ALBANY, Calif. — UCPD blocked off vehicle access to the encampment on UC-owned land in Albany known as the Gill Tract early Wednesday morning, causing protesters to fear their camp would be raided.
The west entrance to the land on Jackson Street was blockaded with a concrete barrier in front of a fence which was chained shut. The gate at the east entrance on San Pablo Avenue was open just wide enough for pedestrian access and was monitored by UCPD officers.
UC Berkeley spokesperson Dan Mogulof said Wednesday morning that pedestrians were free to come and go as they pleased from the tract even after police blockaded the entrances.
Protesters were alarmed by UCPD’s announcement at 6:15 a.m. that “chemical agents” would be used if they impeded the officers as they set up the blockade.
“Chemical agents are part of our admonishments,” said UCPD spokesperson Lt. Eric Tejada. “If you assault the police or interfere at any time, that would be a possibility.”
UC Berkeley senior and Occupy Cal member Navid Shaghaghi said he thinks the blockade is meant to keep the protesters from bringing their own water on to the tract, which he said the protesters have to do because the campus shut off the water supply to the tract.
Protesters moved tents and supplies from the plot of land near San Pablo Avenue and Marin Avenue to the plot directly south, where the protesters’ vehicles were previously parked.
Occupy the Farm spokesperson Anya Kamenskaya said the group had already discussed moving the camp and that UCPD’s actions helped solidify the decision to move.
“We have no desire to impede research,” Kamenskaya said.
Environmental Science, Policy and Management Professor Miguel Altieri — who said he is the only tenured UC Berkeley faculty member who conducts research on the land — went to the encampment Wednesday morning with seven of his students in order to start his research by planting tomatoes.
“I wanted to make a statement that researchers and occupiers could coexist and contribute to the dialogue needed to resolve this situation,” Altieri said.
UCPD’s actions Wednesday come on the heels of the release of the campus administration’s proposal for the future of the Gill Tract and an open forum held on campus by protesters Tuesday night.
The proposal — issued by Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost George Breslauer and Vice Chancellor of Administration and Finance John Wilton — asks that the protesters voluntarily dismantle the encampment and restore control of the land to the university. In return, water supply to the Gill Tract would be restored and negotiations with the campus could begin.
According to Mogulof, Wilton and College of Natural Resources Dean Keith Gilless delivered the demands Tuesday night and reiterated the points made in the proposal.
“The offer is still on the table … but we are taking steps necessary for the UC to regain control of its property,” Mogulof said of Wednesday’s UCPD action.
Kamenskaya said campus administrators were invited to an open forum in Morgan Hall Tuesday night to speak with the faculty, researchers, students and protesters but did not attend.
The encampment began on April 22 when protesters armed with hoes and seeds took over the plot of land used for research just across the Albany border. Their intention was to start a sustainable urban farm and protest the campus’ plans to develop part of the land south of the encampment for future commercial use.
Breslauer and Wilton have issued several open letters to the protesters over the past two weeks informing them that negotiations cannot begin until the encampment is disbanded and that legal action may be taken against them if they choose to stay.
“We would still really like to see a peaceful resolution, but as we have said we are at the point where we need to evaluate other options in order to let research go forward,” Mogulof said.
Later in the day, a press release from Mogulof announced the UC had filed a lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court on Wednesday against 14 individuals allegedly connected to the encampment. In the suit, the university “alleges that the defendants … conspired to cut locks, enter the property illegally and establish an illegal encampment.”
News editor Adelyn Baxter contributed to this report.
Correction(s):
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that a lawsuit filed by the University of California against 14 individuals in connection with the Gill Tract farm did not include any current UC Berkeley students. In fact, at least two of the individuals named in the suit are current UC Berkeley students.
A previous version of this article stated John Wilton is UC Berkeley’s associate vice chancellor of administration and finance. In fact, Wilton is vice chancellor of administration and finance.
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The two students from UC Berkeley should be expelled for disrupting a school activity–the student research on the site. What knuckleheads. That’s not the way to go about things. Their parents get a BIG FAIL.
Trespassing, plain and simple. If these “occupiers” are so willing to work on farms, why don’t they get ACTUAL farm jobs? They do still exist, even in CA. Interesting pictorial here: http://www.zombietime.com/zomblog/?p=1842
Good suggestion, too logical, not enough drama, requires actual work…
READ THE CIVIL COMPLAINT!!!
I read it. Does that mean you will now apologize for your earlier post. All of the researchers work with Berkeley. One works for professor Freeling so that makes two professors: Hake and Freeling who are members of the National Academy of Sciences.
THE UNIVERSITY LIES AGAIN!!!
In the lawsuit the University alleges the Occupiers has stopped “agricultural research and education” by their presence on the land. However, this allegation appears to be false because it was the University who prevented UC Berkeley Professor Miguel Altieri, researcher at the Gill Tract for 31 years, from planting his research plot yesterday morning, May 10, 2012.
According to their webside, takebackthetract.com “.. an hour before [Professor Altieri] was scheduled to begin, he UC administration barricaded the Gill Tract with concrete, metal barriers, and dozens of police who threatened farmers with “chemical agents and impact force.” In a blatant affront to academic freedom, Dr. Altieri was told he lacked the “authorization” to conduct his research. A bulldozer loomed on the edge of the farm for the majority of the morning.”
Lt. Eric Tejada is in violation of University policy set down by the Regents that chemical agents are not suppose to be used against students and professors like Altierri who appears to have been present when the police got there. He is the one who should be arrested immediately.
And who stopped the research about disease control when they pruned the trees in the experiment? Yeah, nice try liar.
You are repeating more falsehoods. UCB faculty have been growing corn at Gill for over two decades (http://albany.patch.com/articles/gill-tract-scientists-speak-out)- they are not professers at UC Davis, you just made that up.
Do you have a real life?
Now you are just spinning a recent event to make up things, or you have the inability to make a logical association. The university isn’t telling a lie when we have every researcher but Altieri being kept from their research by the occupiers. Altieri being unable to get on the tract yesterday has nothing to do with any honesty issues by the university.
Keep it up please. The more babble that comes out of your mouth the more people will be against your cause. Seems you are the likely liar claiming to have a JD from Harvard over on the patch… laughable man laughable
Altieri is a damn liar, there are at least four other faculty members who regularly use the land. Two of them are members of the National Academy of Sciences and have brought in millions of dollars in grant money to support their research and train students. In contrast, Altieri hasn’t published a research papers in years, hasn’t attracted any substantial grant money, and does bogus research looking at how plants grow without fertilizer. How do Alteri’s plants grow? Not well. His claims of an open dialogue are disingenuous at best as he has constantly undermined his colleagues with his false claims. Furthermore, his former student has organized the occupation, probably with Altieri’s consent.
And you are….?
Come on, it’s not like you can just go off name dropping without some citations. This is the internet!
A quick search on Google Scholar shows over 200 scientific publications authored or co-authored by Altieri. The most important one has about 1,500 citations, perhaps not surprisingly since he is one of the pioneers of a whole field of research (agroecology) that has been taken up by universities across the world… so whatever your views are of the guy, you can’t deny objective measures of academic success.
Do you struggle with basic reading comprehension ?
Nano1 said that Altieri “hasn’t published a research paper in years”, not that he has never published a paper.
That paper with 1500 citations is from 1983. Almost 30 years ago.
To be fair, Altieri is only quoted as saying he is the only tenured Cal faculty member doing research. Though the Daily Cal in its soap opera efforts seems to imply that non-tenured professors are not worthy of consideration as legitimate researchers.
I highly doubt that any non-tenured assistant professors are in the National Academy of Sciences.
If what Nano1 wrote is true, Altieri is most definitely a liar.
The “researchers” using the land where the Occupiers are are not professors at the National Academy of Sciences. My understanding is the “researchers” in question are NOT professors at Berkely, may not be professors at UC Davis either and are not paid by tax payer dollars but are funded by corporate money such as perhaps Monsanto who IS poisoning our food supply.
“Poisoning the food supply”???
You’re clearly a kook.
”Poisoning the food supply” is leaping to a conclusion, but I agree that the FDA seems to basically be rubber-stamping Monsanto’s research into genetic modification without thoroughly investigating the possible outcomes.
And Monsanto’s own behavior has been despicable. They have allowed organic crops to be contaminated with their Roundup-Ready versions, and then attempt to sue the organic farmers for using “their” seed without paying for it. Disgraceful.
Dude, where do you get your info? The researchers are UCB faculty, they are not at UC Davis! Read the lawsuit posted above, the names of the UC faculty are listed on page 6. Two of them are paid by the US Dept. of Agriculture, not Monsanto! Quit telling lies and try to get a clue!
Mike Freeling and Sarah Hake are members of the National Academy of Sciences. Sarah Hake even runs her own organic farm. I’d listen to her over some idiot like Altieri.
Altieri is the only tenured faculty member doing research at the Tract. The other people who do research on the tract are either USDA adjuncts (who are more or less the equivalent of what some other schools label professors by courtesy) or researchers attached to other people’s labs who aren’t themselves faculty.
Looking at the complaint, Altieri is either being dishonest, or he somehow forgot all about Freeling being involved in research in the tract. I almost tend to think that Altieri is more of a coward than anything else. He is so scared of losing his piece of land to do research on, that he is selling out all the other researchers, and kissing the backsides and feet of the occupiers. I think the university should make sure that they move Altieri to those distant plots in Contra Costa, once the occupiers are removed.
Who are the “..four other faculty members who regularly use the land [where the Occupiers are]? Need their names, who they work for, who funds them and exactly where their plots are. Then we can verify your statement.
My understands is that Altieri does “dry farming.
How do you know Altieri has not published in years and has not brought n dollars in grant money.
My understanding is the “researchers” in question are professors at Berkely, may not be professors at UC Davis either and are not paid by tax payer dollars but are funded by corporate money such as perhaps Monsanto who are poisoning our food supply.