Matt Lee/Staff

Residents and business owners witnessed the second homicide to occur at the intersection of San Pablo Avenue and Delaware Street this year on Thursday, prompting concerns about the area’s safety.

At approximately 9:18 p.m., police responded to reports of multiple shots fired and found the victim, 24-year-old Berkeley resident Dustin Bynum, suffering from gunshot wounds. The victim was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Kelly Gonzalez, 19, lives near the intersection and was inside with her family when she heard the shots.

“We ran out and saw the cops,” Gonzalez said. “I feel a little worried. It was pretty close to my home.”

The shooting took place on a block of San Pablo Avenue that is home to several small stores and restaurants as well as a liquor store and two martial arts studios. Around the corner, small, colorful bungalows with tall iron fences line Delaware Street.

Lucy Espinoza, who manages a nearby Popeye’s fast-food chain restaurant, said the business may hire security at the restaurant. She said she thinks that customers will come back despite the shootings.

Espinoza said the restaurant sometimes attracts unsavory clients, and she does not feel safe working in the area.

Other neighborhood employees — including Harry Atwal, who owns Bing’s Liquor — have also expressed worries about safety.

Atwal said he is concerned because two of the three reported homicides in Berkeley this year occurred on his block, and the other one took place in a nearby neighborhood.

“Police have to do something,” Atwal said.

Atwal has security cameras filming outside his shop and said that he is willing to use his video to help police.

Pam Jackson, an office manager at Jackson Hewitt Tax Services, was not working Thursday evening but heard gunshots during the homicide of Zontee Jones at the same intersection in February.

Jackson said she ran outside and saw Jones lying on the ground choking. “It’s been unsafe,” Jackson said, expressing concerns about people whom she says loiter on the corner near her workplace. “It’s not the first time I’ve worked in a neighborhood like this.”

Anneke Faas, a mother of two, said she was riding home on her bicycle at the time of the shooting and spoke to a police officer shortly afterward, who informed her about the incident.

“When there’s a murder right outside of your door, of course you’re concerned for your kids,” Faas said. “But I’m not going to change what I’m doing.”

Berkeley police have not released any further information about the homicide at this time.

Anyone with information on the homicide is encouraged to call Berkeley police at 510-981-5741 or 510-981-5900. Callers wishing to remain anonymous can contact the Bay Area Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

Contact Grace Wu and Madeline Pauker at newsdesk@dailycal.org

Clarification(s):
Clarification: This article has been updated to more accurately reflect a statement about shooting on San Pablo avenue in February.

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At the request of BART administration, Brown appointed the three-person board, saying in a statement that a strike would “significantly disrupt public transportation services and will endanger the public’s health, safety, and welfare.” State law forbids any strike or lockout while the board finishes its investigation.

The board’s investigation will include the facts of the dispute and the respective positions of the parties but will not contain recommendations. The report will be made available to the public.

”The board is directed to provide me with a written report within the next seven days,” Brown said in the statement. “For the sake of the people of the Bay Area, I urge — in the strongest terms possible — the parties to meet quickly and as long as necessary to get this dispute resolved.”

The planned strike would have been the second this summer, following the expiration of a 30-day temporary agreement after July’s five-day strike. On Thursday, BART unions gave 72-hour notice of a strike that would begin Monday morning if a contract agreement was not reached between BART and BART unions Service Employees International Union Local 1021 and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555.

In July, negotiations focused on wage increases for BART workers and the ability to pay into their own pensions. The unions have also requested better security to protect themselves from violence on the job and general improvements such as better lighting on the tracks.

BART leaders said they opposed a strike, saying it unnecessarily harmed passengers.

“As we saw in early July, the effect of a public transit strike is a complete disruption of the Bay Area economy,” said BART President Tom Radulovich in a letter to Brown asking for a cooling-off period. “We believe the public should not be deprived of this essential public service unless all alternatives to prevent a work stoppage have been utilized.”

But union leaders, such as Pete Castelli, executive director of SEIU 1021, said that although BART employees and administration share the common goal of avoiding a strike, he is dissatisfied with BART’s management of the negotiations — especially the administration’s choice to hire Thomas Hock, a $400,000 outside consultant.

Hock left negotiations earlier this month to go on vacation and has only recently returned.

Union negotiators were informed of Hock’s availability ahead of negotiations, said BART spokesperson Rick Rice.

“Mr. Hock is an experienced negotiator, and the district has faith that he’ll get us through to a good contract this time,” he said.

Contact Jacob Brown and Madeleine Pauker at newsdesk@dailycal.org.

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Alex Mousouris/Staff

BART unions gave 72-hour notice of a strike Thursday night that will begin Monday morning if an agreement is not reached between BART employees and administration.

The 30-day contract extension between labor unions Service Employees International Union Local 1021 and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555, established after the July strike, will expire Sunday night and may lead to another strike if negotiations before then are unsuccessful.

“We are very disappointed and hope they reconsider their options,” said BART spokesperson Rick Rice in a press release Thursday. “A strike only stalls and delays the decisions that need to be made while using our riders as pawns.”

In an interview Thursday, he said that the end of the contract on Sunday does not guarantee a strike.

“We can continue talking Monday,” he said. “There’s really no reason for a strike and no hard, fast rule there has to be a strike. We are hoping to reach an agreement at the table and not throw the Bay Area into chaos again.”

Pete Castelli, executive director of SEIU 1021, said that although BART employees and administration share the common goal of avoiding a strike, he is dissatisfied with BART’s management of the negotiations — especially the administration’s choice to hire Thomas Hock, a $400,000 outside consultant.

Hock left negotiations earlier this month to go on vacation and has only recently returned.

“Frankly, on the big issues, we’ve done very little bargaining, and the blame lies squarely at the feet of the BART administration for allowing this outside consultant to not take it seriously,” Castelli said.

Union negotiators were informed of Hock’s availability ahead of negotiations, Rice said.

“Mr. Hock is an experienced negotiator, and the district has faith that he’ll get us through to a good contract this time,” he said.

Castelli said that negotiators have not yet reached an agreement that benefits BART workers.

“Right now, a worker that makes $52,000 a year would lose $2,000 if we take the current proposal on the table,” he said. “We haven’t had a raise in four years.”

Contact Madeleine Pauker at mpauker@dailycal.org.

Correction(s):
A previous version of this article misspelled Rick Rice’s last name.

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Classrooms in the affected areas were closed and emptied, but most of the building remained open.

Custodial staff members are cleaning up the flooding, and students will be allowed back into the areas by 5 p.m. today, according to Christine Shaff, director of communications for UC Berkeley’s Department of Facilities Services.

Shaff said that although there is ongoing construction in the affected bathroom, it is unrelated to the incident.

The flooding is unlikely to cause water damage, Shaff said.

Contact Madeleine Pauker at mpauker@dailycal.org.

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The suspect, 21-year-old Maurice Thomas, was arrested in San Diego on July 4, according to Berkeley Police Department spokesperson Officer Jennifer Coats.

Lt. Jorge Duran of San Diego Police Department told Berkeleyside that Thomas was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence and possessing a controlled substance. Police later found during the booking process that Thomas was wanted in connection with the murder of Jones.

The Daily Californian could not reach San Diego Police Department for comment.

Jones was shot near the intersection of San Pablo Avenue and Delaware Street at 11:08 a.m on Feb. 4. Officers responded to the scene after receiving reports of shots fired. Jones was immediately transported to Highland Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The killing of Jones was Berkeley’s first homicide of 2013, followed by the July shooting of Jermaine Davis on Derby Street.

Thomas has been charged with the murder of Jones and has been held without bail in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin since July 15. He will enter a plea after arraignment at the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in downtown Oakland on Aug. 5, Coats said.

On June 16, police also arrested Jevon Calland in West Berkeley in connection with the shooting.

Calland, Thomas and others allegedly planned beforehand to harm the victim. The day before the murder, Calland reportedly threatened Jones in front of witnesses. Both suspects allegedly carried firearms to the scene of the crime, but Thomas was allegedly responsible for shooting Jones.

Contact Madeleine Pauker at mpauker@dailycal.org.

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A study conducted by UC Berkeley and Harvard University researchers found that the probability of low-income children rising to higher income brackets as adults varies significantly across different metropolitan areas within the United States, with the San Francisco Bay Area among the most upwardly mobile regions.

San Francisco Bay Area children born to the bottom fifth of earners have an 11.2 percent chance of rising to the top fifth of earners during adulthood — one of the highest rates in the nation.

In addition to San Francisco, metropolitan commuter regions within California and several regions in the Northeast and West — such as New York, Boston, Seattle and Salt Lake City — displayed exceptionally high levels of upward mobility. In contrast, cities in the Southeast and Midwest, such as Atlanta, Cincinnati and Memphis, Tenn., showed some of the lowest levels of social mobility.

Professors Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren of Harvard and professors Patrick Kline and Emmanuel Saez of UC Berkeley collected anonymous records from more than 40 million individuals born during the 1980s and 1990s.

The study cited factors that may have contributed to the connection between upward mobility and geographic location as the existence of a large middle class, limited geographic segregation of races and social classes, high quality of education, a large number of two-parent households and active engagement with community or religious services.

Hendren, an economics professor who co-headed the study, points to the Bay Area’s low degree of economic and racial geographic segregation and relatively large middle class as possible reasons for the trend, but he warned that correlation does not necessarily imply causation.

“We can identify the broad factors correlated, but I think each city has its own particular constraints,” Hendren said. “But cities that have lower mobility should learn from cities with high mobility.”

According to Hendren, one of the main factors of low social mobility is the geographic segregation between classes, especially the segregation of the poor from the middle class.

Jo Ferlatte, supervisor at the Multi-Service Center of the Berkeley Food and Housing Project, believes mixed-income communities facilitate higher-quality education for low-income students but added that in Berkeley, it may be harder for those students to stay in those communities in the long run due to the city’s unusually high housing costs.

“When there are mixed-income communities, it challenges government and education systems to become more efficacious in their educating, because the higher-income people will challenge the education system to provide for their children,” Ferlatte said. “It’s generally acknowledged that they have more lobbying power. Affluent areas get better education — you can see that around the country.”

Hendren says that the data set is the first of its kind and that although it is too soon to explain the exact cause of the findings, the chronological depth of the study will prove valuable to future researchers.

“In the past, the public discourse has been centered on static income discussion because of data limitations,” Hendren said. “Now, we’re also talking about how income changes from generations.”

Contact Madeleine Pauker at mpauker@dailycal.org.

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Sean Conners/Staff

Every year, hundreds of Irish students spend their summers in Berkeley. Recognizable to many by their distinctive accent, “brogue,” these young Irish visitors often stay in housing vacated by Berkeley students for the four months of summer their work visas allow them.

This annual western migration has become a rite of passage for many Irish university students. The trips are made possible by the federal Summer Work Travel Program, which issues temporary J-1 visas to students. For the past 40 years, the program has allowed students to live and work in the United States for the summer.

Ireland operates a reciprocal Work and Travel Ireland Program for American students who wish to work temporarily in Ireland. The program, founded in 1976, is less popular than the Summer Work Travel Program.

Thirty-five percent of Irish students visiting the United States on J-1 visas end up in California, according to a survey conducted in 2005 by USIT Ireland Ltd. Berkeley in particular has become a desirable spot due to its young university population, student housing, good weather and, according to Irish student Howard Costelloe, its “funky, hippie-ish vibe.”

Stephen Hatton and Robert Milling, students at Trinity College in Dublin, came to Berkeley on a recommendation from a friend.

“San Francisco and Berkeley have such a great reputation — it’s cool,” Milling said, mentioning the strength of gay rights and activism as one of the characteristics he appreciates about the Bay Area.

Hatton and Milling currently live in the UC Berkeley student housing cooperative Lothlorien — named after an elven realm in “The Lord of the Rings” — which typically houses 48 residents, or “elves,” during the summer.

“We heard that the frats weren’t taking male Irish people, because we have a reputation anyway for being, like, completely drunk and ridiculous,” Milling said. So, instead, he turned to the cooperative system.

Hatton said most visiting Irish students live in crowded houses near campus, but he prefers Loth because it is spacious and relatively cheap.

At Loth, Hatton and Milling like to enjoy the summer on the upstairs deck, which houses a working beehive, hammocks and a collection of worn couches. The house, with its melted candlesticks, empty food containers and hair from a recent outdoor haircut scattered around the deck, is clearly a college residence.

“We definitely have a lot of stories from Loth,” Hatton said. “People won’t believe us when we get home.”

Hatton, like many other Irish people on J-1 summer visas, works in the service industry. He makes frozen treats at a nearby Ghirardelli Chocolate Company store, which he describes as his “dream job” but with many “Americanisms” in the recipes that are sometimes hard to understand.

Hatton said Irish students looks for jobs that tip because Ireland lacks a tipping culture. In the United States, some can make more in one day through tips than through their hourly wages.

When they’re not working, Milling and Hatton spend time on the south side of campus frequenting shops and eateries such as Walgreens, Gypsy’s Trattoria Italiana and Yogurtland.

“We basically live on Telegraph,” Hatton said. “It’s so cheap.”

But there’s one aspect of American life that Milling and Hatton have to complain about: sales tax.

“At home, if it’s 99 cents, it costs 99 cents,” Hatton said. “Here, it’s like $1.08. That’s so poignant with the dollar menu at McDonald’s.”

Contact Madeleine Pauker at mpauker@dailycal.org.

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Gyrostat/Creative Commons/Courtesy

UC alumni have expressed mixed reactions regarding the University of California’s suspension of the fall semester study abroad program in Cairo due to violence resulting from the recent regime change.

On July 8, the university decided to suspend the program until the situation in Egypt is no longer considered dangerous, possibly the spring semester of 2014. Twenty-two UC students and one UC faculty member director were planning to spend the fall semester in Egypt at the American University in Cairo. Most will be redirected to other programs, including programs located in Israel, Morocco, Turkey and Jordan.

UC Berkeley alumna Ali Glenesk, who studied in Cairo from 2008 to 2009, said her experience in Egypt was valuable and urges other students to study in the Middle East even though many consider it too dangerous to visit.

“The suspension of this EAP program represents a great loss of opportunity for UC students,” Glenesk said. “I’d encourage all students who can to still find a way to study and learn in the Middle East.”

The university has already accepted applications for the spring semester in Cairo, but it remains unclear if it will be safe enough for students to attend, according to the office of the UC Education Abroad Program.

The U.S. Department of State recently reissued a travel warning for Egypt in response to instability and violence that started after Mohamed Morsi was deposed as president.

Earlier this month, UC Berkeley asked its students in Egypt to evacuate. The students were registered with the university’s travel insurance program, which covers students in the case of a variety of accidents or incidents while traveling. According to UC Berkeley risk manager Andrew Goldblatt, the students are not in any immediate danger but are being evacuated to completely ensure their safety.

Similar cancellations occurred in 2011 during the Egyptian Revolution. The university relocated 21 students from Cairo by evacuating students directly from their apartments to a charter flight.

Justin Hinton, a UC Berkeley alumnus of the study abroad program in Egypt who studied there from 2010 to 2011, witnessed the 2011 revolution firsthand. On Jan. 26, 2011, Hinton went with a friend to Tahrir Square.

“You could feel the intensity — that at any moment violence would erupt,” Hinton said. “Shortly after, it did. Batons from the military or the police came crashing down.”

Hinton said he felt safe the entire time and wanted to stay but understood why the evacuation was necessary.

“You never know what could happen,” he said. “My program was suspended indefinitely, and it was back open next fall, so you never know how things will change.”

Contact Madeleine Pauker at mpauker@dailycal.org.

Correction(s):
A previous version of this article misquoted Doerr as saying that UCEAP does not operate in travel-warning countries. In fact, UCEAP does operate in some travel-warning countries, including Mexico and Israel.

A previous version of this article also incorrectly stated that Doerr said the university relocated 21 students from Cairo by evacuating students directly from their apartments to a charter flight. In fact, the UCEAP office stated this in a press release.

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Pol Rebaque/Staff

A memorial service for Annais Rittenberg, a UC Santa Cruz student who was killed by a falling tree near Yosemite on July 3, was held Tuesday at the Alumni House at UC Berkeley.

Rittenberg was working as a camp counselor at Camp Tawonga, a popular Jewish summer camp. She was eating breakfast outside with friends when the tree cracked and fell. Four others were also injured in the accident.

At the service, about 200 of Rittenberg’s loved ones remembered her life and spirit with personal stories and songs.

According to family and friends, 21-year-old Rittenberg was a lively, passionate and free spirit who loved nature and was majoring in environmental studies.

“Annais loved animals,” said Adam Rittenberg, her brother. “She went to Burning Man and Coachella. She was spunky, fearless, free and artistic.” He added that she was “a true hippie … she pierced her own nose. She absorbed life like a sponge.”

Rittenberg was born in Berkeley before moving to New York City as a child. She graduated from LaGuardia High School in 2010 before attending UC Santa Cruz, where she would have been a senior this year. She served as the world music director for college radio station KZSC Santa Cruz.

“She was one of the most talented, creative writers I have ever read,” her brother said. “She did more in 21 years than most do in 60 or 70.”

Rittenberg’s mother, Penny Kreitzer, said Rittenberg loved her life and herself.

“What gives me comfort is that she was so, so happy with her life at that point,” Kreitzer said. “She loved her friends.”

At Tawonga, a summer camp known for its community and nature-loving attitude, Rittenberg thrived.

“She was very helpful with the kids and really nice to everyone around her,” said Nathan Frankel, a Tawonga counselor in training. “She always seemed to be smiling.”

Rittenberg’s family and friends remembered her compassion for others and the environment.

“She was a flower child,” said her father, Mark Rittenberg. “No matter how bad it got, she always reached out to others. She was one of a kind. No pattern or mold — a true original.”

A second service will be held on Saturday in San Francisco.

Contact Madeleine Pauker at mpauker@dailycal.org.

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The NEA awards the title to governors who have improved public education through legislation. A press release announcing the award cited Proposition 30 and Brown’s Local Control Funding Formula as primary achievements.

Last November, Brown campaigned for Prop. 30, a successful ballot measure that instituted a sales tax as well as an income tax for those making over $250,000. The measure prevented billions of dollars in planned cuts and is expected to generate $47 billion over the next seven years for California’s public universities and schools, according to a press release by the California Teachers Association.

Brown’s 2013-14 budget also increases funding for K-12 schools by about $2 billion, while implementing the new Local Control Funding Formula that directs additional state funds to districts with low-income students and English learners. Also included in the budget are new Common Core State Standards that would improve the quality of essential classes such as math and English.

“Students and families will reap the benefits of Governor Brown’s initiatives for years to come,” said NEA president Dennis Van Roekel in the press release. “The state and our country will be stronger and more competitive as a result of the choices he’s making today.”

On Friday, Brown spoke to 9,000 educators in Atlanta at the NEA’s annual assembly. He said that public education in the U.S. still needs important reforms and that good reform requires a holistic approach.

“We believe in teachers and administrators — education is not one-size-fits-all,” Brown said at the assembly. “Students should not be cogs in a corporatized system that cares more about metrics than personalities.”

The California Teachers Association nominated Brown for the NEA’s award earlier this year because of his innovative budget plan and dedication to public education.

“We need to understand that at-risk students cost more to educate, and districts with a lot of them need more resources,” said Mike Myslinski, a spokesperson for the California Teachers Association. “Now, that’s going to happen.”

Contact Madeleine Pauker at mpauker@dailycal.org.

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