The fate of more than 3,000 students who otherwise would be enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley next school year rests with a case before the California Supreme Court starting today. -more-

Mayor Arreguin and others are dead wrong about the cap on enrollment at UC Berkeley. The number of students admitted is decided by the University, and now they choose to enroll large numbers of foreign and out of state students because they pay more.

UCB can decide to enroll more California students if it chooses to do so. So the cap will not restrict the number of freshmen from California if UCB chooses to enroll more.

Right now, there are over 45,000 students at Berkeley and there is a severe housing shortage for everyone. A cap is necessary to challenge UCB greed in enrolling foreign and out of state students and more students than it can house.

Californians support UCB and UCB can admit more Californians. -more-

Thank you, Margot Smith, for your important letter, which was published in the LA Times. Many people are twisting the facts and failing to see the urgent need for the court order to be upheld capping enrollment. The city foolishly sent a letter of support to our alma mater to continue its reckless policy of over-enrolling and under-promising housing. And no, destroying a historic park or evicting rent controlled tenants and demolishing their building is not solving the housing crisis - six other opportunity sites were identified to build student housing that remain available. It is reckless and cruel to students left scrambling for housing (as you know- Cal provides the least housing of all UCs) AND harmful to the local community to create a huge increased demand for services without providing the infrastructure to meet that demand.

Remember when the city didn’t have enough ambulances when a number of students fell ill from partying and the city had to contract outside cities to transport sick and injured Berkeley residents and students to the hospital? There is a long list of rational, justifiable, critical and urgent reasons the court order stopping reckless over enrollment must be upheld. The Mayor spoke in support of the UC practice of over-enrollment as necessary and that if denied would result in the denial of enrollment to thousands of Students of Color. He said that the lawsuit by concerned community was ‘bludgeoning’ the problem instead of performing a surgical solution. Can someone outline a compelling rebuttal -? Rhetoric 101– don’t allow a fallacious argument go by without a swift and persuasive counter argument.

I know by observation and anecdotal evidence that the excessive number of enrolled students is not done for the purpose of enrolling more Black, Brown and Indigenous students. Our alma mater has a horrible track record of under enrolling a racially diverse population and only adopted initiatives recently after Black students, staff and alumni waged a strategic series of protests six years ago with a list of demands. #BlackLivesMatter - I was a part of that historic process. -more-

It is profoundly disturbing that President Biden chose to seize $7 billion of Afghan assets frozen in U.S. banks and divert the money to victims of the 9/11 attacks. Many of these families have condemned Biden’s actions has a crass attempt to ingratiate himself with the American people as a desperate attempt to lift his falling approval rating. The Afghan people did NOT attack the US; this heinous crime was orchestrated by the Saudis with direct links to the monarchy. 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens. Why have the Saudis been given a free pass by successive US administrations? 28 pages of the 9/11 report have still been withheld from the American public. Why? President Biden why have you reneged in your pledge to halt all further weapons sales to the Saudis? Why do we continue selling weapons to the Saudis who have launched relentless attacks on the poverty-stricken Yeminis? The United Nations and many aid groups had been calling on the Biden administration, as well as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, to unfreeze all Afghan funds in order to stem Afghanistan’s growing economic and humanitarian catastrophe. -more-

Antipsychotics suppress brain activity and that's apparently why they work to alleviate symptoms of psychosis. Additionally, these drugs produce a whole gamut of side effects, some of which directly cause extreme physical suffering. If you have never taken antipsychotic medication, you have no concept of this. If you've taken antipsychotics, you likely have a good idea of what I'm talking about. -more-

Just exactly what is going on with the mayor? How does a meeting get posted as closed and then at the nearly last minute become public? As of Sunday, February 20, the City Council posted agenda page still lists that 9 am Friday, February 18, 2022 meeting as closed. This was the council vote on whether to side with UC to increase student enrollment, “Authorize Amicus Curae Support of Petition for Review in Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods v. The Regents of the University of California (American Campus Communities).”

There are lots of people unhappy with the housing situation in Berkeley and the number of ever-expanding UCB admissions is at the center of it. Did the mayor fear he couldn’t pull off a unanimous vote in closed session? -more-

Worth Noting:

Only three days of City meetings.

Tuesday the Civic art Commission Visioning Subcommittee meets at 12 pm to discuss planning for the Maudelle Shirek and Veterans Buildings. The City Council Agenda Committee meets at 2:30 pm to plan the March 8 council agenda. Tuesday evening at 6 pm is the Regular Council meeting.

Wednesday the 4 x 4 (Rent Board/City Council meets at 3 pm and the Energy Commission meets at 5 pm. The Police Accountability Board meets in a special closed session at 5 pm followed with the regular meeting at 7 pm. The Civic Arts Commission meets at 6 pm and will review the public art a poem by “In This Place” by Amanda Gorman to be placed on the mixed use building at 2352 Shattuck. The developer is requesting exception to existing policy that public art remains for the life of the building to instead remove and replace it after 10 years. The Disaster and Fire Safety Commission meets at 7 pm.

Thursday the council Budget and Finance Committee meets at 10 am. Only the agenda is posted, none of the documents. The Zoning adjustment Board meets at 7 pm. The 3233 Ellis project removes five trees and plants three non-native cypress trees.



Sunday, February 20, 2022 & Monday, February 21, 2022 – Presidents’ Holiday Weekend

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