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Farm occupiers fail to
respond to UC proposal
Peter Fimrite, May 7, 2012,
San Francisco
Chronicle (excerpts)
Protesters
occupying land in Albany used by UC Berkeley for agricultural research missed a
weekend deadline to agree to a negotiated departure, but representatives said
they would respond Monday. University
officials said they would consider more forceful measures after the group
Occupy the Farm failed to respond to their proposal to end the encampment in
exchange for discussions about using part of the 10-acre plot for urban
farming.
…On April
22, about 200 activists broke a lock on a gate near Marin and San Pablo avenues
and set up camp on the property known as the Gill Tract. The group planted
carrot, broccoli and corn seedlings
on part of the land as a protest against planned housing and commercial
development nearby.
University
officials claim the protesters have disrupted agricultural research by faculty
scientists and students in the College of Natural
Resources. At one point, Mogulof said, the squatters pruned some fruit trees on
the property and explained to the dean of resources that they had to do it
because the trees were diseased. Turns out the pruned branches were part of a
research project on how diseases affect fruit trees, he said. The university wants the land vacated by
mid-May in order for certain agricultural research studies to be conducted.
The
university's apparent decision to negotiate with the protesters and gradually
increase the pressure on them falls in line with a new kinder, gentler approach
to dealing with civil disobedience announced Friday by UC officials. A 121-page
report, a response to the widely condemned pepper
spraying of students at UC Davis and the beating of protesters at UC Berkeley,
encourages administrators to respect civil disobedience, avoid blind adherence
to regulations and to use force only as a last resort…
Note that the recent report following the pepper-spray incident – also the subject of a recent post – suggests mediation in such cases. But exactly who might play that role in this situation with the occupy-gardeners is unclear. Leonard Bernstein?
Update: Occupiers' demands at http://www.dailycal.org/2012/05/07/farm-protesters-decide-to-stay-solidify-conditions-for-disbanding-encampment/
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