By Adelaide Chen
Financial setbacks and anticipated cuts in public education have impacted at least one community program in Oakland.  A volunteer-run Vietnamese language school has raised tuition and decreased teacher stipends in order to pay $7000 to $8000 in janitorial fees for the first time.

By Angela Kilduff  –
Forty-four years ago, in the early hours of a late fall morning morning, police officers arrested nearly 800 students, ending an historic sit-in at UC Berkeley’s Sproul Hall. It was a turning point in the Free Speech Movement (FSM) and led to the university lifting a ban on on-campus political organizing. The leaders of the FSM made their mark on history and left a legacy of activism at UC Berkeley.
This anniversary this year coincides with another historic turning point, the election of Barack Obama as President. His …

By Mateen Kaul  –
Fremont – These are tough times for Rahim Aurang. After working for many years with a staff of helpers to aid thousands of newcomers to the United States settle in the Bay Area, he now sits alone in his office in Fremont.
Lack of funding means Aurang, an Afghan-American, cannot afford to draw a salary for himself, let alone a staff. The services of his non-profit agency, the Bay Area Immigrant and Refugee Services, are also severely curtailed.

Click to hear an audio report from Will Jason about a fight to reclaim Indian remains on display at a Berkeley museum 

By Mateen Kaul  –
Representatives of all of Fremont’s major faiths — with one notable exception — gathered at St Joseph’s Parish on Monday for a Thanksgiving service celebrating the religious diversity in the Tri-City area.