Two tree-sitters, Bradley “Squirtle” Costello and Matthew “Mizzo” Marks, were arrested by UCPD after coming down from their arboreal abodes.

Before coming down, Marks made a statement on video that was subsequently uploaded onto YouTube by one bcitizen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H4wMdvTZ-s

One point of contention has been Costello’s motive for leaving. One newspaper reported that Costello may have come down because he desired a cigarette. Shortly after 3:12 in the video, Costello seemed to say he needs a cigarette, though the video faintly captures Costello’s voice. He later said that cigarettes were not a motive.

After being released from jail, Costello said that he strongly doubted the remaining tree-sitters would voluntarily leave the oak grove unless the campus officially promised to not cut down the trees. He cited their tenacity: some of the sitters, he said, have been in the trees for over nine months.

-Posted by Matthew Peters

“We’re not just hippies, we’re people—and we have families,”: Quotes from the Berkeley City Council Meeting discussion on the ongoing tree-sit at the grove near UC Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium, June 24, 2008.

“I’d like to give my last thirty seconds to Zachary RunningWolf”

Multiple people during the public comment session yielded part of their two-minute comment period to protest leader and local activist Zachary RunningWolf.

RunningWolf on why he hasn’t been at the grove the last couple days: “I had to move away from the scene because (the police) are targeting me.”

Tree-sit supporter Beverly Dove, who has been arrested near the grove Saturday: “I wouldn’t take water from (the university) … they have tried to end the life of the tree-sitters.”

Emergency room physician Larry Bedard, who examined the tree-sitters from below on Sunday: “What medical school did the police go to? I think the police are being told do something they aren’t trained for.”

Matthew Taylor, who was also arrested near the grove last week: “You can see my photo in the (San Francisco) Chronicle.”

Councilmember Takes

Councilmember Kriss Worthington
“Based on the testimony I heard on the telephone here from the tree-sitters what they indicated is that this is truly an emergency situation … based on his testimony I would like to make a notion that we add this to the agenda this evening.”

Councilmember Max Anderson
“This is a very dire medical emergency up there.”
“The university is assuming authority and power and has assumed that the judge has made certain decisions that she hasn’t made yet in this case.”

Councilmember Dona Spring
“There is a number of things we can do, we can ask the university to … let their physician go and examine the protesters.”
“The university is not to be trusted.”
“We can do these things and most importantly we can tell (UCPD) that they can vacate the sidewalk.”

Councilmember Gordon Wozniak
“If they are really facing an emergency they can call an ambulance.”

Councilmember Betty Olds
“Don’t they have to come down to go to the emergency room? You can’t expect the fire department to go in the tree.”

Even before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s announcement of a statewide drought on Wednesday, officials at the East Bay Municipal Utility District and environmental organizations throughout the city have some tips to minimize water usage.

Here are a few of their tips:

-Don’t start any new landscaping
-Wait until the fall to plant or start new landscapes
-Add compost to soil to increase its water-holding capacity
-Add a 2-3 inch layer of recycled mulches to prevent the evaporation of water
-Use efficient irrigation systems, use self-adjusting timers
-When watering, use drip irrigation instead of sprayers
-Fix any leaks in irrigation system
-Invest in ways to harvest rain water
-Only water lawns that you use
-Water landscapes at dawn, dusk or in the middle of the night
-Fix leaky toilets

Source: EBMUD spokesperson Jeff Becerra and Teresa Eade, senior program manager with the Bay-Friendly Landscaping Program at stopwaste.org

Measure F was approved by voters in Tuesday’s primary elections, but some have cited the system by which taxes are classified does not give affected residents a fair voice.

Approximately 64.85 percent of voters approved the tax in the primary, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters, which includes voters who are not directly affected by the tax.

While the text of the measure itself does not indicate how the revenues from the utility tax on residents of unincorporated areas must be spent, the measure historically provided revenues to be set aside to fund county services in unincorporated areas, such as law enforcement and libraries, among other things.

Some residents of the unincorporated areas have cited that Measure F does not make these specifications intentionally, in order for it to be classified as a “general tax” instead of a “special tax.”

As per Proposition 218, the 1996 initiative that addressed taxation, the power to raise local funds through taxes shifted from local governing boards to local residents and property owners. This, combined with the vote requirements of Proposition 13, requires that Measure F only gain a simple 50 plus one majority through a county-wide vote in order to continue taxing residents of the county’s unincorporated areas. This is in contrast to a “special tax,” which, although could have given the residents affected by the tax sole control over the issue, requires a 2/3 vote in order to pass.

While seafood choices at Crossroads and the other dining facilities on campus may not be completely up-to-par based on a 2006 study by the Defenders of Wildlife, there are many efforts underway to see that better options are made available to students in coming years.

Rather than offering students tuna, which may have “high mercury” levels, as cited by the Food and Drug Administration, chefs said they attempt to other types of fish that are caught from the wild.

“We’re not quite there yet, and it’s very difficult, based on our numbers,” said Crossroad Executive Chef Ida Shen.

Currently, Associate Director of Residential Dining Chuck Davies said he is planning a trip to Alaska this summer to participate in a conference of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute with the hope of bringing healthier and more sustainable seafood options to the dining commons.

Crossroads also tries to follow the recommendations of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program, an effort designed to present businesses and consumers with the information they need to make healthful seafood choices. In their Seafood Guide, fish are listed as either “best,” “good” or “avoid,” with each designation pertaining not only to levels of contaminants but also to sustainability.

Tim Fitzgerald, a marine biologist with the Oceans Program at the Environmental Defense Fund, said he believes that the best tactics for business and restaurants like Crossroads would be to increase consumer awareness of their seafood products, a business strategy that has been proven to increase sales by fostering a greater sense of trust between purveyor and consumer. He cites the examples of FishWise and Bon Appetit, two organizations with member stores in Northern California that help businesses to increase the sustainability of their products and also to increase consumer awareness of what they are purchasing and consuming. Bon Appetite in particular works with university cafeterias to promote various sustainable seafood practices.

“Fish is just inherently a little difficult for consumers to grasp because it comes from so many different places, there are so many different species, it’s caught it so many different ways and it’s farmed in so many ways,” Fitzgerald says. “Consumers are always going to feel a little bit less comfortable about seafood in that they just can’t know as much, and that’s where all these programs come in.”

-Zoe Carpou