Source: SFGate.com

Via the San Francisco Chronicle, they’ve taken over an old oak tree, because they’d rather leave the grove it belongs to standing than allow university officials to make an athletic building more earthquake-safe for staff and students. But I love this paragraph the most:

UC plans to remove about three dozen trees from the grove to build a $125 million athletic training center. The City of Berkeley, California Oak Foundation and Panoramic Hill neighborhood association have sued to stop the project, which they say is unsafe because it’s near the Hayward Fault. Denizens of Tightwad Hill on the east side of the stadium also have sued because the proposed stadium renovation would block their free view of Cal football games.

Reader Andy G. has more details:

The university planted the trees back in 1923 during the original construction of the stadium. They are neither old growth nor an endangered species. The university will plant three trees for every one removed.

The current structure that will be replaced by the new sports facility is seismically unsound. The project is critical for the safety of student-athlets and staff in case of a major earthquake.

As part of the project a new building will be constructed that will be used jointly by the Boalt Law School and the Haas School of Business.

In the opinion of many Cal football fans, the protestors don’t really care about the trees or the earthquake danger. Rather the most vocal protestors are the residents who live on the hill above the east side of the stadium, and who oppose any construction in their neighborhood.

At any rate the protestors may have very limited time. At a hearing scheduled for today, a judge is to determine if the university can begin the construction project in spite of the ongoing the lawsuits.

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More Berkeley antics from Zombietime at The Concourse of Hypocrisy, in case you missed it.