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Indybay FeatureRelated Categories: East Bay | Environment & Forest Defense
Attack on Oak Grove
Extractors attack the tree sit and cut off branches and gear.
At 9:00 the university submitted a letter to Judge Miller who placed an injunction against cutting the Oak grove. Before she responded the University had arborist extractors cutting limbs off of trees. They started between 9:15 and 9:30. They cut many limbs from the redwood tree with four tee sitters in it. They were stopped from cutting more by tree sitter actions. People began to gather on the ground and decry the Universities actions and to video tape. Soon mainstream news crews were there as well. Then many limbs were cut off of two or more oak trees in the middle of the grove. Some branches were ten inches in diameter. The extractors then got their huge crane going with four people in the basket. The wet for the redwood tree and at the same time two cherry pickers with crews also attacked. Many of the extractors had pole cutters or poles with hooks. They cut down two five gallon jugs of water, several bags of food, other gear and almost succeeded in cutting down one of the platforms. They were again stopped by the heroic actions of the tree sitters.
After six hours UC Police Chief Harrison went up and spoke to the tree sitters. She said that they were done for the day.
This was a clear violation of the intent of the injunction that says that they can not cut the trees. This means, in my mind, not cut parts of the trees. They were formerly denied permission to cut branches that overhung the sidewalk. Today they said that they were just doing "strategic pruning."
I think that they wanted to make life hard on the tree sitters. More importantly they think that the injunction will hold past the first football game. This gives them a problem of how to have the grove cut off and surrounded and also get tens of thousands of fans into the game. Today they put up a fence on the southern end of the grove and will remove a piece of the fence on the west side and fans can stream through the I House parking lot. They feared people could then climb into the trees as tree sitter Jeff did some time ago. That is why they cut branches in several places to stop us from being able to climb from tree to tree to the Redwood.
for more info: saveoaks.com
Two cherry pickers use chain saws to cut branches from the redwood.
Below the extractors in the cherry picker is a large green pile, al redwood branches that they just cut off.
Tree supporters and journalists gather in the morning hours to protest the universitie's actions.
Extractors in a cherry picker lower a chain saw to those on the ground so that they can cut up the branches they are removing.
A tree sitter stops the extractors from cutting more branches by putting his body in the way.
A tree sitter climbs to near the top of Redwood and waves a pole that he plans to use to foil attacks on the tree.
A police officer guards as a cherry picker cuts branches from oak trees.
A tree sitter climbs to the God Pod as the crane prepares for attack.
Police Chief Vicky Harrison directs as workers and police watch a cherry picker's crew cut oak limbs.
Two tree sitters watch the destruction from the now lowest branches on the tree.
Two tree sitters in the God Pod.
A worker removes metal poles in preparation for an entrance to the Stadium via the I House parking lot.
The crane towers over the redwood tree.
Tree supporters gather in the median strip.
Extractors in the crane basket attack the tree sit with pole cutters and try to cut down as much gear as possible. (some photos have power lines in them.)
Three extractors and the deputy police chief pace off against the tree sitters.
One woman is arrested for blocking traffic on the road in front of the grove.
Extractors with pole cutters go against the tree sit and tree sitters try to stop them from cutting their gear down.
Vicky Harrison speaks to the tree sitters at the end of the day.
Comments (Hide Comments)
Friday Aug 22nd, 2008 8:14 PM
thanks, tristan, for the consistently great photographs giving everyone who cares a glimpse in to the oak grove crisis. the photos convey what is taking place there better than any simple written reporting can. they are very, very appreciated.
Monday Aug 25th, 2008 5:23 PM
Here's another error in judgement coming from UC Berkeley administration regarding their attacks on the stadium's memorial oak grove. The oaks threatened with destruction were for the past decades responsible for stablizing the soil of this steeply sloped hill during storms and seismic events with their interwoven roots and mycorhizzal symbionts. Removing these sources of soil stability will only worsen the risks of slope failure in the event of heavy rains and/or seismic tremors. The oaks themselves may be contributing to supporting the large stadium on the plateau directly behind (upslope of) their location..
This is news to me as prior to my recent visit to the oaks i imagined them being located on a less steep surface, more like to oak groves at the UC's entrance. Was shocked as i discovered the oaks threatened with destruction were the only living organisms holding up the earthen ledge between the stadium above and the road below. That scientists hired by the UC have ignored this steep slope issue is only testament to the increasing levels of corruption dictating the current UC policy makers' agendas..
There's always a difference between the flexibility of oaks and their roots to grip the soil and the rigidity and fragile nature of concrete holding walls that eventually crack and fracture under stress..
This subject of roots and soil/slope stability is being studied and written about in some really fancy science books, and here UC Berkeley already has their soil and slope supporting oak grove thriving and they want to remove their source??
About "Eco- and Ground Bio-Engineering: The Use of Vegetation to Improve Slope Stability";
"In an era where climate change, natural catastrophes and land degradation are major issues, the conservation of soil and vegetation in mountainous or sloping regions has become an international priority. How to avoid substrate mass movement through landslides and erosion using sustainable and ecologically sound techniques is rapidly becoming a scientific domain where knowledge from many different fields is required. These proceedings bring together papers from geotechnical and civil engineers, biologists, ecologists and foresters, who discuss current problems in slope stability research, and how to address those problems using ground bio- and eco-engineering techniques.
Ground bioengineering methods integrate civil engineering techniques with natural materials to obtain fast, effective and economic methods of protecting, restoring and maintaining the environment whereas eco-engineering has been defined as a long-term ecological strategy to manage a site with regard to natural or man-made hazards. Studies on slope instability, erosion, soil hydrology, mountain ecology, land use and restoration and how to mitigate these problems using vegetation are presented by both scientists and practitioners. Papers encompass many aspects of this multidisciplinary subject, including the mechanisms and modelling of root reinforcement and the development of decision support systems, areas where significant advances have been made in recent years.
Written for:
Research scientists, postgraduate level students; managers working in the areas of slope stability, landslide mitigation techniques, erosion control, forestry, ecotechnology and environmental protection"
find book @;
The UC administration has the responsibility to consider the testimony of scientists who are warning them against removing the oak roots as the primary source of slope stability. The lives and safety of the atheletes they claim to be working for by building this gym will be in their hands. Removing these oak roots places the lives of people operating in this future gym in greater risk than if other options were taken (like leave the oaks alive and standing, build gym elsewhere, etc..)..
Given that it is public knowledge of an active fault line under the stadium, it seems that retrofitting the already existing stadium would be far more logical and cost effective in the long term than adding an expensive training gym onto an unstable stadium after removing the only organisms that were providing the stadium with some degree of soil stability to begin with!!
IF the oaks are cut and the gym is built, THEN eventually there will be a seismic event and some slope failure along with structural damage to the new and expensive gym will occur, and guess who will foot the bill? Taxpayers and working class Berkeley residents, NOT the UC administration that enabled this disasterous construction project to manifest itself!!
My only other suggestion is to enlist the treesitters to volunteer with installing some climbing ropes, safety nets and other equipment into the tree canopy to be used by university atheletes as a training gym substitute. This would cost far less, enable the oaks to survive and continue providing their ecosystem services of stabilizing soils, emitting oxygen and shading the region. Of course also giving homes to countless biodiversity of birds, insects, lichens, mosses, etc...
If the UC administration is trying to "out-stubborn" the treesitters and oak tree defenders, they are playing a very dangerous game. Better they quit while they are ahead, as this warning will be taken seriously and documented, so in the event of any future seismic activity and slope failure, all names of the UC admins who approved the cutting of the oaks and construction of the stadium will be reminded that they were warned prematurely and chose to ignore these warnings that people's lives were placed in jeopardy by their short-sighted decisions. The UC admins will be held responsible for their actions..
Tuesday Aug 26th, 2008 5:43 PM
The University went to the judge who issued the injunction before pruning the trees and showed her everything they planned to do. She agreed it was not a violation.
You can keep saying that it is, but the judge is the final authority and you are wrong.
Wednesday Aug 27th, 2008 9:38 AM
I think you're a bit confused. There are no major drain and oil stability issues below the stadium, it's a narrow strip that doesn't get much rain drained into it due to the presence of the wide stadium bowl. You do realize that the world's foremost experts on geotechnical issues practice their research and teaching a block below the stadium, within Cal's top-rated Civil Engineering dept. Their input was taken.
It's also disingenuous to worry about the safety of athletes due to mudslide potential (very dubious threat at best) when in fact they are currently in far greater danger from being inside a seismically unstable structure on a daily basis. That's one of the main purposes of the new construction that many here are fanatically devoted to blocking, it is going to take them out of harm's way and put them in a new seismically safe structure.
Anyway, we're basically at the endgame now, the courts have rightfully declared UC to be the winners, the 44 trees will come down, but a hundred more will be replanted, and eventually the parking area north of the stadium will also get an oak tree cover. Twenty years from now the area will actually be greener, that's a fact that underscores the futility and plain wrongness of this whole treesit.
While you can't expect guys like tristan or "Running Wolf" to be realistic and rational (as are half of Berkeley's city council, who abstained from voting for a futile and costly appeal), it's time for most people to move on.
All this attention to this "sexy" treesit is all the more depressing given that there are much more urgent environmental issues right now which would warrant the focus of the treesitters, like the contunied threats on the Headwaters old growth groves. Someone should tell the handful of protesters near the stadium to move there already.
Wednesday Aug 27th, 2008 9:38 AM
Whats the lastest?
Wednesday Aug 27th, 2008 5:33 PM
Berkeleyan wrote;
"I think you're a bit confused. There are no major drain and oil stability issues below the stadium, it's a narrow strip that doesn't get much rain drained into it due to the presence of the wide stadium bowl. You do realize that the world's foremost experts on geotechnical issues practice their research and teaching a block below the stadium, within Cal's top-rated Civil Engineering dept. Their input was taken."
So just because some scientists employed by UC Berkeley have made a choice to compromise their integrity and they are experts, well by golly, we'd all better believe them? Just like we should believe the scientists working under the GW bush regime's EPA climate change panel that distort the facts in order to keep the people of the U.S. hooked on oil for another few decades??
How many HONEST scientists working for the GW Bush regime's climate change panel were able to remain employed without losing their lunch on a daily basis after watching their work be repeatedly distorted for the benefit of GW's buddies in big oil?
There are plenty of scientists who disagree with the decisions of the GW bush regime, UC Berkeley administration and other authorities who use their power to distort science. When Prof. Ignacio Chapela discovered that GMO pollen had contaminated the indigenous land races of maize in Oaxaca, he went public with this important knowledge and was denied tenure by UC Berkeley administration as a result of his integrity. That shows the difference between scientists who care about presenting the facts and other so-called scientific experts who distort science to please their bosses..
AS far as the drainage, how can a stadium that is next to the oaks in the median prevent rain from falling on the median and the oaks themselves? The stadium is not an umbrella, it sits next to the median, NOT on top of it! If the oaks are removed, there will be no protection of the soil beneath, and smothering with concrete doesn't count as adequate protection. If rainstorms were the only problem, that would be one thing, but we remind ourselves that the stadium above the oaks is sitting on an active fault line, so add liquefaction the recipe of possible disasters. Oak roots that grip the soil would prevent these types of events from happening, liquefaction is usually for mud and unstable soil saturated by moisture and becomes like pudding, unable to maintain it's structure in the event of a seismic tremor.
Although I am not worried about the safety of the athletes yet, i would not feel safe working out in a gymnasium built under these conditions. The stadium behind the oaks and potential gym site is already unstable, so how does attaching a new building to a much larger unstable one guarantee anybody's safety?
Wednesday Aug 27th, 2008 6:14 PM
Some scientists in Scotland (with climate & topography similar to Bay Area) have also noticed the links between deforestation and debris flows, landslides, etc…
"The effects of forestry have frequently been identified as, at least, partial causes or propagators of debris flows in areas such as the Pacific NW of the USA (Brunengo, 2002). Logging or deforestation can have a dramatic effect on the drainage patterns of a slope, reducing root moisture uptake, slope reinforcement due to the root systems, and the physical restraints on downslope water flow for example. Such effects were especially noted as factors in the triggering of a translational landslide (not a debris flow) at Loch Shira adjacent to the A83 trunk road near Inverary in December 1994."
Entire report found @;
Here's some basics on different types of "mass wasting", the term used for soil and slope erosion;
Mass wasting
(′mas ′wāst•iŋ)
(geology) Dislodgement and downslope transport of loose rock and soil material under the direct influence of gravitational body stresses.
Types of mass movement
Types of mass movement are distinguished based on how the soil, regolith or rock moves downslope as a whole.
Creep is a long term process. The combination of small movements of soil or rock in different directions over time are directed by gravity gradually downslope. The steeper the slope, the faster the creep. The creep makes trees and other shrubs curve to reach the sun light. These often trigger land slides because the dirt underneath is not very strong. The trees most of the time die out because of lack of water and sun, and these rarely happen in wet climates.
Where the mass movement has a well-defined zone or plane of sliding, it is called a landslide. This includes rock slides, slumps and sturzstroms.
Movement of soil and regolith that more resembles fluid behavior is called a flow. These include avalanches, mudflows, debris flows, earth flow, solifluction, lahars and sturztroms. Water, air and ice are often involved in enabling fluidlike motion of the material.
Topples are instances when blocks of rock pivot and fall away from a slope.
A fall, including rockfall, is where regolith cascades down a slope, but is not of sufficient volume or viscosity to behave as a flow.
Triggers of mass wasting
Soil and regolith remain on a hillslope only while the gravitational forces are unable to overcome the frictional forces keeping the material in place (see Slope stability). Factors that reduce the frictional resistance relative to the downslope forces, and thus initiate slope movement, can include:
• seismic shaking
• increased overburden from structures
• increased soil moisture
• reduction of roots holding the soil to bedrock
• undercutting of the slope by excavation or erosion
• weathering by frost heave
• bioturbation "
more info on mass wasting found @;
Wednesday Aug 27th, 2008 8:21 PM
So you're ready to believe that the side of the stadium is going to fall apart because you've just read some stuff off a Scottish site and apply it to the stadium? Sorry for being blunt, but that's terribly naive. You don't understand soil mechanics.
FYI, I studied civil engineering at UC Berkeley. It is actually the best civil engineering department in the US, if not the world. Issues with soil stability are fully accounted for in a project like this. California is way ahead of Scotland there. No project would be started without a thorough and sound geological foundation, literally and figuratively speaking.
You're just grasping straws here. The series of arguments in opposition to the project is staggering in its extravagance, it's a velcro strategy of sorts, but nothing really stuck. We've had the "last remaining oak grove in Berkeley" bull (absolutely not true), the endangered/rare oak habitat argument (even more fake, there are 250 million live oaks in California!), the alleged Indian burrial grounds (BS), the seismic argument (it doesn't straddle the fault actually) and now you're going to claim that the stadium and the earth will slide off?
Wednesday Aug 27th, 2008 8:24 PM
So you're ready to believe that the side of the stadium is going to fall apart because you've just read some stuff off a Scottish site and apply it to the stadium? Sorry for being blunt, but that's terribly naive. You don't understand soil mechanics.
FYI, I studied civil engineering at UC Berkeley. It is actually the best civil engineering department in the US, if not the world. Issues with soil stability are fully accounted for in a project like this. California is way ahead of Scotland there. No project would be started without a thorough and sound geological foundation, literally and figuratively speaking.
You're just grasping straws here. The series of arguments in opposition to the project is staggering in its extravagance, it's a velcro strategy of sorts, but nothing really stuck. We've had the "last remaining oak grove in Berkeley" bull (absolutely not true), the endangered/rare oak habitat argument (even more fake, there are 250 million live oaks in California!), the alleged Indian burrial grounds (BS), the seismic argument (it doesn't straddle the fault actually) and now you're going to claim that the stadium and the earth will slide off?
Thursday Aug 28th, 2008 8:54 AM
from the above post:
"Although I am not worried about the safety of the athletes yet, i would not feel safe working out in a gymnasium built under these conditions. The stadium behind the oaks and potential gym site is already unstable"
The STRUCTURE of the stadium is unstable, not THE SOIL. There is a BIG DIFFERENCE. The main risk is of the old high concrete structure collapsing on itself, NOT the stadium sliding off onto Gayley Road. The soil below the fault is actually stable bedrock. Liquifaction, mudslides are not an issue with the stadium. Ironically, people suggested the new gym and stadium be built in Albany, which is on landfill and would have big issues with soil liquefaction in the case of a big earthquake.
We KNOW that the stadium, inside which students and staff train and work every day, is seismically unsafe. The new building is designed to take them out of the way and potentially SAVE THEIR LIVES. Once those are taken care of in the new building, the stadium structure will be filled in and reinforced which will make it safe for spectators.
Thursday Aug 28th, 2008 11:39 AM
Berkeleyan wrote:
"The STRUCTURE of the stadium is unstable, not THE SOIL. There is a BIG DIFFERENCE. The main risk is of the old high concrete structure collapsing on itself, NOT the stadium sliding off onto Gayley Road. The soil below the fault is actually stable bedrock. Liquifaction, mudslides are not an issue with the stadium."
No, adding another building onto the stadium with an unable structure will not be safe, no matter how many "experts" UC Berkeley hires to make this claim in their favor! Liquefaction is usually for saturated soils in deltas, though on slopes with nothing to absorb the water, it could become an issue. Other forms of mass wasting besides liquefaction are also likely, such as slumps or slides. Combined with any seismic activity during a wet season storm, this could create a dangerous scenario. The stadium and attached gym could be safe for many years before anything happens, though one incident could be a major disaster. This seems to be the case with pro-development authority figures ignoring warnings from environmentalists, years go by with little changes and suddenly disaster hits, by that time the warnings were all forgotten and the officials responsible have protected themselves from any litigation. That is exactly what happened with Katrina's disaster and the loss of cypress tree buffers from petroleum canal erosion and salt water intrusion killing the protective trees. When the oak tree roots have been supporting the soil on the slope above the median for so many decades, why risk a disaster by removing them??
Maybe 'Berkeleyan' is correct by stating the soil is currently stable, as the oak roots are helping the soil remain stable! Removing the oak tree roots could result in the soil becoming unstable in the future, and this is one of the factors that the treesitters are trying to prevent by saving the trees!!
The reference to Scotland's slopes and landslides is relevant, as similar weather and topography exist in that region, minus the seismic potential. Gravity, tree roots and slopes are similar features throughout the planet, and the scientists there are simply pointing out that loss of tree roots can lead to greater slope instability. Seems like it isn't only the Scottish scientists who make this claim, similar reports are found coming from Staten Island, NY;
Prepared by;
John R. Oppenheimer, Ph. D.
Associate Director
Center for Environmental Science
The College of Staten Island
City University of New York
Submitted to;
Ms. Marilyn Mammano
City Planning Commission
N.Y.C. Department of City Planning
25 January 1988
Revised 20 February 1988
The Role of Natural Vegetation
A vegetated surface serves several roles in the control of stormwater.
The surfaces of the vegetation (leaves, twigs, branches, rough bark) intercept and hold a portion of the rain, which then evaporates back into the atmosphere before reaching the ground surface. The more layers of vegetation (canopy, understory, shrub layer, ground cover, leaf litter), the more interception that occurs. Precipitation that is not intercepted, reaches the ground by drip through, either by dripping or by running down the trunk. Consequently the vegetative cover dissipates much of the energy of the rain drops and thus decreases the occurrence of rain splash erosion, which in turn initiates the process of surface or sheet erosion during a storm. The vegetation reduces the occurrence of sheet erosion by holding the soil particles in place with its roots as the storm water runs off along the surface.
Some of the precipitation enters the soil by infiltration. Of this, some evaporates back into the atmosphere, some is drawn down below the root zone by gravity where it may enter the water table, and some is held in the root zone by the soil particles. The amount held in the root zone is dependent upon the soil texture and structure. Some of the water in the root zone enters the roots of the plants and is released back into the atmosphere from the leaves of the plants by transpiration. The deeper the roots go, the more water returned to the atmosphere, and the less that remains in the soil.
Water in the soil occupies the spaces between the soil particles, that would otherwise be occupied by air. As the volume of water in the soil increases, it exerts a pressure on the soil particles that pushes them apart. Water may also enter fractures in bedrock and the water pressure may separate the rock faces from each other. On slopes this may lead to slope failure or mass wasting, such as rock falls or slides. Slides are brought about at planar surfaces, such as at the interface of soil and the weathering surface of bedrock. As the soil particles are pushed apart, they separate from the rock surface, thus the friction that held them in place against gravity is reduced and a slide may occur.
Effects of Development on Slopes
The first effect is the increase in soil surface erosion due to the loss of vegetation and its functions - interception, holding the soil in place, and evapotranspiration.
The second is the increased chance of slope failures due to the added downward weight of structures (buildings, roads, vehicles) placed on the soil surface, and to increased entrance of water into the soil. Thus a volume of ground water that was too small to cause a slump under natural conditions, can now cause a slump as the added weight of the structures overcomes the friction that held the soil in place. Or a storm that would not have caused a problem now causes slope failure because a greater percentage of the precipitation is entering the soil.
As a consequence of the above, human activities on slopes should be controlled, and in some cases prevented. Although homes can be built on slopes if their weight is transmitted directly to bedrock, the fracturing of the bedrock must also be taken into account. "In urban areas, the overloading of slopes is occurring more frequently as buildings are sited on artificial fills on steep hillsides that were formerly avoided" (Dunne and Leopold, 1978, p. 563). Human activities that alter the hydrology of the hill's slope, such as clearing of vegetation, diversion of storm water from roads or roofs, leakage of water from septic tanks, water pipes and sewerage lines, or the use of dry wells, are frequent causes of damaging landslides. "
Entire report found @;
If scientists from Staten Island, NYC aren't good enough for Berkeleyan, we can find some more local reports stating the same exact facts about slope stability.
Here's another question for Berkeleyan about slopes, soils and such; how can the soil above the fault line be called stable bedrock? For one, soil is derived from parent material (bedrock) and thus is no longer considered actual bedrock. The oak tree roots are grasping the soil above the bedrock and keeping it stable. The bedrock below the soil cannot be all that stable either or there would not be a fault line there!!
The other issues about the oaks are also relevant. There is an indigenous burial ground located there, and disturbing these remains by removing the oaks is disrespectful to California's indigenous peoples of the past, present and future. In addition it is a memorial oak grove planted to show respect and appreciation for U.S. veterans, many of whom were also indigenous people.
Oak tree ecosystems throughout the developed Bay Area and coastal region are becoming endangered, there are far less oaks alive today than were thriving during pre-settlement times. The strip of oaks along the stadium median function as a greenway for the arboreal species that inhabit the oaks, giving them a bridge between other small oak groves scattered around the region.
Breathing of oak leaves are a source of oxygen for humans and other animals, and in a region with much auto exhaust and internal combustion engines that consume oxygen and spew out CO2, CO, NOx and other air pollutants, having living trees around to filter the air and give off clean oxygen is an advantage. Just ask the local youth with asthma problems if they feel better breathing more smog or would like some fresh oxygen to inhale once in a while. Not to mention these oak trees also consume the excess CO2 that is causing global warming, they are carbon sinks.
Then there's the issue of acorns from oaks as a vital food source for wildlife right off the tree and for humans when properly leached of their tannins with water. Acorns are a cultural and highly nutritious food source for many indigenous North Americans past and present, and many ecologically aware immigrants also enjoy acorn bread, soup and other homemade recipes made from acorns.
Thursday Aug 28th, 2008 2:37 PM
You persist in just pasting irrelevant material. the text above states: "In urban areas, the overloading of slopes is occurring more frequently as buildings are sited on artificial fills on steep hillsides that were formerly avoided"
The area there is not a landfill or a very steep hillside, it is a stable bedrock soil that is away from the Hayward Fault. What most people who have no concept of geotechnical science don't understand is that a building 100 ft from a fault build on bedrock will have a better chance of withstanding a strong earthquake than a building on landfill terrain like west Berkeley or the Marina District in SF.
As well, the design of the new building is safe, it is a flat, low-lying building with a very deep foundation. Not the kind of structure that is subject to sliding.
-There are no indian burial gounds there. A skeleton dating fro mteh turn of the century was found there in the 1920s, hardly surprising since the area had been inhabited and it was common for people to burry their dead on their property. It's BS to turn this into a pseudo-sacred burrying ground just to bolster the legitimacy of your position. There are no anthropological findings that support this notion.
-"In addition it is a memorial oak grove planted to show respect and appreciation for U.S. veterans, many of whom were also indigenous people. "
THIS IS BS. The STADIUM ITSELF is the memorial to those Cal students who died in WW1, because back then the community came together to support the football team, whereas your faction wants to SHUT IT DOWN. the new building will help the football program remain viable, while you want to shut it down! In this sense, it is highly insulting to use the Cal veterans who died to bolster your cause.
-"Oak tree ecosystems throughout the developed Bay Area and coastal region are becoming endangered"
There are ONE HUNDRED THOUSANDS ACRES of oak habitat in Alameda County alone, ONE BILLION oak trees in the State of California. IRONICALLY, the number of oak trees will actually INCREASE given that more trees will be planted around the stadium after the project is done!
-Do you give a damn about the 10,000 eucalyptus trees that will be cut in Tilden/UC east of the stadium? Because that will certainly affect global warming thousand of times more than cutting 44 oak trees. Incidently, if you cut oak trees, use the wood and replant young trees, it is better for the environment since young trees grow faster and trap more CO2.
"Then there's the issue of acorns from oaks as a vital food source for wildlife right off the tree and for humans when properly leached of their tannins with water. Acorns are a cultural and highly nutritious food source for many indigenous North Americans past and present, and many ecologically aware immigrants also enjoy acorn bread, soup and other homemade recipes made from acorns."
You're welcome to harvest the acorn from the 1,000,000,000 oak trees that grow in California. To turn the cutting of 44 oak trees into some kind of acorn food crisis is kind of totally irrational if not ridiculous.
Thursday Aug 28th, 2008 3:33 PM
The person who calls themselves "Berkeleyan" also persists a great deal on trying to downplay what many people who struggle to save the oak grove consider important. Why be so focused on cutting down these oaks unless this "Berkeleyan" person is somehow getting a profit from the construction of the gym? Are you an athlete, contracter or hired UC PR rep? Why do you want for the stadium oaks to be cut so badly? What is your angle, Mr. or Mrs. Berkeleyan??
If everything that people state as reasons to defend the oaks can be invalidated by Berkeleyan without any evidence (prove to the readers there are one billion oaks in CA!), then the problem is really with someone trying to discredit activists for either personal for profit reasons or a vendetta against the treesitters. We've heard just about every excuse from "Berkeleyan" why the stadium oaks don't matter, and not really much reason why this gym needs to be built over the oaks, as if there were no other space for the gym to be constructed??
Just because the slope above the median isn't fill, that doesn't mean it will be safe from seismic events and slope slump or slide during wet weather events. The fault line is indeed under the stadium itself, and this compromises the integrity of any structure attached to the stadium..
Treesitters also persist on defending the oaks, so 'Berkeleyan' is invited to persist on responding to each and every comment that is in favor of defending the oaks by negating any reasons provided. Either way, reasons to save the oaks will continue to appear in the sfimc website, matching all reasons given to clearcut the oaks..
Thursday Aug 28th, 2008 3:40 PM
To refute Berkeleyan's claim that the fault doesn't cross the stadium;
"UC Berkeley ("Cal") is one of the major stops on tours of the Hayward Fault in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Hayward Fault is a branch of the San Andreas Fault, and for those of us living here it is a major concern. For ten years I was lucky enough to have my office right on top of the fault, in the infamous "Section KK" at the stadium. Every April (anniversary month of the SF '06 earthquake), tours would come and see all the wonderful signs of creep. It's great: at the top the stadium wall has split about 30 cm. Several decades ago someone put a metal plate across the gap (see second photo on right).
So, I moved on from my concessions work, received a degree in Physical Science (with emphasis on Earth Science) at Cal State Hayward (now named Cal State East Bay), and have been teaching high school science since 1993
I've always wondered:
Why do the walls show no signs of creep at the bottom, where I would expect to see the most motion?
A little background:
The motion of the Hayward Fault is "right lateral." This means if you look across the fault, the far side will appear to be moving to the right (it doesn't matter which side of the fault you're on--think about this). Thus, the west side is moving north relative to the east side. This is what the stadium shows at the top.
Answers emailed from David A Schmidt
Most buildings respond to fault creep in complex ways, and Memorial Stadium is no exception. While fault creep may be ocurring along a discrete line beneath the stadium, structures tend to deform either where the construction is the weakest or where segments meet. So while the deformation may look localized in the structure, it is not required that the fault trace is located directly below the cracking. For the south side of the stadium, the fault trace is actually located just to the east somehwere beneath the flight of cement stairs, although it is difficult to see. The stadium has responded by deforming at the expansion gap in the structure near the top of the seats. The deformation is not as clear on the north side of the stadium because the closest expansion gap is 100 yards away. Our measurments from observing stations separated 100 yards across the fault has shown that the west side of the stadium is moving north at a rate of ~0.25 inch/year relative to the east side."
read article & see photo evidence @;
Thursday Aug 28th, 2008 4:45 PM
Are we also going to ignore the wishes of the last living WW1 veteran who is asking that the memorial stadium oak grove remain standing?
"UCPD has no respect for veterans, either. A few months ago, a group of veterans gathered to read the names of the Californians who perished in World War I, because the stadium and the grove are a memorial to World War I Veterans. UCPD confiscated the sign bearing the veterans' names. Recently, the last surviving U.S. veteran of the World War I, Frank Buckles, called for the oak grove to be preserved."
read on @;
Here is the memorial plaque dedicated to WW1 veterans. The oaks were planted as part of the veteran's memorial;
Evidence of two human skeletal remains found during stadium construction (1923), indicates probability of other people buried nearby also;
"Stadium Excavation Reveals Relics of Human Bones and Ancient Coin"
Daily Californian, February 23, 1923 Page 1.
An old coin and fragments of human bones were unearthed a few days ago by workmen excavating for the Stadium. These relics were discovered about 35 feet north of the site where the remains of the Indian skeleton were discovered six weeks ago.
The letters "N-O-R-A" and indistinct vestiges of two other letters can be made out on the face of the coin.
Although the nature of the piece of money has not yet been clearly identified. Prof A. T. Kroeber of the anthropology department believes that the coin is probably Mexican and from the state of Sonora.
Believes Coin Came From Sonora
In the second quarter of the nineteenth century, Sonora was an independent state and had a separate system of coinage. At the time California was taken possession by the Mexicans the Sonora coinage was probably circulated as far north as Berkeley.
The connection of the coin to the bones is not clear since the latter appeared to be much older. Only two or three ribs and other small particles of a skeleton remain distinguishable in the recent excavation. The bones found a few weeks ago were little disintegrated and were judged to be comparatively recent.
Cannot Estimate Age of Bones
Dr. Kroeber states, however that the soil conditions affect the rate of bone decay so greatly that age of the bones cannot be accurately estimated. The coin may have been buried with the body of the Indian or may have been lost and covered up gradually. It is not likely that any large Indian burying ground will be discovered in Strawberry Canyon during the excavations as Professor Kroeber says that most of the Indians in this part of the country were taken to missions at San Francisco or San Jose for burial."
article found @;
Whether it is likely that a large burial ground may be there isn't the point, there were at least two burials there and neither one were documented by the missionaries. Not all indigenous burial grounds occurred after the missionaries took over burials, and Kroeber himself says the age is undetermined, outside of the coin. In addition, many indigenous people of CA probably tried to secretly bury their family members in sites they themselves considered sacred, outside of the control of the missionaries. Kroeber was also shocked to discover the last living member of the Yahi tribe called Ishi who appeared in Oroville one fine day, so even the Proffs can be surprised..
Not that UC Berkeley would be returning or even publically announcing any other remains of indigenous people's skeletons even if they found more there, their practice of ignoring the wishes of the Ohlone to have their ancestors returned to them is nothing new;
"Before Europeans arrived, California had hundreds of tribes. But the 1849 Gold Rush triggered a slaughter that reduced the native population from 300,000 to 20,000 in about 50 years. Many tribes had so few survivors that they have been unable to win federal recognition.
The Hearst museum was founded in 1901 by Phoebe Hearst, UC's first female regent and mother of newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst.
The museum is perhaps best known as the place where Ishi, California's last "wild" Indian lived for five years until his death in 1916. Ishi was a living exhibit at the museum, then in San Francisco. The museum sent his brain to the Smithsonian Institution, where it sat in a jar until 2000 when it was returned to California for burial.
Early Berkeley archaeologists viewed themselves as preserving the last fragments of a disappearing culture. They went out collecting, digging up villages and burial sites. Berkeley began housing the bones in the gymnasium basement in the 1940s. Rows of yellow metal cabinets and wooden drawers hold the remains, some a few bones, others complete skeletons.
Many bones are kept in plastic bags; a few are wrapped in old newspapers. Soil still clings to some, making it appear that they haven't been touched since they were brought to the basement.
Skulls stored separately
To maximize storage space, many skulls are kept in one set of drawers and their skeletons in another, a practice offensive to American Indians. Access to the basement is restricted to museum staff, a handful of researchers and tribal representatives.
Some American Indians complain that scientists view their ancestors as "research materials."
The university acknowledges that one researcher was recently allowed to take a small Ohlone bone and destroy it to analyze the deceased's diet. The Ohlone, once numerous in the Bay Area, are not eligible to receive remains because their tribe is not federally recognized."
article found @;
UC Berkeley is wrong in their actions, choosing profit and funding for expensive gyms over respect for the veterans and indigenous communities. That could be part of the reason their enrollment is dropping and the community of Berkeley wishes they never had the UC there to begin with. As far as i'm concerned, UC Berkeley is a cursed school for thier actions..
Friday Aug 29th, 2008 7:57 AM
"To refute Berkeleyan's claim that the fault doesn't cross the stadium"
"Just because the slope above the median isn't fill, that doesn't mean it will be safe from seismic events and slope slump or slide during wet weather events. The fault line is indeed under the stadium itself, and this compromises the integrity of any structure attached to the stadium.."
I NEVER SAID that the fault does not cross the stadium. Please do not misconstrue or distort my words. The STADIUM straddles Hayward Fault, everyone knows that, but the NEW BUILDING DOES NOT. If it did, you would have won your court case and the project would have been stopped! That was a key finding from the court case. The OTHER key finding is that the new building is separate from the stadium, so both statements above are FALSE.
I don' know if you're pulling this bait and switch on purpose or are simply ignorant of the difference between structural creep due to the movement of the fault in buildings on top of it, which you brought up above, and creep from soil instability due to rain on slopy ground, which you implied that the new building would be subject to. The two things are separate.
You imply that the new building is going to slide off the hill, based on a Scottish article and on a Long Island study. The fact is there are many older, much larger buildings that were build ON STEEPER HILLS in the same area: The Greek Theater, Foothill, Stern, Bowles Hall. NONE OF THOSE buildings have sliding issues due to rain. Their SOIL is stable. Some have STRUCTURAL issues due to the fact that they are older designs sitting on the fault. That is not the case with the new building, whose function is to save the lives of the 450 students and staff who currently work and train inside the seismically unsafe facilities inside the stadium. Those will be closed once the new gym is built, and the area will be filled in to reinforce the stadium.
Friday Aug 29th, 2008 8:25 AM
prove to the readers there are one billion oaks in CA!),
From the top of page 6 of this report:
California has approximately 8.5 million
acres of oak woodland and 4.5 million
acres of oak forest. These 13 million acres
comprise more than one-eighth of the
state's area (see Figure 2). The Sacramento
and San Joaquin regions are home to more
than half of California's oak woodland.
Oak forests are concentrated in the North
Coast and North Interior regions.
California currently has approximately
Friday Aug 29th, 2008 8:26 AM
..."California currently has approximately
two billion oaks greater than 1" DBH.
More than 800 million of these oaks are
larger than 5" DBH."
So I was wrong actually, CALIFORNIA HAS 2,000,000,000 (TWO BILLION!) oak trees, not one billion as I have stated above.
The report also shows that there are ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND ACRES OF OAK HABITAT IN ALAMEDA COUNTY ALONE, despite the fact that Alameda is a very urban county with a large population. Saying that the oak is endangered in California to the point where cutting 44 trees and replanting 120 is some kind of environmental crim is totally ignorant and ludicrous, especially since doing so WILL ACTUALLY INCREASE the oak count in the long run!
Friday Aug 29th, 2008 8:37 AM
"Why be so focused on cutting down these oaks unless this "Berkeleyan" person is somehow getting a profit from the construction of the gym? Are you an athlete, contracter [sic] or hired UC PR rep? Why do you want for the stadium oaks to be cut so badly? What is your angle, Mr. or Mrs. Berkeleyan?? "
Fair question. I am a former Cal student (two degrees) who has actually lived about 200ft from the stadium for several years, as opposed to the tree sitters, most of whom came recently from places like New Jersey and have never been a part of the campus community.
I am one of THOUSANDS of community members who STRONGLY SUPPORT this project. The fact is, there are over 8,000 signatures IN SUPPORT of the new building, and tens of thousands beyond that who also do.
It's pathetic how this project is painted as an evil corporate scheme when in fact IT IS A GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY effort. ALL THE MONEY is raised from individual donors like me, people who HAVE ACTUALLY LIVED in the area, no some dogmatic outsiders like you who are enjoying riding a hollow cause.
Trying to somehow imply that those oaks are a memorial to WW1 vets from Cal really is repulsive. The fact is, THE STADIUM ITSELF is the memorial to fallen soldiers from UC Berkeley. THE PLAQUE IN THE PICTURE IS ON THE STADIUM, NOT AT THE BOTTOM OF TREES! The trees were added after the stadium was build as landscaping. Back in the 1920s, the entire community supported the football program. Nowadays, 8,000 Berkeley students and tens of thousands of alumni still support the football program, while campus outsiders like you and rich sociopathic neighbors like the Panoramic Hill people who hate the students and the idea of a vibrant campus project their dogmas on this project and the campus community and want the football program to be shut down.
You talk of "alternative locations" for the new building, but there are no serious ones. The campus is already very crowded, and the new building will provide locker rooms and training facilities for the football team, but also a number of women's teams like Field Hockey and softball, whose facilities are next door. Opponents have suggested moving the building to Albany want the softball team to change in locker rooms in Albany then shuttle back to Strawberry Canyon?!?
Saturday Aug 30th, 2008 1:11 PM
To "Berkeleyan" who supports clear cutting of stadium memorial oaks;
No, no and more no's to all of your points made out of sheer arrogance. So there could be somewhere around two billion oaks throughout the entire state of CA, from the southern border with Mexico to the northern border with ORegon. Then out from the ocean to the eastern slope of the Sierras and the stretches of the Mojave. Of course oaks don't grow in all these diverse climates and terrains, and of the two billion (approx. numbers, these are based on estimations, and generally speaking we're losing oaks faster than we're gaining oaks!) oaks there is a great variety of species and hybrids between two different species..
Thanks for including the Oaks 2040 website links in your comments, if you read the entire peace they also talk about the importance of regional communities saving the oaks nearby them, as sprawling development is lowering the numbers every year throughout the state..
When dealing with urban regions like the Bay Area, many of the larger oak groves are out of traveling range to the people who live there, and what is wrong with saving the scattered remnants of the ancient oak groves that inhabited the Bay Area prior to European settlement??
People in urban regions would benefit more from saving their trees than cutting them down to build more concrete structures accesible only to the few elite athletes on the UC Berkeley team and their high priced football games that exclude the majority of Berkeley's lower income residents anyway..
Even the lives of these elite UC athletes are disposable to the UC administration when looking at their lack of concern in building a gym structure within the collapse radius of the unstable stadium that we now agree straddles the Hayward fault. This gym is a for-profit enterprise to spend UC grant money on frivilous yet expensive projects, and when the eventual quake and landslide levels the place, the UC admins will certainly petition the government for more pork subsidies to build another structure on unstable ground. Maybe after the quake and resulting deaths of athletes, the Anthropology dept. of UC Berkeley can store the skulls of the athletes in their basement drawers next to the skulls of Native Americans they heisted from their ancestral gravesites..
Wednesday Sep 3rd, 2008 3:14 PM
The argument about oak tree count made in opposition to the building of the new facility for 450 student-athletes and UC staff is ridiculous on two counts:
1- the project will actually INCREASE the tree count! more oak trees will be replanted than harvested. By 2040, the seeds planted will have reached a pretty high level of maturity and the tree cover around the stadium will be more expansive than it is today...
2- the idea of scarcity and rarity of those trees in the area is a myth, and as a rallying point it is really weak in the bigger picture, even if you don't consider point 1 above. There are 100,000 acres of natural oak tree habitat in Alameda County, where Berkeley lies, and this despite the fact that Alameda actually is one of the most urban counties in NorCal. I think that represents about a fifth of the county's area, IIRC.
Further ridiculous notions in your last post above, you write:
"When dealing with urban regions like the Bay Area, many of the larger oak groves are out of traveling range to the people who live there, and what is wrong with saving the scattered remnants of the ancient oak groves that inhabited the Bay Area prior to European settlement??"
There are many oak groves WITHIN Berkeley, and vast expanses of oak habitats all around the east bay and Alameda county (100,000 acres, according to the data from the CA Oak Foundation).
The other ridiculous notion is that the area itself wasn't in fact an oak grove before the stadium was built, it was just grassland. Historic pictures from the area show a very bare environment with few trees. The oak grove is a man-made landscape. This does not mean that it should be torn apart, but given the demands from the campus community and the dire need for a facility that will potentially save the lives of hindreds of students and staff, building the new facilities on a small part of the strip and planting many more trees all around the stadium is a sensible course of action, if one were to see the issue from a less dogmatic perspective. A perspective which you are unfortunately not capable of adopting.
I also think it's quite rich that you are depicting "Berkeley's elite athletes" in that manner when in fact the majority of the football team comes from underrepresented ethnic minorities and/or disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, and when the principal lawsuit obstructionists are the homeowners of Panoramic Hills, whose homes prices average $1,250,000. Do you get the irony of your positon?
That irony is just as ludicrous on another level, when you persist in claiming that the new building is unsafe, which is a patently false notion that is held by people without any rudementary gronding in geotechnical background. In fact you are keeping the students and staff in an unsafe building and delaying the day they move into new safe alternative structures by blocking their construction. In this sense you are the party who is showing disdain for the students' lives.


text:
The IMA Blog team welcomes New York-based artist Orly Genger as a guest blogger. We asked her to share some thoughts on her IMA exhibition, Whole.
I'm obsessed with making something that matters. I'm obsessed with working. And I believe that it is only through hard work that good work is made.
One of the most important things to me has always been to keep my hands moving, to keep making things. I worry about what I make and what it means after I make it. I also used to think that talking about art, especially your own art, ruins it. That's partly why I dropped out of art school. But I've softened on that in recent years, which is maybe a result of having gone to art school. I do talk here and there about my work and hope it won't ruin anything, but instead reveal a bit about the way I'm thinking, at least in the moment.
For my show at the IMA I wanted to make sculptures that could stand on their own. I had previously created pieces that were sprawling and boundless and all consuming, the structures of which relied heavily on the spaces they inhabited. But this time I attempted to make sculptures that were contained, pieces that had a beginning and an end. And pieces that could be here, there, or anywhere but are themselves wherever they are and that rely only on themselves to be what they are.
There are nine stacks in the show. I used the most reductive forms of building to create mass-accumulation and repetition. My intention was to simplify my obsessive process into its most basic elements in order to reveal it, to expose the layers of building and to create a texture that is purely based on the movement of my hand making the knots.
People ask me if making my work is relaxing or meditative. It's not. Working with these ropes is physically challenging. They are big and heavy and clumsy. I sweat, I curse, and I feel like I'm wrestling with an octopus. There is a sense of accomplishment in overcoming a physical challenge. It is through endurance, and an intense level of psychological commitment and invariance that we push through the toughest of times. There is always a struggle and there are always challenges. I am fueled by the desire to overcome them.
We all have a need to flex. Whether it's showing off our biceps and inflating our chest or wearing high heels and feathers in our caps, we want to be bigger. We want to be better. My work attempts to deal with the hyperbolic nature of this survival tendency. Each stack is named after a different Mr. Universe champion from the '60s and '70s. They are not my heroes, but they are big men.
There are also moments of lightness, of fragility and gentleness. I like to pretend I am a boxer dishing out a bloody beating followed by a ballerina dancing with my toes barely skimming the ground. And then I like to imagine that my work is the product of these two people falling in love. There is precision and there is rawness. And there is the combination of the two that creates the tension that I am attracted to.
But nothing I say matters all that much. It's what I do. I believe in action. In what I choose to leave behind. In what I take the time to devote myself to. In the end it's the work that matters.
Filed under: Art, Guest Bloggers

subset: commoncrawl


text:
- Admissions
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Office of the President
Fax: 202-885-3279
President's Office Building, Room 1
February 5, 2010
|Campus Community
|Neil Kerwin, President
|Mid-Winter Update
With spring semester well underway, I offer a mid-winter report on topics of interest.
Condition of the University—Start of Spring Semester
We open the new academic term with indicators of institutional health both solid and encouraging. Enrollment for the spring semester continues to be strong in most categories. The retention figures I reported in my October 2009 campus letter (among the highest in university history) have not changed significantly. Revenues from tuition and other sources that support our budget are also consistent with targets. Given current trends in expenditures, we are confident that we will end the fiscal year in balance (or better).
Trends for the fall 2010 entering classes are also positive. We again have a record number of applicants for our freshman class, including the highest number ever of early decision candidates. Overall, freshman applications have increased by 12 percent, with early decision applications up by an even larger percentage. While it is much earlier in the enrollment cycle for transfer and graduate applications, these also are showing increases at present. In short, nothing we see in the current numbers suggests that the trends are inconsistent with the targets we have set for the next academic year.
As I noted in December, our relative strength must be considered against a backdrop of a still troubled economy. Many people, both in the U.S. and abroad, face serious financial challenges, if not outright hardship. We remain concerned about the effects of these conditions on our current students and applicants. Our Financial Aid and Student Accounts offices remain ready to assist current students facing financial challenges. A key part of our strategic plan is a commitment to enrolling and supporting a diverse student body. This commitment will be reflected in the financial aid strategies we employ during each of our student recruitment cycles.
Strategic Plan Implementation
In my December letter I reported on the progress to date on the strategic plan and included a link to my recent update to the Board of Trustees. Implementing the plan is our highest institutional priority, and every member of the community has a role to ensure that we make progress toward our goals. Over the coming months Provost Bass and I will meet with the deans and faculties of each school and college to discuss their plans and what can be done to facilitate their work. I plan similar meetings in each of the other major divisions and will reach out to student organizations, Staff Council, and our Alumni Board to hear their views on progress under the plan. I will meet periodically with the Strategic Plan Measurement Project Team to review their work. They recently selected a software tool to assist in their measurement activities, which will, among other things, allow community members to monitor our progress. The membership and agenda for the University Council will be adjusted to enable informed discussion of strategic plan topics and issues. For the plan to be a serious force in the development of the institution, it must, at the very least, be a regular and widespread topic for discussion. I intend to ensure that happens.
Graduation Update
Planning for commencement (May 7–9 and May 23) is well underway, as students, family, and guests begin to make travel arrangements for the six ceremonies and supporting activities. Three ceremonies will be on Saturday, May 8—School of Communication at 9:00 a.m., Kogod School of Business at 1:00 p.m., and School of International Service at 4:30 p.m. Two ceremonies will be on Sunday, May 9—School of Public Affairs at 9:00 a.m. and the College of Arts and Sciences at 1:00 p.m. The Washington College of Law commencement will be on Sunday, May 23, at 1:00 p.m. We are currently working with the deans on speakers and honorary degree recipients and plan to announce them later in the semester after spring break. Other changes for this year include student singers performing the national anthem at each ceremony and the diplomas for bachelor's, master's, and doctoral students being "sized up" to 11 inches by 14 inches. As a reminder, students expecting to graduate in May must complete the Application to Graduate form on the my.american.edu portal by February 12. Other information is available via the commencement Web site (www.american.edu/commencement).
Development and Alumni Relations
Development and Alumni Relations continues to excel in their activities and programs. Final numbers from January will indicate that the AnewAU campaign has reached nearly $196.7 million, and cash donations to date this fiscal year already top $15 million—compared with $15.7 million for all of the last fiscal year. A component of this, alumni giving, is up substantially—by nearly 60 percent in dollars and 9 percent in donors. Forecasts for the remainder of the fiscal year are strong, with major gift conversations (including multiple gifts in the seven-figure range) nearing successful conclusion.
This growth can be attributed in part to the substantial increases in alumni programs and activities undertaken by the alumni board, regional alumni chapters, and the Office of Alumni Relations. Recent successes have included a Faculty on the Road program on January 26 in Miami featuring associate professor Parthiban David, the George and Maureen Collins Chair in Strategy and Consulting, and our third D.C. Networking Event on January 12. This year's 75 events (to date) already exceed last year's by 260 percent. The number of alumni engaged by these programs totals 3,720 or 66 percent more than all of last year.
Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees will hold their winter meeting on February 18 and 19. The plenary session will feature an update by vice president of finance and treasurer Don Myers on the status of the university's campus planning process. After the meeting, chairman Gary Abramson will post his meeting summary on the board Web site.
Campus Plan
Our campus planning process continues to evolve as the university administration refines its focus on which facilities projects are the highest strategic priorities to enable AU to thrive in the decades to come. The Facilities Planning Project Team has provided recommendations on facilities needs and priorities and will finalize its report in the coming weeks. The exhaustive and multifaceted exercise is one that aligns institutional needs, building sites, and funding potential in a process that requires campus involvement, community review, and governmental approval. Significant discussions are underway with the neighboring community and D.C. government officials, and public meetings are being scheduled with the two Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANC-3D and ANC-3E). Summary documents and information are posted on the Web site devoted to this topic (www.american.edu/finance/fas/2011-Campus-Plan.cfm). You will be reading more about AU's project ideas and planning objectives in the weeks to come, in both university and community news outlets. Our goal is to file the plan in the second half of 2010.
American University of Nigeria
In the past I have updated you on the progress we have made in our consultations with independent universities in developing areas of the world, consistent with elements of the strategic plan related to international activity. For the past six years, we have worked with the American University of Nigeria (AUN) to establish American-style higher education in western Africa, where poverty and literacy rates stand in the way of Nigeria building and sustaining democracy and prosperity. We can be proud of our work to assist AUN to secure leadership, establish a campus, build enrollment (now 1,100 students), develop board governance, and graduate successful undergraduates, to note just a few of the outcomes of our consulting relationship.
I must inform you of a development with AUN. As part of a long-standing inquiry, the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), has been studying the business practices of several influential foreign officials and their financial transactions with U.S. entities. AU has participated in the inquiry and has been fully cooperative with the PSI. They have issued a report and held a hearing (February 4) to review four case histories, including one focused on AUN's founder.
Army Corps
The Army Corps of Engineers continues their work on and adjacent to the AU campus, with the most visible projects around the Public Safety building (low-probability work) and on the university-owned residential property at 4825 Glenbrook Road (high-probability work done under a safety shelter). At both sites, the Corps continues to find lab glassware and metal debris from the World War I–era almost daily. It is removed and then tested for hazard or risk potential. Recent "larger finds," for example, include an empty and unfused shell found four feet underground in the Public Safety yard (January 4), which the Army classified as debris; intact glass bottlenecks found some three and a half feet underground on the Glenbrook property (January 26), sent to Edgewood Arsenal for testing; and additional laboratory glassware and bottles (February 2), also to be tested. The glass bottlenecks prompted a stir of speculation in some local news outlets; for perspective, please read the background information provided by the site project manager (Dan Noble) that was sent to the neighborhood Restoration Advisory Board on January 29 and to AU on February 2 (see wwww.american.edu/president/usace/upload/USACE-Noble-February-2-2010.pdf).
The Corps has nine test pits remaining out of the 52 they identified at 4825 Glenbrook. They will follow with geotechnical borings under the house. At Public Safety, they continue to comb through the soil around the building and remove the debris; they also plan to remove some soil in the back of the property that has a higher than normal range of mercury. At a time to be determined, the Corps plans to assess the soil beneath the Public Safety building via sideways drilling to remove soil samples. During the first two weeks of February, the Corps will perform previously identified (low-probability) trench work adjacent to the soccer field and in the radio tower area.
We will provide updates on next steps as specific actions and timelines are established. As a reminder, in addition to the university's own site (wwww.american.edu/usace), the Army Corps has a Web site dedicated to the full scope of their work in northwest Washington (including AU), which includes reports, maps, news releases, and photos. It can be accessed at www.nab.usace.army.mil/projects/WashingtonDC/springvalley.htm.
We have seen the horror and sorrow that the devastating earthquake brought to Haiti. The AU community has responded in numerous ways to this crisis, and we will continue to do so. As outlined in my January 15 campus memo, a variety of reputable organizations are organizing relief activities, and I urge everyone to do what you can to assist the people of Haiti in their courageous efforts to survive the immediate crisis and rebuild their society and nation. Our Web site provides information for members of our own community in need of university assistance. To that end we are in the process of developing a grant program to provide financial assistance so that affected Haitian students can continue their studies and complete their degrees at American University. We also are greatly aware of the innovative public policy academic partnership between the School of Public Affairs' Center for Public Finance Research (CPFR) and the Central Bank of Haiti that has been affected by the devastation and is now on hold. The Central Bank has been badly damaged, the training institute where the courses were taught is completely destroyed, and students, staff, and our Haitian program director have suffered personal and property losses. Our thoughts and condolences are with our extended AU family in Haiti, as the School of Public Affairs explores ways to assist the program, its staff, and its students and get the program up and running again as soon as possible.
Sustainability initiatives are in our strategic plan and are important if we are to comply with the Presidents' Climate Commitment provisions and other major environmental efforts AU is pledged to support. To that end, a number of new policies deserve special mention and attention; these were developed jointly by the Office of Sustainability in the division of the assistant vice president for facilities and administrative services and the two university project teams—Environmental Issues and Climate Action. The new policies ensure that all new construction or major renovations meet LEED silver or better standards (Green Building); high performance cleaning (Green Cleaning); and sustainable purchasing and benchmarks, with timelines for waste reduction, recycling, and reuse (Zero Waste). Full descriptions of these policies can be found online at www.american.edu/policies. They represent significant steps toward the ambitious goals we have set for ourselves.
Also significant is a student initiative—Clean Energy Revolving Fund (CERF). Supported solely through voluntary donations, CERF will, in the words of its founders, "act as a simple and direct means for funding on-campus renewable projects." Recently I met with Student Government president Andy MacCracken and Student Government environmental policy director Drew Veysey to discuss CERF and various aspects of its operations. The program has the support of several university offices, and we continue to seek ways to support this worthy endeavor. In the meantime, additional information about CERF is available.
We learned in January that we received the Web Marketing Association's "Best Education Web Site" in their international Web Awards competition. One of the premier awards for Web site recognition, Web Awards recognize the most effective sites in 96 industry sectors and set the standard of excellence for all Web site development. American University is the first higher education institution to take top honors in the industry; previous winners include National Geographic and Disney Online. Sites nominated for the awards represented entries from 47 countries across the globe. According to the association, a Web Award "provides a benchmark by which all Web site development can be judged."
This week the Office of Merit Awards announced that Rebecca Ernest, a graduate student in the SIS international communication program, and David Courchaine, a Washington College of Law student, have been named 2010–11 Robert Bosch Foundation fellows. They are among 20 fellows chosen from a national applicant pool of more than 300 candidates. Ernest and Courchaine were among five students who applied from AU; a third applicant, Sehar Raziuddin (SPA), was a finalist. By providing young American professionals with firsthand experience in the political, economic, and cultural environment of Germany and the European Union, the fellowship offers the opportunity to complete a high-level professional development program in Germany involving two work stages and three traveling seminars. We appreciate the efforts of professors Bill Davies, Todd Eisenstadt, Craig Hayden, Patrick Jackson, and Stephen Silvia, who served as faculty mentors for our candidates, and the time and expertise invested by the faculty and staff who helped prepare these students through workshops and mock interview panels.
And finally, I hope that everyone saw my recent memo regarding the launch of the 2010 awards process; I encourage AU community members to nominate a deserving student, faculty or staff member, or alumni for these annual honors. More information is available on the University Awards Web site (www.american.edu/universityawards).
I will write again near the spring break or earlier if circumstances warrant. In the meantime, all the best for a successful semester.
AU's strategic plan, Leadership for a Changing World, outlines goals and objectives for the next decade at American University. Visit american.edu/strategicplan for more information. (myAU.american.edu login required for some documents)
Visit the Building AU website to read about facilities projects that support AU's academic aspirations and enhance campus ambiance. You can also learn more about AU's Campus Plan.


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Local rugby players bring home medals
U17 Girls Vancouver Island-Central Coast captain Georgia Bellamy stares down a Fraser Valley tackler at last weekend's BC Summer Games rugby competition.
The U17 Girls Zone 6 (Vancouver Island Central Coast), featuring Campbell River's Georgia Bellamy and Kristine Osachuk, finished with a silver medal at the 2014 BC Summer Games, held in Nanaimo last weekend.
They were edged out by their rivals, Fraser Valley, in the final with a score of 17-12. Meanwhile, Campbell River's Nolan Young helped his Zone 6 team to a fourth place finish in the U14 Boys competition, after falling to Vancouver-Squamish 22-0.
The Campbell River Athletic Association's fall season starts in late August for boys and girls ages 6-17. For more information, contact Erin Young at 250-202-7642 or e-mail email@example.com
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Want Cable? Get Xfinity TV in Laurel, DE
Get Xfinity TV from Comcast in Laurel, DE, and choose from multiple affordable packages. With Xfinity TV, you get the best TV programming for your home with DVR packages, On Demand options, and digital cable channels.
Watching 35 hours of television per week is the national average, so why not choose the preferred provider of Laurel, DE to enjoy your favorite programming? Customers will enjoy what Xfinity TV has to offer in Laurel, DE and beyond. If you are a sports fan, you'll get local Laurel cable channels with Xfinity. If you prefer TV shows and movies, you'll love the current and classic options included in Xfinity TV specials.


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Visiting the same cardio machine each day can lead to muscle boredom, which in turn leads to skeletal apathy and the practical but gross ability to fit under doorframes. Stimulate and preserve your stature with this Groupon.
Choose Between Two Options
- $29 for a 30-day pass for gym access and basic fitness classes (an $80 value)
- $39 for a 45-day pass for gym access and basic fitness classes (a $120 value)
Weston Fitness
In spacious exercise zones and studios with floor-to-ceiling windows, Weston Fitness augments its trove of cardio, strength, and resistance machines with atypical fitness classes. Instructors keep muscles guessing with circuit training in H30 Turbo, teach cardio and strength choreography during trampoline-based Urban Rebounder classes, or meld martial arts with sinuous dance movements at capoeira class. The gym's innovative approach to health extends to its original M.A.P.P. (metabolic analysis program planning) method, which outlines several pathways for clients to achieve their toning goals under a personal trainer's supervision. After workout sessions, guests retrieve their possessions from the oversized locker rooms, depart the gym's office-building locale, and return to work or grab a meal amid the bustling atmosphere of Market Street.


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New Delhi, May 28 (ANI): Indian skipper MS Dhoni remained tight-lipped on the spot-fixing scandal that hit the recently concluded Indian Premier League 6.
Dhoni didn't utter a word when asked to respond on the spot-fixing scandal.
Media manager Dr. R. N. Baba stopped the scribe from probing the skipper further, asking the media to stick to questions pertaining to Champions Trophy. The team is leaving for England later tonight for the tournament.
Dr. Baba is an official of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association and is also one of Srinivasan's close aides. He has performed the duties of media manager for a major part of the last season. His son Aparajith is an U-19 India and contracted player of CSK.
Three cricketers S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were arrested by Delhi Police recently for their alleged role in spot-fixing.
IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, of which Dhoni is skipper, is also embroiled in the spot-fixing controversy. CSK CEO Gurunath Meyiappan was on Sunday arrested for being allegedly involved in betting.
Dhoni was hopeful of good show by his boys in the Champions Trophy, starting in England on June 6. (ANI)


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Subačiaus Str. 2 Vilnius LT-01127
Karolis Pauliukaitis
Deputy Director of IMPERIAL Hotel & Restaurant
Evaldas Valatkevičius
Revenue Manager of IMPERIAL Hotel & Restaurant
Olegas Vasinas
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Works of reconstruction of the runway of Vilnius airport will be conducted during the period from 14 July till 17 August 2017, Kaunas will be the capital of flights during the 35 summer days with the majority of flights being directed to this airport.
Make sure you book a flight to Kaunas Airport which is just an hour drive to our hotel. Our exclusive luxury pick-up service prices you will find here


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Dries Buytaert Announces Acquia, Drupal's Latest Startup
Submitted on,
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Today, Dries Buytaert, founder of Drupal, announced Acquia, a new Drupal startup. As is his nature, Dries articulated a compelling description of his vision of the future and how Drupal must adapt to stay relevant.
Dries spoke to the need to reach out to more and different types of people. He wants Drupal to become the Linux of the web. He addressed the social networking wave and stated the need to position Drupal as a data repository rather than merely a website development tool. Smart. Good thinking. It's coming. And, he addressed the need for financial backing for viable open source projects.


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BUENOS AIRES (Apr. 20)
Local Jewish leaders are reacting with skepticism to an Argentine government decision to create an independent commission to investigate claims that looted Nazi gold was secretly transferred to the country during and after World War II.
The announcement to form the panel was made last week by Interior Minister Carlos Corach, who said that Argentine President Carlos Menem "will invite relevant figures from Argentina and abroad" to join the commission, which will have a year to deliver its findings.
According to American researchers, Argentine banks figured prominently in a Nazi-sponsored scheme to launder money and smuggle looted gold into Argentina during the war years.
In a recently declassified memo dated April 1945, the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires estimated at the time that Nazi assets in the country were worth more than $1 billion.
Last year, Argentina's central bank turned over five volumes of financial records to the local office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
But, according to Jewish researchers, that was the last time the government cooperated in their efforts to probe Argentina's wartime past.
Three months ago, Sergio Widder, the Latin American representative of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, asked that Argentine officials track information about 334 Nazi officials and businessmen who may have transferred Nazi gold to local banks during and after the war.
After placing what he described as "endless calls," Widder was granted an interview this week with government officials, who gave him a list of the banks operating in Argentina during the 1940s.
In an interview, Widder described this list as "perfectly useless information."
Widder added that he remained skeptical about what the newly formed commission would find.
By contrast, Ruben Beraja, the president of the Argentine Jewish umbrella organization DAIA, voiced his support for the commission.
Beraja said in an interview that he had been invited to join in the commission and that he was "considering the idea."
A source within the Jewish community was as skeptical as Widder, saying that "no miracles should be expected.
"The only way to find the truth is to investigate private banks, and no commission can do that. Anyway, banks are not requested to save records dating back more than ten years."


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Marketed by PropertyFeast.com, Mumbai.


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CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- At first Dale Earnhardt Jr. was relieved he didn't fall further back than seventh at last year's Coca-Cola 600. Then he realized what he had lost for just about a gallon of gas.
Earnhardt was on the way to ending a three-year Sprint Cup winless drought at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2011 when he ran out of gas coming out of turn four with the lead. Instead of celebrating a much-needed victory, Earnhardt's time without a win has grown to 140 races dating back to Michigan in 2008.
Earnhardt's back to try again Sunday night and thinks he's got as strong a car as he had a year ago. Earnhardt won the Sprint Showdown at last week's All-Star race and will start 12th.


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Creating a memorable logo may well be one of the most challenging tasks a designer can face. The success of an organization or brand can hinge on the effectiveness of a logo. So much information can be contained within those few shapes and lines. Here we present logos from designers who were able to rise to the challenge and produce exemplary work.
Designer DNA
Colossal Pictures by Antonius Murdhani
Minka Inhouse by Sebastián Rodríguez
2nd Annual Oregon Cabin Adventure Branding
Submitted by Derek Walker.
Ammo Factory by Mathias Temmen
Tumbleweed by Chad Riedel
Helena Marie Identity
C. I. Hood, Inc by Nick Hood
Nick Hood Identity
Check Mark by Radu Jianu
Phan Media logo option by Craig Valentino
Infinity (logo)
Lectric/Eugene Farm
Submitted by Joe Flores.
Submitted by Elia Pirazzo.
An Apple by George Bokhua
CadXpert by Lukasz Ociepka
Submitted by Lukasz Ociepka.
Stork by George Bokhua
BHE II by Scott Smoker
DEPTHink by Mike DiLuigi
Submitted by Mike DiLuigi.
Unify by Paul von Excite
Submitted by Paul von Excite.
If you would like to send us suggestions for these galleries, please click on the button "Submit" located in the header, and fill out the form. And don't forget to subscribe to the RSS-feed and follow From up North on Twitter + Facebook to get all the latest updates.


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Athena Resources will issue shares to Hong Kong based Brilliant Glory Industrial Corporation to raise $1 million, giving Brilliant the right to purchase the Byro project for $20 million.
Completion of the acquisition is subject to Athena obtaining two mining leases within the project.
On completion of the acquisition, Athena will be entitled to a royalty of $2 per dry metric tonne of iron ore sold from the project.
Brilliant Glory director Jian Li will also be appointed to the Athena board.


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Discover a handpicked selection of books where theatre is pushing the boundaries of experimentation on stage and in theatre writing in the Theatre Collection of Unbound. Including:
Pleading in the Blood: The Art and Performances of Ron Athey
Ed. Dominic Johnson
The first book dedicated to the artist Ron Athey - an iconic figure in contemporary art and performance.
Orlan: A Hybrid Body of Artworks
Ed. Simon Donger with Simon Shepherd and Orlan
An in-depth account of ORLAN's pioneering art covering her career in performance and a range of other art forms.


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European aircraft manufacturer Airbus SAS has taken issue with part of the European Commission's antitrust decision against Microsoft and has filed a petition with the court handling the software maker's appeal.
"Airbus is seeking a clarification of one of the points raised in the EC decision related to market regulation," a spokesperson for the company says. She emphasizes Airbus "is not taking sides in the case", saying it filed the petition because that is the appropriate procedure.
Although the spokesperson declines to elaborate on the petition, a report published in the online edition of The Wall Street Journal on Friday says Airbus fears that the EU ruling could affect the airline manufacturer's business. The firm reportedly worries the ruling could thwart its choice of providers for components such as seats and galleys.
The EC earlier this year found Microsoft guilty of improperly using its dominance in PC operating systems to boost its hand in other markets, notably media players, harming rivals such as RealNetworks. Microsoft is appealing the decision.
As part of the appeal process, interested third parties may intervene and question points of law, according to Anthony Woolich, an antitrust attorney with London-based Lawrence Graham LLP.
"It's very important to get support to show that it's not just the (appealing) party's personal commercial interest at stake, that there's a wider point of principal," Woolich says.
Microsoft's efforts to gain intervention from a variety of third parties is of little surprise given the magnitude of the case, Woolich adds. Microsoft approached Airbus rival Boeing and encouraged it to intervene with the European appeals court, the Journal reports.
Representatives for Microsoft in Europe were not immediately available to comment on the case.
In its antitrust ruling, the Commission ordered Microsoft to pay a €497 million fine and offer a European version of Windows, sans Media Player, within 90 days. Also, the court gave Microsoft 120 days to reveal enough Windows source code to enable rivals to build competing server software that works properly with Windows.
Microsoft filed its official appeal with the EU's Court of First Instance (CFI) in June. A spokesperson for the court declined to give any details of the Airbus petition on Friday.
Although the Commission's decision is specific to Microsoft, it creates case law that could have a wider-ranging effect on how companies in a variety of markets deal with competition.
"If Microsoft can gain support from third parties who say that customers are being adversely affected by the decision, that can be very, very compelling," Woolich says.
The EU decision came after what was widely considered as a slap on the wrist to Microsoft from US antitrust authorities. Woolich warned, however, that the EU's antitrust case is far from over. Appeals to the CFI often take one to two years, and its decisions can be appealed to the European Court of Justice, he says. Appeals to that court often take two to three years, he adds.
"Realistically, it could be five years before this case is settled and the technology would have moved on," Woolich says.


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Chyulu Hills -Bordering Tsavo, Chyulu & Amboseli National Parks - Kenya
Campi ya Kanzi means "Camp of the Hidden Treasure" in Kiswahili. Located in the Chyulu Hills, overlooking Mount Kilimanjaro and bordering Tsavo West, Chyulu and Amboseli National Parks, Campi Ya Kanzi is a joint project with the Masai on a four hundred square mile stretch of land owned by them. This area of outstanding natural beauty features varying environments from savannah grasslands to riverine woodland to cool mountain forest.
The volcanic Chyulu Hills flank the property. Over and above the big game and the plains game, the area offers many rare species including wild dog, lesser kudu and cheetah, all of which thrive on the ranch. The lodge is centred around Tembo House, which is constructed of local materials such as native woods and lava rocks. A spacious open- plan living room contains comfortable cream and bush-green chairs and sofas and a vast coffee table laden with glossy books, a fired-earth pot full of porcupine quills and other interesting "objects". A games table is laid for a game of chess.
The open sides allow panoramic views across the vast plains and a large stone and teak verandah, with a hammock slung from an old gnarled tree, is the ideal spot in which to wait for the secretive Mount Kilimanjaro to peep out from behind its cloud cover.
Background Campi ya Kanzi means "Camp of the Hidden Treasure" in Kiswahili. The main goal of Campi ya Kanzi is to protect the land of the Maasai of Kuku Group Ranch, to enable the Maasai community to keep living according to their traditions, if they so wish.
The camp is located on Maasai land, which means that it remains as one of the last totally unspoiled areas of Africa. Connecting three national parks (Chyulu, Tsavo and Amboseli), the property is home to a vast wildlife and birdlife population. Campi ya Kanzi was created by Luca Belpietro and Antonella Bonomi, who have made it their home. Forty-five people from the local Maasai community help them with the cooking, housekeeping, guiding and maintenance. Luca Belpietro, the host and professinal guide of the camp speaks fluent Italian, English and Swahili. German is also spoken.
A magical land of black-frozen lava flows studded with blazing red-hot poker trees; of shoals of extinct volcanoes wreathed in dense forests and hung with Spanish moss, the Chyulu Hills coil like a sleeping dragon on the lion-gold plains of his treasure. To the west the pink-haloed peak of Mount Kilimanjaro rises like a Hollywood backdrop and all around stretch the mirage miles of Maasai land, dusty, dry and stalked by scarlet herders and dust-plumed cattle.
Kenya hotels and accommodation Amongst the wide range of Kenya hotels, some make the ideal Kenya safari destination. Choose a safari lodge, safari hotel, bush camp, luxury lodge, safari camp, tented camp or bush lodge. National park accommodation usually takes the form of a traditional safari lodge or tented camp, but numerous other options exist on the park boundaries. Luxury lodges and luxury camp options are also offered in the private wildlife conservancies.
Location The Chyulu Hills lie 190 km south-east of Nairobi. The camp lies within a 400-square-mile Maasai private land in Southern Kenya, dominated by Mt. Kilimanjaro, just 35 miles away.
Accommodation Campi ya Kanzi accommodates a maximum of 14 guests in six thatched roof tented cottages and in the Hemingway and Simba suites. The first one is named after the famous author who wrote of the nearby Chyulu Hills in his book "Green Hills of Africa", the latter one is named after the Swahili name for Lion.Each tented cottage enjoys a different view, and accommodates one or two adults. An extra bed can be added for a child.
Each tent features either twin beds or a king-size bed, made at the camp with local logs, and presented with specially-made linen imported from Italy. A table, two safari chairs, a colonial trunk, shelves and hangers, and daily fresh flowers complete the interior décor. Each tent has a dressing room. Each tented cottage has a wide veranda to provide superb views of either Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Tsavo Hills, and the Chyulu Hills. Electricity is provided by solar 220-volt (plugs and sockets are 2-pin Italian). Each tented cottage has a dedicated Maasai attendant assigned to it.
• Day and night game drives in 4x4 open vehicles • National park excursions • Masai cultural villages and forest walks • Walking safaris • Full board accommodation, some activities, picnics and sundowners, transfers to and from camp's airstrip, soft drinks, house wines and beer are all inclusive • 6 double tents with twin beds and a honeymoon suite all with verandah, and large private bathroom with flush loo, shower and bidet
Dining and bars Part of the open plan, high-ceiling main living area, the large dining table is surrounded by leather-cushioned safari chairs - dining is communal. Owned and run by an Italian couple, the camp specializes in Italian cuisine, local and international dishes. Meals are taken in Tembo House, where the 'fine dining' experience includes the use of crystal glasses, fine table settings and candles.
The camp's cooks are specially trained in the preparation of fine Italian cuisine (home made fresh pasta, risotto, biscuits, bread, ice-cream...), which are featured alongside International and local dishes. Fresh daily vegetables are supplied by the camp's own organic vegetable and herb garden, as well as fresh dairy produce from the organic dairy and farm.Wines are from South Africa and also from the Italian vineyards of the camp owners, which are specially bottled for Campi ya Kanzi.
Tembo ("elephant") House is the heart of the camp. The clubhouse has a thatched roof and is beautifully constructed from local materials such as lava rocks and native timbers (collected in a National Forest where there is sustainable plantation). Open to the outdoors, Tembo House enjoys spectacular views of Kilimanjaro and offers a large lounge featuring a library of books on Africa.
Child-friendly Children are welcome and extra beds can be provided
What to see and do The world's youngest mountains The narrowly arching, 80 km long, Chyulus are one of the world's newest mountain ranges, the most recent volcanic peak having been formed only 500 years ago. They offer a fascinating mix of volcanic ash cones and barren lava flows, which combine to create a landscape of almost mythical enchantment where neither dragons nor unicorns would seem out of place. The Park was established to protect not only its unique habitat, but also its vital role as a water catchment area for Kenya's coastal conurbations. The forested ridges create their own rainfall, the porous rock absorbs the water like a sponge and the water percolates down into fast-flowing subterranean rivers.
These eventually join with the melt waters of Mount Kilimanjaro and feed 250 million litres of water daily into the lush oasis of Tsavo West's most popular feature, Mzima Springs. The gently undulating grasslands, interspersed with dense patches of primeval forest and breathtaking views, make this excellent walking country.The Park and its environs offer a wide range of activities to include: horse riding, camping and caving. The Park is ideally situated for visits to the massive expanses of the neighbouring Tsavo West and East National Parks. World-renowned Amboseli National Park is also within easy reach.
Wildlife highlights: A variety of large mammals includes; buffalo, common eland, bushbuck, mountain reedbuck, steinbok, bush pig, leopard and, at times, elephant. The abundant birdlife features over 300 species.
Campi Ya Kanzi - Chyulu Hills • Exclusive Tented Camp • Kenya Hotels, Safari Lodges & Tented Camps Place your Kenya Safari Hotel Booking Here!


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Freeland crash sends one to hospital, one to jail
A motor vehicle accident in Freeland Saturday has left one man in the hospital and another facing charges of vehicular assault, according to the Washington State Patrol.
Langley resident Jeffrey Parker, 51, was transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for injuries he sustained in the accident. A hospital official reported his condition Sunday morning as "satisfactory."
A state patrol memo reports the accident occurred at about 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, in the intersection of Main Street and Highway 525.
Parker was southbound on the state route on a 2007 KYMCO VENOX250 motorcycle. He was passing through the intersection when he was struck by a 1986 Isuzu pickup driven by Freeland resident Donald Cannon, 54.
Cannon was westbound on Main Street at the time and "failed to stop at a controlled intersection," according to the state patrol memo. Both vehicles came to rest within the intersection.
Cannon was not injured, and booked into Island County Jail for vehicular assault. The state patrol suspects he was driving while impaired.


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Red Shannon
Maurice Joseph Shannon
- Bats Both, Throws Right
- Height 5' 11", Weight 170 lb.
- School Seton Hall University
- Debut October 7, 1915
- Final Game June 2, 1926
- Born February 11, 1897 in Jersey City, NJ USA
- Died April 12, 1970 in Jersey City, NJ USA
Biographical Information[edit]
Infielder Red Shannon was the twin brother of Joe Shannon. They were teammates on the 1915 Boston Braves and were the first set of twins to play together.
Shannon played seven years in the majors, all as an infielder, and was the youngest player in the league when he made his debut in 1915 (listed as tied with his brother).
He was with Louisville for most of 1923-29, hitting .340 in 1924.


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Natural Finish Round Dining Set C4137
Natural round solid wood butcher block table with single pedestal and drop down leaf. Spindle back chair in natural.
5 piece set includes a table and 4 side chairs.
Table: 36" Dia
Chair: 18" L x 18" W x 36" H
Chair: 18" L x 18" W x 36" H
Assembly required.