Uncaught ReferenceError: $ is not defined ( Table )

Following on from http://developer.appcelerator.com/question/174047/how-to-update-a-tabbed-table

As I believe the alloy.js is fired BEFORE the UI I call my function like....

<Tab title="Event List" icon="KS_nav_views.png">
            <Window title="Event List" onFocus="showEventslist">
                <TableView id="eventslisttable" layout="vertical"></TableView>
            </Window>
        </Tab>

$.eventslisttable.setData([]);

Do I need to have eventslisttable listed else where ?

T