many Californians have been concentrating on which candidates to vote for, not on a law they might propose. So I am extending the contest deadline to Nov. 24. This has been a year of political rallies and civic activism. My contest invites proposals from folks of all political viewpoints who want to add a law, revise a law or even repeal a law. The winner or winners will have their ideas introduced as legislation and get to testify at a hearing in the state Capitol. The real prize, however, is the satisfaction of knowing your entry could affect the lives of 38 million Californians. For an application, see my website, www.senatorsimitian.com, or call my office at 650-688-6384. State Senator Joe Simitian Town & Country Village Palo Alto

Tree report Editor, The leak of an eight-page, draft executive summary on the California Avenue tree clear cutting provides new information, extends focus beyond Public Works and highlights the city’s reluctance to meet its obligation to the public. Up through its ranks, the Planning Department deferred to the expectations of the development association’s leadership as to whether the streetscape project should be reviewed in public or at the staff level. Planning decisions should be made exclusively on best professional judgment and free of outside influence. Within the city manager’s department, staff determined that changes to the project be noticed via an updated description in the budget, but not in a separate, informational staff report. The revised project’s needle within the mid-year budget haystack contained no indication that the trees would fall. Fix this process. The draft summary extends the currently-known 2009 public record that no one in the city questioned the wisdom of removing the trees en masse. What caused this? Finally, the community’s clear understanding and expectation is that the city would release a thorough report. However, no information of any kind has been forthcoming since the council meeting three weeks after the trees fell. It has been left entirely to citizen investigators the press, and now a leak to fill in the record. To move beyond this unfortunate episode the city needs to fulfill its

obligation to finish and release that report together with the complete set of mechanisms designed to prevent such an occurrence in the future. Fred Balin Columbia Street Palo Alto

Rank hypocrisy Editor, Save for its somewhat limited provider list, the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Program introduced by the state at the end of last month is a wonder to behold. Benefits are as a rule paid at 85 percent. They are subject to a $1,500 annual deductible and a further $1,000 paid out-of-pocket each year for co-insurance (15 percent of allowed charges) and co-pays. The premium for all this for a 43year-old local resident is a bargain at $344/month. Δtna by contrast charges more to cover a 43-year-old female in good health with a plan that features a yearly $3,500 deductible, and a further $6,500 for annual co-insurance at 30 percent. According to its website (pcip. ca.gov), all that is needed to qualify is to have been uninsured for the past six months. True, sometime in the

last 12 months you must have also been offered coverage with premiums higher than those of the Major Risk Medical Insurance Program preferred provider organization plan. But that would be a slam-dunk for our hypothetical 43-year-old as Blue Shield’s HMO Access Plus plan automatically fills the bill. This magnanimous program clearly discriminates in favor of the feckless and irresponsible. We all will pay for it, but as equal benefit under the law, it amounts to rank hypocrisy. Michael Goldeen Tasso Street Palo Alto

Malfunction junction Editor, If the high-speed rail station would need 3,000 parking stalls for those folks leaving the area, it stands to reason that a few hundred stalls would be necessary for the rentalcar companies to accommodate the folks arriving. We can then compete for having the greatest “malfunction junction” in Northern California. Tom Cotter Center Drive Palo Alto

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

What do you think? How do you plan to spend Thanksgiving? What is your personal “I’m thankful for...?” 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 Publishing Co. to also publish it online, including in our online archives and as a post on Town Square. For more information contact Editor Jay Thorwaldson 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

Why I’m supporting Palo Alto schools, even at 92 by Sam Webster fter 92 unbelievably terrific years — five decades of them lived in Palo Alto — I just mailed in my first check to support Palo Alto public schools through Partners in Education (PiE, at www.papie.org), the local public-education foundation. felt absolutely great doing it. Even though my wife, Kim, last attended Paly in 1938, and my youngest child graduated from Paly nearly 40 years ago, all of them got an outstanding “private-school caliber” education in the local public schools, for free. I realize that I’ve taken that for granted for far too long. While Palo Alto parents are getting used to writing checks to support the schools, there aren’t enough of them to cover the growing budget gaps in school funding. As someone who’s literally been in the trenches of tough battles, as a retired colonel in the U.S. Army, I can tell you that great victories are never won by fresh troops only. It’s time for my generation to lend a hand. After our kids graduated from the Palo Alto public schools, most of us opted to stay on here even though we could have cashed out on our homes and moved to Idaho, the Sierras or the Nevada desert for a cheaper lifestyle. We stayed because we couldn’t imagine another community offering the same stimulating community involvement and intellectual environment as Palo Alto. Palo Alto’s greatest resource is its brilliant people, not the sky-high home values fueled by the reputation of its public schools — although

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my generation was able to trade on that to net a remarkable lifestyle. My first connection with Palo Alto was through my dad, Samuel Harvey Webster, who attended Stanford University in 1903. He moved to Kingston, RI, where I was born in 1918, to take a professorship at the state college. He would shock the locals by saying: “In Palo Alto, when the sun goes down you need a top coat, even in summer.” When I met my gorgeous wife, Kim Sibley, in Grant Hall at the Visitor’s Center at West Point, three days before I graduated, she was dating another cadet. When I learned she was from Palo Alto, which my dad had been raving about for years, it sealed the deal: I knew I was going to marry her. Kim’s class at Paly included Bill Lane, longtime co-publisher of Sunset Magazine, and many outstanding students that helped make this city great. Kim was an early recipient of the generosity of the Palo Alto community toward education: Her Simmons College tuition was paid for by a scholarship from Palo Alto philanthropist Elizabeth Gamble. In 1941, Kim and I headed to Palo Alto to get married and shortly afterwards, I found myself deployed with the U.S. Army in Italy, staring into the faces of German soldiers holding the high ground in the hilltop abbey at Monte Cassino, and later sending troops into battle at Anzio Beach. I stayed on in the Army, serving multiple military tours, moving my family from one military base to another: Ft. Benning, GA, where Sanford Jr. was born; Ft. Leavenworth in Kansas, where son Jim was born; and Ft. Belvoir in Virginia, where Sarah was born. I retired as a Colonel in 1962, and Kim and I finally were able to live in Palo Alto. We moved here without a penny in our pockets, and were

thrilled to make a fresh start in this city. We knew our kids would get an unbelievable public education here with top teachers, alongside lots of brilliant kids whose parents worked at Stanford and in the nearby innovative businesses. Sanford, then a teenager, started at Paly, and Jim and Sarah both went to Addison School. Everyone in my family, except for me, graduated from Paly. But we never thought about the need to support the schools financially. Nobody asked for money for schools and they didn’t need it. As a tribute to the wonderful teachers in the Paly English Department, Kim and I fund an annual poetry/short story contest, which we began in 1969 — but it didn’t occur to us that the schools needed our help beyond that. I’ve had the benefit of watching generations of high-school graduates from Palo take the world by storm with their achievements, and we all know from living here that Palo Alto students are not ordinary. While some California public schools are drop-out factories or churn out students in the bottom percentiles of the nation’s graduates, Palo Alto is like an island, filled with brilliant young minds bursting with potential. My kids went to Stanford, Cal and Harvard thanks to our schools. My son, Jim, is an author of works for young adults. My daughter, Sarah, is a professor at Skidmore College. From Sanford, Jim and Sarah’s Paly friends between the classes of 1967 and 1971, I can point to State Senator Joe Simitian, former Palo Alto Mayor Gary Fazzino, Texas A&M professor of biochemistry and biophysics Jim Hu, U.S. senator from Oregon Ron Wyden, Nationwide Children’s Hospital pediatric neurosurgeon Corey Raffel, Georgetown professor of psychology Deborah Phillips, Kaiser Permanente vice president and senior counsel

Victoria Bleiberg, Justice Department Terrorism Litigation senior counsel Doug Letter, and young children’s book author Suzy Blackaby. And those are just a few. They all got their foundation for their remarkable lives in Palo Alto schools. Palo Alto schools may rank at the top of state and national lists for SAT scores, national merit scholars and academic excellence, but the school district has had to cut programs and staff just like everywhere else. Now, elementary school aides, art, music, sports and college-counseling programs in Palo Alto public schools are largely supported by PiE and booster programs run by parents. PiE has been tapping parents for donations and last year raised almost $3 million. But it’s not nearly enough, and now PiE is reaching out beyond parents to the. I’ve decided to answer the call to action for my generation because we’ve benefited more than anyone from our exceptional schools. We rode to the sounds of the guns in Europe and Asia in the big war. Now the time has come for us to lend a hand again, this time to protect quality in our local schools and make sure today’s remarkable Palo Alto children have the same educational opportunities our kids did. N Sam Webster is a Palo Alto businessman focused on real estate and agriculture investments. A lifelong athlete, he participated in the 1946 Wimbledon Championships and was a nationally ranked senior tennis player until he was 75. In the 1980s he organized the Sun Porch project in Palo Alto to provide housing and supervision for wayward boys and girls. He also was a strong supporter of the Avenidas Senior Center. He received the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce Tall Trees Award and the Avenidas Lifetimes of Achievement Award. E-mail: samweb@pacbell.net.

Streetwise

What position do you take on the High Speed Rail’s proposal of elevated tracks through Palo Alto? Asked at the Main Branch Library in Palo Alto. Interviews by Sarah Trauben and Kelly Jones. Photos by Vivian Wong.

Emery Maschges

Retired Downtown Palo Alto “It should stay in the Central Valley, go through San Jose to Oakland and hopefully end up in Vancouver.”

Jeff Talley

Unemployed Encina Avenue, Palo Alto “Underground tracks would be quieter, less obtrusive and safer.”

Julia Zimmer-Bell

Homemaker Seale Road, Palo Alto “We’ve lived so long without it that I don’t see why we’d need it.”

Rich Peterson

Math Teacher Greer Road “Without some bus infrastructure or bus service you aren’t going to get many passengers. They’ll all rent cars.”

Oleg Bonkarev

Engineer Mountain View “It’s a good thing for California and for the South Bay as well.”

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t was the best of planning. It was the worst of planning. One plan would replace an elevated expressway with a tunnel. The other would build an elevated railway where the citizens wanted a tunnel. Boston’s Big Dig. Our own high-speed rail. One a road and the other rails, separated by a continent and a decade. Yet these two massive public-works projects confront the same existential question: “Does it make sense to spend so much money on one project when there are so many other pressing needs?” I worked in Boston in the transportation field during the years when the Big Dig was planned. I was never assigned to the project, but did share an office with the woman who headed citizen-outreach for the Big Dig feasibility study. The Big Dig was the vision of Gov. Mike Dukakis’ Transportation Secretary, MIT-trained engineer Fred Salvucci. In the early 1970s he had been active in a highway revolt that stopped two expressways from plowing through neighborhoods. His battles with the highway department provided Salvucci with key insights on how not to build a big public works project. If the highway department did top-down planning, with perfunctory public hearings on final plans, Salvucci worked from the bottom-up. He saw citizen participation as intelligence gathering. He did not wait for public hearings. Neighborhood and group meetings with outreach staff were held during a project’s conceptual design. “All politics is local,” the late House Speaker (and Bostonian) Tip O’Neill once remarked. Salvucci understood he needed a big tent of support for a project vulnerable to being called too expensive. What a contrast to our high-speedrail controversy. I do not recall the authority appearing before Peninsula city councils prior to the bond initiative to describe the details of an elevated rail line. Nor do I believe the authority asked local officials, before or after the election, what would be required to get local buy-in. I know many officials were surprised by the authority’s belated revelations this year of what design they had in mind for the Peninsula. So why are authority leaders taken aback by opposition from cities? Not only did they not ask, they didn’t do their homework: In the 1970s, the Southern Pacific Railroad wanted to abandon its commuter service between San Francisco and San Jose. BART was prepared to build an elevated line down the same corridor. But cities rebelled against the line and the development pressures that would have come with it. So we are served by Caltrain, a publicly operated commuter line. There are larger lessons to learn from the Big Dig: Even a well-planned project does not mean a well-executed one or one that can ultimately be justified. The Big Dig controversy began as costs mounted; long after Salvucci

retired. After completion, the controversy turned to scandal as construction defects were discovered. In the end, Parsons Brinkerhoff, the lead engineering firm, paid more than $400 million in fines with its partner, Bechtel. Parsons Brinkerhoff is planning California’s highspeed rail. The lesson of the Big Dig was probably in mind this week when New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie killed a $10 billion plan to build a new rail tunnel into Manhattan. This is the new reality of state government. High-speed-rail bonds were authorized by voters when we thought the sky’s the limit. In today’s more sober world, high-speed rail is vulnerable to the argument that it is something we cannot afford. If we need to create construction jobs why not fix broken things — of which there are plenty — before building shiny new things? Spending $43 billion (the current estimate) on one high-speed-rail project has the risk profile of putting your retirement savings in a start-up airline that intends to go head-to-head with United and Southwest airlines on day one. Do you think that United and Southwest are going to cede market share to high-speed rail without a fight?.That means high-speed rail will not come close to covering the $1 billion in annual operating costs, let alone its estimated $650 million in annual bond payments. If the feds fail to come up with the additional $34 billion to complete the line then taxpayers will be asked to do so. It will be argued: “Why not complete that which has been started?” If California taxpayers paid for everything, payments would be more than $3 billion per year for 30 years, about 4 percent of the state’s deficitridden budget, not including cost overruns or operating losses. I would like the authority to suggest which schools and state parks should be closed, how many police officers and social workers fired, and how many miles of road left unpaved for 30 years to pay for their dream. We recently learned that the authority will build the Merced-Bakersfield segment first using federal economicstimulus money. No trains will run on it — until more track is built later. With a Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, the new Transportation Committee chair will be John Mica of Florida, who has indicated a top priority of his will be switching high-speed-rail funds to where the population density is highest — the Northeast Corridor of Washington to Boston. I wouldn’t be surprised if our Central Valley “train tracks to nowhere” is at the top of his cut list. N Gordon Lewin is co-author of “Marketing Public Transportation: A Strategic Approach.” He served eight years on the Sequoia Union High School District board. He can be e-mailed at Gordon992@comcast.net.

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Committed to providing the

quality Highest of primary health care services Margaret Taylor, former Director of San Mateo County Health Services

Sherri Sager, Chief Government Relations Officer at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital

Rose Jacobs Gibson, SMC Board of Supervisors

Dr. Cecil Reeves, 1st Chair of Ravenswood Family Health Center

Dr. David Druker, former CEO and President of Palo Alto Medical Foundation

Maya Altman, CEO, Health Plan of San Mateo

Emmett Carson, Ph.D, CEO, Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Pat Bresee, former Commissioner, SMC Superior Court

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."— Margaret Mead Dear Friends:

Luisa Buada

Chief Executive Officer

argaret Mead was right. Looking back on Ravenswood Family Health Center’s nine year history, there are certain people whose avowed commitment to improving access to health care has changed the lives of thousands of underserved and uninsured people in south San Mateo County. Our clinic owes its existence and continuance to these individuals and the organizations they represent. It was the initiative of Margaret Taylor, the former Director of San Mateo County Health Services, who together with Sherri Sager, Chief Government Relations Officer at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, San Mateo County Supervisor, Rose Jacobs Gibson, and Dr. Cecil Reeves along with East Palo Alto community leaders that brought the clinic to life in 2001. In 2004, Dr. David Druker, former CEO and President of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation stepped up to reinforce and strengthen our organization with funding from the Foundation and Medical Group to

improve data and quality assurance. It is with sincere regret that we acknowledge Dr. Druker’s passing this Spring after a three-year battle with cancer. RFHC has steadily grown in volume and financial capacity through our partnerships with key organizations including the Health Plan of San Mateo led by Maya Altman and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation led by Emmett Carson, Ph.D. Most recently, it has been the leadership of Pat Bresee, former Commissioner, SMC Superior Court and now chair of our newly formed Advisory Council that has introduced RFHC to a broad cross section of influential new supporters to help us accomplish our $19 million dollar capital campaign goal. For the long haul, it’s the steady, consistent day-in-and-day-out commitment that counts. RFHC is fortunate to have on board a committed, talented and capable internal leadership team including our very active and involved Board of Directors. Another one of our invaluable supporters, our founding

Board member, Charlesetta Fishman, passed away suddenly this fall. (See a tribute to her on page 2.) We dedicate this publication of our newsletter to these special individuals living and with us still in spirit and to the many of you, unnamed here whose essential contributions year after year insure the continued work of RFHC. In closing, we share with you our hope for peace and blessings of health this coming year. Sincerely, Luisa Buada, RN, MPH Chief Executive Officer

Where Healthy Living Takes Flight

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Ravenswood Family Health Center’s mission is to improve the health status of the community we serve by providing high quality, culturally competent primary and preventive health care to people of all ages regardless of ability to pay ³ 0LVVLRQ 6WDWHPHQW

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Integrative Holistic Health Care

Melieni Talakai, Chair Julio Garcia, Vice Chair Manuel Arteaga, Treasurer Marcelline Combs, Secretary *OSEPH ,OPEZ 0ARLIAMENTARIAN Vernal Bailey Senseria Conley Carlota Flores Jonathan Lindeke Gordon Russell Rev. Elisapeta M. Savusa Raymond Mills, Ex Officio Sherri Sager, Ex Officio

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In Memorium: Charlesetta Fishman

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What we do Provide integrated, coordinated primary health care to lowincome and uninsured residents of southeast San Mateo County

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Area-wide chronic disease rates (based on San Mateo County-wide averages) for the 11,411 adults below 200% FPL are all higher than comparable county-wide rates for the general population, including rates for diabetes (13.8% versus 8.2%), hypertension (32.3% versus 26.1%), heart disease (6.1% versus 5.2%), asthma (11.1% versus 9.7%) and overweight/obesity (63.3% versus 56.7%).

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Total diabetes prevalence (diagnosed and undiagnosed cases) is projected to increase from 14% in 2010 to 21% of the US adult population by 2050. Source: Population Health Metrics 2010

Social Service Referral

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diabetes.

Various sites in the school district and where homeless congregate

Source: American Diabetes Association

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7KDQN \RX IRU WKH JHQHURVLW\ RI DOO RXU FRQWULEXWRUV Government Funders

Stanford Hospital & Clinics Summa Peto Foundation Susan G Komen for the HRSA Bureau of Cure Foundation Primary Care California Department of Sutter Health The Brin Foundation Healthcare Services Office of Minority Health The David & Lucile Packard Foundation San Mateo County The Mervyn L. Brenner Behavioral Health Foundation, Inc San Mateo County Tides Foundation Department of Housing San Mateo County - Family -Community Clinics Initiative Health Services Tipping Point Community San Mateo County To Celebrate Life Breast Health System Cancer Foundations/ Foundation Funders Wachovia Wells Fargo Baxter International Foundation Foundation Henry J Kaiser Family Blue Shield California Foundation Bohannon Foundation Natembea Foundation CA Wellness Foundation Leaders 5000+ California Bank & Trust Almanac Holiday Fund California Dental Anonymous (2 Donors) Association Foundation Patricia Bresee California Healthcare Jeffrey & Julie Brody Foundation Elizabeth Dixon California Wellness Gregory & Penny Gallo Foundation Richard & Maureen Hamner Connie & Bob Lurie Hurlbut-Johnson Charitable Foundation, Inc Donald & Rachel Valentine Trusts Randall & Julie Merk Foundation Joe Rubin Flora Family Foundation Gordon Russell Gannett Foundation Mary Smith - In Honor of Kaiser Permanente Rodney Smith Community Benefits Geoff & Colleen Tate Northern CA Jim Warren Kaiser Permanente Champions $1,000+ Community Benefits Anonymous (3 Donors) San Mateo Area James Bassett & Lily Latino Community Hurlimann Foundation Denis & Eileen Baylor Laurel Foundation Leslie Family Foundation Bohannon Foundation Lucile Packard Children's John & Mary Anne Brock Bruce Cabral & Kim Harney Hospital Lucile Packard Foundation California Bank & Trust Robert Carlson & Stacey for Children's Health Starcher Microsoft Corporation Charles Schwab & Co. Matching Gifts Connie & Bob Lurie Microsoft Unlimited Foundation, Inc Potential Michael & Leslie Crisp Monterey Peninsula Gideon Hausner Jewish Foundation Day School Palo Alto Medical Foundation Parents Club Pat & Kathy Groves of Palo Alto & Menlo Park Ellie & Rick Hamner Donald Jaquess Rigel Inc San Francisco Foundation Kaiser Permanente Community Benefits Sand Hill Foundation Sequoia Healthcare District Stephen F. La Due Silicon Valley Community Donald & Sheila Leclaire The Mervyn L. Brenner Foundation Foundation, Inc Stanford Cancer Center Parents Club of

Palo Alto & Menlo Park Shanti Perkins-Gayle & Richard Gayle Cecil Reeves Jozef Ruck & Donna Ito Skyles Runser, III & Hillary Glann Sherri Sager Alexander Stepanov Summa Peto Foundation Mark & Katherine Valentine Mimi Webb

Advocates $500$999

Rick Altinger Walter B. & Anne D. Clark Ed & Joyce Drake Family Fund Bill & Ann Duvall - In Honor of Gordon Russell & Tina McAdoo Craig Falkenhagen Frederick G. St. Goar, MD Peter & Suzanne Greenberg Craig & Kari Hanson Hillview Middle School Student Body Gretchen Hoover Roland Hsu & Julia Noblitt Natembea Foundation Ramesh C. Patel Robert Sawyer Bobbie Wunsch Pierluigi Zappacosta

Friends up to $499

Anonymous (13 Donors) Anonymous - In Honor of Dean Clark 6 to 9 Dental J.M. Abel Philip G. Abrahamson Douglas & Kathleen Alexander William Alfano Maya Altman Beth Alvarez Suzanne Amato Eric Anders Pedersen Richard Anderson David Arata Greg McMillan & Catherine Aries McMillan Richard Bahr Mark Balestra Duane Bay & Barbara Noparstak Dennis & Eileen Bayor In Honor of David La Scua Enrico & Jane Bernasconi Cameron & Tito Bianchi Elizabeth Bilafer - In Honor of Gordon Russell Margaret Blackford George Block Beth Marie Bonora

Robert Bragg Elizabeth Brown Robert & Betty Brown Ruth Mandel Brown Robert & Lillian Burt Mary Buysse William Bernard Cane Mary Ann Carmack George & Mary Chadwick Jeff & Dianne Child Judith & David Conrad Jane Creighton Sonia Crommie In Honor of Betty Kaplan Erika Cruz Isabella Davis Ann Dehovitz James Dingler Penelope Duckham Victoria Emmons In Honor of Luisa Buada Eleanore Engelmore Mary Engstrom Mauricha Farrell Frank & Jeanne Fischer James & Maria Flaherty David Flamm & Margaret Stevenson Deborah Ford-Scriba Stuart Friedman & Cynthia Krieger Natalie Friend Gannett Foundation Lawrence Garcia Kenneth Gibson Robert Glaser Yvette Green Richard & Lynda Greene Thomas & Joan Gregory Maral Haddeland Claudia Hall Jon Hallam David & Shirley Hammond John Harbaugh Paul & Jane Hart - In Honor of Gordon Russell Bob Henderson Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation Vincent Hentz & Martha Norberg Tish Hoehl Nancy Hoffman Jody & Joe Horowitz Anne Houghteling Intuit Foundation Donation Matching Program David Jevans John & Phyllis Johnson - In Honor of Dr. Duncan Green Ron Johnson Brad Joondeph & Srija Srinivasan - In Honor of Luisa Buada Mark Justman Karen Kavanagh

Beatrice Kavinoky Todd & Julie Kaye Edward Kent, Jr. Michael Kilgroe & Patricia Burbank Ralph King Susan Klinck Peter & Ann Knopf Nurith Kurn Carl & Doris Landman Nelee Langmuir Robert & Wendie Lash Kenneth & Anne Lawler Mark C. Lawrence Hewlett & Elizabeth Lee Philip Lee Linda Maki - In Honor of Gilda Loew Myldred Mann Rosa Waltzer Mass Bettina Pederson McAdoo In Honor of Gordon Russell Drew McCalley & Marilyn Green Elizabeth McDougall Douglas Menke Jean Merwin Microsoft Coporation Matching Gifts Mid-Peninsula Animal Hospital, Inc Edward & Sumaya Miner Marshall Mohr Monterey Peninsula Foundation Alida Mary Moore John Moragne & Kimberly M. Young Hal Moreno Arthur Morris Francis & Claire Murphy In Honor of Gordon Russell Nikoo & Mehdi Namazian E. Kirk Neely & Holly Myers Alexander & Alexandra Nemirovsky Keri Nicholas James Nicholas Dawn Nidy Lucille Nilmeyer Stephanie Nisbet Elizabeth O'hare David Oakes & Sheila Botein Mirza Ivett Ochoa Anna Ostrom Leo & Charlene Ott Jean Parmelee G. Lyndall Parsons Miles M. Pedersen In Honor of Gordon Russell Richard Peers & Allison Butler Present Value Fund Gail Prickett Jan Reed

Richard Simpson & Ann Reisenauer Jeannette Remmel Joseph Schertler & Laura Reynolds Barbara Riper Ron & Judith Romines Timothy & Perryn Rowland Peter Rudd Carol Russo Paul Sallaberry Gary Sanders Omowale Satterwhite Martin Schiffenbauer Thomas Schwartzburg Martin & Barbara Seaney John Shannon - In Honor of Tina McAdoo Barry E. Sharrow Jerry & Joyce Shefren Shahla Sheikholeslam & Jerry Schoening Fred & Julia Shepardson Alice Shikina Bernard A. & Edith Shoor Sue Singer David & Barbara Slone Stephen & Jill Smith Marion Softky Samuel Sparck William & Dana Starling Laura Stern Ricard & Jeanne Tatum Margaret Taylor Richard Thesing Lewis & Patricia Thomas In Honor of Gordon Russell Frederick Thompson Adrienne Tissier Mastick Tom Anonymous Miriama Verebasaga James Vertin Arnold Vezzani John & Barbara Walecka Frank J. & Marianne J. Walters Watanabe Dental Laboratory Terri Watters Roger & Trish Way Peter Webb Yisrael Welcher Fred Wiener Suzanne Williams Deborah Wright Patricia Yeung Lynne Young Leslie & Marilyn Zatz Joseph & Denise Ziony Jorge del Calvo & Geraldine Ongkeko

Go Green with Us We Need Your Help We welcome your donation of cash, stock, or gifts in kind.

Advisory Councilmember Jane Williams Wins 2010 Schwab IMPACT Leadership Award

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1ST PLACE

WOMEN’S SOCCER

BEST SPORTS COVERAGE

Another shot to celebrate

California Newspaper Publishers Association

Sports Shorts

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

Saturday College football: Stanford at Arizona St., 4:30 p.m.; Fox College Sports (Comcast 414); XTRA (860 AM); KZSU (90.1 FM) Women’s volleyball: Stanford at Washington, 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

by Rick Eymer

Stanford senior Christen Press (23), here congratulating sophomore Rachel Quon on her goal in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Oregon to win the Pac-10 title, will lead the Cardinal into the NCAA Tournament on Friday night.

hristen Press ordered some lunch and waited for the NCAA women’s soccer tournament pairings to be announced, along with her Stanford teammates, on a big screen television at Jimmy V’s cafe on the Stanford campus. She never did get a chance to eat her lunch. The senior forward was simply too excited in anticipation, exhilaration and preparation for Friday night’s opening match. “This is the first step of the journey,” Press said. “It’s a tradition to be here for the announcements. I’m more excited this year. I really want this senior class to go out on a good note.” Press and fellow seniors Allison McCann, Kira Maker and Morgan Redman have each played integral roles in bring the top-ranked, undefeated and overall No. 1 seeded Cardinal (18-0-2) to the brink of another championship run. They will take to the field against visiting Sacramento State (9-9-1) for the first round of the tournament at 7 p.m. Friday night. As long as it keeps winning, Stanford remains at home through the first four rounds. Long Beach State (14-5-2) and Santa Clara (12-6-2) also play in the first round at Stanford, with first kick scheduled at 4:30 p.m. (continued on page 31)

PREP FOOTBALL

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Palo Alto has plenty to gain in its finale

Stanford renews its quest for an NCAA title by Rick Eymer

by Keith Peters

he Palo Alto High football team will close out its regular season on Friday night at Saratoga. On paper, it doesn’t mean a whole lot, given the fact the Vikings already have clinched the SCVAL De Anza Division title. The regular-season finale, however, actually means quite a lot — for both teams. “It means so much to them,” Paly coach Earl Hansen said of the Falcons. “If they win, they’re in (the CCS playoffs). If not, they’re out. That’s what I’m telling my team this week. I don’t have to tell them what’s at stake for us.” Palo Alto brings a 5-0 division mark and a 9-0 overall record into the 7:30 p.m. kickoff. The last time the Vikings went 9-0 was 1963. Should they emerge with yet another win, as expected, Paly will be 10-0 for the first time since Hod (continued on page 30)

Kyle Terada

READ MORE ONLINE

After winning Pac-10 crown, Stanford opens NCAA play on Friday

Keith Peters

PREP ALUMS . . . Palo Alto High graduate Scott Mielke scored a goal to help his UC Santa Cruz water polo team defeat Monmouth College, 18-2, and capture the 2010 Men’s Division III National Collegiate Club Championship last weekend at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn. Mielke played and scored in all three matches during the tournament. . . . With the help of a handful of local players, the 17th-ranked Princeton men’s water polo team captured its sixth overall CWPA Southern Division Championship with an 8-6 win over Bucknell in the title game of the 2010 Southern Championships. The win is Princeton’s second tournament title in the last three seasons. Palo Alto High grad Tim Wenzlau provided a key assist while Menlo School grad Mike Merlone stopped a 5-meter penalty shot with 1:48 left to seal the victory. Menlo grad Matt Hale added a goal for the Tigers while Merlone finished with 13 saves. In the semifinals, Merlone had 10 saves as Princeton defeated Johns Hopkins, 9-6. . . . Palo Alto High grad Buddy Benaderet came up with two sacks to help the defensive effort as Dartmouth posted a 28-10 Ivy League football victory over Cornell on Saturday. The Big Green defense registered 10 sacks in the game as Dartmouth improved to 2-3 in league (5-3 overall). . . . Swarthmore College senior soccer midfielder Hannah Purkey from Palo Alto High received All-Centennial Conference honors this week. Purkey’s second-team selection is the first All-Centennial honor of her career. . . . Elsewhere, Priory grad Leslie Barkman appeared in 16 games with the Cal Poly women’s soccer team this season. She took eight shot, including three on goal, but did not score. Palo Alto grad Jess Duller appeared in 15 games. The Mustangs finished 9-9-1, ending the year with a three-game winning streak. . . . Sophomore Allie Coleman of Swarthmore College was named to the Cosida/ESPN Academic All-District volleyball first-team.

Sisters Nnemkadi (left) and Chiney Ogwumike will help the Stanford women open their basketball season Sunday against Rutgers.

ayla Pedersen and Jeanette Pohlen came to Stanford as two of the top women’s basketball prospects in the country. Pedersen was rated the 15th best prospect overall by one publication. Even with those credentials, the two seniors have exceeded expectations. They are All-American candidates because they never stopped learning, never stopped looking for ways to improve. With fellow seniors Melanie Murphy (fifth-year), Hannah Donaghe and Ashley Cimino, they have been to the promised land of the NCAA Final Four the past three years and reached the championship game twice. Their reputations among Cardinal elite cemented, there’s only one thing left to accomplish and that’s bringing a national championship to Stanford for the first (continued on page 28)

*> Ê Ì Ê7ii ÞÊUÊ Ûi LiÀÊ£Ó]ÊÓä£äÊU Page 27

Sports

Women’s basketball

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Stanford’s young team hopes to prove naysayers wrong (again) this season

Bob Drebin/Stanfordphoto.com

Stanford junior Jeremy Green, scoring two of his 26 points in an exhibition win Wednesday, is the team’s most experience player. as Zimmerman, who transferred from Santa Clara. Seven of the newcomers are on scholarship, including Andy Brown, who will sit out yet another season due to an ACL tear in his left knee, the third time the same knee has sustained a torn ACL and has forced him off the basketball court for most of two years. “That is one of the more unfortunate things I’ve ever seen in this sport,” Dawkins said. “With a rehab as hard as his, he still has the desire to recover as best he can. We’re hoping this is the time he will come back and be part of the group.” The highly-rated class also includes Aaron Bright, a 5-11, 175pound guard from Bellevue, Wash., Anthony Brown, a 6-7, 190-pound swingman from Huntington Beach, John Gage, a 6-10, 210-pound post from Vashon Island, Wash., Josh Huestis, a 6-8, 210-pound forward from Great Falls, Mont., and Dwight Powell, a 6-10, 215-pound forward from Bradenton, Fla. Canadian Stefan Nastic (6-9, 225) was signed during the spring. Chris Barnum (6-1, 175) and Robbie Lemons (6-3, 190) are the walk-ons. “Last year we had to bring in people from the football team just to be able to practice. Now we have enough depth,” Green said. “Based on what I’ve read, no one is giving us a chance. But we know what we have. I feel like all the freshmen will contribute.” Anthony Brown started alongside Green, Mann (9 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists), Zimmerman and Owens

Page 28ÊUÊ Ûi LiÀÊ£Ó]ÊÓä£äÊUÊ*> Ê Ì Ê7ii Þ

STANFORD MEN Date Nov 15 Nov 18 Nov 21 Nov 25 Nov 26 Dec 12 Dec 15 Dec 18 Dec 21 Dec 28 Jan 2 Jan 6 Jan 8 Jan 13 Jan 15 Jan 20 Jan 22 Jan 27 Jan 29 Feb 3 Feb 5 Feb 10 Feb 12 Feb 17 Feb 19 Feb 24 Feb 26 Mar 1 Mar 5

Team San Diego Virginia Ark. Pine Bluff Murray St. Tulsa or UNLV UC Riverside N.C. A&T at Butler at Oklahoma St. Yale California at Arizona St. at Arizona Washington Washington St. at USC at UCLA Oregon Oregon St. Arizona Arizona St. at Washington St. at Washington UCLA USC at Oregon St. at Oregon Seattle at California

Time 7 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 5 p.m. 6 p.m. TBA 5 p.m. 7 p.m. 11 a.m. 6 p.m. 7 p.m. 5 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 3 p.m. 7 p.m. 5 p.m. 7 p.m. 2 p.m. 11 a.m. 7 p.m. 6 p.m. 3 p.m. 7 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 6 p.m. 3 p.m. 7 p.m. TBA

but Powell (10 points) and Huestis each played nearly half the game. Bright and Nastic each played more than 10 minutes. “Depth, that’s the part I’m most excited about,” Dawkins said. “There’s enough where you know every day is going to be competitive.” N

time in 19 years. “We have a lot of motivation,” Pedersen said. “Right after we lost (the NCAA title game to Connecticut) we said ‘OK, next year we get another shot at the title.’” Stanford begins the journey Sunday with a 2 p.m. home game against Rutgers, the first of eight nonconference games (out of 11) against teams that reached the NCAA tournament last year. The third-ranked Cardinal (18-0, 36-2 last year) scheduled four of last year’s Elite Eight teams, three of which are ranked among the top five in the current preseason poll. “Our preseason is one of the toughest in the nation,” Pedersen said. “We play high-caliber teams all the time, so it will be fun again.” Stanford was picked to win its 11th consecutive Pac-10 title, though even the pursuit of that goal appears to hold challenges in the form of 16th-ranked UCLA, California, USC and Arizona State — all among teams receiving votes in the national polls. The Cardinal has an awesome resume, enough to match any team in the country at any position. There are eight former state Gatorade Players of the Year, including two national Gatorade Players of the Year on board. Pedersen, Pohlen and junior Nnemkadi Ogwumike are returning all-Pac-10 players. Ogwumike, also a returning All-American, was the conference Player of the Year in 2010. Add to the mix redshirt 6-foot-5 sophomore Sarah Boothe, 6-4 sophomore Josyln Tinkle and the reigning National High School Player of the Year in 6-3 Chiney Ogwumike, and its no wonder Stanford dreams large despite the loss of All-American Jayne Appel and defensive standout Roz Gold-Onwude. The whole package is led by a three-time national Coach of the Year, and an assistant (Amy Tucker) who shared a National Coach of the Year award. “This might be the most versatile team I’ve ever had,” Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer said. “It’s headlined by Kayla’s versatility. She can play any position on the floor. I’m excited about being back in the conversation for a national championship.” The younger Ogwumike was the prize of last year’s recruiting class and it’s easy to see why. In the first exhibition game of the season, Chiney had a double-double by halftime while older sister Nnemkadi was nursing a sore foot. The dynamics between the sisters has been the source of awe-inspiring athletic grace and entertaining soap opera moments. “We find ourselves in the middle of them sometimes,” Pedersen said. “Neka is very direct with Chiney. It is entertaining.” “I forget they’re sisters; they are really different,” VanDerveer said. “Chiney is not the jumper Neka is but she does stuff that are instinctive.” Nnemkadi said she’s thrilled to be playing with her sister again.

Date Nov 14 Nov 19 Nov 21 Nov 26 Nov 28 Dec 12 Dec 16 Dec 19 Dec 22 Dec 28 Dec 30 Jan 2 Jan 6 Jan 8 Jan 14 Jan 16 Jan 20 Jan 22 Jan 27 Jan 29 Feb 3 Feb 5 Feb 10 Feb 12 Feb 18 Feb 20 Feb 24 Feb 26 Mar 3

Team Time Rutgers 2 p.m. at Utah 6 p.m. at Gonzaga 2 p.m. South Carolina 1 p.m. Texas 12:30 p.m. Fresno St. 1 p.m. at DePaul 5 p.m. at Tennessee 4 p.m. at San Francisco 6:30 p.m. Xavier 1 p.m. Connecticut 6 p.m. at California 12:30 p.m. Arizona 7 p.m. Arizona St. 2 p.m. at Washington 7 p.m. at Washington St. 1 p.m. UCLA 7 p.m. USC 2 p.m. at Oregon 6 p.m. at Oregon St. 2 p.m. at Arizona St. 5:30 p.m. at Arizona 1 p.m. Washington St. 7 p.m. Washington 2 p.m. at USC 7 p.m. at UCLA Noon Oregon St. 7 p.m. Oregon 7:30 p.m. California 6 p.m.

Marc Abrams/Stanford Athletics

Looking for some respect by Rick Eymer o seniors, nine freshmen, five juniors and a sophomore. This is the makeup of the Stanford men’s basketball team as it prepares to open the season with a nonconference game against visiting San Diego on Monday night in Maples Pavilion. The Pac-10 coaches and media alike don’t give the Cardinal (7-11 in the Pac-10 last year, 14-18 overall) much respect in terms of predictions. Both groups have Stanford finishing ninth. Jeremy Green, who set the school record with 93 3-pointers last year, is the most experienced of the junior class, which also features a former walk-on, a transfer and a guy who missed last season with an undisclosed medical condition. “It’s kind of unusual to have a team without seniors,” Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said. “We have high expectations for ourselves. We’ll go out and compete and get better. We have enough veteran leadership to carry us.” Josh Owens, the last player connected to the Trent Johnson era, missed a year with a mysterious (just to the curious among us I suppose) ailment that threatened his future in basketball. “There was some uncertainty whether he could continue his career,” Dawkins said. “He was able to work out during the summer and that was a good start for him. He’s working his way back.” If Wednesday night’s 87-56 exhibition win over Cal State Monterey Bay is any indication, Owens looks ready to take on the Division I players of the world. The 6-foot-8 post player recorded 16 points and 11 rebounds — just about what Dawkins would like to see from him. “I try to keep it in perspective, but yes, it was tough,” Owens said. “I had high expectations for myself and the team. Having that cut short was disappointing. I stayed optimistic about working to get back. I think it will come quickly.” Green scored 26 points, and that’s about where he has to stay for the Cardinal to cause any damage in the talent-rich Pac-10 Conference this season. The other juniors — 6-4 point guard Jarrett Mann, hard-working 6-9 center Jack Trotter, who began his career as a walk-on, and 6-8 transfer Andrew Zimmerman — were prominent players with the Cardinal last year and will serve as role players and leaders in mentoring one of the most talented freshmen classes to find their way to Stanford. Sophomore Gabe Harris (6-2, 190) signed during the same period

STANFORD WOMEN

(continued from page 27)

Senior All-American Kayla Pedersen is back for another title shot. “I want to share this experience with her,” the elder Ogwumike said. “I kind of forgot how it is to play with her. I giver her some direction and she takes it well. But she also looks to Kayla for answers.” Junior guards Grace Mashore and Lindy La Rocque and sophomore Mikaela Ruef provide experience off the bench, while Chiney Ogwumike is joined by fellow freshmen Toni Kokenis and Sara James to give the Cardinal one of the country’s toprated recruiting classes. “We’re all in it together,” Pedersen said. “It seems like more players can be used in different positions.” By the way, those eight former Gatorade players are Ruef, both Ogwumike’s, Pedersen, Pohlen, Cimino, Boothe and Tinkle. N

Sports CROSS COUNTRY

CCS ROUNDUP

A rivalry is renewed at CCS

M-A, SHP girls keep tennis tournament very interesting

Prioryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gregory, Castillejaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Skokowski should battle again for Division V title by Keith Peters at Gregory of Priory and Rachel Skoskowki of Castilleja have had quite a rivalry during their cross-country careers. Both hope their head-to-head battles continue for at least two more weeks. That would take the two not only through Saturdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Central Coast Section Championships at Toro Park in Salinas but the CIF State Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno on Nov. 27. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a very good chance that either runner will win the Division V individual title on Saturday. After all, a runner from Castilleja or Priory has won for the past eight years. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be surprised if both teams also qualify, which generally is the case, as well. Gregory, junior, is the defending CCS Division V champion. She won last season in 19:07 at Crystal Springs in Belmont while helping the Panthers win the team title. Skokowski was second in 19:35, helping the Gators finish third and also qualify for the state finals. In 2008, the last time the section finals were held at Toro Park, it was Skokowskiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time to shine. She won the individual crown in 20:21 to help Castilleja win the team title. Gregory, then a freshman, finished third in 21:01 while the Panthers grabbed second in the team race. In Skokowskiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s freshman season in 2007, she finished sixth in 20:44 at Crystal but the Gators won the team title. Then-freshman Devon Errington of Priory won individual title to help her team take second. Based on performances this season, it appears Gregory is ready to take back the title. She captured the West Bay Athletic League crown last Friday in 18:52 over the 2.95 Crystal Springs course while Skokowski was second in 19:08. It has been that way all season as the two have dominated in their league competitions. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I had my lucky pink shoes,â&#x20AC;? Gregory said as perhaps why she won the WBAL title. Gregory came in as the heavy favorite, having won three times in league-wide meets prior to Friday. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sort of an uncomfortable position for me,â&#x20AC;? Gregory said of the favoriteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d rather be the underdog. But, today it was more about us doing well (as a team). I had to push myself. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think we were looking to win the team title, it was more just to move on.â&#x20AC;? Gregory actually missed two weeks of training to prevent a possible stress fracture, returning just this week. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I had two days of practice and then the meet,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My coach-

Keith Peters

Priory junior Kat Gregory is the Division V defending champ.

Castilleja senior Rachel Skokowski won Division V in 2008.

es had confidence in me that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be able to pull through. So, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m happy to be here.â&#x20AC;? While the Priory and Castilleja girls battle it out, another showdown looms in the CCS Division I girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; race on Saturday between Carlmont and Gunn. The Titans are the defending champions, but Gunn coach Ernie Lee knows last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s effort means little. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Carlmont is the favorite, especially after what they ran at their league finals compared to how we ran,â&#x20AC;? Lee said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re just hoping to have everyone run their best race of the year. San Benito has been running very well lately, so they could also challenge for a state meet berth.â&#x20AC;? In Division I, only the top two boysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; teams qualify for state. In Division V, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s three each.

Division II has three each while Division IV advances two boysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; teams and three girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Jessie Petersen of Carlmont returns to defend her Division I title while Gunn senior Erin Robinson is back to improve upon her runnerup finish last season. The Titans put five runners among the first 13 in 2009, but two of those were seniors. Junior Kieran Gallagher is back after taking sixth and senior Emma Dohner returns after finishing 13th. The big addition to Gunnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s team is freshman Sarah Robinson, Erinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sister who finished third while Erin took second at the SCVAL El Camino Division finals two weeks ago. The Menlo-Atherton boys also have a shot of advancing to the state finals, but is running in a tough Division I field that includes No. 1-ranked Bellarmine. N

TRELLIS

n paper, the Menlo-Atherton and Sacred Heart Prep girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; tennis teams were expected to be done for the season following the second round of the Central Coast Section Team Tournament. Fortunately for the Bears and Gators, they made the most of their opportunity to prove the seedings wrong. The unseeded Bears shocked No. 6 seed St. Ignatius, 4-3, in Golden Gate Park while the unseeded Gators upended West Bay Athletic League rival Harker, 4-2, in San Jose. The victories moved both teams into Fridayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quarterfinals, where they will face even more difficult opposition. Menlo-Atherton (15-5) will make the short trip to Menlo School to take on the No. 3-seeded Knights (18-5) at 2:30 p.m. Sacred Heart Prep (17-6) gets the unenviable task of facing top seed Saratoga (19-0) on the Falconsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; court, also at 2:30 p.m. On paper, neither the Bears nor the Gators have a chance on Friday. Then again, that was supposed to be the case Wednesday. On a cold and clear afternoon in San Francisco, M-A used its depth in doubles and at the bottom of the singles lineup to shock the favored Wildcats. The match was tied at 3 before M-Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s No. 1 doubles team of Chloe Rehlaender and Jordyn Fantuzzi rallied from a 6-4 loss in the first set and won the next two, 6-2, 6-1, to clinch the thrilling victory. St. Ignatius grabbed a quick lead when nationally ranked Caroline Doyle dispatched M-Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Paige Keating at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-0. The Bears notted things when Erin LaPorte won her No. 3 singles

match, 6-1, 6-0. The Wildcats regained the lead when the Bearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Julia Sommer fell at No. 2 singles, 6-1, 6-1, before M-Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lauren Diller made it 2-2 with a 7-6 (7-1, 6-2 triumph at No. 4 singles. All three doubles matches were still in progress at that point, with M-Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s No. 2 tandem of Siena RoatShumway and Lindy LaPlante giving their team a 3-2 lead with a 7-5, 6-3 win. The No. 1 and 3 doubles matches then went to a third set, with Rehaender and Fantuzzi clinching the team triumph before the No. 3 doubles finished. Sacred Heart Prepâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s upset win wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t as dramatic, but nonetheless effective. The teams had split their WBAL regular-season matches, with the Gators winning their second meeting, 4-3. In that match, the teams split the singles. This time, Harker held a 2-1 lead (with No. 2 singles halted due to darkness. Thus, just like in the previous match, doubles decided it. Kelsey Hemm and Alexa Bokman posted a 6-2, 6-4 victory at No. 1 doubles (Hemm and Isabelle Thompson had won previously) while Ceci Marshall and Danni Struck registered a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory at No. 2 (they also had won in three sets in the prior match). The difference turned out to be at No. 3 doubles, where Nicole Schulz and Ruthy Sarwal scored a 6-2, 7-5 win. In the previous match, Schulz and Sarwal had lost in three sets. In the only second-round match that went true to form on Wednesday, No. 3 Menlo ended Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s season with a 6-1 victory. The Vikings finished 12-8 after being the last team to squeeze into the tournament. N

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Sports CITY OF PALO ALTO NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, pursuant to California Public Utilities Code section 2827 that the City Council of the City of Palo Alto will hold a Public Hearing at its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, December 6, 2010 at 7:00 p.m., or as soon thereafter as possible, in the Council Chambers, City Hall, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, California. The Public Hearing will be held to consider adopting a new Electric Utility Rate Schedule for Net Surplus Electricity Compensation to be effective January 1, 2011, and to consider adopting a resolution to amend Utility Rule and Regulation 29, governing Net Energy Metering Service and Interconnection. State law requires Palo Alto’s City Council to establish a Net Surplus Electricity Compensation Rate Schedule to be effective January 1, 2011.This new rate will be used to compensate eligible Net Metering customers, who choose monetary compensation, for the electricity produced by their onsite system in excess of their annual consumption at the end of each twelve-month period. Copies of the rate schedule for the compensation are available on the City’s website and in the Utilities Department, 3rd Floor, City Hall, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, California. There is a $3.00 per copy charge for this publication.

FOOTHILL-DE ANZA

Community College District Board of Trustees invites applicants for its

Audit & Finance Committee One of four seats held by community members on the volunteer Audit & Finance Committee will become vacant at the end of December. Trustees will appoint a new member to a four-year term that begins in January. Candidates should have a strong background in budget, finance and/or audit. The committee acts in an advisory role to the board in carrying out its oversight and legislative responsibilities as they relate to the district’s financial management. Applicants may not be an employee, contractor, consultant or vendor of the district. The Audit & Finance Committee meets quarterly but may meet every two months if desired. The responsibilities of the committee are to: UÊÊ,iÛ iÜÊ> `Ê Ì ÀÊLÕ`}iÌÊ> `Êw > V > Ê >ÌiÀ > Ê> `ÊÀi« ÀÌÃÊ related to financial matters such as bonds, certificates of participation and other funding instruments that come before the Board of Trustees; UÊÊ Ì ÀÊÌ iÊiÝÌiÀ > Ê>Õ` ÌÊÃi iVÌ Ê> `Êi }>}i i ÌÊ«À ViÃÃÆ UÊÊ,iÛ iÜÊ ì«i ì ÌÊ>Õ` ÌÊÀi« ÀÌÃÊ> `Ê Ì ÀÊv Ü Õ«Ê activities; UÊÊ iÊ>Û> >L i]Ê vÊ iiì`]ÊÌ Ê iiÌÊÜ Ì ÊÌ iÊ >À`Ê vÊ/ÀÕÃÌiiÃÊi>V Ê Þi>ÀÊ>ÌÊÌ iÊÌ iÊ vÊ«ÀiÃi Ì>Ì Ê vÊÌ iÊiÝÌiÀ > Ê>Õ` ÌÊÌ ÊÌ iÊL >À`ÆÊ UÊ ÃÕ ÌÊÜ Ì Ê ì«i ì ÌÊ>Õ` Ì ÀÃÊÀi}>À` }Ê>VV Õ Ì }]ÊwÃV> Ê and related management issues; UÊ Ì ÀÊ «iÀ>Ì > ÊÀiÛ iÜÃ]Êw ` }ÃÊ> `ÊÀiV i `>Ì ÃÊ> `Ê follow-up activities. Interested applicants should submit a resume and cover letter detailing their qualifications to any of the following: Mail: Office of the Chancellor Foothill-De Anza Community College District £ÓÎ{xÊ Ê ÌiÊ, >`Ê Los Altos Hills, CA 94022

E-mail: chancellor@fhda.edu Fax: (650) 941-6289

Completed applications must be received by 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19. For more information, please call (650) 949-6100 or email chancellor@fhda.edu. Page 30ÊUÊ Ûi LiÀÊ£Ó]ÊÓä£äÊUÊ*> Ê Ì Ê7ii Þ

Linda Cullen

DONNA J. GRIDER, MMC City Clerk

A.J. Julian (with ball) of the Palo Alto Knights’ Jr. Pee Wee football team scored a pair of touchdowns during a 28-0 victory over the Oak Grove Central Rage, earning the Knights a berth in the NorCal finals.

A victory away from national championships Two Palo Alto Knights’ youth football teams will play for AYF NorCal titles on Saturday by Keith Peters he Palo Alto Knights will have two opportunities to have teams compete for a national championship after the Jr. Pee Wees and Pee Wees both won football playoff games during the weekend. The Junior Pee Wees (age 9-11) remained unbeaten (10-0) with a 28-0 triumph over the Oak Grove Central Rage on a rainy afternoon at Palo Alto High. The Pee Wees (11-12), meanwhile, rallied from an openingplay touchdown and halftime deficit to post a 28-14 victory over the Antelope Longhorns at Grant High in Sacramento on Saturday. One more victory by each Palo Alto team this weekend in the NorCal Championships will send them to the American Youth Football League National Championships, hosted by Under Armour the week of December 4-10 in Orlando, Fla. If either team is successful this Sat-

urday, it will be the eighth time in 12 years that a Palo Alto Knights’ team has advanced to the national championships. The Junior Pee Wees will play Oak Grove South (9-1) on Saturday at noon at McClymonds High in Oakland. The Knights beat Oak Grove, 18-17, earlier in the season. The Pee Wees also will play a team from Oak Grove South at 2 p.m., also at McClymonds High. Oak Grove handed the Knights a 28-0 loss earlier this season. The Knights’ Jr. Pee Wee’s continued their journey toward a possible appearance in the national finals with their third straight playoff victory. Palo Alto was led by running back A.J. Julian, who had 147 yards rushing and touchdown runs of 54 and 23 yards. The Knights took an 8-0 halftime lead after quarterback Jack Devine threw a 24-yard pass to Josh Brigel on a fourth-and-11 play

just before the half. The third quarter belonged to the Knights, as well, as Julian scored twice and Lee Howard scored on a 38-yard run. The Knights’ defense led by linebacker Ethan Stern, defensive end Jordan Schilling, defensive back Brigel and linemen Jamie Cullen, Sione Latu, Ryan Mitra and Louie Marzano as Palo Alto recorded its eighth shutout of the season. The Pee Wees rallied from their early deficit as Victor Sanchez scored on a 50-yard run and Flynn Thompson ran another in from 26 yards out to get to within a point at halftime. The Knights opened the second half with a 60-yard scoring drive. Outstanding blocks by Christian Rider and Doran Finlay freed Sanchez for his second touchdown, a 22-yard run that gave the Knights a 20-14 lead. N (Mike Piha contributed information)

Prep football

kings would open against No. 8 seed Bellarmine (based on points) and have an opportunity to avenge last season’s 34-6 blowout loss to the Bells in the opening round, when Bellarmine was No. 5 and Paly No. 4. “I’m not sure if a No. 1 or 2 seed (for CCS) is better,” Hansen said. “But, if we win (Friday) we’ll get the No. 1 seed. If we play well, we’ll win.” Thanks to last week’s 42-20 nonleague victory over visiting Mountain View — highlighted by junior Dre Hill’s 173 yards rushing with two touchdowns and Maurice Williams’ four receptions for 100 yards — Palo Alto was elevated to the No. 2 position in the San Francisco

Chronicle Top 25, trailing only perennial NorCal power De La Salle. Palo Alto also moved up in the Cal-Hi Sports Top 25, as, well, to No. 18 in the state. The Vikings have never been ranked as high as No. 1 in the CCS or No. 18 in the state at this point of any season. “That means we’re doing something well,” Hansen said. “We’re getting recognized for winning. Our schedule is packed with wins against teams that last year had winning records.” So, what appeared to be a meaningless regular-season finale for Palo Alto actually carries all kinds of implications for the postseason.

(continued from page 27)

Ray’s great team of 1950. But, there’s more. Thanks to Bellarmine (30-27 to Mitty) and Valley Christian (14-7 to St. Francis) suffering upsets last week, Palo Alto has moved into the No. 1 spot in the PrepFeed-Kiefer CCS Top 20 as the only team with a perfect record. Palma has no losses in nine games, but has one tie. Should Palo Alto beat Saratoga, the Vikings are expected to earn the No. 1 seed for the Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs, based on projected point totals. If those projections hold true, the Vi-

(continued on page 33)

Sports WOMEN’S SOCCER

Stanford’s Press is named Pac-10 Player of Year

Keith Peters

Stanford senior Allison McCann holds aloft the Pac-10 trophy following the Cardinal’s 3-0 victory over visiting Oregon on Sunday that gave Stanford its second straight unbeaten season in the conference.

NCAA soccer (continued from page 27)

UCLA, BYU, Fresno State and Central Florida are also in the Stanford Regional. Those four teams play the first two rounds on Thursday and Saturday at UCLA. Three years ago, as freshmen new to the process, the current Stanford seniors waited and watched as the proceedings unfolded, with fifthyear seniors Rachel Buehler and Shari Summers the team leaders. Stanford also opened with Sacramento State that year, winning 7-0. Press scored the first goal 37 seconds into the contest with an assist from McCann. That run lasted three rounds. Press has seen the team move closer and closer to the top ever since. The Cardinal will be looking for its third straight appearance in the Final Four this season and fourth overall. “Being close, getting there and not winning it, makes us want it even more this year,” Press said. “Soccer is such a crazy sport. We could be playing Santa Clara and UCLA in our next games, but we have to focus on Sacramento State first.” Press and McCann, most notably, have seen the pitfalls first hand. They know, for example, that Santa Clara coach Jerry Smith will make adjustments and play a different kind of game in the tournament than in the regular season. Smith is the architect of the Broncos’ program that has won the national championship in 2001, was the national runnerup in 2002, and has been to 10 College Cups and 14 quarterfinals. “The thought of knowing Friday could be the last time I ever play soccer makes it even more meaningful,” McCann said. “We just want to keep having fun, keep playing soccer and stay level-headed.” The Cardinal enters the tournament with a 31-match home winning streak and a 17-match overall winning streak, and has won its past eight NCAA tournament matches at

home. “You always need a little luck,” McCann said. “We’ve been so focused and such a tightly-knit group, we all know we are capable of doing it. Maybe in the past we were a little unsure. Not now. Now we know we can do it.” Press, the favorite to win the Hermann Trophy awarded to the nation’s top college soccer player, watched Kelley O’Hara, last year’s recipient, go through a similar season last year. “I could see the pressure she put upon herself and how she handled it,” Press said. “It’s a lot being a senior. We have a small senior class this year and that’s made for a totally different experience. We’ve been together all four years, off and on the field. We are four polar opposites as people but soccer brings us

together. We’re always talking about what it takes and what it means to be seniors.” Friday’s winners meet Sunday at 1 p.m. with a berth in the Sweet Sixteen at stake. “The bracket looks good,” Stanford coach Paul Ratcliffe said. “We’re excited for the challenge. It’s going to be competitive and every game is do-or-die.” Stanford is joined by fellow No. 1 seeds Portland, Maryland and defending national champion North Carolina, which edged Stanford, 1-0, in last year’s final. “We’ve got to take the momentum from the regular season into the playoffs, perform to the best of our ability, get positive results and move forward,” Ratcliffe said. “The team’s performing very well, but I expect us to get better.” N

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t wasn’t quite a clean sweep, but the conference champion Stanford women’s soccer team still was well-represented on the 2010 All Pac-10 Conference team that was announced on Wednesday. In a vote by the conference coaches, Cardinal senior forward Christen Press was named Pac-10 Player of the Year, Oregon State forward Jenna Richardson was named Freshman of the Year and Stanford head coach Paul Ratcliffe was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year. Press has 23 goals, seven assists, and 53 points for No. 1 Stanford, which begins NCAA Tournament play Friday night at 7 against visiting Sacramento State. Her goal and point totals lead the nation and have put her in range to break Kelley O’Hara’s year-old Stanford season records of 26 and 65. This year, Press shattered Stanford career records for goals (68) and points (176) and tied the mark in assists (40). She has scored or assisted in 18 of Stanford’s 20 matches and had a nine-match goal-scoring streak. Press becomes Stanford’s sixth Pac-10 women’s soccer Player of the Year, following Carmel Murphy (1995), Erin Martin (1996), Tracye Lawyer (1998), Marcia Wallis (2002), and O’Hara (2009). Leading his squad through an undefeated regular season, a Pac-10 Championship and the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight year, Ratcliffe was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year for the third-consecutive season. Stanford is riding an 18-0-2 season heading into the tournament and is the consensus No. 1 team in the nation.

Ratcliffe’s team (9-0 in conference) is only the second in Pac-10 history to have back-to-back undefeated seasons. Under his tutelage, the Cardinal has the third-best scoring offense in the nation, averaging 2.95 goals per game and the sixthbest goals against average (0.487). The Cardinal lost three starters, including Hermann Trophy winner O’Hara, from the 25-1 team of a year ago that reached its first NCAA College Cup final, but Ratcliffe has made several moves that have proved vital. Among them was moving sophomore Courtney Verloo from forward to central defense, where she has become one of team’s most valuable players, and having faith in true freshman goalkeeper Emily Oliver, who has started since the team’s sixth match. Oliver is No. 3 in the nation in goals-against average. Stanford’s first-team selections are Press, junior midfielder Teresa Noyola, sophomore defender Rachel Quon, and junior forward Lindsay Taylor. This is the second first-team honor for each. Noyola, an attacking midfielder, is second on the team in scoring with personal collegiate highs of nine goals and 11 assists for 29 points. Taylor has nine goals and five assists for 23 points, and scored in five consecutive conference matches. Stanford’s second-team selections are Verloo and sophomore midfielder Mariah Nogueira. Sophomore defender Alina Garciamendez, junior forward Camille Levin, and Oliver received honorable mention honors. In addition, Oliver was named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman team. N

PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL CIVIC CENTER, 250 HAMILTON AVENUE BROADCAST LIVE ON KZSU, FM 90.1 CABLECAST LIVE ON GOVERNMENT ACCESS CHANNEL 26 THIS IS A SUMMARY OF COUNCIL AGENDA ITEMS. THE AGENDA WITH COMPLETE TITLES INCLUDING LEGAL DOCUMENTATION CAN BE VIEWED AT THE BELOW WEBPAGE: www.cityofpaloalto.org/knowledge/agendas/council.asp THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2010 HAS BEEN CANCELLED

STANDING COMMITTEE MEETINGS The Finance Committee Meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 16, at 7:00 p.m. regarding 1) Quarterly Report for the Library Bond Oversight Committee, 2) Approval of GULP Objectives, Strategies and Implementation Plan, and 3) First Quarter FY 2011 Financial Results The High Speed Rail Committee Meeting will be held on Thursday, November 18, at 8:00 a.m.

*> Ê Ì Ê7ii ÞÊUÊ Ûi LiÀÊ£Ó]ÊÓä£äÊU Page 31

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PUBLIC NOTICE FORMER NAVAL AIR STATION MOFFETT FIELD

Luck’s ability to create success is making him invaluable to Cardinal

The next regular meeting of the Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) for former Naval Air Station (NAS) Moffett Field will be held on: Thursday, November 18, 2010, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at: Mountain View Senior Center Social Hall 266 Escuela Avenue Mountain View, CA 94040-1813 The RAB reviews and comments on plans and activities about the ongoing environmental studies and restoration activities underway at Moffett Field. Regular RAB meetings are open to the public and the Navy encourages your involvement. To review documents on Moffett Field environmental restoration projects, please visit the information repository located at the Mountain View Public Library, 585 Franklin St., Mountain View, CA 94041, (650) 903-6337. For more information, contact Mr. Scott Anderson, Navy Base Realignment and Closure Environmental Coordinator at (619) 532-0938 or scott.d.anderson@navy.mil. Visit the Navy’s website: http://www.bracpmo.navy.mil/basepage.aspx?baseid=52&state=California&name=moffett

Page 32ÊUÊ Ûi LiÀÊ£Ó]ÊÓä£äÊUÊ*> Ê Ì Ê7ii Þ

by Rick Eymer tanford coach Jim Harbaugh made a passing comment about redshirt sophomore quarterback Andrew Luck during a recent press conference that peaked some interest. “His best qualities are never talked about,” he said. “The qualities are such that people will pay good money for him some day.” When asked what Luck’s best quality might be, Harbaugh got a little twinkle in his eye and smiled. “I’m not going to tell you . . . maybe in three weeks . . . or 18 days.” Perhaps the simplistic answer is Luck wins, period. The bottom line for any quarterback, according to previous Harbaugh dissertations, is leading the team to victory. In Luck’s first 21 starts for Stanford (5-1, 8-1), he’s produced 16 victories. He’ll be looking to add to that when the seventh-ranked Cardinal visits Tempe for a Pac-10 game against Arizona State at 4:30 p.m. (PST) Saturday. Of Luck’s name in reference to the Heisman Trophy, perhaps Harbaugh offered another clue. “He’s not concerned about it at all,” he said. “He’s played great all year and he’s improved every week.” Luck’s answer was to have no answer. “I’m just worried about how to keep the offense going in the right direction,” Luck said. “My comfort zone grows each week but I also get to line up behind our offensive line.” Sometimes talking to Luck is like talking to the nerdy guy who lives down the hall. You just don’t quite know what to make of him. He’s so ‘aw-shucks’ it’s almost as though he was putting one over on you. When his teammates start lining up in his support, though, you begin to realize Luck really might be a throwback to the days of the old dime-store magazine and boynext-door-makes-good stories. “He is incredibly humble,” Stanford linebacker Shayne Skov said when asked about Luck’s best quality. “He believes he doesn’t deserve all the attention. He thinks he’s not good yet. He never truly rests. He will always continue to get better. That’s who he is as a player.” Luck may still not feel comfortable talking to a room full of media but he’ll never let on. It’s likely the same way when he’s in a huddle or looking out over the defense as he approaches the line of scrimmage. He’s in the moment and there are no other distractions. He takes the blame for every offensive miscue and deflects kudos

John Todd/stanfordphoto.com

Restoration Advisory Board Meeting

Quarterback Andrew Luck has won 16 of his 21 starts. toward his teammates. The son of a former NFL quarterback, he’s more ‘average guy’ than the average guy walking down Main Street of some small town in the Midwest. “He’s a great leader and humble,” Cardinal safety Delano Howell said. “He puts the team ahead of himself.” Statistically he’s having an outstanding year. Luck ranks seventh in the nation in passing efficiency with a rating of 163.37. Stanford ranks fifth in scoring offense, averaging 42.33 and Luck ranks tied for fifth in Points Responsible For at 17.56 per game. Harbaugh points to Third Down Efficiency, at which Stanford leads the nation with a 58.47 percent success rate. Stanford has scored 51 times in 54 trips into the red zone, the fourth best percentage in the nation, and the best among teams with at least 40 visits. “A lot of that has to do with the quarterback,” Harbaugh said. “The one measure of a quarterback is how he performs on critical plays, and making critical throws. Third down is a separator for quarterbacks statistically.” Luck has 370 rushing yards this season, second only to Stephan Taylor, and already the highest total by a Cardinal quarterback in school history. Of course, he’s more than his stats. “He’s taking his leadership role to another level,” Stanford receiver Chris Owusu said. “He’s constantly trying to learn about the next opponent and he works on his own skills.” Harbaugh could have been stalling for time. Who could blame him? Explaining the ineffable is difficult. NOTES: A win Saturday would give Stanford its best 10-game start since 1951 and its longest winning streak since the 1996 season . . . The Cardinal is 3-10 in Sun Devil Stadium and has not won there since 1999. N

Sports

Prep football

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

(continued from page 30)

If everything falls into place, the Vikings could face Serra in a CCS semifinal and Valley Christian in the finals. Palo Alto, meanwhile, first must take care of business against Saratoga ((2-3, 5-4), which dropped a 7-0 division game to Milpitas last week. The Vikings suffered six turnovers in the win over Mountain View and need to clean things up this week before heading into the postseason. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have to go into the playoffs playing well,â&#x20AC;? said Hansen. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nothing special is going in this week. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re just re-focusing on the basics.â&#x20AC;? One problem from the Mountain View game evidently has been solved. Prior to that contest, Paly lost its No. 1 and 2 centers â&#x20AC;&#x201D; senior Jackson Moses (broken finger) and junior Sam Moses (torn MCL). That left an untested player at center, which helped account for the fumbles against the Spartans. This week, Hansen moved sophomore Spencer Drazovich to center and Hansen says â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re definitely stronger there.â&#x20AC;? The CCS Open Division playoffs begin on either Nov. 19 or 20, with semifinals scheduled for San Jose City College on Nov. 26 or 27th. The championship game will be Friday, Dec. 3 at SJCC at 7 p.m. In other games this weekend with playoff implications: Menlo-Atherton (2-3, 3-6) plays host to Woodside (1-4, 1-8) on Saturday (2 p.m.) in a nonleague game. A victory by the Bears could give them enough points to earn the No. 8 seed for the CCS Division II playoffs while a loss would knock them out. The Bears are coming off a 31-27 upset win over Burlingame, which knocked the Panthers out of a share of the PAL Bay Division title. Cameron Moody rushed for 150 yards and scored a touchdown for M-A. On Saturday night at Sequoia High, Sacred Heart Prep (3-2, 7-2) will face Menlo School (4-1, 7-2) in the annual Valpo Bowl. The Gators need a victory to get a No. 1 or 2 seed in the Division IV playoffs while the Knights can move up from a projected No. 5 seed with a triumph. Sacred Heart Prep had a chance to win the PAL Bay Division title and pretty much lock up a No. 1 CCS seed last week, but dropped a 4321 decision to champion Terra Nova despite 198 rushing yards by the Gatorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Colin Terndrup. Menlo strengthened its postseason hopes as senior QB Robert Wickere completed 15 of 27 passes for 270 yards and two TDs in a 32-28 division win over visiting South San Francisco. Menlo senior Tim Benton had eight catches for 142 yards. In other regular-season finales this weekend, Gunn (0-5, 3-6) finishes up at home against Los Gatos (3-2, 5-3-1) in the SCVAL De Anza Division. Priory conclude its eight-man season with a 42-18 nonleague romp over host Alma Heights in Pacifica last Friday. The Panthers finished 3-3 in the Coastal Athletic League (5-4 overall). N

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The senior golfer shot a 3-over-par 75 to finish fourth overall and lead the Gators to a second-place finish of 428 strokes at the Central Coast Section Championships and their first-ever berth in the NorCal finals.

The senior came within two seconds of his personal best while running 16:05 to capture individual honors and help the Knights successfully defend their team title at the WBAL Cross-Country Championships and qualify for CCS.

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C U S T O M S O L U T I O N S F O R E V E R Y S T Y L E A N D E V E R Y B U D G E T

Honorable mention Sarah Debs

Tim Benton

Castilleja golf

Menlo football

Catherine Donahoe Sacred Heart Prep water polo

Kat Gregory

Dre Hill* Palo Alto football

Cameron Moody

Priory cross country

Giannina Ong Menlo tennis

Menlo-Atherton football

Colin Terndrup Sacred Heart Prep football

Saga Shermis-Eliza Adams Menlo tennis

Robert Wickers* Menlo football

Melanie Wade* Palo Alto volleyball

Maurice Williams Palo Alto football * previous winner

To see video interviews of the Athletes of the Week, go to www.PASportsOnline.com

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

Vivian Wong

Anne Hiller, who’s been a customer at Bell’s Books for 15 years, browses in the fiction section. Hiller said she’d had her first date with her boyfriend at the shop.

Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley Novels. by Chris Kenrick s a small girl, Faith Bell was given a huge turkey-feather duster and would spend afternoons tickling the books on display in her parents’ Emerson Street shop, Bell’s Books. A half-century later — as one of Palo Alto’s oldest family businesses marks its 75th anniversary — Bell occupies the manager’s chair while her 6-year-old grandson Joshua plies the shelves with the very same feather duster. But Faith Bell’s path from child book-duster to running the store, which her father, Herbert, launched in 1935 to supply textbooks to Stanford University students, was neither smooth nor assured. A sojourn on a muddy goat farm in Canada intervened, as did economic vicissitudes both global and local that

Vivian Wong

Faith Bell pauses during her day to flip through some pages.

An eclectic education Page 34ÊUÊ Ûi LiÀÊ£Ó]ÊÓä£äÊUÊ*> Ê Ì Ê7ii Þ

From child bookduster to manager of the store, Faith Bell marks 75 years of her family’s business

have knocked seven other local bookstores out of business. In a back room of her shop piled floor to ceiling with books, Bell recently mused on what it takes to survive as an independent bookseller these days. “We own the building — and we’re also extremely frugal,” said the 55-year-old, who graduated from Los Altos High School and hitchhiked and farmed in Alberta before returning home to buckle down to her family’s business in 1983. A passion for books is palpable inside Bell’s, where new titles coexist with Steinbeck first editions, and staff members hold decades of expertise. Dominating the front table is the hot-off-the-press, 760page autobiography of Mark Twain, which has avid reader Bell “over the moon.”

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F. Marland Chancellor, III, M.D.

Faith Bell, center, shares a laugh with her nephew, Peter, and her mother, Valeria. Peter catalogues for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and was paying a visit. Adjacent are Allen Ginsbergâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s knowledgeable staff members with â&#x20AC;&#x153;Howl,â&#x20AC;? a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mathematics teaching her the business. Calendar for 2011,â&#x20AC;? David Eggersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s One of Bellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favorite aspects of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Zeitoun,â&#x20AC;? a compact 1991 hardback the job is visiting the homes of retirof Thomas Hardyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Far from the ing scholars and others to purchase Madding Crowdâ&#x20AC;? and bird and but- their collections. In the past five terfly guides to the Bay Area. years acquisitions have included No wonder the shop is hard to pi- the collections of numerous Stangeonhole. ford professors, a â&#x20AC;&#x153;flawless group of â&#x20AC;&#x153;A lot of people think weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re just 19th-century medical treatises covan academic bookstore,â&#x20AC;? Bell said. ering everything from smallpox to â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a misconception. Research- venereal disease,â&#x20AC;? early Twain books ers can come and find wonderful and a local-history collection of the resources here, but we also have retiring director of the California hundreds of people who bring in History Center. their 5-year-olds to pick out picture Bellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s civic involvement has inbooks, or ladies doing craft works cluded board posts with the Downwho come to get knitting books. ... town Business Improvement District, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got this entire world that reflects the Palo Alto Historical Association all the knowledge of the ages.â&#x20AC;? and Off the Streets, a coalition workBell is especially gratified when ing to house the homeless. people come in and say, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been â&#x20AC;&#x153;I know my friends are struggling walking by this store for 30 years,â&#x20AC;? and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tough times â&#x20AC;&#x201D; there are too or â&#x20AC;&#x153;ever since I came to Stanford,â&#x20AC;? or many vacant storefronts,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;every week with my granddaughter â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re all hoping this holiday season on our way to Peninsula Creamery,â&#x20AC;? will bring a little lifeblood into it.â&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;had no idea it was so incredible Bell said she wishes the city could in here.â&#x20AC;? find ways to be more flexible about With a two-story-high ceiling, the challenges facing small business. shop accommodates top-to-bottom She recalled a time she was cited shelves of poetry volumes, giant for displaying a handmade banner art books and more. A childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on her storefront proclaiming Chilsection, with small wooden chairs drenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Book Week. painted red and a yard-long model â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was a charming banner in mulof a tall ship, includes a large shelf tiple colors, with childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s illustraof Caldecott Medal-winners and a tions on it. They said if I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take section on kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; mathematics. it down I was going to have to pay Gift items are displayed for sale a fine, and would have to pay for a beneath a calligraphy snippet from permit to keep it up.â&#x20AC;? John Milton: â&#x20AC;&#x153;For books are not abSheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a fan of the Downtown solutely dead things, but do contain Streets Team, which enlists local a potency of life in them to be as ac- businesses and homeless people to tive as that soul was whose progeny improve downtown. Since 2005, they are ...â&#x20AC;? homeless people have worked in Describing her childhood as the street cleanup in exchange for food, youngest of five children in the fami- shelter and other services. ly home in Los Altos Hills, Bell said: On any given day, the traffic in â&#x20AC;&#x153;For us, reading was like breath- Bellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shop can include homeless ing â&#x20AC;&#x201D; there was a nonstop flow of people, symphony conductors, Pulitbooks through our lives. Even when zer Prize-winners, mothers pushing we were up in Canada, my mother strollers, poets and artists. would send me enormous boxes on a â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think Palo Alto has more multiregular basis. We had a tiny library ple advanced degrees than anywhere in the town, and we read through it in the nation â&#x20AC;&#x201D; you never know who in no time.â&#x20AC;? youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re talking to,â&#x20AC;? Bell said. Bell was summoned back to Palo â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had a very eclectic education. Alto with her husband and young Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been to multiple colleges and children in 1983, when Herbert Bell universities and never got a degree became ill with leukemia. Her par- in anything. This store was my eduents told her if the bookstore was to cation â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and is every day.â&#x20AC;? N Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can have a future, it would be up to her. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My husband and I had a discus- be e-mailed at ckenrick@paweekly. sion that was shorter than youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d com. think,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We were living in rural Canada and our kids were Info: Bellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Books, at 536 Emerson starting to show the signs of not hav- St., Palo Alto, is marking its 75th ing the intellectual stimulation and anniversary by displaying historic different opportunities for education, local materials, and holding a 20percent-off storewide sale from so we welcomed the opportunity.â&#x20AC;? She credits her mother, Valeria, Nov. 19 through Nov. 21. Call 650still the owner of the store, and three 323-7822 or go to bellsbooks.com.

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Arts & Entertainment

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Annmarie Martin plays the former silent-film queen Norma Desmond in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sunset Boulevard.â&#x20AC;?

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Bravo to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Boulevardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Palo Alto Players take on Andrew Lloyd Webber and a Hollywood masterpiece

struggling writer, a delusional former film star and a decaying mansion in one of L.A.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s swankiest neighborhoods are center stage in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sunset Boulevardâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; both the classic 1950 film noir and the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical based on it. The musical is now on stage locally, presented by Palo Alto Players. In this tale, unsuccessful screenwriter Joe Gillis, disillusioned and impoverished in the cutthroat Hol-

THEATER REVIEW lywood scene circa 1950, is fleeing his creditors. He stumbles upon the crumbling Sunset Boulevard palace of Norma Desmond, once the glamorous toast of Roaring â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;20s Tinseltown, now an aging recluse. Norma vacillates between the real world of crushing loneliness and despair and a demented fantasy world in which she is still the silent queen of the silver screen. Feeding her delusions is her devoted manservant Max, to whom there may be more than meets the eye. Norma shows Joe an outlandish script sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been penning as her comeback vehicle, and desperate Joe, seizing an opportunity to cash in on her immense wealth, agrees to serve as editor. While Norma plots her return to stardom, she also develops romantic feelings for Joe, who is caught up in her web of luxury and madness. When a relationship springs up between him and perky Paramount staffer Betty Shaefer, Joe tries to escape Normaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clutches â&#x20AC;&#x201D; with fatal results. When a show starts with a corpse floating in a swimming pool, you know there probably wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be a traditional happy ending. The film version of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sunset Boulevardâ&#x20AC;? has a script full of snappy, memorable lines (â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am big. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the pictures that have gotten small,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;We had faces thenâ&#x20AC;?), and the theatrical version contains many of the best ones. Don Black and Christopher Hamptonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book and lyrics are a well-done homage to film director and writer Billy Wilderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s original. The music is not one of Webberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top scores; it can be repetitive and some tunes seem like they could

have been lifted from his earlier â&#x20AC;&#x153;Evita.â&#x20AC;? Still, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s generally melodic, moody, powerful and sophisticated, switching into tricky time signatures and sweeping motifs. I especially appreciated the way the entire sound shifts from haunting symphonic and cinematic music during the Desmond mansion-set scenes to smaller, jazzy modern sounds during scenes featuring Joe and his young friends. This sets the tone for the juxtaposition of the two worlds very effectively. The opening number, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Have Lunch,â&#x20AC;? embodies the phony, opportunistic L.A. industry vibe, while the lilting â&#x20AC;&#x153;New Ways to Dreamâ&#x20AC;? pays tribute to the glamour and magic of the movies. The entire score maintains a film noir feel, important for a work not only based on but about the golden age of cinema. Other highlight songs include â&#x20AC;&#x153;This Time Next Yearâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Too Much in Love to Care.â&#x20AC;? A few microphone glitches had me momentarily waxing Normalike for the imagined olden days of pre-miked, pre-Wi-Fi-interference shows (they had voices then) but the set and lighting crews do a good job given the limitations of the small Lucie Stern Theatre. Especially delightful is the clever opening sequence, which displays the showâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s credits in silent-movie-style title cards across a screen. Norma Desmond could be considered the ultimate diva role, and Menlo Park native Annmarie Martin excels in it. As befitting â&#x20AC;&#x153;the greatest star of all,â&#x20AC;? as Norma is called, sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s provided with numerous big songs, the standout being â&#x20AC;&#x153;As if We Never Said Goodbye.â&#x20AC;? Ashley Simms, too, is marvelous as Joe, with a lovely voice and easygoing charm. Russ Bohard is both creepy and noble as Max, with a powerful bass-vocal performance. Courtney Hatcher is quite good as well in the role of Joeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s earnest and naĂŻve Paramount paramour Betty, although a fake-looking wig distracted from her performance at times. Simmsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Joe and Martinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Norma both seem softer and more sympathetic here than in the film, which is sharper and more darkly comic than its on-stage counterpart. Joe is less jaded wise guy, more traditional leading man, while Norma is less grotesque and more vulnerable. Part of the great pleasure of the film is that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a Hollywood skewering of Hollywood itself, which is somewhat lost when presented in a theater format. The musical may never gain the classic status of the movie. Nevertheless, the story and feel translate well, and the Palo Alto Players provide a worthy adaptation of an enduringly fascinating tale. This production is â&#x20AC;&#x201D; you knew this line was coming â&#x20AC;&#x201D; ready for its close-up. N What: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sunset Boulevard,â&#x20AC;? a musical presented by Palo Alto Players Where: Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto When: Through Nov. 21, Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Cost: Tickets are $32, with some discounts available for students, seniors and groups. Info: Call 650-329-0891 or go to paplayers.org.

Arts & Entertainment

Karlo Ilagan

George Psarras and Katie Anderson.

A good ghost story After 98 years, the modern adaptation of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Turn of the Screwâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; still delivers shock and horror

claim Miles and Flora. It is difficult to discuss what happens next without giving away too much. The tale ends tragically, but Hatcher has carefully constructed the narrative so that the exact cause of that tragedy remains unclear. In doing so, the playwright has merely amplified the ambiguity in the original novella. While there is no overt evidence that James intended the governess to be an unreliable narrator, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Turn of The Screwâ&#x20AC;? has been a source of critical debate for decades, with some readers insisting that the ghosts are real while others believe them to be a product of the governessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s imagination, created by some mixture of isolation, repressed sexuality and outright psychosis. If Anderson or Hagedorn have any personal beliefs on this issue, they have kept those beliefs to themselves, allowing the audience to draw their own conclusions. Anderson is especially good at delivering the requisite beats of shock, horror and near-hysteria, and the impact of the story is strong. (One wonders if it might be even stronger had Hagedorn not decided to break the tension midway through the 90-minute tale by inserting an unnecessary intermission.) The production is not perfect. Each of Psarrasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; characters could use a bit more variety. In particular, he could increase the showâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s overall creepiness greatly by hinting at the darker undercurrents in young Miles. Also, everyone involved should rethink each oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s approach to the unseen Flora. Since the girl never speaks, Hatcher has left her unportrayed on stage: She is visible to the other characters but not to the audience. The device works reasonably well, but both actors damage the illusion by holding Floraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hand in an unnatural fashion. (Psarras, in particular, seems to be holding a piece of string.) And a special effect utilizing a back-lit screen to show a silhouette of the live actors with a cut-out Flora only damages the illusion further, hitting us over the head with trickery when weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve already accepted the stage convention of the invisible girl. Such quibbles aside, this is a very solid production, worthy of Hagedorn and the loose circle of artists, volunteers and supporters who have seen the Dragon through its first 10 years. If you enjoy a good ghost story â&#x20AC;&#x201D; or if you need to restore your

by Kevin Kirby tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard to believe that Dragon Productions is 10 years old, but THEATER REVIEW so it is. After five years as a migratory theater group, performAs the governess, Anderson has ing up and down the Peninsula in an equally daunting task. Since the venues from San Francisco to San tale is ostensibly taken from the govJose, and five more years in its cozy ernessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s diary, Anderson must serve home in downtown Palo Alto, the as both protagonist and storyteller, company marks the end of its 10th switching constantly between livseason with its current production: ing the scene and describing it. She an adaptation of the classic Henry is also the audienceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s surrogate for James ghost story â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Turn of the the showâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inherent horror: As the Screw.â&#x20AC;? situation at Bly goes from unsettling In many ways, the play is a perfect to creepy to dire, we experience the example of what Dragon does best. inhabitantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; peril through her. The modern adaptation by Jeffrey The governessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rosy expectations Hatcher â&#x20AC;&#x201D; first produced in 1996, are scuppered almost as soon as she 98 years after the publication of arrives at Bly. The niece, Flora, is Jamesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s novella â&#x20AC;&#x201D; employs just two mute â&#x20AC;&#x201D; â&#x20AC;&#x153;shy,â&#x20AC;? says Mrs. Grose, but actors on a nearly bare stage. (The we soon learn that her silence has set consists of a Victorian armchair a more sinister cause. And Miles, and a piano surrounded by black- a seemingly well-mannered boy, ness.) With no set changes, no cos- has been sent home from boarding tume changes, no complex technical school for behavior so abhorrent that demands and few props, the show is the headmasterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s letter barely hints an ideal fit for Dragonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s intimate at the outlines. performance space and shoestring Soon, the governess is seeing sibudgets. lent specters around the house and Directed by Dragonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s founder and grounds. Based on her descriptions, artistic director, Meredith Hagedorn, Mrs. Grose identifies them as Miss â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Turn of the Screwâ&#x20AC;? seems de- Jessel, the former governess, and signed to remind us of what, at its Jesselâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s depraved lover, Peter Quint, core, theater is all about: the actorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s both of whom committed suicide on ability to create character, mood and the grounds of the estate. It is intieven a sense of place with only his or mated that, while alive, the couple her body and voice as tools. involved Miles and Flora in their The actors in Dragonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s production debauchery, as unwilling voyeurs if are Katie Anderson, who plays an not more. inexperienced yet ardent Victorian Though the children will not adgoverness, and George Psarras, who mit it, the governess believes that plays virtually everyone else. As the they too can see the spirits, and she story opens, Andersonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s character is is driven to desperation by the begranted a position caring for the or- lief that the ghosts have returned to phaned niece and nephew of a London businessman. Having agreed to the uncleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s demand that she never contact him for any reason, she is shipped off to Bly, the country house where the children reside with elderly housekeeper Mrs. Grose. Psarras plays the uncle, Mrs. Grose, 10-year-old nephew Miles and a narrator who frames the story and announces the passage of time. (He also provides the showâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only sound effects: intoning â&#x20AC;&#x153;Whip crack, The Aesthetics Research Center is participating in wheel rattle,â&#x20AC;? from offstage as the a research study for crowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s feet and forehead lines. governess makes her trip to Bly, and Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re looking for women, age 30-70, hammering out an ominous ostinato on the piano at key moments.) Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s with slight to deep wrinkles. a difficult task that Psarras handles well. His characters are clearly deFOR MORE INFORMATION: lineated, both physically and voContact Stephanie at 800.442.0989 or cally, and are generally believable; @aestheticsresearchcenter.com email research his narrator never quite crosses the line into Vincent Price caricature, The Aesthetics Research Center and Mrs. Grose never devolves into " ! % ( & #' a Monty Python pepperpot.

faith in the power of the simplest theatrical magic â&#x20AC;&#x201D; â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Turn of the Screwâ&#x20AC;? is well worth your time. N What: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Turn of the Screw,â&#x20AC;? a play presented by Dragon Productions Where: Dragon Theatre, 535 Alma St., Palo Alto

When: Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., through Nov. 28. (No performance Nov. 25 or 27.) Cost: $20 general, $16 students and seniors Info: Go to www.dragonproductions. net or call 650-493-2006.

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Arts & Entertainment

Worth a Look Art

David Hibbard The title of landscape photographer David Hibbard’s current exhibition, “Terra Cognita,” is a play on the world of the old explorers. While they sailed off into the lands beyond the map, Hibbard has revisited many places he knows well, including the San Mateo County Coastside, a canyon in the Santa

Cruz Mountains and the wilderness beaches of Olympic National Park in Washington state. “Each is a source of renewal and inspiration for my photographic work and I return to them often,” Hibbard wrote in an artist’s statement. “All have been affected to some degree by environmental degradation, yet each, in its own way, retains a semi-wild, undomesticated vibrancy — a quality that I try to convey through my photographs.”

Hibbard is currently showing 49 prints from the “Terra Cognita” series at the Palo Alto Research Center, 3333 Coyote Hill Road. At a reception today, Nov. 12, he’ll give a talk on the art of landscape photography, and speak about several of his particular projects. Hibbard’s talk starts at 3:30 p.m. in Pake Auditorium, with a reception following from 4:30 to 6. Afterward, the exhibition runs through Jan. 3, open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. To arrange to see the show, call curator Lisa Fahey at 650-812-4489. For more about the photographer, go to davidhibbard photography.com.

‘Dynamic Rhythms’

“Luminous Island, Olympic Coast” is one of David Hibbard’s photos of his favorite, familiar places. The photos are now on display at the Palo Alto Research Center.

Sculptor Fletcher Benton is probably best known in Palo Alto for his outdoor piece “Tilted Donut #5” at the soccer fields at El Camino Real and Page Mill Road. More of his work can currently be seen indoors — and a bit smaller — at the Smith Andersen Editions gallery. Benton’s show, “Dynamic Rhythms,” features 13 abstract maquettes (models), steel studies and wall pieces, all made between 1995 and 2010 and ranging in size from 5 inches to 6 feet. Lines and geometric shapes are important throughout.

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Benton has been exhibiting his work for five decades, and his pieces are in the permanent collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian In- “Folded Circle Ring, st it ut ion Ball Triangle,” a 2006 in Wash- steel with patina work, i n g t o n , is part of Fletcher D.C., the Benton’s current show Vic t o r i a at Smith Andersen Ediand Al- tions. bert Museum in London and other institutions. The exhibition runs through Jan. 5 at 440 Pepper Ave. in Palo Alto, open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and by appointment. Go to smithandersen.com or call 650-327-7762.

Books Amy Sedaris

Don’t have the spare cash to buy

each of your Recession-era kids an iPad? Never fret. Amy Sedaris wouldn’t. Why, she’d just whip out some legumes and foliage and other stuff, and suddenly it’s family craft time! Before the youngsters know it, they’ll be making bean-and-leaf mosaics, tinfoil balls and crepepaper moccasins. Take that, Steve Jobs. Sedaris, a writer, comedian and actress, has folded together her nifty crafting tips in her latest book, “Simple Times: Crafts For Poor People.” Coming on the heels of “I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence,” the tongue-in-cheek book initiates readers into the world of crafting. At 7:30 p.m. next Wednesday, Nov. 17, Sedaris will be speaking in Palo Alto for a very serious cause. As a benefit for Breast Cancer Connections, she’s appearing at Spangenberg Theatre at Gunn High School, 780 Arastradero Road. The talk is under the auspices of Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park. To buy tickets to the event ($38 for one ticket plus a copy of “Simple Times,” and $45 for two tickets and two books), go to keplers.com. For more information, call 650-3244321.

Goings On The best of what’s happening on Art Galleries

“A Grand Adventure” and “Journey In” Exhibit: “A Grand Adventure” featuring photographer Brandy Brune (Grand Canyon) and “Journey In” featuring oil paintings by Elizabeth Noerdlinger (Iceland and Cape Cod) Through Nov. 21, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Free. The Main Gallery, 1018 Main St., Redwood City. Call 650-710-1018. www.themaingallery.org “Small Treasures” An exhibit of small works, including small-size paintings and photographs. Nov. 12-Dec. 31, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. Portola Art Gallery, 75 Arbor Road, Menlo Park. Call 650-321-1220. www.portolaartgallery.com ‘Lights’ Judy Miller Johnson Artwork Acrylic paintings & mixed-media art by Judy Miller Johnson exhibited through Nov. 21 at Gallery 9, Los Altos. Images of lighthouses and sunlight through clouds and groves of trees serve as inspiration for the show. Gallery 9, 143 Main St., Los Altos. www.gallery9losaltos.com Chiaroscuro Woodcuts from 16th-Century Italy: Promised Gifts from the Kirk Long Collection Drawn entirely from the collection of Kirk Edward Long, this display traces the evolution of thematic and compositional styles in Italy from the High Renaissance through Mannerism. Through Feb. 27, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. Cantor Arts Center, 328 Lomita Drive, Stanford. Cubberley Artists Holiday Open Studios An afternoon of art viewing, holiday-gift shopping, raffles and refreshments. Nov.

the Midpeninsula

21, 1-5 p.m. Free. Cubberley Community Center, 4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. www.cubberleyartists.com Fletcher Benton- Dynamic Rhythms SAE presents Dynamic Rhythms, a series of steel studies, maquettes and wall pieces by Fletcher Benton, a Bay Area artist with an international reputation. The exhibit features 13 sculptures ranging in size from 5 inches to 6 feet and 9 wall pieces, all from the years 1995-2010. Through Jan. 5, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Smith Andersen Editions, 440 Pepper Ave., Palo Alto. Call 650-327-7762. www.smithandersen.com Jewish Witness to a Polish Century An exhibit of more than 100 6-foot-tall banners that feature family photographs and deeply personal stories that tell the story of how Jews in Poland lived during the Holocaust. Through Nov. 29, Free. Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto. Call 650-223-8664. www.paloaltojcc.org/arts Mami Wata The exhibition highlights both traditional and contemporary images of Mami Wata and her consorts from across the African continent, as well as from the Caribbean, Brazil and the United States. It offers a variety of media including masks, sculptures and paintings. Through Jan. 2, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. Cantor Arts Center, 328 Lomita Drive, Stanford. museum. stanford.edu/ Mixed Media Prints by Pantea Karimi Exhibition of prints by CSMA faculty member Pantea Karimi. Gallery Hours: 9

a.m.-7 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat. Exhibit runs through Nov. 21, Free. Mohr Gallery, Community School of Music and Arts, 230 San Antonio Circle, Mountain View. www.arts4all.org/attend Painted Hills, Electric Sky Joe Decker presents color photographs created during his monsoon-season residency, granted by the National Park Service, at Petrified Forest National Park in eastern Arizona. Through Nov. 25, Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sat. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free. Pacific Art League, 668 Ramona St., Palo Alto. Call 408-439-2963. www.joedecker.net/contact.html Sharon Spurlock Paintings Sharon Spurlock will have a show entitled “The Grammar of Childhood” on display Nov. 1-Nov. 13, 6-8 p.m. Free. Kriewall-Haehl Gallery, 392 Portola Road, Portola Valley. Call 650-851-5281. www.sharonspurlock.com The Colors of Italy Angelica Di Chiara’s paintings and photographs of Italy will be on display through Dec. 22, noon-9 p.m. Free. Donato’s Enoteca, 1041 Middlefield Road, Redwood City. Call 650-2839009. www.finestitalian.com Vodoun/Vodounon: Portraits of Initiates This exhibition presents diptychs by the Belgian photographer Jean Dominique Burton, who portrays Vodoun practitioners in Benin and their sacred shrines. Through March 20, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. Cantor Arts Center, 328 Lomita Drive, Stanford.

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Benefits

Abilities United Authors Luncheon Mac Barnett, Julia Glass, Mary Roach and Simon Winchester will discuss their books, share stories about their writing experiences, and offer insight into their inspiration with more than 650 guests. Books sales and signing are held before and after the luncheon. Nov. 13, 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. $125. Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel, 4290 El Camino Real, Palo Alto. Call 650618-3330. w w w. a b i l i t i e s u n i te d.o r g / P a g e. aspx?pid=338#authorslunch Holiday Boutique Sponsored by the PACT Foundation to benefit Stevenson Elementary School. Bake sale, craft table for the kids, holiday decorations and gifts from multiple vendors (including Discovery Toys, homemade crafts, books, organic spices, jewelry, antiques, etc.). Nov, 19,

12:30-7 p.m. Free. Stevenson Elementary School, 750-B San Pierre Way, Mountain View. Call 650-903-6950. / www.pactschool.net/

Community Events

Etz Chayim Second Annual Holiday Boutique Food, entertainment and crafts will be featured Nov. 14, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Congregation Etz Chayim, 4161 Alma St., Palo Alto. Call 650-813-9094. www.etzchayim.org Sleep Train’s Secret Santa Toy Drive Sleep Train is helping foster kids celebrate a bright Christmas this year by collecting new, unwrapped gifts. Drop off donations at any Sleep Train location or donate cash online. Nov. 1-Dec. 12, Sleep Train, 2098 El Camino Real, Palo Alto. Call 1-800378-BEDS (2337).

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Concerts

Chalice Consort First performances in modern times of ten masterworks from the late Italian Renaissance: “Music for Meditation and Devotion by Simone Molinaro.” Directed by Davitt Moroney, early music specialist. Nov. 14, 4-5:30 p.m. $8-20. All Saint’s Episcopal Church, 555 Waverley St., Palo Alto. Call 415-8759544. molinaro.eventbrite.com/ Elana Jagoda Family Concert Energetic folk-rock blends with Jewish music in this family concert. Nov. 14, 3-5 p.m. $5-$15. Albert and Janet Schultz Cultural Arts Hall, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto. www.paloaltojcc.org Electronic Musicircus at CCRMA Join us for an evening of musical performances and sound installations at CCRMA/ Stanford. The concert will feature works of all types staged throughout the Knoll in the character of a Musicircus. Nov. 18, 8-9:30 p.m. Free. CCRMA, 660 Lomita Drive, Stanford. Call 650-265-8316. ccrma.stanford.edu/events/ccrma-fallconcert-cagean-musicircus Fortnightly Music Club Concert Fortnightly Music. Vocal, chamber, and duopiano works of Handel, Faure, Brahms and Rachmaninoff. Sun., Nov. 14, 8 p.m. free. Art Center Auditorium, Palo Alto, 1313 Newell Road, Palo Alto. www.fortnightlymusicclub.org In Praise of Music Sunday, Nov. 14, the Congregational Oratorio Society and Orchestra, conducted by Gregory Wait, presents two major choral works: “Messa di Sancta Cecilia” by Alessandro Scarlatti, and “Christ lag in Todesbanden” by Johan Sebastian Bach. A reception follows the concert. 4-6 p.m. $15 general/$10 student and senior. First Congregational Church of Palo Alto, 1985 Louis Road (at Embarcadero), Palo Alto. Call 650-8566662 . www.fccpa.org/FCCPA_Site/Concerts. html

Quartets and composers The Colorado-based Takács Quartet comes to Stanford University next month to play an 8 p.m. concert Dec. 3 at the university’s Dinkelspiel Auditorium. The program is an unusual of old and new. It includes both Schubert’s 19th-century “Death and the Maiden” quartet and American composer Daniel Kellogg’s 2010 work “Soft Sleep Shall Contain You,” which Kellogg wrote as a companion work based on “Death and the Maiden.” A free discussion with Kellogg and Takács violinist Edward Dusinberre follows. Tickets are $48/$56 general and $10 for Stanford students, with discounts available for youth, groups and other students. Go to livelyarts.stanford.edu or call 650-725-ARTS.

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Justin Roberts Concert Justin Roberts and his band perform music for kids in concerts supporting Mountain View Parent Nursery School Nov. 14, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. $13 in advance, $15 at the door. Smithwick Theater, 12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos. www.mvpns.org/events.html New Century Chamber Orchestra presents ‘Waltzing in Appalachia’ New Century Chamber Orchestra presents “Waltzing in Appalachia.” Nov. 19, 8-10 p.m. Tickets: $29 to $49. First United

Methodist Church, 625 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto. www.ncco.org/1011season/waltzinginappalachia.htm Quartet Rouge in Concert An all-girl band from Oakland turning their 18th century instruments into drums, bass, guitar and voice. Nov. 13, 7:30-9:30 p.m. $15, $10 (students/seniors), $5 under 12s. St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, 2650 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park. Call 650-854-6555. www.stbedesmenlopark.org

Movies

(CineArts) Political junkies already know the tale of Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson. Those who donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know about the sordid affair are the target audience for Doug Limanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s film â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fair Game,â&#x20AC;? based on Plameâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s memoir â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fair Gameâ&#x20AC;? and Wilsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Politics of Truth.â&#x20AC;? The film proves most effective at dramatizing the path to war, lined with coercion, bad intel and pretexts for a foregone conclusion. Beltway power couple Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) and Joe Wilson (Sean Penn) find themselves under attack after diplomat and consultant Joe pooh-poohs what George W. Bush called â&#x20AC;&#x153;the smoking gun that could come in the form of a mushroom cloudâ&#x20AC;?: Saddam Husseinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s purported purchase of yellowcake uranium from Niger. Wilsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s investigation finds no threat, but the war machine doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop, leading Wilson to poison-pen the New York Times op-ed â&#x20AC;&#x153;What I Didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Find in Africa.â&#x20AC;? Somewhere in the shadows, senior Bush adviser Karl Rove decides â&#x20AC;&#x153;Wilsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wife is fair game,â&#x20AC;? precipitating the outing of Plame as a CIA covert operations officer. With her operations burnt (and her contacts in danger), Plameâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s career implodes. And thus begins â&#x20AC;&#x153;the war at homeâ&#x20AC;? on two fronts: in the media and in the house of Plame and Wilson. The slander, with impunity, by credulous media outlets sends Wilson into a full-court press of interviews and magazine profiles. Plame, whose secret life hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t prepared her to deal with the spotlight, suffers under the unexpected attention as she strives to clean up the messes of her suddenly inactive operations. Serving as his own director of photography, Liman (â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Bourne Identityâ&#x20AC;?) shoots it all in his signature self-conscious shaky-cam, but the film never gets past the perception of stars playing public figures, though David Andrews does a nice turn as the Veepâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hunting dog â&#x20AC;&#x153;Scooterâ&#x20AC;? Libby. The filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s midpoint turn from intrigue to domestic squabbling serves the impression that â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fair Gameâ&#x20AC;? is a rather perfunctory TV movie writ large. Certainly solid, Watts and Penn both have their moments (Watts nails a speech about her newfound breaking point; Penn shows admirable restraint), but theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re asked to sell some fairly corny lines in the script by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth. Liman tells the story with simmering righteous indignation that comes to a boil in some didactic salvos. He shows Bush saying: â&#x20AC;&#x153;We seek peace; we strive for peace. And sometimes peace must be defended,â&#x20AC;? then cuts to the middle-class family of an innocent Iraqi scientist under siege during a U.S. bombing. The film climaxes with Pennâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wilson delivering a lecture to wide-eyed students. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fair Gameâ&#x20AC;? will connect most to just such an audience, seeking a dramatized education in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Plamegate.â&#x20AC;? Those who read the daily news, on the other hand, may find it all respectable but rather soggy. Rated PG-13 for some language. One hour, 48 minutes. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Peter Canavese

Unstoppable --

(Century 16, Century 20) For their fourth collaboration, in 2009, director Tony Scott and star Denzel Washington made a train-themed thriller. For their fifth collaboration, in 2010, Scott and Washington

NOW PLAYING

The following is a sampling of movies recently reviewed in the Weekly: Conviction --(Century 16, Century 20) Life wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t peaches and cream for Betty Anne Waters, according to the â&#x20AC;&#x153;based on a true storyâ&#x20AC;? film â&#x20AC;&#x153;Conviction.â&#x20AC;? But when her brother Kenny fails to beat a murder rap, Waters doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t look back; she embarks on a two-decade quest to prove his in-

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OPENINGS

Fair Game --1/2

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made a train-themed thriller. Who says there are no new ideas in Hollywood? I jest, of course. Last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s remake â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3â&#x20AC;? cast Washington as a New York City subway dispatcher managing a hostage crisis, while â&#x20AC;&#x153;Unstoppableâ&#x20AC;? finds him playing a locomotive engineer troubleshooting a runaway train in Southern Pennsylvania. But since Washington is Washington and Scott is Scott and Hollywood is Hollywood, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Unstoppableâ&#x20AC;? feels strictly old hat. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Speedâ&#x20AC;? with a train, located in Scottâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tiresomely hyperactive, tirelessly dumb oeuvre of high-tech â&#x20AC;&#x153;man cavesâ&#x20AC;? and pointless snap zooms. Screenwriter Mark Bomback (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Live Free or Die Hardâ&#x20AC;?) takes his â&#x20AC;&#x153;inspirationâ&#x20AC;? from a true story that unfolded in 2001 in Ohio, where an unmanned train got away from its conductor and hurtled 66 miles with a cargo of toxic, non-flammable molten phenol. The same scenario unfolds in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Unstoppable,â&#x20AC;? only with much louder music and exclamations about â&#x20AC;&#x153;thousands of gallons of highly flammable fuel.â&#x20AC;? The villains, then, arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t terrorists, but rather the fat cats making executive decisions from the golf course. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t they understand that theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re making it nearly impossible for the clever and hard-working bourgeoisie to save the day? Conspicuously attractive train dispatcher Connie Hooper (Rosario Dawson) fights the good fight for sane decision-making, but when sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vetoed by the bosses, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s up to the men in the field to take the initiative, with a little unsanctioned help from Hooper and railroad welder Ned Oldham (Lew Temple). The manly men in a position to save the day are engineer Frank Barnes (Washington) â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a seasoned veteran whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always right â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and newbie conductor Will Colson (Chris Pine of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Star Trekâ&#x20AC;?), perceived (and derided) as a child of privilege. Frank and Willâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dynamic is familiar enough to inspire self-referential dialogue, like Will complaining about the â&#x20AC;&#x153;make the new guy prove himselfâ&#x20AC;? situations into which Frank puts him. The feints at character development for the duo include making Barnes a divorced dad with just 18 days left on the job and two daughters who work at Hooters (I kid you not, folks), and Colson an occasional hothead whose wife has a restraining order against him. Washington initially had the right idea and walked away from the project, but eventually relented. Money talks, but the ham-handed script is beneath the award-winning starâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s talents, and Pine fares no better. In a movie built on clichĂŠs, Temple turns out to be the MVP, bringing a fresh, distinctive flavor to his resourceful, salt-of-the-earth character. Had the movie stuck with Ned, Scott might have had something more than fodder for cable and bargain bins. The fundamental problem with â&#x20AC;&#x153;Unstoppableâ&#x20AC;? rests less in cardboard characterization and more in a lack of tension. Not much can happen until the filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s climax: Should the train derail or collide with another train, the movieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s over, so early scenes that suggest one of these scenarios might happen are patently empty gestures. With its one-track premise, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Unstoppableâ&#x20AC;? derails thrills.

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Rated PG-13 for sequences of action and peril, and some language. One hour, 39 minutes.

nocence. To succeed, the high-school dropout will have to get her GED, earn her BA, graduate law school, and pass the bar exam. And all thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s merely prelude to facing the corruption and bureaucracy endemic to the Massachusetts institutions that arrested Kenny and sentenced him to life without parole. This is a job for ... Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank! Rated R for language and some violent images. One hour, 47 minutes. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; P.C. (Reviewed Oct. 29, 2010)

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Peter Canavese

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Nest ---(Guild) Lisbet Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo, the girl who played with fire, doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t literally kick any nests in this last installment of Stieg Larssonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Millennium trilogy. In fact, Lisbet, again played by Noomi Rapace, spends the first half or more of the film in a hospital bed. Though the target of various killers, Lisbet

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Movies (continued from previous page)

Friday ONLY 11/12 Saturday ONLY 11/13 Sun thru Thurs 11/14-11/18

Fair Game Inside Job Fair Game Inside Job Fair Game Inside Job -

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is not as much the center of this film as is investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist). After a violent precredits sequence, the action becomes more political than physical. Mikael, together with his editor and occasional lover Erika Berger (Lena Endre) and the rest of the staff of their magazine, digs deep to get the goods on the corrupt officials and shrinks who put Lisbet into a mental hospital at age 12. Rated R for strong violence, some sexual material and brief language. Two hours, 28 minutes.â&#x20AC;&#x201D; R.P. (Reviewed Oct. 29, 2010) Hereafter ---1/2 (Century 16, Century 20) Three characters in different parts of the world are united by death. A devastating tsunami leaves famed French journalist Marie LeLay (Cecile de France) with remarkable glimpses of the afterlife; soft-spoken British lad Marcus (played by real-life identical twins Frankie and George McLaren) struggles with the untimely death of his twin brother Jason; and San Franciscan George Lonegan (Matt Damon) has an uncanny ability to communicate with the deceased â&#x20AC;&#x201D; whether he likes it or not. And the lives of these three individuals seem fated to intertwine. Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements including disturbing disaster and accident images, and for brief strong language. 2 hours, 6 minutes. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; T.H. (Reviewed Oct. 22, 2010) Inside Job ---1/2 (CineArts) Sometimes a good documentary is one for the history books. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Inside Jobâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; written, produced and directed by Charles Ferguson â&#x20AC;&#x201D; may end up being that sort of film. The wounds recounted may be too fresh just now for â&#x20AC;&#x153;Inside Jobâ&#x20AC;? to be broadly appreciated, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a cogent synthesis of the factors leading to, defining and resulting from the global economic crisis of the last couple of years. Even the most casual observers of the economic crisis will have to consider much of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Inside Jobâ&#x20AC;? to be old news, but Ferguson delivers it doggedly and without succumbing to blatant emotional appeal. Rated PG-13 for some drug and sexrelated material. One hour, 49 minutes. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; P.C. (Reviewed Oct. 22, 2010) Megamind --1/2 (Century 16, Century 20) Will Ferrell plays the dastardly doofus Megamind, the perpetual loser of epic matches with superhero Metro Man (Brad Pitt, amusingly channeling buddy George Clooney). Always drawn into the middle, reporter Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey) fills the Lois Lane role. Metro City goes topsy-turvy when Megamind appears, almost accidentally, to vanquish Metro Man. What is a supervillain without his hero? This question, at times addressed seriously in the pages of comic books, gets a comic treatment â&#x20AC;&#x201D; or, rather, a ĂŹromantic comedyĂŽ treatment as Megamind attempts to win over Roxanne, for whom heĂs long carried a torch. The storyĂs loose parameters of good and evil put forward the ideal that everyone is capable of redemption. Rated PG for action and some language. One hour, 36 minutes. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; P.C. (Reviewed Nov. 5 2010)

Answers to this weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s puzzles, which can be found on page 64

4 1 9 2 6 7 3 8 5

5 6 2 3 8 4 9 7 1

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Red --(Century 16, Century 20) â&#x20AC;&#x153;Redâ&#x20AC;? stars Bruce Willis as Frank Moses, a retired CIA black-ops agent with a fearsome reputation. Of course, news of Frankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s skills havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t reached his suburban neighbors or Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker), the Social Security office cubicle worker heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s taken to chatting up over the phone. Frankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quiet life doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t last long: his plan to travel to Kansas City to meet up with Sarah hits a snag when armed commandos attempt to kill him. For Sarahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s safety, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll have to abduct her and keep her in line while looking up old friends also classified as â&#x20AC;&#x153;REDâ&#x20AC;?: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Retired â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Extremely Dangerous.â&#x20AC;? Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence and brief strong language. One hour, 51 minutes. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; P.C. (Reviewed Oct. 15 2010) The Social Network ---1/2 (Century 16, Century 20) The riveting film about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg defines a generation. Director David Fincher helms with a deft touch; the screenplay by Aaron Sorkin is beautifully crafted; and the acting is exceptional. In fact, the only thing missing from â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Social Networkâ&#x20AC;? is a likable protagonist. Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s youngest billionaire. In 2003, the computer whiz was an undergrad at Harvard University, more

interested in dating than status updates. Harvard students (and twin brothers) Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Armie Hammer and Josh Pence) and a colleague approach Zuckerberg to enlist his help with the development of Harvard Connection, a MySpace-esque site for Harvard students. Zuckerberg enlists the financial and moral support of his best

friend, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), to create his own social-networking site. In less time than it takes to fix a transmission, Zuckerberg designs and builds TheFacebook.com.Rated PG-13 for language, drug and alcohol use and sexual content. 2 hours, 1 minute. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; T.H. (Reviewed OCt. 1, 2010)

STANFORD THEATER The Stanford Theatre is at 221 University Ave. in Palo Alto. Go to www.stanfordtheatre.org or call 650-324-3700.

The Big Clock (1948) A publisher kills his mistress and assigns the story to his editor. Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Falcon Takes Over (1942) A detective and a reporter try to solve a string of murders. Friday at 6:15 and 9:15 p.m. Kings Row (1942) A look at the dark side of provincial American life. Sat.-Mon. at 7:30. Sat. and Sun. also at 3:15 p.m. The More the Merrier (1943) In a housing shortage, a woman and two men have to share one apartment. Sat.-Mon. at 5:35 and 9:50 p.m.

MOVIE TIMES Times for the Century 16 and 20 are for Friday through Wednesday except where noted. Conviction (R) (((

Century 16: 10:55 a.m. & 4:30 p.m.; Fri.-Tue. also at 10 p.m. Century 20: 11:40 a.m.; 2:10, 4:40, 7:20 & 9:55 p.m.

Cool It (PG) (Not Reviewed)

Aquarius Theatre: 3, 5:15, 7:30 & 9:45 p.m.

Due Date (R) (Not Reviewed)

Century 16: 11 a.m.; 12:30, 1:30, 3:05, 4, 5:35, 7, 8 & 10:20 p.m. Century 20: 11:20 a.m.; 12:25, 1:45, 2:55, 4:10, 5:25, 6:40, 7:55, 9:20 & 10:25 p.m.

Fair Game (PG-13) ((1/2

Palo Alto Square: 1:55, 4:30 & 7:15 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 9:50 p.m.

For Colored Girls (R) (Not Reviewed)

Century 16: 12:50, 4:05, 7:15 & 10:15 p.m. Century 20: Noon, 3, 6 & 9 p.m.; Fri. & Sun.-Tue. also at 1:20 & 7:30 p.m.; Sat. also at 7:30 p.m.; Wed. also at 1:20 p.m.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Nest (R) ((((

Guild Theatre: 1:45, 5 & 8:15 p.m.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 1 (PG-13) (Not Reviewed)

Century 16: Thu. at 12:01, 12:02 & 12:05 a.m. Century 20: Thu. at 12:01, 12:05, 12:10, 12:15, 12:20 & 12:25 a.m.

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

Century 16: 1:35 p.m.; Fri.-Tue. also at 7:05 p.m. Century 20: 12:50, 4, 6:55 & 9:50 p.m.

Inside Job (PG-13) (((1/2

Palo Alto Square: 4:40 & 7:20 p.m.; Fri. also at 2 & 9:55 p.m.; Sat. also at 9:55 p.m.; Sun.-Thu. also at 2 p.m.

Jackass 3 (R) (Not Reviewed)

Century 16: In 3D at 10:40 p.m. Century 20: In 3D at 1:05, 3:30, 5:50, 8:20 & 10:45 p.m.

Leaving (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed)

Aquarius Theatre: 2:30, 4:45, 7 & 9:15 p.m.

Les Miserables: The 25th Century 16: Wed. at 7:30 p.m. Century 20: Wed. at 7:30 p.m. Anniversary (PG-13) (Not Reviewed) Life As We Know It (PG-13) (Not Reviewed)

Century 20: 4:20 & 10:10 p.m.

Megamind (PG) ((1/2

Century 16: 1:20, 4:10, 7 & 9:40 p.m.; In 3D at 11:20 a.m.; noon, 12:40, 2, 2:40, 3:20, 4:50, 5:20, 6:10, 7:50, 8:20, 9 & 10:25 p.m. Century 20: 12:40, 3:10, 5:40, 8:10 & 10:35 p.m.; In 3D at 11:30 a.m.; 12:05, 1:15, 2, 2:35, 3:45, 4:30, 5:05, 6:15, 7, 7:35, 8:45, 9:30 & 10:05 p.m.; In 3D Sat. & Sun. also at 10:20 a.m.

The Metropolitan Opera: Century 20: Sat. at 10 a.m. Palo Alto Square: Sat. at 10 a.m. Don Pasquale (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed) Morning Glory (PG-13) Reviewed)

Century 16: 11:10 a.m.; 12:10, 1:45, 2:45, 4:40, 5:40, 7:30, 8:30 & 10:15 p.m. Century 20: (Not 11:45 a.m.; 2:15, 4:50, 7:25 & 10 p.m.

Paranormal Activity 2 (R) (Not Reviewed)

Century 20: 1, 3:20, 5:35, 8:05 & 10:20 p.m.

Red (PG-13) (((

Century 16: 11:15 a.m.; 1:55, 4:35, 7:25 & 10:05 p.m. Century 20: 11:35 a.m.; 2:20, 4:55, 7:35 & 10:15 p.m.

Saw: The Final Chapter (R) (Not Reviewed)

Century 20: 4:25 p.m.; Fri. & Sun.-Tue. also at 11:10 a.m. & 10:30 p.m.; Sat. also at 10:30 p.m.; Wed. also at 11:10 a.m.

Secretariat (PG) ((1/2

Century 20: 11:15 a.m.; 2, 4:45, 7:40 & 10:25 p.m.

Skyline (PG-13) (Not Reviewed)

Century 16: 11:30 a.m.; 2:05, 4:45, 7:35 & 10:10 p.m. Century 20: 11:55 a.m.; 2:25, 4:50, 7:15 & 9:45 p.m.

The Social Network (PG-13) (((1/2

Century 16: 1:25, 4:25, 7:40 & 10:30 p.m. Century 20: 11:15 a.m.; 2:10, 5, 7:50 & 10:40 p.m.

The Town (R) (((1/2

Century 16: 9:30 p.m. Century 20: 1:25 & 7:05 p.m.

Unstoppable (PG-13) ((

Century 16: 11:05 a.m.; 12:20, 1:40, 2:50, 4:15, 5:15, 7:10, 8:05, 9:45 & 10:35 p.m. Century 20: 11:25 a.m.; 12:35, 1:50, 3:15, 4:35, 5:45, 7:10, 8:15, 9:40 & 10:45 p.m.

Waiting for Superman (PG) (Not Reviewed)

Century 16: 11:25 a.m.; 2:05, 4:40, 7:20 & 9:55 p.m.

( Skip it (( Some redeeming qualities ((( A good bet (((( Outstanding Aquarius: 430 Emerson St., Palo Alto (266-9260)

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)

Century 20 Downtown: 825 Middlefield Road, Redwood City (800-326-3264) CinĂŠArts at Palo Alto Square: 3000 El Camino Real, Palo Alto (493-3456)

Internet address: For show times, plot synopses, trailers and more information about films playing, go to PaloAlto Online.com.

PIZZA

Pizza Chicago 424-9400

of the week

4115 El Camino Real, Palo Alto This IS the best pizza in town

Spot A Pizza 324-3131 115 Hamilton Ave, Palo Alto

R ISTOR A NT E

Voted Best Pizza in Palo Alto www.spotpizza.com

AMERICAN

CHINESE

Armadillo Willy’s 941-2922

Peking Duck 321-9388

1031 N. San Antonio Rd., Los Altos

151 S. California Avenue, Palo Alto

Range: $5.00-13.00

We also deliver.

POLYNESIAN Trader Vic’s 849-9800 4269 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

Hobee’s 856-6124 4224 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

Also at Town & Country Village, Palo Alto 327-4111

Su Hong – Menlo Park

Dinner Mon-Thurs 5-10pm; Fri-Sat 5-11pm;

Dining Phone: 323–6852

Sun 4:30 - 9:30pm

To Go: 322–4631

Available for private luncheons

Winner, Palo Alto Weekly “Best Of”

Burmese

8 years in a row!

Green Elephant Gourmet

INDIAN

Happy Hour Mon-Fri 4-6 pm

SEAFOOD

(650) 494-7391 Burmese & Chinese Cuisine

Darbar Indian Cuisine 321-6688

3950 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto

129 Lytton, Downtown Palo Alto

(Charleston Shopping Center)

Lunch Buffet M-F; Open 7 days

Dine-In, Take-Out, Local Delivery-Catering

CHINESE Chef Chu’s (650) 948-2696

Janta Indian Restaurant 462-5903 369 Lytton Ave., Downtown Palo Alto

ITALIAN

2008 Best Chinese MV Voice & PA Weekly

Spalti Ristorante 327-9390

Spalti Ristorante serves delicious, authentic Northern Italian cuisine, in a casually elegant, comfortable and spacious setting.

$6.95 to $10.95

Enjoy the freshest pasta, salads, seafood, veal, chicken and lamb attractively presented with the experience of dining in Italy.

Scott’s Seafood 323-1555

417 California Ave. Palo Alto 327-9390

#1 Town & Country Village, Palo Alto

www.Spalti.com

Cook’s Seafood 325-0604 751 El Camino Real, Menlo Park Seafood Dinners from

Lunch Buffet M-F; Organic Veggies

1067 N. San Antonio Road on the corner of El Camino, Los Altos

Lounge open nightly

Open 7 days a week serving breakfast,

417 California Ave, Palo Alto

lunch and dinner

Jing Jing 328-6885

ÝµÕ Ã ÌiÊ `ÊUÊ"ÕÌ` ÀÊ }

Happy Hour 7 days a week 4-7 pm

443 Emerson St., Palo Alto

www.spalti.com

Full Bar, Banquets, Outdoor Seating

Authentic Szechwan, Hunan Food To Go, Delivery www.jingjinggourmet.com

JAPANESE & SUSHI Fuki Sushi 494-9383

Ming’s 856-7700 1700 Embarcadero East, Palo Alto www.mings.com

www.scottsseafoodpa.com

STEAKHOUSE

4119 El Camino Real, Palo Alto Open 7 days a Week

Sundance the Steakhouse 321-6798 1921 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

New Tung Kee Noodle House

MEXICAN

520 Showers Dr., MV in San Antonio Ctr.

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

Voted MV Voice Best ‘01, ‘02, ‘03 & ‘04

Palo Alto Sol 328-8840

Prices start at $4.75

408 California Ave, Palo Alto

Fri-Sat 5:00-10:30pm, Sun 5:00-9:00pm

947-8888

Õ}iÊ i ÕÊUÊ iÃÌÞ iÊ,iV «iÃ

www.sundancethesteakhouse.com

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RESTAURANT REVIEW

In Midtown Palo Alto -IDDLEl ELD 2D s

FREE DELIVERY (with min. order)

“THE BEST PIZZA WEST OF NEW YORK” —Ralph Barbieri KNBR 680

226 Redwood Shores Pkwy Redwood Shores (Next to Pacific Athletic Club)

(at University Drive)

(650) 329-8888

(650) 654-3333

Michelle Le

880 Santa Cruz Ave Menlo Park

Zereshk polo with joojeh is a rice-and-meat dish similar to a kabab plate.

The Former Oaxacan Kitchen Is Now

The Persian version

ANATOLIAN KITCHEN Modern Mediterranean Cuisine 2323 Birch Street, Palo Alto

(Between Cambridge and California)

(650) 853-9700 www.anatoliankitchenpaloalto.com

NOVEMBER SPECIALS

Buy a Large One Topping Pizza for only $18.95 Buy Two Large Pizzas and Get a Free Appetizer Buy Five or More Large Pizzas and Get $40 Off 4115 El Camino Real (Quarter mile North of East Charleston) s www.pizzachicago.com Page 44ÊUÊ Ûi LiÀÊ£Ó]ÊÓä£äÊUÊ*> Ê Ì Ê7ii Þ

Best Bite is a completely different restaurant from what its name and decor suggest by Monica Hayde Schreiber

est Bite is an easy restaurant to miss — and perhaps initially to misjudge. You may have driven past the modest El Camino Real building in Mountain View hundreds of times and barely noticed the place. Then there’s the restaurant’s name, which offers little indication about the type of food it serves. Best Bite? Is that a deli? A sandwich shop? Look closer, however, and the neon window signs for “gyros” and “falafel” would suggest a pan-Mediterranean, order-atthe-counter place. Maybe one of those quickie lunch spots where you can get good, cheap Greek or Lebanese food. Peek in the window and any of these suspicions might be confirmed. You’ll see about 10 humble tables, most of them booths covered in a red leather-ish material, plus a few seats at a front counter. The overall vibe is “small-town diner” or even “retro luncheonette.” But lift the veil on this quiet little establishment and there is something unexpected beneath: centuries-old recipes fragrant with cinnamon, rose water, cardamom and pomegranate; savory eggplant stews and pieces

of charbroiled lamb served with sumac-dusted basmati rice. Yes, Best Bite turns out to be a full-service — and sometimes surprisingly spendy — Persian restaurant. Best Bite, owned by Iranianborn Ellahe Kakhadem and her family, has been serving up platters of home-style Iranian fare for 13 years. We were glad we visited. While Persian food shares many similarities with the cuisine of Arab countries, the food is distinct in many ways, hewing more toward Central Asia, Afghanistan, Turkey and even India. Heavily spiced stews called gheymeh are simmered with meat or beans and often complemented by fruity undertones: lime, pomegranate, sour cherries or prunes. Chelow kabab, a ubiquitous dish in Iran, is basmati-style rice served with charbroiled lamb, beef or chicken, and a grilled tomato or two. Polo is a pilaf-like rice dish in which the rice is cooked in broth and subsequently steamed with meat or vegetables. Different types of flat breads (naan) are enjoyed throughout Iran with the ultra-thin, almost

cracker-like lavash being one of the most common. Lavash is one of the oldest and simplest bread recipes on the planet (flour, water and salt). I’m not a fan — lavash makes flour tortillas seem moist and interesting — so I passed on the basket our waiter brought to the table with an incongruous pairing of butter and raw onion. We moved quickly to the magic that Iranians make with eggplant. Two of the three appetizers we ordered were centered on the aubergine and we inhaled both of them. The meerza ghaasemi ($8.99) was a plate of charbroiled eggplant pureed with egg, garlic, tomato and spices. It was smoky and fluffy, almost like a soufflé or firmly scrambled eggs. The kashk bademjan ($8.99) was also an eggplant purée, but the eggplant was sauteed rather than grilled and mixed with caramelized yogurt for a tangier finish. We ate the eggplant starters with the mast-o-moosir ($4.99). Similar to Greek tzatziki, this spinach-flecked dish of rich, cool yogurt was tangy and tasty, the perfect complement to everything we ate that night. During the main course, I even used it as a dip for the lamb kabab ($18.99). In my opinion, the best kababs this side of Kandahar can be found at Kabul, a longtime Afghani restaurant tucked away in a San Carlos strip mall. Impossibly tender and embodying

ShopTalk by Daryl Savage

HAMILTON NEWCOMERS ... A couple of new businesses have popped up on Hamilton Avenue in Palo Alto. Both have a spa quality: One is specifically for feet and is owned by a podiatrist; the other is a more traditional spa and is owned by an esthetician. Podiatrist Brynn Ewen recently opened Stride Wellbeing for Your Feet at 512 Hamilton. The concept is that one’s quality of life depends largely on the health of the person’s feet. With that in mind, the business combines podiatric medical and surgical services with a medical spa dedicated to feet. The broad menu includes general podiatric medicine as well as foot massage and reflexology. Half a block away is Parasol Beauty Atelier, which opened Nov. 9 at 470 Hamilton. Formerly a vintage costume boutique called Trappings of Time, the 1,000-square-foot shop has been gutted for its transformation to a day spa. Owner Julice Chea, who had previously worked at Juut, another downtown salon, made the leap to create Parasol. “My dream was always to open my own day

all the primeval appeal of meat cooked on an open flame, they are the yardstick by which I measure all other kababs. While Best Bite’s lamb kabab was fine, it didn’t come close to thwarting its Afghani competition, especially in the price. For $19, I got about six pieces of slightly overcooked (but flavorful) lamb, a mound of buttery basmati rice, and a small grilled tomato. My friend’s gheymeh ($11.99) was a bigger hit. In Iran, this stew would be considered basic, everyday fare, but to us it was appealing and exotic: tiny pieces of beef, split peas, cinnamon, tomato and onion, all cooked with a lime for that fruity-savory interplay so typical of Persian food. We also tried one of the house specials, the zereshk polo with joojeh (charbroiled chicken) ($15.99). This rice-and-meat dish was almost identical to the kabab plates, but the rice was more interesting, flecked with tiny red barberries and amped up with saffron. Barberries are miniscule but pack an intensely tart punch. They accompanied the tender chicken like cranberries playing off turkey. The falafel sandwich ($6.99) is

spa. And I couldn’t ask for a better location. I’m fortunate to be downtown and have an established clientele that I built up at Juut,” she said. Parasol offers skin care, waxing and makeup. Prices are nothing to blink at. A set of tattooed eyebrows run $750. “People appreciate topquality work,” Chea said. NEW PHARMACY DRAWS CROWDS ... More than 300 people showed up at last week’s grand opening of Menlo Park’s newest store. Pharmaca at 871 Santa Cruz Ave. bills itself as an integrative pharmacy with a diverse product selection in its 4,700-square-foot building. The opening featured free massages, free flu shots and free goodie bags that were gone in a few hours, according to store manager Susan Joslin. The drug store occupies the former space of Xanadu Gallery, a folk-art gallery and jewelry store. In addition to conventional medicine and licensed pharmacists, Pharmaca also offers holistic and alternative therapies. “Our distinctive concept provides our customers with an opportunity to manage

one of the less expensive options on the menu and among the best values. It was hefty and goopy with hummus and tahini, and the falafel balls were moist and flavorful. Middle Eastern desserts are the stuff of diabetic nightmares, and Best Bite’s sugar-and-rose water concoctions rank right up there on the sweet-o-meter. The baklava ($2.50) was too chewy and so sweet my teeth hurt just looking at the nutty triangles. The bamieh ($2.50), described in the menu as “a unique Persian pastry,” was like a hardened funnel cake. Rose water and cardamom gave it an appealing flavor, but it was so hard to chew I gave up on it. We also tried the bastani ($3.99), an orange-pink ice cream flavored with saffron and pistachios. I couldn’t taste any saffron and even the nutty flavor of pistachio was overpowered by sugar. While the desserts left us with little more than a glucose rush, our overall experience at Best Bite was good. It can be rewarding to look past appearances and let yourself be surprised. N

their own health care,” CEO and President Mark Panzer said. The pharmacy is the Boulder-based company’s 23rd store in the Western U.S. and its 10th in the Bay area. A HOME FOR TALENT ... For those artsy folks waiting to be discovered, help is on the way. Talenthouse, a year-old networking website that matches artists with artists, has opened an office in Palo Alto. The former Jungle Copy building at 542 High St. has also been remodeled for performances. Talenthouse is the brainchild of Amos Pizzey, a British recording artist and advertising executive. “Coming up first as an artist then as a producer in the music industry, I saw so many talented young people that had no way of being seen and heard. For us, the Internet is the ultimate tool for them to create, collaborate and liberate their art for all time,” Pizzey said. The High Street location will provide an actual space for creative people to come together, said Vice President Frederik Hermann. “We’re looking forward to having live art and music events,” he said. Talenthouse’s first event will likely take place before the end of the year.

Heard a rumor about your favorite store or business moving out, or in, down the block or across town? Daryl Savage will check it out. She can be e-mailed at shoptalk@paweekly.com.

Best Bite 1414 W. El Camino Real, Mountain View 650-988-8895 bestbiterestaurant.com Hours: Weekdays 11:30 a.m.2:30 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. Sat. 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m.

FOOTHILL-DE ANZA

Community College District Board of Trustees seeks applicants for its

Measure C Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee Candidates appointed to the independent, volunteer Measure C Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee review and report to the public on the district‘s Measure C bond expenditures. Applicants must reside in the district’s service area, which includes the cities of Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale and portions of San Jose, Santa Clara and Saratoga. Applicants may not be an employee, contractor, consultant or vendor of the district. The Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee bylaws are available at www.measurec.fhda.edu or by calling (650) 949-6100. Currently three committee members are needed in the following categories: UÊ,i«ÀiÃi Ì>Ì Ûi]Ê ÌÊ >À}i UÊ,i«ÀiÃi Ì>Ì Ûi]Ê-i ÀÊ Ì âi ÃÊ"À}> â>Ì UÊ,i«ÀiÃi Ì>Ì Ûi]Ê-ÌÕì Ì This committee is responsible for reviewing expenditures related to the district‘s $490,800,000 general obligation bond, Measure C, approved by the voters on June 6, 2006. Interested applicants should submit a resume and cover letter detailing their qualifications, and noting which of the above categories they would represent, to any of the following: Mail: Office of the Chancellor Foothill-De Anza Community College District 12345 El Monte Road Los Altos Hills, CA 94022

E-mail: chancellor@fhda.edu Fax: (650) 941-6289

« iÌi`Ê>«« V>Ì ÃÊ ÕÃÌÊLiÊÀiVi Ûi`ÊLÞÊxÊ«° °Ê À `>Þ]Ê Û°Ê£ ° For more information, please call (650) 949-6100 or email chancellor@fhda.edu

Looking for something to do? Check out the Weekly’s Community Calendar for the Midpeninsula. Instantly ﬁnd out what events are going on in your city!

Go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com/calendar *> Ê Ì Ê7ii ÞÊUÊ Ûi LiÀÊ£Ó]ÊÓä£äÊU Page 45

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-INIMUM BALANCE TO OBTAIN !09 OPEN THE ACCOUNT IS

0ENALTY MAY BE IMPOSED FOR EARLY WITHDRAWAL

He wants his students to see the beauty and magic in mathematics. He says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Once I experienced Abstract Algebra in college, I was hooked. I want my students to see the structure and logic in math that is often hidden by the details and computations.â&#x20AC;? When Steve isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t teaching math at the Priory, he pushes his physical limits by training for Ironman Triathlons. In addition, he coaches the Prioryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Middle School cross-country team. He believes teaching is a gift for the teacher and the student. Steve says, rather humbly, â&#x20AC;&#x153;After 17 years, I still think teaching is fun. I enjoy attempting to convince teenagers that math is beautiful. Occasionally, I succeed.â&#x20AC;?

ONE OF THE MANY REASONS TO SEND YOUR CHILD TO: Woodside Prior y School Admissions Office 302 Portola Road, Portola Valley, CA 94028 www.PrioryCa.org

OPEN HOUSE

for Prospective Students and Families

Wednesday, Nov. 17th, 2010 at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4th, 2010 at 10 a.m.

Member *Annual Percentage Yield. APY is accurate as of 9/24/10. Rate subject to change after account opening. Fees could reduce the earnings on the account.

For information and to R.S.V.P. contact Admissions at 650. 851. 8223 *>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160; Â&#x153;Ă&#x203A;iÂ&#x201C;LiĂ&#x20AC;Ă&#x160;ÂŁĂ&#x201C;]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă¤ÂŁĂ¤Ă&#x160;U Page 47

This s yea year, give a gift that doesn’t come in a box. ÛiÊÌ iÊ} vÌÊ vÊ> ÊiÝ«iÀ i Vi°Ê This holiday season, take a break from all that shopping and wrapping. Give an experience and create a cherished memory instead of more “stuff.” Experience gifts are for everyone: UÊ/ V iÌÃÊÌ Ê>ÊÃ« ÀÌ }ÊiÛi Ì]ÊÃÌ>}iÊ« >ÞÊ ÀÊ Û i UÊ Õ> Ê«>ÃÃiÃÊÌ Ê ÕÃiÕ ÃÊ ÀÊ«>À Ã UÊ vÌÊViÀÌ wV>ÌiÃÊv ÀÊ>Ê >ÃÃ>}i]ÊÃ ÊÀi Ì> Ê ÀÊÀiÃÌ>ÕÀ> Ì Enjoy the holidays knowing you’ve given personal and enjoyable gifts to your friends and loved ones, and you’ve also reduced waste!

(650) 496-5910 zerowaste@cityofpaloalto.org www.cityofpaloalto.org/zerowaste Page 48ÊUÊ Ûi LiÀÊ£Ó]ÊÓä£äÊUÊ*> Ê Ì Ê7ii Þ