BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -- Authorities erected an 8-foot chain-link fence to separate tree-sitting protesters occupying a University of California oak grove from more than 72,000 football fans expected to descend on campus Saturday.
They're perched in trees playing guitar. Opposing progress, in favor of the non revenue-producing chiggers and squirrels. As usual.
A small group has been roosting in the grove since December to protest the planned removal of dozens of trees to make way for a $125 million athletic center. The university has sent e-mails to fans asking them to be tolerant of the tree sitters even as some Cal backers complain that delaying the new facility is hurting the success of the school's football program.
If the university wishes to be indulgent, so be it. Don't evict the protestors. Let the trees stand, and let the silly children stay up in the trees as long as they wish.
But definitely kill the trees. We have the technology. The County Extension Office can provide helpful hints on which soil or bark applications will work for this situation.
The trees' demise will inexorably lead to the protestors abandoning their cause as lost, but more importantly will yield sweet news video of weeping, defeated hippies climbing down from dead trees.