Around Town Around Town (January 26, 2005)

A NAKED SHOWING OF SUPPORT . . . Numerous local groups have held fundraisers for Asia's Tsunami victims, such as the Kiwanis Club of Palo Alto which last week announced it raised $10,648. But freshmen at Stanford University are hoping to top them all -- by taking off their tops. This week, undergrads living at Larkin Hall will be selling $10 calendars of their nearly naked selves performing everyday activities, like reading a book at the library or showering in the dorm. A few well-placed items, from camera lenses to Time Magazines, hide what there is to hide. According to the student newspaper, the Stanford Daily, Freshman Andrew Burmon got the idea from lobster fishermen in Maine, who produce similar calendars to supplement their income. "We intend to make you laugh in the face of overwhelming tragedy," Burmon and photographer Joel Lowenstein wrote in the calendar's introduction. "We intend to make you laugh at an inappropriate time."

BEING QUITE FRANK . . . Does Palo Alto City Manager Frank Benest have a right to a life outside City Hall? Last week, some city-watchdogs argued that he doesn't, producing another "only in Palo Alto" controversy. The source of the flap was a section of the City Charter that reads: "It shall be the duty of the city manager to ...devote his entire time to the discharge of the duties of the office." But does that really mean ALL of his time? A few frequent city commentators -- including Wayne Martin, Herb Borock and Tom Ashton -- think so, and objected to Benest's new contract, which allows him to procure outside work. He already teaches a course at Stanford University for free and has, in the past, given paid talks across the country on management. The Palo Alto City Council, given an OK by City Attorney Gary Baum , approved the contract last week. However, Councilwoman Hillary Freeman asked for it to be discussed by a subcommittee. As a result of the controversy, Benest asked for a new section of his contract to be added, one that specifies that all his outside employment will be done on his own time.

CAUSE FOR ALARM? . . . Palo Alto High School officials are investigating a mysterious false fire alarm that interrupted late-morning final exams last Wednesday and sent students and faculty packing off across campus to the football field. Only the math department stuck it out and finished the finals after checking with the school office. Some concern was raised about students being allowed to take textbooks with them after they had already seen questions. Eighteen journalism students with the Voice , Paly's online news service, spent the rest of their finals period interviewing students and faculty about the false alarm and posted a story within an hour -- a final exam in its own right. (See http://voice.paly.net for the full story.)

RENTS SLIGHTLY DROPPING . . . In the fourth quarter of 2004, the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom, one-bath apartment in Palo Alto was $1,604, a slight drop from the $1,610 average during the same quarter in 2003, according to a new report from RealFacts, a real estate research firm. But the yearly average of $1,601 was a 22.8 percent drop from four years ago, when rents averaged $2,074. The plummet was even more stark in Menlo Park, where rents went from $2,241 in 2000 to $1,554 in 2004. Rents in East Palo Alto, however, have actually gone up since 2000: from $1,028 to $1,077. A caution: RealFacts only surveys large apartment complexes, which tend to be higher-end units.

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