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Alerts
By Camille T. Taiara

Upcoming:

Traffic transformations

Thursday, Jan. 10, John Billovits of the San Francisco Department of Planning and the Octavia Blvd. Better Neighborhoods Planning Project discusses plans for the construction of Octavia Boulevard, changes to South Van Ness Avenue, and how these will affect traffic, transit, bicyclists, and pedestrians at a meeting of the Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood Council. 7-9 p.m., San Francisco Public Library, Park Branch, 1833 Page, S.F. Free. (415) 752-8520.

Two wheels are better than four

Thursday, Jan. 10, join members of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition in supporting legislation establishing bike lanes on San Jose Avenue southbound between Randall and Arlington and northbound between Milton and Randall, as well as southbound on Dolores Street between 29th and San Jose, at a Board of Supervisors' Housing, Land Use, and Transportation Committee hearing on the issue. Though only a few blocks, these bike lanes would function as connectors between bike lanes on adjacent streets and provide a link to southern San Francisco neighborhoods including Glen Park, the Excelsior, and the Outer Mission. 10 a.m., City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 263, S.F. (415) 431-2453.

Defying Big Brother

Friday, Jan. 11, authors Daniel Handler, Michael Chabon, Dave Eggers, Dorothy Allison, and others join forces in support of the "shameless purchasing of questionable books" at a benefit reading and book sale for Tattered Cover, an independent bookstore in Denver that's suing Colorado law enforcement officials to keep customer sales records private. 7:30 p.m., A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books, 601 Van Ness, S.F. Free. (415) 441-6670.

'Untraining White Liberal Racism'

Friday, Jan. 11, attend an introductory meeting for "Untraining White Liberal Racism," a workshop for white folks to address their unconscious racial conditioning in a supportive environment. 7-9:30 p.m., 555 10th St., Oakl. $10. (510) 235-6134.

Britt campaign bash

Saturday, Jan. 12, the Harry Britt for State Assembly Campaign celebrates the opening of its headquarters with guests Tom Ammiano, Carole Migden, and others, followed by a precinct walk. Opening celebration 10 a.m., precinct walk 11 a.m., 2150 Market, S.F. Free. (415) 503-1343.

Candidates' forum on transportation

Saturday, Jan. 12, find out how District 12 and 13 state assembly candidates stand on transportation issues at a forum sponsored by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. Candidates who confirmed their participation by press time include Harry Britt, Mark Leno, Holly Their, Dan Kelly, and Leland Yee. 4-6 p.m., San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin, Latino-Hispanic Room, Grove Street entrance, S.F. Free. (415) 431-2453.

'Digital Be-In'

Saturday, Jan. 12, Verbum presents "Digital Be-In 12," a showcase featuring a job panel and a media revolution roundtable, live electronica, video, virtual art, and a dance with local DJs and VJs. Speakers include Craig Newmark of Craigslist.org, Kenya Briggs and Andreas Ramos of the National Writers Union, Media Alliance executive director Jeff Perlstein, CNET Radio broadcaster Rose Aguilar, Electronic Frontier Foundation executive director Shari Steele, Bay Guardian publisher Bruce B. Brugmann, and others. 7 p.m. until after hours, StudioZ.tv, 314 11th St., S.F. $15-$20. (415) 437-9598, www.be-in.com.

Uncovering the propaganda machine

Monday, Jan. 14, Peter Magnani of the Public Relations Society of America, Peter Phillips of Project Censored, and Erik Curren of Fenton Communications, the nation's oldest and largest public interest P.R. firm, speak at "Propaganda and P.R.," a forum hosted by the KQED Media Salon on the role of P.R. in the media and its effects on culture, community, and consciousness. 7-9 p.m., KQED, 2601 Mariposa, S.F. Free. (415) 553-2390.

Be a mentor

Tuesday, Jan. 15, Streetside Stories holds an orientation for people interested in volunteering their time to help a diverse group of sixth-grade public school students improve their reading and writing skills and tell their own stories. 5:30-7:30 p.m., Streetside Stories, 1095 Market, S.F. Free. (415) 864-5221.

'Overcoming Retail Discrimination'

Tuesday, Jan. 15, victims of retail discrimination, legal advocates, and business representatives talk about retail discrimination, associated laws, the subconscious stereotypes that cause employees to behave in discriminatory ways, and training tips for employers at a forum held by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights. 10 a.m.-1 p.m., State Building, Training Rooms 1 and 2, 455 Golden Gate, S.F. Free. (415) 543-9444.

Pacifica's free speech struggle

Tuesday, Jan. 15, the Gray Panthers host a panel discussion and update on the struggle for freedom of speech and civil rights at KPFA and the Pacifica Network, featuring KPFA Local Advisory Board chair Sherry Gendelman and Riva Enteen of the National Lawyers Guild. 12:30-3 p.m., First Unitarian Church, 1187 Franklin, S.F. Free. (415) 552-8800.

Self-representation in small claims court

Tuesday, Jan. 15, learn tricks of the trade at "How to Present a Case in Small Claims Court," a free workshop offered by the New College of California School of Law. 6 p.m., New College of California School of Law, 50 Fell, Second floor, S.F. Free. (415) 241-1300.

Adachi kickoff party

Wednesday, Jan. 16, join the Jeff Adachi for Public Defender campaign at a party to kick off the opening of its new headquarters. The campaign also seeks volunteers to walk precincts Saturdays and Sundays, beginning at 10 a.m., and to phone-bank Sunday through Thursday, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. 5:30-8 p.m., Adachi for Public Defender headquarters, 799 Van Ness, S.F. (415) 776-7076.

Protest war and racism

Wednesday, Jan. 16, International Act Now to Stop War and End Racism holds a protest against war and racism on the 11th anniversary of the Gulf War, as part of an international day of action. 5 p.m., Powell and Market, S.F. (415) 821-6545. Mail items for Alerts to the Bay Guardian, 520 Hampshire, S.F., CA 94110; fax to (415) 255-8762; or e-mail camille@sfbg.com. Please include a contact telephone number. Items must be received at least one week prior to publication date. Call (415) 255-3100, ext. 545, for more information. For more events, see the Benefits listings in the Calendar section or visit the Bay Guardian Action Network on the Web at www.sfbg.com/action.

Ongoing Events

Kitten foster class
The San Francisco SPCA seeks volunteers to attend a training class on fostering kittens. Kittens generally need homes for two to six weeks. Call Maddie's Pet Adoption Center at (415) 522-3542.

Volunteers needed
At the Crossroads, an organization that works with homeless youth and young adults in the Mission and downtown, needs volunteers to help with outreach. For more information, visit www.atthecrossroads.org

Minority Activist Apprenticeship Program
MAAP, a program of the Center for Third World Organizing, seeks applicants 18-30 years old for the summer and fall cycles of its organizer training program for people of color. MAAP interns receive a $200 per week stipend with all housing, health care, and local transportation expenses covered. For more information, call Irene Juaniza at CTWO at (510) 533-7583.

Fighting the digital divide
Check out mecresources.com for empowering information on education, entertainment, journalism, small business, and high technology.

Breast cancer activism
Breast Cancer Action, an advocacy organization trying to bring about the changes necessary to end the breast cancer epidemic, seeks volunteers to help with events, activism, and office work. (415) 243-9301.

Community mediation
Community Boards of San Francisco, a nonprofit, neighborhood-based conflict-resolution program, seeks a diverse pool of volunteers interested in basic mediation training to be offered in spring 2000. (415) 552-1250.

Food runners needed
Food Runners is an organization of volunteers who pick up perishable or prepared foods donated by businesses in San Francisco and deliver them to neighborhood feeding programs. Volunteers need a vehicle and at least one free hour a week. To become a food runner, call (415) 929-1866 or visit www.foodrunners.org.

Ongoing Actions

Boycott the Gap and Save the Redwoods
In July of 1998 The Fisher Family, owners of The GAP, Inc., purchased ALL of Louisiana-Pacific Corporation's timber lands in Mendocino County, some 220,000 acres. These include the absolute LAST of the ancient redwood trees not in State Parks. They are logging these trees using methods which include clearcutting, herbicides and overcutting timber lands of rare fisheries and extreme steep slopes creating unmanageable mudslides and deadly siltation in salmon streams. To find out how to prevent further devastation click here.

STOP Secrecy - OPEN Juvenile Court Proceedings
Help to open Juvenile Court Proceedings and Records to the Scrutiny of the Public by signing this online petition.

SFBG's Yugoslavia Resource Guide
Although the NATO attack on Yugoslavia is making headlines in the daily papers, there's a lot left out of the coverage. Even though activists world-wide are protesting the bombings, opposition to the U.S.-led attack seems almost a footnote to the ongoing destruction . These web resources offer a wide range of dissident opinion -- from the political to the pacifist -- and many include details on where and how to make your voice heard through protest or other direct action.

Medicine held hostage by profits!
South Africa and the rest of Africa is experiencing an AIDS catastrophe, which the U.S. Surgeon General has likened to the plague that decimated Europe in the 14th century. As chair of the United States/South Africa Binational Commission, Vice-president, Al Gore has engaged in an astonishing array of bullying tactics to prevent South Africa from implementing policies, legal under international trade rules, that are designed to expand access to HIV/AIDS drugs. Read In the Public Interest by Ralph Nader for more information on the crisis, and what you can do to help.

Stop the Slaughter of Montana's Last Wild Bison Herd
Over 1100 wild bison were killed in Yellowstone in 1996-97 by the State of Montana! The killing continued in 1998 and now in 1999. The last wild buffalo herd has already lost almost 1/2 of its population. This online petition demands that public officials resolve this issue for now and the future.

Petition: Prison Moratorium & Restorative Justice
Noting that the USA currently imprisons more people per capita than any nation in the world, and that criminal justice in the USA has become manifestly unjust, this petition asks the US Executive to take leadership in calling for a nationwide moratorium on the building of new prisons or prison cells, and asking that at the same time, government leaders adopt more non-prison alternatives.

STOP Saipan sweatshops!
On January 13, in the first-ever industry-wide attempt to hold US retailers and manufacturers accountable for the mistreatment of garment workers in foreign-owned factories operating on US soil, a lawsuit was filed against 18 US clothing companies, including the Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, the Limited and Sears. With no US import tariffs, no US quota restrictions, a minimum wage of $3.05 per hour, and lax immigration laws, the Northern Mariana Islands -- a US Commonwealth in the South Pacific -- has attracted a host of foreign investors who produce clothes for some of the biggest brand-name labels at the cost of exploiting workers. Write, rally and resist!

Protest Hollywood's destruction of Thailand National Park
One of the most beautiful, unspoiled islands in the Pacific is being destroyed to meet Hollywood's perception of paradise. Help by signing the online petition.

Make your voice heard
Phone numbers for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, President Clinton and others.

Contact a Senator
A searchable database of US Senators and their email addresses.

Contact a member of Congress
A searchable database of the members of the US Congress and their email addresses.

SFBG's TalkBack
A comprehensive guide not only of government representatives emails, but home pages (where available).

Voices In the Wilderness
End the economic sanctions against the people of Iraq.

The Iraq Action Coalition
It has been estimated that women and children in particular, have had to bear the brunt of the economic sanctions posed on Iraq. Hunger, malnutrition, disease and premature deaths are among some of the more grisly consequences of the US's economic policies towards Iraq. The Iraq Action Coalition has provided an online petition that can be printed out and distributed as a petition that protests the economic sanctions against Iraq.
Start a petition drive in your neighborhood.

Iraq Action Digest
An organization that has been working to end sanctions against Iraq. Provides links to actions occurring nationwide to protest the bombings in Iraq.

The Iraq Action Coalition
A guide to actions, analysis and news relating to the conflict.

• Discussion group
"Affluence, Materialism, and Their Effects on Us."
'Civil conversations' group -- suggested by Utne magazine 6 years ago -- meets 1st and 3rd Tuesday evenings in BRJCC library, until 9 pm. Intelligent conversation, interesting people, informally led by stockbroker and former Berkeley City commissioner Robert Berend. New topic each time, free, but bring munchies to share if you can Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut Street (at Rose) in Berkeley, CA. Info (510) 527-5332 Robert

• Make government and corporations accountable for their trade policies.
Global Trade Watch is the Public Citizen division that fights for international trade and investment policies promoting government and corporate accountability, consumer health and safety, and environmental protection through research, lobbying, public education and the media.

• Project Artsvote: Save the NEA and aid Campaign Finance reform
sign the petition

• Save the last untouched nursery of the Pacific Gray Whale.
The fate of our last pristine gray whale nursery -- Laguna San Ignacio -- could hinge on a meeting of the U.N.'s World Heritage Committee in early December.
Located in Baja California, Mexico, this natural treasure was named a World Heritage Site in 1993. Now it is threatened by a massive salt works. Its best chance for protection at the international level lies in getting the Committee to add it to the In Danger list. Yet while a place on the list is more than merited, it isn't likely to be granted without an outpouring of support from concerned citizens around the world, like yourself. [Press release]
sign the petition

• Prevent catastrophic chemical releases
The Alberton Community Coalition for Environmental Health (ACCEH), Cold Mountain Cold Rivers, and Montana CHEER have started an online petition drive for the prevention of railroad accidents and the catastrophic chemical releases these accidents create, and for public disclosure of rail transported hazardous chemicals under Community Right-to-Know laws.
sign the online petition

• A Safe Place
Oakland's shelter for battered women and their children seeks volunteers. (510) 636-4748.

• AIDS/HIV Nightline
San Francisco Suicide Prevention seeks good listeners to provide telephone emotional support, crisis counseling, and information for anyone with HIV concerns. Even a few hours a month goes a long way. Training is provided. (415) 984-1902.

• Emergency food and shelter
Dolores Street Community Services needs volunteers and donations to help bring the working poor of the Mission and Castro Districts through the winter months. Critical needs include jackets, blankets, and "personal bags" containing the following items: deodorant, disposable razors, shampoo, toothpaste, soap, handkerchiefs, socks, shaving cream, and hand lotion. (415) 282-6209.

Additional research by Elizabeth Flanagan.

Have an Alert for us? Mail it to the Bay Guardian, 520 Hampshire, S.F., CA 94110; fax to (415) 255-8762; e-mail camille@sfbg.com; or fill out the form below. Please include a contact telephone number. Items must be received at least one week prior to publication date. Call (415) 255-3100, ext. 552, for more information. For more events, see the Benefits listings in the Calendar section.