Around 4:30 a.m., UCPD issued a 10-minute warning to the protesters — who had been occupying and farming a southern portion of a university property, known as the Gill Tract, since Saturday afternoon — to vacate the property or face arrest.

One protester, a UC Berkeley affiliate, was arrested for trespassing and resisting an officer, according to UCPD spokesperson Lt. Eric Tejada. Tejada said the protester was registered in the student directory but could not confirm whether this person is an active student.

The rest of the protesters moved off of the land willingly, and the university allowed the protesters to keep coming back to the land to collect their belongings, according to Claire Holmes, campus associate vice chancellor of public affairs.

Around 9:20 a.m., a tractor was brought in to remove the crops occupiers planted over the weekend, and two more individuals were arrested for trespassing and refusing to follow police orders. A fourth person was arrested around 10 a.m, Tejada said.

Occupy the Farm made a public announcement Sunday morning that they planned to break down their tents early Monday morning and continue to farm throughout the day, said Occupy the Farm spokesperson Matthew McHale.

“The UC’s use of police intervention was completely unnecessary and unreasonable, especially after we publicly declared we were leaving later today,” McHale said.

University officials took action this morning because they wanted to choose a time when they felt they could vacate the lot as safely as possible and with the least amount of disruption to the community, Holmes said.

Currently, Occupy the Farm protesters are in close proximity to the property and have called for a public reconvergence at 5 p.m. to decide what to do next, said  Lesley Haddock, a demonstrator and a UC Berkeley junior.

According to Holmes, police are still near the tract to monitor the situation, and there will be police present throughout the day.

Contact Megan Messerly at mmesserly@dailycal.org

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The group assembled to oppose recent proposals to develop the southern portion of an Albany plot of land known as the Gill Tract, owned by the Regents of the University of California. The proposals suggest developing the lot into a senior housing complex and a national chain grocery store, Sprouts Farmers Market.

Occupy the Farm activists said they would rather see the land developed into a urban farm that could be used to educate the community and to conduct research on how to improve soil quality.

“This piece of land is unparalleled in terms of being an agricultural resource,” said Matthew McHale, an Occupy the Farm spokesperson. “We envision not only a resource for growing food but for community resilience.”

Around 1 p.m., Occupy the Farm activists congregated in front of Albany City Hall before marching south on San Pablo Avenue to the portion of the Gill Tract north of Monroe Street. The group walked behind a banner that read “Sprout Farms Not Grocery Stores.”

Several cars met the group at the property, bringing truckloads of dirt, an assortment of plants as well as some chickens and goats. The group tilled the soil and planted hundreds of plants, including lemon cucumbers, mustard greens and Yukon Gold potatoes, into the afternoon.

Saturday’s movement is the first major effort to cultivate the Gill Tract since last spring, when the group assembled farther north on the property to protest the development of the same senior housing facility and a different grocery store, Whole Foods Market. In September, Whole Foods canceled its plans to build on the Gill Tract, citing project delays.

Urban-farm activists continued to break into the property throughout the summer and into the fall to care for their crops, arguing that the land should be accessible to the community because it is owned by a public university.

The northern portion of the tract farmed last spring is a Class 1 agricultural land, and it is extremely nutrient-rich and conducive to farming. In September, it was placed under the purview of the UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources and is currently prepared and ready for planting, according to Claire Holmes, campus associate vice chancellor of public affairs.

This spring, farmers hope to prove that the southern plot of land, which was once host to military barracks, is also agriculturally viable.

Some community members and Albany city officials, however, believe the land would be better be served with commercial development that would bring economic growth to the area.

“We could bring life to San Pablo,” said Albany Mayor Peggy Thomsen.

Campus officials issued a statement Thursday urging city residents to prepare for an occupation, noting that they would closely monitor the situation. UCPD was at the tract on Saturday and advised the group several times that the property is closed to the public, but no action was taken.

Last May, three weeks after the initial occupation began, nine Occupy the Farm protesters were arrested — two who remained on the Gill Tract and seven who were outside the entrances to the encampment. Charges were never filed against the protesters.

Some Albany community members staged a counterprotest on Saturday, riding bicycles around the Gill Tract and carrying signs with the name “Occupy the Farm” struck out.

Albany resident and counterprotester Preston Jordan sees Occupy the Farm’s actions as an attempt to circumvent a democratic system that is already working.

“There are issues throughout history that call for civil disobedience,” Jordan said. “But I don’t think this calls for that.”

Occupy the Farm activists set up an encampment Saturday night on the property, and six tents were still standing as of 10 a.m. Sunday morning.

In the immediate future, the group plans to continue planting, cleaning up the land and being “good stewards,” McHale said.

“Farming is about the long game — setting down roots,” McHale said. “Putting plants in the ground is hope. It is inherently oriented toward the future.”

Megan Messerly covers city government. Contact her at mmesserly@dailycal.org and follow her on Twitter @meganmesserly.

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Land was given to what is now UC Berkeley because the Morrill Act, which necessitated that these colleges act for the “benefit of agriculture and the mechanical arts.” The California Organic Act of 1867-68 not only outlined the goals of this new university but specified that, “as soon as practicable a system of moderate manual labor shall be established in connection with the Agricultural College … having for its object practical education in agriculture, landscape gardening, the health of the students.”

Doesn’t that sound nice? An opportunity to learn about agriculture, empower ourselves as Millennials to learn about our food system and see first hand the journey from farm to fork. But alas, we’ve strayed far from this original vision. The last true university-owned student space for agriculture and gardening at UC Berkeley is SOGA, a student-created and student-run small plot of land located on Walnut and Virginia Streets. During the fall, SOGA becomes a living classroom for a wonderful class about urban agriculture, but this class constricts students’ abilities to have the final say in garden activities, and we deserve more than an ever-dwindling plot of land on the far side of campus.

Last semester, I had dreams to proposition the campus to give us a green space that could be ours 365 days a year. I envisioned an educational organic garden with native bee hedgerows on the hill that currently holds Campbell Hall construction crews. We’d be impossible to ignore and would offer cooking classes, gardening demonstrations and would allow anyone affiliated with the campus to share in our harvests after they’d worked the land for a few hours.

I saw this space in addition to SOGA’s current space, one that could align with the goals of Occupy the Farm and that would reaffirm our campus’ history as an agricultural giant. It could become a place of rest amid busy schedules and hectic lives. One of my favorite parts about facilitating SOGA this year is the time it allows me to relax, and revel in the sensations of sun on my shoulders and dirt between my fingers. I find peace and meditative calm in the repetitive nature of weeding, watering, sowing and pruning.

Unfortunately, I became discouraged after a failed grant attempt and a sense of helplessness in the face of so much bureaucratic red tape needed to make this dream a reality. I want a space to grow with my fellow students all year without having to enroll in a class that barely fits into my schedule in order to spend a few hours in the garden.

I came to UC Berkeley with dreams of sustainability that have morphed into goals and dreams about the future of local, environmentally-conscious agriculture. I didn’t even bother applying to UC Davis, mostly because it was too close to home and too far from urban centers, but as I look back I wonder if I did belong on the Farm. They’re also a large land-grant university, but with amazing environmental programs, their own student farm, and support of the campus administration. I’ve done my best here to find niches to fulfill my intellectual and environmental passions by joining a food collective, working on waste reduction, developing my own major in the College of Natural Resources and more. I hope someone in the future tries to make undergraduate agriculture more of a reality on campus. I don’t regret coming to Berkeley, which is in my mind the best public university in the world — I just hope we leave some room for our past in all our future plans.

Contact Carli Baker at cbaker@dailycal.org or follow her on Twitter: @carliannebaker.

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About 70 members from the surrounding community gathered at the Albany Senior Center for the forum, the first since November. The forum focused on access and management, education, farming and research, and it encouraged attendees to provide feedback and suggestions.

“This farm is a space for our community to come together to not just talk about what we want, demand what we want, but to make what we want real,” said Effie Rawlings, an Occupy the Farm organizer and UC Berkeley alumna.

The group also held a discussion on race, class, gender, privilege and oppression within the movement to encourage diversity in involvement and results.

UC Berkeley students from We Dig the Farm, a new campus student group encouraging students to become involved in urban and sustainable farming, were also in attendance.

“I can’t think of much more important things we can be doing now than fostering relationships with our communities and our land bases and redefining the way that we relate with the land that we live on,” said Brooke Marino, a UC Berkeley junior and We Dig the Farm member.

Occupy the Farm protesters first occupied the Gill Tract in April to pressure the university into making the tract publicly accessible and not exclusive to UC Berkeley researchers. The campus transferred administrative authority of the Gill Tract to the College of Natural Resources in September.

In an open letter published last November, Dean of the College of Natural Resources J. Keith Gilless said that the campus would use the tract for a research program investigating food systems and food security.

“We will continue to work collaboratively with members of the Albany community and the Albany City Council as we move forward with the exciting work of developing a program that will benefit communities throughout the Bay Area, California and beyond,” he said in the letter.

Rawlings said Occupy the Farm has had success reaching out to faculty and researchers but has not had any communication with administration, which has promised more community involvement.

Andrea Guzman covers academics and administration. Contact her at aguzman@dailycal.org and on Twitter @guzmanandrea5.

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Eugene W. Lau/File

After a group of demonstrators occupied the campus anthropology library, the campus administration agreed to restore its previously curtailed hours.

February 18: Death of Peter Cukor

Controversy arose after a Berkeley resident was killed while police were monitoring an Occupy protest nearby.

February: Occupy Emails

Police attempt to break through a line of students on Nov. 9 during the Occupy Cal protests.

Administrators’ correspondence showed that Chancellor Birgeneau did not object to the use of batons against protesters on Nov.9, 2011.

March: Day of action & 99 mile march

Jan Flatley-Feldman/Staff

On March 5, protesters who embarked on a “99 Mile March for Education and Social Justice” joined others at a protest at the state Capitol building.

March 13: Chancellor Robert Birgeneau Resigns

Derek Remsburg/Senior Staff

In March, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau announced that he would step down at the end of the year after more than eight years on the job.

Birgeneau, who became chancellor in September 2004, presided over the campus during years in which state funding to the university plummeted and tuition increased dramatically. He worked to mitigate decreased funding by calling upon the federal government and private donors to pitch in as well as launching an initiative to streamline administrative costs. The campus also began admitting more nonresident undergraduate students, setting a target to eventually make the population of nonresident students about 20 percent of the total undergraduate student body. In an effort to make the university’s increasing tuition more affordable, Birgeneau announced the creation of a financial aid plan for middle-income students in December 2011.

Nicholas Dirks, formerly the executive vice president and dean of the faculty for Arts and Sciences at Columbia University, was approved Nov. 27 to succeed Birgeneau. He will begin in June.

—Amruta Trivedi

March: Occupy Charges

Levy Yun/Staff

A dozen people, including one UC Berkeley faculty member, were presented with criminal charges after protests in Nov. 2011, prompting outcry.

April 22: Occupy the Farm

Gracie Malley/File

On Earth Day, members of the local community and Occupy movement broke into UC-owned research land in Albany known as the Gill Tract with the goal of establishing a community farm on the land and preventing proposed development at the site.

Protesters cleared and tilled the ground and planted hundreds of vegetable starters and set up tents on the land before UCPD raided the encampment on May 19, arresting several protesters.Despite the threat of arrest and legal action, protesters continued to return to the tract periodically throughout the summer and fall to harvest their remaining crops. They insisted that the university consider the option of creating an urban farm on the land rather than developing it.

Proposed plans for the project, which was set to include the construction of a Whole Foods Market, a senior housing complex and mixed retail center on a portion of land belonging to UC Berkeley’s University Village housing complex near the land. Although Whole Foods pulled out of the project, Albany City Council voted in November to remove one of the final obstacles in the project, allowing the university to move forward with the senior housing complex right away while it searches for a replacement grocery store.

—Adelyn Baxter

April: V.O.I.C.E. and Class Pass

A member of The Daily Californain holds a Yes on V.O.I.C.E. sign on Upper Sproul Plaza. (Danielle Lee/File)

Students voted on two controversial fee initiatives in the spring 2012 ASUC general election, but only the fee to support The Daily Californian was implemented.

The Class Pass referendum asked students to support extending the campus bus pass agreement with AC Transit for an additional seven years and increase its cost to $86 beginning in fall 2013. The V.O.I.C.E. initiative proposed a $2 per semester student fee to support the Daily Cal for five years.

The Class Pass referendum faced criticism from students who felt the deal arranged with AC Transit could be better negotiated. The ASUC Judicial Council also found campaign violations and disqualified the referendum on grounds that the violations “substantially affected the outcome of the election.”

The V.O.I.C.E. initiative was first invalidated when then-ASUC president Vishalli Loomba issued an executive order saying there were concerns about the legality of the fee because no memorandum of understanding had been drafted to allow the Daily Cal, an independent organization, to receive funds from a student fee initiative. Ultimately, the Judicial Council overruled the order, and the initiative was announced to have passed.

—Chloe Hunt

April: ASUC Election

Michael Tao/File

The Student Action party once again swept all four partisan ASUC executive positions.

Sept.15: UCSA HR. 35 Resolution

The UC Student Association was criticized for excluding the Jewish community after its board passed a resolution condemning a state Assembly resolution that sought to protect students from anti-Semitism.

November: Proposition 30

Dean Ignacio/File

The passage of Proposition 30 in November’s election staved off an estimated $250 million in cuts to the University of California. Crafted by Gov. Jerry Brown, Prop. 30 will increase the tax rate on the wealthiest Californians and raise the state sales tax by a quarter-percent over the next four years.

Had the proposition failed, the state budget dictated that the UC system be dealt a $250 million cut, an estimated $50 million of which would have come from UC Berkeley. Administrators estimated that the cut would have meant a 20.3 percent midyear tuition hike to go into effect in January.

Despite strong indicators in the month leading up to the election that the proposition would succeed, multiple polls released the week just before Election Day showed support for Prop. 30 had fallen below 50 percent. But in the end, the measure passed by a wide margin, with 54 percent voting in favor and 46 percent against.

Exit polling showed the youth vote played a critical role in the proposition’s passage. Among 18- to 29-year-olds, who represented 28 percent of votes on Prop. 30, two-thirds cast their ballots in favor of Prop. 30, according to polls conducted for The Associated Press.

—Sarah Burns

Nov.6: Local Election Results

Michael Ball/Staff

Berkeley residents voted on several divisive measures this year that would have lasting effects on the city socially and economically. Measure S, which would have prohibited sitting on sidewalks in commercial districts during certain hours, was hotly contested by both sides but ultimately did not pass by a small margin of less than 5 percent of the votes. By even less of margin, of about 1 percent, Measure T — which aimed to amend the West Berkeley Plan and Zoning Ordinance to allow development flexibility — did not pass. Measure R — which will amend the existing city charter to eliminate the 1986 boundary lines and adjust the district boundaries — passed after receiving 65.92 percent of the votes. The election for the first time using ranked-choice voting in a mayoral race, which some mayoral candidates hoped would work to their advantage in unseating the long-tenured Mayor Tom Bates. Because Bates accrued more than 50 percent of the first-ranked votes necessary to win, however, there was no need have an instant run-off race.

—Weiru Fang

Nov. 8: Dirks Announcement

Jan Flatley-Feldman/Staff

Nicholas Dirks, a Columbia University administrator, will become chancellor in June.

Nov. 20: Tedford Fired

Gracie Malley/File

Following the end of his worst football season at Cal, head football coach Jeff Tedford was fired Nov. 20 after 11 years.

Known as the winningest coach in Cal football history, Tedford’s shining glory was his campaign to renovate Memorial Stadium, a $321 million project that included the addition of a newly built athletic center. The refurbished stadium opened for the first time this fall after nearly a year and a half of construction for the Bears’ season opener against Nevada. The Bears lost that game 31-24 and ended the regular 2012 season at 3-9. Tedford left Cal with a career record of 82-57 and 7-4 in the Big Game.

Tedford will be succeeded by Louisiana Tech coach Sonny Dykes, who was hired Dec. 5 and is reportedly known for his high-octane spread offenses. During Dykes’ three-year tenure at Louisiana Tech, the Bulldogs went 22-15 and won their first league title in 10 years in 2011.

—Anjuli Sastry

Nov. 27: Eshleman Hall Occupation

Kore Chan/File

Demonstrators occupied Eshleman Hall in support of multiculturalism.

The post A year in review appeared first on The Daily Californian.

At a Nov. 19 meeting, the council voted to rescind a controversial agreement between the university and the city, allowing the project — which has been in the works since 2007 — to continue without it.

As a result, the University Village Mixed Use Project — which would develop land near the intersection of San Pablo Avenue and Monroe Street in Albany — will not need to be put up to a vote in a special election, which could take months.

The agreement would have formalized multiple community-oriented plans for the plot, like providing priority housing to Albany residents in the senior housing complex.

“The University is disappointed that the development agreement which included mutual benefits both the community and the University was challenged by a referendum,” said Kevin Hufferd, project manager and the UC director of property development, in an email.

The community group Keep Albany Local crafted a petition signed by more than 1,400 Albany voters criticizing the project’s development and lack of public outreach and calling for a referendum of a July 9 City Council decision passing it.

The petition campaign followed months of protest by the Occupy the Farm movement, members of which broke into the UC-owned land and planted crops to start an urban farm on another portion of it, arguing that the new complex may damage the soil and increase air pollution by drawing more traffic to the area.

The Whole Foods Market that was previously slated to occupy a large portion of the retail space pulled out of the project in September due to delays caused by the referendum as well as a lawsuit against the city, according to a UC press release.

While it tries to identify a replacement grocery store operator, the university plans to move forward with the senior housing complex right away.

“The major determining factor for the timing and nature of the development of the project will be local economic conditions,” according to a recent staff report by Jeff Bond, Albany’s community development director.

Although the development agreement was rescinded, the university still plans on meeting some of the provisions it outlined in the agreement, such as labor provisions for all workers, continuing to provide a field for the Albany Little League and covering all relocation costs if necessary, according to Hufferd.

“We (will) continue to try to balance the difference points of view expressed by the community as we move forward with the project under the guidelines approved by the city,” Hufferd said in the email.

Afsana Afzal is the lead academics and administration reporter. Contact her at aafzal@dailycal.org.

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According to Krystof Lopaur, a member of the Occupy the Farm movement, campus workers arrived on the Gill Tract last Wednesday and cleared a “large portion” of the land excluding the crops planted by the protesters but returned Friday to remove the crops the protesters planted.

In an open letter released by the campus Nov. 16, UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources Dean Keith Gilless outlined the campus’s intention to turn over the soil and clear the remaining plants this winter to make room for cover crops that would add nutrients to the land. According to the letter, the clearing of crops last week is part of the campus’s plan to use all of the farmland for the “investigation of food systems and food security issues.”

Despite Gilless’ claim in his letter that the campus gave Occupy the Farm members “advance notice” of its intentions to clear the tract, Lopaur said that members of the movement were unaware of the operation beforehand.

Occupy the Farm activists took over a portion of the Gill Tract in April and planted crops there in protest of the campus’s plans to develop another part of the land into a housing and retail center. Protesters continued to break into the property throughout the summer and into the fall to tend to the crops, arguing that the land should be accessible to the community as an urban farm.

“We’re going to continue having meetings with the community, and we’re going to continue organizing people,” Lopaur said. “These projects are not contingent on whether the UC is going to destroy our crops.”

Occupy the Farm will release a response to the removal of its crops and Gilless’ open letter on Monday.

The campus could not immediately be reached for comment.

Justin Abraham covers academics and administration. Contact him at jabraham@dailycal.org.

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Second, the idea that Occupy the Farm lacks the ideological strength of Occupy is belied by years of the university’s privatization agenda. Our regents are composed of multiple members of the 1 percent, whose values drive efforts to sell off our public assets like the Gill Tract. Again, no matter your personal view on trespass, Occupy the Farm brought this situation into stark relief.

In the end, actions speak louder than words. Words from College of Natural Resources Dean Keith Gilless do not constitute a democratic process, while Occupy the Farm’s action to host a series of community meetings on our campus shows their commitment to collaboration and authentic intent to reach out and listen to others. I’d hope you could see the obvious truth that the university acted maliciously at worst or was misguided at best and quit blaming the situation on the occupiers.

We will be having our second community forum on Thursday, Nov. 8 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at A PLACE for Sustainable Living, 1121 64th Street, Oakland, CA 94608.

— Antonio Roman-Alcala,
UC Berkeley student, founder of the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance

Contact the opinion desk at opinion@dailycal.org.

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While Occupy the Farm’s intent to create an urban garden at the Gill Tract is admirable, the movement must be willing to cooperate with the campus. A garden at the tract would be a useful addition to the community and would provide worthwhile educational opportunities for UC Berkeley students and others.
But community forums about the future of the tract, which Occupy the Farm organizers initiated last week, should focus on how the space can be used in conjuction with the campus. Further occupations of the tract would not be beneficial; breaking into the tract and interfering with research there would continue to cause contention between protesters and campus officials.

Though Occupy the Farm previously refused to end its encampment in order to engage in discussions with campus officials, it must be more open moving forward. Occupy the Farm, the campus and Albany community members should work together to craft a vision for the tract that benefits all stakeholders — not only the interests of a small group of protesters.
The campus already indicated that it is still receptive to suggestions from Occupy the Farm members — Keith Gilless, dean of the College of Natural Resources who was given administrative authority over the tract, said that “broad consultation is important for what the future of the Gill Tract will be.”

Yet while the campus and Occupy the Farm protesters should collaborate as much as possible regarding the Gill Tract, both parties should also take care not to allow the tract to become what People’s Park is today. Similar to protesters at the Gill Tract, activists in the 1960s and ‘70s wanted the park to be accessible to everyone. Now, though the park remains true to that principle in theory, in practice it is only used by a select group. The Gill Tract can avoid a similar fate if those who are trying to determine its future produce a sustainable solution that all groups can respect.

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Representatives from urban agriculture organizations and members of the Berkeley, Albany and campus communities discussed issues relating to farming, education, research and access to the UC-owned tract in Albany, which protesters first occupied in April.

Occupy the Farm organizers said Wednesday’s meeting — which is expected to be the first in a series of forums — allowed community members to address the movement’s future involvement with the tract.

“The purpose of this meeting is to be a spark of a future series of meetings that will have the community as a whole coming together in the next four to five months to create a vision for what we want to see happen,” said Stefanie Rawlings, an Occupy the Farm organizer and UC Berkeley alumna.

At the meeting, organizers and community members spent about two hours addressing topics ranging from adopting alternative farming methods to using the land for an educational purpose other than research. They subsequently formed working groups that planned to further investigate these issues after the meeting.

Since the tract was first occupied in April, protesters have pushed for it to be publicly accessible and not limited to use by campus-based researchers. This has been a main point of disagreement between Occupy the Farm and UC Berkeley since the movement began, said Antonio Roman-Alcala, one of the movement’s organizers and the Wednesday forum’s moderator.

In September, the campus transferred administrative authority of the Gill Tract to the College of Natural Resources, which oversees the research being conducted there. J. Keith Gilless, dean of the college, said he is open to community input regarding the future use of the land.

“I do think that the broad consultation is important for what the future of the Gill Tract will be,” he said.
UC Berkeley spokesperson Dan Mogulof said the campus has invited the protesters to work more collaboratively with the CNR but has had those entreaties rejected “every step of the way.”

Protesters first began occupying the tract to protest the commercial development of another section of the land but shifted to advocating for it to be used as an urban farm. When the protesters refused to leave, the campus filed a lawsuit in May alleging that the occupation prevented research from being conducted. The suit was dropped in June.

Since then, protesters have continued to break into the tract to tend to the crops they planted there, resulting in a tense relationship with some faculty members who have open-air laboratories at the tract.

Justin Abraham covers academics and administration. Contact him jabraham@dailycal.org.

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