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News From Silicon Valley's Neighborhoods Band Shak on the Run The Stanford marching band's legendary digs are going to bite the dust to make way for an alumni center--that is, if the band doesn't torch it first. Stream Consciousness San Jose--Next week, construction crews will tear concrete slabs out of the bed of Guadalupe River Creek to ease the exhausting upstream swim fish make each year in order to spawn. By the year 2000, miniature climbing ladders, shade trees and an extra helping of water will likely follow--all new enhancements to turn the creek back into a healthy fish habitat. Code in the Crib Willow Glen--Having found a niche in the office and the classroom, the computer will soon be moving into the nursery, if a Willow Glen couple's new invention takes off. The software program "babyWow!," created by Tony and Kathy Fernandes, is designed to teach the pre-verbal set 2,000 words in eight languages; Tony Fernandes calls it: "the mother of all speak-and-say toys." Slippery Deal Los Gatos--When General Plan Task Force members took up the issues surrounding growth at their Sept. 17 meeting, organizers told them not to try to be too specific. "It's like nailing Jell-o to a tree," said their agenda packets, which also contained facts and figures on the history of growth in and around the area. "Just when you think you have a handle on it, something squirts out somewhere else." Gown v. Town San Jose--In some circles, San Jose's Martin Luther King, Jr. Main Library is a laughing stock. Its 115,000 square feet of floorspace makes it one-third the size of San Francisco's main library. As a research center, it hardly measures up to public libraries in much smaller Bay Area cities. Understandably, city officials been under pressure to improve the situation. The San Jose State faculty leadership of Save Our University Library (SOUL) believes the mayor and city council are trying to solve their library problem at the expense of San Jose State students. [ Metro | Metroactive Central | Archives ]