Stefan Elgstrand/Courtesy

After two years of planning, some students are raising concerns about the ASUC-sponsored Berkeley redistricting map because the proposed student district excludes Northside residences, including nine Berkeley student housing cooperatives and three residence halls.

Stefan Elgstrand, a UC Berkeley senior and an intern for Councilmember Kriss Worthington since June, has introduced the United Student District Amendment, a proposal that includes Northside residences.

While both the ASUC map and the USDA aim to create a student-majority district to help elect a student representative to Berkeley City Council, proponents of each disagree on how to best represent interests of students and city residents.

Currently, Elgstrand is rallying support for his amendment prior to the City Council meeting on Sept. 10, when the council will continue discussing redistricting.

The ASUC-sponsored Berkeley Student District Campaign map started as a campaign platform for 2011-12 ASUC external affairs vice president Joey Freeman, a Student Action candidate.

The BSDC map creates a student district that encompasses Southside housing, the Greek community and the residence halls, with a 90 percent student population. The map is detailed in ASUC Senate Bill 65, which passed unanimously in the spring of 2013.

“The fact that this (amendment) was introduced so late is really difficult to deal with,” said ASUC External Affairs Vice President Safeena Mecklai of the proposed amendment, which she said the ASUC team has not agreed to. “I wouldn’t be comfortable with it going forward unless the senate endorses it.”

After the BSDC map was submitted in mid-March, Worthington questioned its inclusivity and motivated Elgstrand to draft an amendment.

“The BSDC people mostly live in the fraternities and sororities, so there’s a bit of a bias in that,” Elgstrand said. “From my perspective, since I’m not connected to any of those groups, I can make it more inclusive.”

Proponents say the BSDC map has received support from the Greek community, Cal Berkeley Democrats, Berkeley College Republicans, all 20 ASUC 2012-13 senators and some leaders of the Berkeley Student Cooperative, including ASUC Senator Jorge Pacheco, who is endorsed by the co-ops.

Now, other leaders in the BSC are reconsidering their stances, saying that the BSDC map underrepresents Northside housing. They are giving preference to the USDA proposal, which Elgstrand says includes 87.4 percent of the cooperative population, while the BSDC map only includes 38.1 percent.

“If the intention is to create a unified student district, then not including Northside dorms and co-ops seems to leave out an important population of students,” said Michelle Nacouzi, the 2013-14 president of the BSC.

Nacouzi and other members of the BSC said they were told that it was not feasible to include Northside co-ops in a student-majority district.

Noah Efron, the ASUC redistricting director and local affairs deputy, said the BSDC made several efforts to include the input of student groups by inviting leaders from the BSC, the Greek community and the residence halls to participate in public forums about the plan.

Despite their differences, both Elgstrand and Mecklai said they would prefer to maintain a unified student voice in demanding a student district. However, the ASUC will continue to support the BSDC map without changes to include Northside residences, while Elgstrand plans to push forward his amended plan.

Contact Saachi Makkar at smakkar@dailycal.org.

Correction(s):
A previous version of this article stated that the district proposed by the ASUC represents 90 percent of the student population, defined as residents between ages 18 to 29. In fact, it represents 86 percent of the student population.

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Sarah Branoff/Staff

“I’m so excited! I’m so excited! I’ve never ever been so excited!”

These were the screaming words of one little girl and the sentiments of many Berkeley locals Saturday as they exited a 51B bus at the Berkeley Marina to see an array of colorful, floating objects fill the sky at the 28th Annual Berkeley Kite Festival.

The two-day festival has become a tradition for many people, including Susan and Darrin Skinner, who are founders of the Bay Area Sport Kite League. They have been attending the festival since its inception in 1986, when Darrin Skinner competed in a kite competition for the first time and won. Now, his wife, Susan, is in charge of running the competition part of the festival every year.

“This is one of the bigger kite festivals in the U.S.,” Darrin said. “There are probably only half a dozen or so other ones like it.”

One unique attraction of the Berkeley Kite Festival is the “octopile” display, a setup of several octopus kites that are about 90 feet tall each and cost between $3,500 and $5,000. The large, vibrant octopus kites seem as if they are swimming through the sky with elegant synchronization and rhythm.

Another festival tradition, a favorite among children, is the candy drop. In this event, a large amount of candy is sent up in a kite and dropped from a great height. All the children then run and gather as much candy as they can.

Andrea Gutierrez, a senior at UC Berkeley, described the candy drop as her favorite event.

“Seeing the kids scurrying to gather candy took me back to my childhood,” Gutierrez said. “It reminded me of a big piñata.”

The festival also included kite competitions, kite-making, music and several food vendors. While some participants preferred a hands-on approach and waited in line to learn how to fly both dual-line kites and the more challenging quad-line kites, others enjoyed watching experienced kite-fliers as they competed.

Eager children and equally excited adults, such as Sharon Tsai, a third-year Taiwanese exchange student at UC Berkeley, gathered around craft tables to make their own personalized kites.

The event offered entertainment and activities aside from the kites. Castle Yen, also a third-year Taiwanese exchange student at UC Berkeley, said, “The music and food was my favorite part — the Mexican tacos.”

The Skinners say that participating in the festival for more than 20 years has provided them with not only a hobby but also a friendly and diverse social circle.

“Kiting is its own little world … it’s a wonderful community for really nice people from all walks of life,” Darrin said. “Economically, it’s easy to get into. Physically, it’s easy to do. It’s what you want to put into it.”

“I came to the festival last year, and loved it,” said Sucheta Salgaonkar, a UC Berkeley student. “I had to come back again. I can’t wait to come back with my own children someday.”

Contact Saachi Makkar at smakkar@dailycal.org.

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Matt Lee/Staff

This fall, the UC Berkeley Multicultural Student Development Programs will undergo a series of changes that will upgrade the services of the African American Student Development Programs, Asian Pacific American Student Development Programs and Chicano Latino Student Development Programs.

The changes that will be implemented are based on recommendations from the Chancellor’s Taskforce on Multicultural Student Development, which was established to create a more systematic approach to understanding the needs of the MSD groups. A 50 percent budget increase will allow for the establishment of a Chancellor’s Multicultural Advisory Board, an addition of three new staff members, funding for paid student interns and physical changes to the MSD offices located in the Cesar Chavez Student Center.

“We are really grateful that the chancellor agreed to increase the resources for these programs, and we are excited to start implementing these changes,” said Vice Chancellor of Equity and Inclusion Gibor Basri, who led the Chancellor’s Taskforce.

The MSD programs currently each have only one program coordinator, but following the changes, one more staff member will be added to each program. Although the job descriptions for these new staff members have not been decided, the goal is to make the resources of the MSD programs more accessible to students and expand the population that the programs affect.

“At minimum, we have to find space for all this new staff,” Basri said. “This is really going to be trying to figure out an upgrade within the (Cesar Chavez) center. We would very much like to see all of these programs in that space.”

Wendy Pacheco, the 2013-14 ASUC senator-elect endorsed by the RAZA Recruitment & Retention Center, which focuses on increasing the enrollment of Chicano and Latino students in higher education, said she is in support of the changes that are to be implemented but believes that there is a lot of work yet to be done.

“We believe that things are happening in good faith, but we’re just very conscious of ensuring that what was promised happens,” Pacheco said.

Additionally, the MSD programs are receiving funding to pay student interns to promote student leadership development in these communities and increase campus diversity. Basri is hopeful that such improvements will aid in improving the campus climate, as he said that many students who are part of the MSD programs are feeling the least included on campus.

Marcel Jones, chair of the UC Berkeley Black Student Union, said he is hesitant regarding the fulfillment of the task force’s goals but still believes that the tentative changes are a step in the right direction.

“Overall, this is a positive change for our communities, and we are excited to move forward with student involvement and to get these MSD offices to where they deserve.”

Contact Saachi Makkar at smakkar@dailycal.org.

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Stefan Elgstrand/Courtesy

Berkeley City Council moved toward approving a new redistricting map at its meeting Tuesday by passing a motion supporting the ASUC-sponsored redistricting map.

The Berkeley Student District Campaign map would create a student-majority district south of the UC Berkeley campus, increasing the chances of a student representative being elected to Berkeley City Council. Final approval of a districting map is expected to be made in September.

By passing the motion, the council also diverted attention from two other plans, the Edge Simplicity Plan and an amended ASUC plan called the United Student District Amendment, proposed at Tuesday’s meeting.

The BSDC map continues to receive support from most council members. At the meeting, however, an amendment was introduced that would change the borders of the planned student-majority district to include more student residences, such as cooperative houses, residence halls and International House. The USDA amendment was proposed by Stefan Elgstrand, a UC Berkeley student and intern for Councilmember Kriss Worthington.

Elgstrand’s main concern with BSDC’s proposal is that it does not include students who reside on Northside, which includes nine co-op houses and three dormitories. Elgstrand said he is concerned for those students.

“They are paying thousands of dollars to be living in these areas, so they should at least have a voice in the local government,” he said.

Safeena Mecklai, ASUC external affairs vice president and a representative for the BSDC map, said that her primary goal is to make sure students are represented on the council and not necessarily to support the exact BSDC map.

“We’re in favor of any map that puts forward a student district, that works with the political process and that protects student interests,” Mecklai said. “If students feel that the map represents them, that’s a good thing.”

Several council members, however, said that the proposal of a new plan upsets the political integrity of the redistricting process.

“I feel uncomfortable for having this happen at the very last minute when it could have happened sooner,” said Councilmember Linda Maio at the meeting. “All of these plans went through a public process out in the community.”

Councilmember Kriss Worthington opposed the negative sentiment regarding the new amendment.

“The purpose of a public process is to hear ideas,” he said. “We received new information today that was never provided at previous meetings.”

The council ultimately passed a motion in support of the BSDC proposal with a vote of 7 to 2.

Mayor Tom Bates placed emphasis on the fact that the newly created district will not include all students but will geographically encompass several residential areas surrounding the Berkeley campus.

“I think that I’m planning on supporting the student district (BSDC proposal),” Bates said. “I just don’t want to call it a student district — I want to call it a campus district.”

The council will meet Sept. 10 to continue considering redistricting proposals.

Contact Saachi Makkar at smakkar@dailycal.org

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The first case, United States v. Windsor, overruled the federal Defense of Marriage Act, while the second case, Hollingsworth v. Perry, ruled on California’s ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8. The decision for the DOMA case, which allowed same-sex couples to receive federal marriage benefits, was decided 5-4, with the majority opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Kennedy, a swing voter in recent years, was supported by the four liberal-leaning justices of the court. They ruled in the decision that the statute violated the Fifth Amendment.

In the Prop. 8 case, the Supreme Court, in effect, legalized same-sex marriage in California on procedural grounds, saying Prop. 8 proponents had no legal standing to appeal the case.

Jason Fauss, an ally of the LGBTQ community and a student participating in UC Berkeley’s Cal in the Capital program, was able to witness the decision announced at the U.S. Supreme Court building.

“It was nerve-wracking being in the courtroom waiting to hear the decision,” Fauss said.

As soon as DOMA was announced as overruled, Fauss said that there was an audible roar outside the courtroom doors.

Celebrations were not limited to the capital. LavenderCal, UC Berkeley’s network for LGBTQ faculty members, held a celebration on the steps of Sproul Hall at about noon. The city of Berkeley also held a celebration Wednesday evening on the steps of Old City Hall. The gathering was small but attracted passionate community members who shared their thoughts and personal stories.

At the celebration, California state Assemblymember Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, fought back tears as she shared a text message from her lesbian daughter: “Mom, we can get married at home. Happy tears when I read the headline.”

Ann Riley, a Berkeley resident and former UC Berkeley student, was also at the event and appreciated both the Prop. 8 and DOMA rulings.

“I plan to get married in 25 days,” Riley said.

Joi Soley, a communications director of Pacific School of Religion, a seminary in Berkeley, said that the school had an extremely positive reaction to the decisions. According to Soley, the school is extremely tolerant of people of all sexual orientations.

Many community members, however, continued to look toward the future, noting that the Prop. 8 ruling only affected same-sex marriage in California. Despite the procedural nature of the decision in the Prop. 8 case, Berkeley City Councilmember Kriss Worthington saw the decision as a sign of a changing social landscape.

“Although the decision was based on a technical standing, it is clear that the momentum is building astronomically,” he said.

ASUC Executive Vice President Nolan Pack, who identifies as queer, is an LGBTQ activist and was excited for the overall outcome of both decisions. However, he said he is concerned for other states that are still struggling to obtain marriage equality.

“If DOMA is a one and Prop. 8 is another one, we are at a 1.5 out of two right now,” Pack said.

Although the decisions are a victory for the LGBTQ community in California, more than 30 states still prohibit gay marriage, a concern to many members of the Berkeley community.

At the city’s celebration, Councilmember Darryl Moore, who is gay, furthered Pack’s sentiments.

“Let’s go out and celebrate today,” Moore said. “But remember, we have work still to do.”

Contact Saachi Makkar smakkar@dailycal.org.

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