UC Berkeley

E-I E-I Out: Berkeley Farm Invasion Seems Over

Byuclafaculty

UC police arrest 9 as they clear Occupy the Farm Michael Cabanatuan, Ellen Huet Tuesday, May 15, 2012, San Francisco Chronicle (excerpt) A three-week-long protest on UC Berkeley agricultural research land in Albany came to a quiet close early Monday when police cleared out a small group of protesters who had set up an urban farming camp. University police officers in riot helmets arrested nine people after giving protesters 10 minutes to leave the Gill Tract near Marin and San Pablo avenues about 6:15 a.m. When officers fanned out across the fields, the few protesters who had not obeyed the police…

| |

Berkeley Problems Continue

Byuclafaculty

On campus Protesters who stormed UC Berkeley’s main administration building late Friday afternoon have been removed from the offices by campus police. Ten people, including two UC Berkeley students, were cited for trespassing and released at about 7:30 p.m., said UC police Capt. Margo Bennett. A group of about 25 protesters called By Any Means Necessary marched into Sproul Hall at 3:30 p.m. after a rally outside. The group, which is arguing for a greater representation of minority students in the university’s undergraduate population, included several Bay Area high school students who say they were denied admission to the school……

| |

Breaking Up the UC System?

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed today has a lengthy article on recent proposals to give the various UC campuses more autonomy. These proposals have primarily been emanating from UC-Berkeley and UC-San Francisco.  The article goes over some of the past statements and documents relating to this issue and provides a review of related developments in other state systems. The article is at:http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/05/11/university-california-faces-questions-about-its-governance-structure Clearly, breaking up the system would be difficult: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbad22CKlB4&w=320&h=195]

The Farmer in the Gill

Byuclafaculty

Our coverage of this drama continues with this excerpt from the San Francisco Chronicle: A standoff between UC Berkeley and Occupy activists who planted renegade crops on university land is headed from the farm to the courts.  The University of California Board of Regents filed a lawsuit Wednesday against 14 protesters, claiming they and others conspired to cut through chains that secured gates and trespass onto the Gill Tract, a patch of land along bustling San Pablo Avenue in Albany… Full story at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/05/09/BABF1OFNUS.DTL You never know what might happen on a farm:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdRcNzPQUYY]

Pepper Report Seems to Temper Response to Berkeley Broccoli Occupation

Byuclafaculty

An earlier post reported on this occupation.  Here is an update.  === 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,…

Mild Penalty for Berkeley Administrator Trumped by Faculty Protests

Byuclafaculty

Secret sex partner’s pay gets former UC Berkeley vice chancellor fired (excerpt)Matt Krupnick, 5-4-12, Pasadena Star-NewsUC Berkeley on Friday fired administrator Diane Leite, who over a period of five years helped triple her secret sex partner’s pay.  Leite had been demoted from her $188,000-a-year assistant vice chancellor position after the affair with a subordinate was discovered but still made $175,000 a year as an adviser to Vice Chancellor Graham Fleming… “Ms. Leite’s employment with the university has been terminated,” UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said Friday. The firing is effective Tuesday. …Professors and other employees had urged the university to…

| | |

UC History: April 30, July 2, whatever, whenever

Byuclafaculty

“Today” in the tweet on the right was actually yesterday. The Morrill Act of 1862 was also known as the Land Grant College Act. It was a major boost to higher education in America. The grant was originally set up to establish institutions in each state that would educate people in agriculture, home economics, mechanical arts, and other professions that were practical at the time. The land-grant act was introduced by a congressman from Vermont named Justin Smith Morrill. He envisioned the financing of agricultural and mechanical education. He wanted to assure that education would be available to those in…

Berkeley Broccoli

Byuclafaculty

UC Berkeley plans to use words instead of police power to remove about 50 Occupy members who started farming a plot of university land in Albany called the Gill Tract, a spokesman said Tuesday. There’s dialogue going on and discussion going on so we can bring it to a peaceful conclusion,” said UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof. “Discussion may lead to a better outcome.” The land near San Pablo Avenue and Buchanan Street currently is used for agricultural research, he said. A separate parcel of land just south of where the Occupy farmers set up Sunday is slated for commercial…

|

UC-Berkeley’s explosive call for more campus autonomy

Byuclafaculty

You probably saw the article in today’s LA Times about a report from UC-Berkeley calling for more campus autonomy within UC.   The Times article is at: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0424-uc-20120424,0,4754981.story The Berkeley report is at: http://cshe.berkeley.edu/publications/docs/ROPS.Birgeneau%20et%20al.UC%20Gov.4.23.2012.pdf ABSTRACT The University of California (UC) needs to respond to the fundamental and ongoing changes that are occurring around it if it is to remain financially sustainable, accessible, and academically excellent. As the campuses that make up UC have matured in the past 50 years they have, rightly, developed unique strengths and challenges.  The uniqueness of individual campuses has been a natural response to the increasing…

| | |

Hotel/Conference Center Lesson from Our Berkeley Colleagues: What happens when university business plans don’t pan out?

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed today pointed me to the article below about the UC-Berkeley stadium that appeared in the Wall St. Journal: (excerpt) As state legislators shrink its appropriations, it’s hard enough for the University of California-Berkeley to maintain the nation’s highest academic ranking among public colleges.  But there now looms a financial threat from another, somewhat unlikely quarter: the university’s football program. Until now, the years-old effort to renovate the school’s football stadium, which sits on an earthquake fault line, never raised many alarms. Although its $321 million price tag would make it one of the most expensive renovations in college…