Berkeleyside » Journalism

Michael Pollan: New food rules, but no need to be neurotic

Sarah Henry — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:00:05 +0000

Food Rules author Michael Pollan. Photo: Fran Collin

Sometimes a spoonful of sugar does, indeed, make the medicine go down. Though you won’t find that catchphrase in the just-released hardcover edition of Food Rules, Michael Pollan‘s best-selling little eater’s manual.

Food Rules does sport the whimsical and witty illustrations of well-known artist Maira Kalman, however. And the new book also boasts 19 new rules — many gleaned from eaters around the country that Pollan wished he had thought of and included the first time around.

Take two is again full of commonsense kitchen wisdom such as If you’re not hungry enough to eat an apple, you’re probably not hungry; and When you eat real food, you don’t need rules.

The takeaway message: food need not be complicated, and the act of eating is as much about pleasure and communion as it is about nutrition and health. In other words: lighten up a little and enjoy your dinner.(...)

Read the rest of Michael Pollan: New food rules, but no need to be neurotic (1,360 words)

By Sarah Henry. | Permalink | 8 comments |
Post tags: Alice Waters, ann cooper, Chez Panisse, Chez Panisse Foundation, Edible Education 101, Food Rules, Maira Kalman, Michael Pollan, Nikki Henderson

Diversity bake sale brings out protestors, choppers, media

Frances Dinkelspiel — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 19:48:46 +0000

The media, both local and national, have jumped on the "diversity bake sale" story. Photo: Tracey Taylor

The helicopters flying over central Berkeley today were just one sign of the media frenzy that has surrounded the announcement by Cal College Republicans that they would hold an “Increase Diversity Bakesale,” to protest a bill that permits consideration of race and economic status in university admissions.

Ward Connerly on Sproul Plaza. Photo: Matt Krupnick via Twitter

The arrival of Ward Connerly, the former UC Regent who backed Proposition 209, which banned affirmative action in university admissions in 1996, was another sign that dozens of cameras were nearby.

Connerly jumped into the fray by selling some of the Republican student group’s selection of baked goods. Prices varied according to who bought them: $2 for a white student, $1.50 for Asian students, $1 for Latinos, 75 cents for African-Americans and 25 cents for Native Americans. Women of all races were promised a 25-cent discount.

Hundreds of affirmative action demonstrators, dressed in black, on Sproul Plaza Tuesday. Photo: Tracey Taylor

Cameras and notebooks were much in evidence on campus today. Photo: Tracey Taylor

As the Republicans set up shop at around 10:00am, a group of about 50 students at a phone bank made calls to Gov. Brown to express support for SB 185, the bill the College Republicans are mocking, according to the Daily Californian, which has been providing a blow-by-blow account of the proceedings since the student group announced it would hold the bake sale last week.

Everyone seemed to jump into the fray. John Stossel, a conservative journalist for Fox News, wrote a piece on why he supports the bake sale. The New York Times looked at the issue, as did CNN, Reuters, and numerous other media outlets.

By midday today, a crowd of affirmative action supporters , several hundred strong and dressed in black, were conducting a silent demonstration on Sproul Plaza — standing erect, fists raised, with placards that read “Don’t UC US”. At noon they all laid down on the ground.

At noon the affirmative action protestors lie on the ground in silence. Photo: Tracey Taylor

And the media were still out in force: several TV stations, including NBC Bay Area and KCBS News, dozens of reporters, notebooks in hand, and hundreds of cameras in hand snapping pictures. And the chopper still hovered overhead.

TV crew recording a segment on Bancroft Way. Photo: Tracey Taylor.

Several TV vans were on the scene to cover the bake sale furore. Photo: Tracey Taylor

By Frances Dinkelspiel. | Permalink | 36 comments |
Post tags: College Republicans, Diversity Bake Sale

Did Berkeleyside err publishing a nude photo?

Frances Dinkelspiel — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 18:14:58 +0000

Cyclists convene at People's Park before participating in the Naked Bike Ride Day. Photo: Robert Mills

Berkeleyside set off a storm of controversy on Monday when it posted a video of a group of naked bicyclists riding through Berkeley.

The shot displayed on Berkeleyside’s front page showed a naked man’s genitals and a naked woman’s breasts.

A number of readers complained, saying the photo was offensive and unprofessional, and should not have been posted. Rather there should have been a link to the video or a less graphic photo displayed, they suggested.

When the Berkeleyside editors sent out our intern, Robert A. Mills, to shoot the video, we thought he was merely reporting on one of the interesting slices of Berkeley life.

Mills tried to be careful in shooting the event and in most of the video the participants’ private parts are hidden behind bicycle seats and other obstructions. But there are glimpses of naked people throughout the video.

The video was posted to You Tube, which randomly selects three scenes from a video and rotates them as screen grabs. The first screen grab selected was the photo that some readers found offensive.

This has been a learning experience for Berkeleyside, as the editors did not realize exactly how You Tube worked. That said, when we did see the nude shots we were not that bothered by them. We did not rush to take down the video. You Tube did that for us later, probably because an irate reader flagged the video. According to You Tube guidelines, the video did not violate their community standards as the nudity was not in a sexual context. Berkeleyside then used Vimeo to repost the video. That service gave us more control over which image was displayed on the site’s front page.

We decided to poll our readers on Facebook and find out how many felt Berkeleyside went too far in posting the video. By 10:30 am today, 60 readers said no, Berkeleyside did not go too far, two said yes, and two were undecided.

If Berkeleyside upset readers, we are sorry. That was not our intention. We appreciate how quickly you let us know, and we appreciate the commentary in support and in opposition to our decision. Once again, the Berkeleyside comment boards have been a fascinating place to linger. Please share your views. The editors only ask — again — that we try and keep the discourse civil.

By Frances Dinkelspiel. | Permalink | 66 comments |
Post tags: naked bike ride

Is the web skewing our world view? An author says yes

Frances Dinkelspiel — Wed, 18 May 2011 18:00:05 +0000

Eli Pariser. Photo: jdlasica

Eli Pariser calls himself an “online organizer and disorganizer,” and, as the former executive director of Berkeley’s MoveOn.org and founder of Avaaz.org, he’s had plenty of chances to use the web to encourage social change.

All that experience reaching out through the Internet led Pariser to start scrutinizing how we get our information.

He didn’t like what he saw.

As websites like Google and Facebook glean our personal likes and dislikes by analyzing our click-throughs, they have started to individualize search results according to our interests. That “filter bubble,” according to Pariser, means we are all getting a biased view of the world. Our attitudes are being reinforced by this “unique personalization.”(...)

Read the rest of Is the web skewing our world view? An author says yes (1,701 words)

By Frances Dinkelspiel. | Permalink | 2 comments |
Post tags: Avaaz.org, Berkeley Arts & Letters, Eli Pariser, Moveon.org

Are plastics good or bad? An author explains

Frances Dinkelspiel — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:00:40 +0000

When Susan Freinkel decided to write a book about plastic, she vowed to spend an entire day not touching the stuff. The plan lasted about ten seconds. After she woke up, she walked into the bathroom to use the toilet. She suddenly realized the seat was plastic, which meant she couldn’t sit down. Freinkel quickly changed plans. Instead of not touching plastic for a day, she would write down all the plastic things she touched in a day. The list came to 195 objects.

In recent years, plastic has gotten a bad rap, with some good reason. No one is happy about the giant garbage patches in the world’s oceans, or the six-pack rings that regularly lodge around wild animals. Yet plastics have also helped revolutionize medical care and other industries. Freinkel, a San Francisco author, explored the complexity of plastic in her just-released book, Plastic: A Toxic Love Story. She will be talking about her findings tonight at Books, Inc on Fourth Street in Berkeley at 7:00 pm.

In Plastic, Frienkel uses eight plastic objects – the comb, the chair, the Frisbee, the IV bag, the Bic lighter, the grocery bag, the soda bottle, and the credit card – to explain the incredible popularity of the material, its benefits, and its downsides. It’s an important, yet entertaining, look at the issue.(...)

Read the rest of Are plastics good or bad? An author explains (1,067 words)

By Frances Dinkelspiel. | Permalink | 4 comments |
Post tags: Books Inc, Plastic: A Toxic Love Story, Susan Freinkel

Thousands of schools at risk during earthquake

Guest contributor — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 19:01:03 +0000

Berkeley Unified School District Headquarters

A team of California Watch reporters and researchers spent the last 19 months investigating how the state enforces the Field Act, a strict seismic safety law that is supposed to protect school children at public schools. California Watch is partnering with dozens of California newspapers, television stations, radio outlets, and websites, including Berkeleyside, to distribute their findings. Berkeleyside will have a story about the hazards of the city’s schools later today.

Among the findings to be presented in California Watch’s three-part series:

At least 20,000 projects – from minor fire alarm upgrades to major construction of new classrooms – were completed without receiving a final safety certification required by law. A California Watch analysis determined that roughly six out of every 10 public schools in the state has at least one uncertified building project.
A separate state seismic inventory created nearly a decade ago shows more than 7,500 older school buildings as potentially dangerous. But restrictive rules have prevented schools from accessing a special $200 million fund for seismic repairs. Only two have tapped the money. The vast majority of the buildings remain unfixed, and the money unused.(...)

Read the rest of Thousands of schools at risk during earthquake (383 words)

By guest. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: California Watch, Corey B. Johnson, seismic safety of schools

Berkeley editor’s home vandalized for third time

Frances Dinkelspiel — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:25:25 +0000

Michael Lerner

Hours after Tikkun magazine held a gathering to celebrate the magazine’s 25^th anniversary, the house of the editor was vandalized.

Vandals plastered posters on the garage door of Rabbi Michael Lerner’s Cragmont Avenue home Tuesday night, according to Berkeley police. The posters depicted pictures of a Nazi carrying away a Jew, according to a press release by Berkeley-based Tikkun Magazine.

“Lerner’s name is put on one of the Nazis and “Islamic extremists” is written on the other Nazi, and the innocent Jew is identified as the State of Israel,” said the release. “The perspective of the attackers is clear: “Rabbi Lerner is a Nazi assaulting Israel.”

This is the third incident of vandalism at Lerner’s home since March 2010.(...)

Read the rest of Berkeley editor’s home vandalized for third time (279 words)

By Frances Dinkelspiel. | Permalink | 28 comments |
Post tags: Rabbi Michael Lerner, Richard Goldstone, Tikkun magazine

Peggy Orenstein dissects girls’ passion for pink

Frances Dinkelspiel — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 19:55:02 +0000

From her home in north Berkeley where she lives with her filmmaker husband Steven Okazaki and seven year old daughter Daisy, Peggy Orenstein has been opining for years for the New York Times magazine about the world of girls and feminism. Last week, her latest book, Cinderella Ate My Daughter, was published and it is already climbing the bestseller list. (It will debut at #13 on the New York Times list on Feb. 13) The book is both an expose of and meditation about the corporate push to market princesses and pink and early sexuality to young girls.

Orenstein just escaped the historic snows of Chicago (she got on the last plane leaving O’Hare on Tuesday) and is about to embark on the West Coast portion of her book tour. (She will be speaking Feb. 7 at St. John’s Church in Berkeley) Berkeleyside caught up with her to ask a few questions.

Do you wear pink?

Of course I wear pink. I’m not a crazy person. But it’s such a tiny slice of the rainbow and although in one way it seems to celebrate girlhood, it also repeatedly and firmly fuses girls’ identity to appearance then it presents that connection not only as innocent but as evidence of innocence. And that innocent pink pretty quickly turns into something else, a kind of diva, self-absorbed pink and ultimately a sexualized pink.

What is Daisy’s position on the color now?

Truthfully, she was actually never that into pink, which is part of why I became so aware of it. It was never her favorite color, but people were constantly pressing it on her. I remember being in a drug store and the very nice clerk offered her a balloon, then asked what color she wanted and before she could answer, (I think she was going to say purple) said, “I bet I know,” and handed her the pink one. Daisy looked at me kind of confused, like she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to say thank you or no thank you. And I thought, really? When did THIS happen? I think last time I asked her, her favorite color was “rainbow.” That’s all right by me.

What’s the big deal about little girls being obsessed with princesses? Hasn’t that always been the case?

Comparing the way girls do Princess today to the way we played is like comparing a five-channel TV to a satellite dish. There are 26,000 Disney Princess products alone—considering they can’t slap them on cars, liquor, cigarettes anti-depressants or tampons, that means they’re on EVERYTHING. And it becomes this mandate, the only game in town. I remember going to Daisy’s preschool and they were doing a project where they were making a book, each one filling in the sentence “if I were a [blank] I’d [blank] to the store.” So if I were a ball I’d roll to the store. And the boys had filled the sentence in all kinds of ways. Yes, some said Lightening McQueen but they said puppies, bugs, raisins, all sorts of things. The girls said exactly four things: Princess, Ballerina, Butterfly and Fairy. One especially ambitious girl said “Princess, butterfly fairy Ballerina.” It’s too narrow. The teacher was really surprised—she’d been around a long time and this was really when the princess juggernaut was truly taking off. She had tried to get the girls to broaden their imaginations but said they just wouldn’t.
(...)

Read the rest of Peggy Orenstein dissects girls’ passion for pink (1,438 words)

By Frances Dinkelspiel. | Permalink | 8 comments |
Post tags: Ayelet Waldman, Cinderella Ate My Daughter, New York Times magazine, Peggy Orenstein, Ruth Halpern, Steven Okazaki, Sylvia Brownrigg

Phone lines down along The Alameda

Frances Dinkelspiel — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 23:30:41 +0000

Our call for citizen reporters brought in this photo from Ira Serkes and this email at 11.21am today:

“Power/phone lines down on The Alameda between Los Angeles and Marin. They are likely back up by now. I was driving home from the gym and heard sirens behind me — got to that part of The Alameda just as the police car pulled up.”

Thanks Ira.

By Frances Dinkelspiel. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: Berkeley Homes, Ira Serkes

It’s in The New Yorker: God spotted in Berkeley

Frances Dinkelspiel — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:30:58 +0000

Photo of Raj Patel by Eliot Khuner

At long last, the truth can be revealed: God has visited Berkeley. And apparently he is tall, broad-shouldered and six foot three. No word on his hair length.

This news of God’s appearance was revealed last week in the New Yorker’s Thanksgiving edition, in an article by Lauren Collins titled “Are You The Messiah?”

Apparently, a Scottish man named Benjamin Creme, who heads up Share International, a London-based religious organization with acolytes around the world, has been predicting for decades that God, whom he calls Maitreya, will soon make an appearance on Earth.

Benjamin Creme

The bulk of the article concerns Raj Patel, a San Francisco writer whose latest book is called The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Markets and Redefine Democracy. Creme had made some cryptic comments about Maitreya’s identity, and many of the clues he uttered suggested Patel was the messiah. Followers of Creme flocked to Patel’s readings, his Facebook page and flooded him with e-mails.

After an article appeared in the New York Times about Patel’s exalted status, whipping up even more frenzy, more television appearances for Patel, and even talk about a film on Patel’s life, Creme announced there was no connection between Patel and Maitreya.

But that doesn’t mean God hasn’t appeared to Creme numerous times, he told The New Yorker. Crème first met him in 1959, he said. He later ran into him on the streets of Berkeley. (Which explains the “Is God in Berkeley?” paper promo on the cover.)

In Berkeley, Maitreya appeared “modern day, slightly hippie, quite casually dressed, but nicely dressed, with a little bomber jacket on,” Creme told the New Yorker.

“He is tall, broad-shouldered, six feet three.”

Keep your eyes peeled.

By Frances Dinkelspiel. | Permalink | 12 comments |
Post tags: Benjamin Creme, Lauren Collins, Maitreya, Raj Patel, Share International, The New Yorker