Ninety thousand dollars will get you four memberships to the “University Club,” which includes 50-year rights to your seat, on-campus parking on game days, free food and drinks, and cup holders. Your family can even inherit the seat if you don’t happen to make it for the next 50 years.

Don’t worry, this isn’t some kind of fundraiser for the construction of that four-story eyesore that was the source of so much controversy, it’s for the renovation of the crumbling 86-year-old stadium sitting on the fault line behind it. The goal is to increase the school’s athletic endowment tenfold, to a half billion dollars over a 30-year period.

Apparently 40 percent of the 3,000 available seats have already been claimed, raising over $100 million. But with season tickets at just $305, we want to know what kind of people are forking over almost a quarter million dollars for the University Club. We’re reevaluating calling the tree sitters crazy.

Image Source: martinhfp under Creative Commons
$225,000 for prime Cal football tickets [SFGate]

Native American artifacts were not found by William Self Associates, Inc., which released a report yesterday detailing their investigation of the future site for the Student Athlete High Performance Center.

Those not in the loop should know one of the many arguments against building on the grove was its possible status and eventual desecration as a Native American burial ground should the center be built on top of existing Native American remains.

But a testing program was implemented that entailed drilling 31 holes in key areas of the grove, 20 of which went to a depth of 35 feet. Among the 31 samples collected, two held “historic-era” pieces of brick, charcoal, coal and ceramics, while most of the samples held fill material from Memorial Stadium’s original 1923 construction.

Even though the dig found nothing of note, it does urge consideration of the area as archaeologically sensitive and recommends monitoring the site.

Suitably, a representative of the Ohlone tribe was on-site during the project to make sure any artifacts found were treated in accordance with tribal law and traditions.

Image Source: Kanaka’s Paradise Life under Creative Commons
Archaeological study complete at athletic facility construction site [NewsCenter]

Four Remaining Tree-Sitters Leave UC Berkeley Oak Grove [Daily Cal]
The Wicked Witch Is Dead [You Tube]

Another fitting headline may have been: Drones of News Choppers Nearly Drown out Tree Choppers and Sitters.

At any rate, the entire bay area is abuzz as tensions and violence flair at Oak Grove. You think we’re exaggerating? Scaffolding, helicopters and negotiators now surround the redwood that served as a tree home (tree home: like a tree house, but much more comfortable) to our Berkeley tree-sitters. On the ground, tree supporters have chained themselves to the tree and each other; arrests have been made.

The university may have called for an ultimatum, but the tree-sitters have their own ultimatum in mind as well. They’ve begun throwing buckets of “toilet waste” at arborists. Curse you, Mercury Times, for not specifying the contents of these buckets!

Image Source: Skyler Reid, Daily Cal
Most Trees Down Near UC Berkeley Stadium [Daily Cal]
End appears near for UC Berkeley tree-sitters [Mercury News]
Earlier: UCB Says Goodbye to 42 Trees and 21 Months of Litigation

It has been an emotional weekend for many at the foot of Oak Grove. Arborists have removed 35 of 42 trees as of Saturday, and are expected to cut down all but one redwood by today’s end.

Our redwood denizens no longer will receive adequate water and nutrition which the university has provided for 21 months. As of Friday, four tree-sitters remained with only one liter of water “to share”. We wonder if the heat will cause the tree-sitters to worry about their redwood’s thirst. UCB claims to have no plans of forcibly removing the tree-dwellers. We think the university is waiting for them to ripen and fall.

Updates on construction of the new project, which begins Monday, are to follow. In the meantime, check out the new signs that are making appearances alongside the usual hand-painted hemp banners:

Image Source: ingridtaylar under Creative Commons
UC Berkeley Grove cleared of most trees [SFGate]
Free Firewood at Oak Grove [YouTube]

Spotted, 5:45 p.m.: Helicopter. Likely of the local news chopper variety. Hovering suspiciously over a certain oak grove near a certain stadium. Noise-polluting and generally creepin’.

Hm. We wonder what sort of breaking news is going down that would lend itself to aerial coverage … Oh shit, where’d the trees go?! Damn, that was fast.

Update, 6:35 p.m.: Dude, we just saw another one up there.

Image Source: Jill Cowan
TREES CUT DOWN NEAR UC BERKELEY [Daily Cal]
COURT: UC BERKELEY CAN BUILD ATHLETIC CENTER [Daily Cal]

UCB recently settled a lawsuit with our hillside football fans.

The fans filed a suit with the university when they realized that the proposed plan of the new stadium threatened their nosebleed section seating.

The settlement requires that the university “consult(s) with the plaintiffs before altering the eastern side”. It does not guarantee that dwellers of Tightwad Hill get to keep their free seats. In other words: there might be a mumbled conversation on the matter over a cup of coffee and donuts, but try not to hold your breath.

Oh well, it’s the most we can ask for, for now. Surely the university is tired of putting out these forest fires of lawsuits, so to speak. We’re counting down the minutes ’til hill-sitters start setting up camp, protest sign in one hand, ice-cold brewski in the other.

Tightwad Hill has served Cal’s cheapest die-hard fans for 80 years. It offers a view just over the shoulders of the face-painted fanatics of the student section. Granted, the view slightly sucks with all the trees in the way. However, it’s also thanks to these sturdy branches that fans can keep from rolling away down that hill. Roll on you Bears!

Image Source: maveric2003 under Creative Commons
UC Berkeley settles Tightwad Hill lawsuit [Red Orbit]

The state appeals court that protestors were banking on to overturn Judge Miller’s earlier ruling also declined to block UC Berkeley’s nefarious designs upon our campus’s sacred oak grove earlier today, thereby incurring the wrath of the Panoramic Hill Association and the gratitude of almost everyone else. University officials, doing a jig of victory, say they’re planning to move forward immediately with construction. Not to be thwarted, tree advocates intend to leapfrog the pesky state appeals court by appealing directly to the big daddy-o of judicial authorities first thing tomorrow morning. Will the California Supreme Court drag out this sorry fracas, or is this really the end? Stay tuned. More dramatik developments are sure to follow.

Of course, there’s still the matter of the four tree-sitters idling up in those branches. Suggestions on how to go about disengaging them from their tree-top perch, short of prying them off with crowbars! Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Image Source: Kanaka’s Paradise Life under Creative Commons
Cal gets go-ahead for sports training center [SF Chron]
Construction Can Begin at UC Berkeley Stadium [Daily Cal]

No, we don’t refer to the the tiny strip of grass on the northern stretch of Shattuck Avenue, where many foodies flock to show off their slices of Cheeseboard.

Rather, we speak of the median next to the Memorial Stadium oak grove, which boasts loitering hippies, tents and cardboard shacks instead of the comparably well-groomed Cheeseboard fanatics. With school set to start in a few weeks, the university really wants these squatters out–and they’re looking to the city for a little bit of help.

Unfortunately, the city isn’t really inclined to respond with any sort of action, citing the lack of a substantial safety hazard. We do admit, though, the campground and its inhabitants are quite distracting to motorists (including ourselves). As the median civilization grows ever larger, more campers do not care to use the freakin’ crosswalks. We can only imagine what it smells like up close.

Image Source: Skyler Reid, Daily Cal
UC asks Berkeley to clear campers from median [SF Chronicle]

But the city of Berkeley is the third party in the case against the university, and we’re not so sure where they stand. To appeal or not to appeal; that is the question. [Daily Cal]

Another source, though, says with conviction that Berkeley will not appeal. Perhaps the initial court fees are already enough, or perhaps it’s just time to suck it up and lick some wounds. [SF Chron]

Earlier: Random Edition