Denny's Free Grand Slam Breakfast Day Tuesday
Sarah Palin Calls Global Warming Studies 'Snake Oil' at NorCal Conference
Marina Yoga Studio Donates Old Mats for Haitian Relief
Central Subway Ground Broken
Prop 8 Trial Judge Is Gay; Should This Matter?
UCB's plans to mow down an oak grove and put up a sports training facility were put on hold. It seems a judge halted the plans until "the university can prove the project would not violate state earthquake-safety laws, a judge ruled Wednesday," says the Gate. The university, though, thinks it's a rule in their favor, keeping "their plan alive, arguing that the center would not violate state law because it would not touch any fault lines."
But the tree-sitters, who have been nesting in the oaks since last year, are thrilled:
"We are ecstatic," said Stephan Volker, attorney for the California Oak Foundation, which sued the university two years ago. "We believe this project is now dead." The city of Berkeley and a group of neighbors living near the stadium also filed lawsuits to block the project.
Oddly enough, Dumpster Muffin's crying fit atop one of the trees yesterday afternoon -- as if daddy were taking away her AmEx -- did not manage to get her forcefully pulled from the oak. (What's more, her non-baptismal name is currently our favorite among the tree squatters.)
In the end, though, the ruling will most likely favor the university. Presumably they just need to wait until the last activist scurries out of the grive, and then they'll bring in the chainsaws. Stay tuned.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
If you think Dumpster Muffin is a funny name, I'd be shocked if Terri Compost were not involved in this recent fight over the trees. When I lived in Berkeley not too long ago, Terri Compost was super-involved in a lot of these types of campaigns.
Stay up to date on these results:
* Create an email alert for dumpster muffin
* Add a custom section for dumpster muffin to Google News
* Add a news gadget for dumpster muffin to your Google homepage
* Subscribe to a news feed for dumpster muffin in Google Reader New!
Didn't the court ruling mention that Cal won like nearly all the decisions except for one? Something like 14 out of the 15 rulings.
*I'd be shocked if Terri Compost were not involved in this recent fight over the trees.*
Indeed, she is there.
OMG, I want to change my screen name to Dumpster Muffin IMMEDIATELY.
It seems a judge halted the plans until "the university can prove the project would not violate state earthquake-safety laws," a judge ruled Wednesday.
This is pretty easy to prove in my opinion. According to the Alquist-Priolo Act of 1972, ff an active fault is found, a structure for human occupancy cannot be placed over the trace of the fault and must be set back from the fault (generally 50 feet).
1.) Get a tape measure.
2.) Go inside Memorial Stadium and stand at a goal post.
3.) Measure off 50 feet in one direction.
4.) Observe you are still ON THE FIELD.
5.) Pull out chainsaws, cut down trees and start building!
I suppose you can't forget these critical steps as well...
6.) ???
7.) Profit!
Steps 6 and 7 don't work unless you collect underpants first.
Sadly, the URL http://www.dumpstermuffin.com/ has already been registered.
Measure off 50 feet in one direction.
Great idea. This would work amazingly well if active faults were infinitely thin.
From the page you linked to on the the Alquist-Priolo Act:
So, yeah, the University does have a problem, and they'll have to have seismologists fight it out.
Watching last night's newscast, I kept waiting (hoping?) for Ms. Muffin to fall out of the tree.
With apologies to Mr. Burns, "Smithers, release the falcons."
That quarter-mile average is mostly a function of how well the fault in question has been studied. The trace of the Hayward Fault through Berkeley has been studied in great detail and I think all but the craziest (or most desperate for cash) of seismologists/geologists will agree that the site is well outside of the exclusion zone.
The opponents of the project will definitely be able to find at least one person with letters after their name willing to say otherwise though.
The Act doesn't say you can't build in a Zone, it just says you can't build over the trace, and studies are needed if you build in the zone. I doubt the University has neglected to do their homework, so all these on-again off-again court orders are just jurisdiction-shopping for judges friendly to Frodo Turdhurler and Co's fancy lawyer friends.
Furthermore, this fight by seismologists you allude to has already taken place, and if you actually read the ruling issued on Wednesday that particular component of the case was decided entirely in the University's favor.
What remains for the university to do to comply with the Alquist-Priolo law is demonstrate that some limited alterations to the stadium - a beam, a staircase renovation, and some holes for wiring - will cost less than 50% of the stadium's value.