Splicetoday

On Campus
Jun 24, 2008, 05:48AM

Make Your Protest Meaningful

The editors at the Daily Californian are getting pretty tired of their local environmental activist movement. For over one year students have been living in trees to stop the building of a new earthquake proof athletic center, and the voice of the paper says that by acting out a caricature they're making serious discussion about environmental issues impossible.

What's really at stake is not only the oak trees but being able to ensure the safety of stadium visitors and to provide seismically retrofitted facilities for Cal athletes. But attempts to start earthquake-safe constructions have been put off by the convoluted legal situation.

The university should have extended a warmer invitation to the city to discuss design ideas, and more communication could have led to ways to adhere to seismic regulations. However, both parties had a hand in delaying the compromise, and the university haughtily attempted to charge ahead with its own plans.

There are also concerns about traffic flow in the area, a safety point raised by the Panoramic Hill Association. But instead of throwing themselves into the lawsuit mess, the practical approach would have been to compromise with the university.

Discussion
  • I'm glad that this kind of showy activism is getting called out for exactly what it is: narcissistic primping by a bunch of unserious students. The poor state of the earth's environment is a big, complicated macro-problem that necessarily involves compromise. This kind of protest is totally unproductive.

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