{"id":11868,"date":"2019-05-11T11:46:12","date_gmt":"2019-05-11T18:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=11868"},"modified":"2019-05-11T11:46:14","modified_gmt":"2019-05-11T18:46:14","slug":"uc-berkeley-removes-freebox-in-peoples-park-despite-student-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2019\/05\/11\/uc-berkeley-removes-freebox-in-peoples-park-despite-student-support\/","title":{"rendered":"UC Berkeley removes \u2018FreeBox\u2019 in People\u2019s Park despite student support"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

May 8, 2019 (dailycal.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Photo by LISA TEAGUE\/COURTESY<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BY\u00a0RACHEL BARBER<\/a>\u00a0| STAFF<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suspect flees area after shooting in People\u2019s Park<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Campus maintenance workers removed a \u201cFreeBox\u201d donation and distribution site in People\u2019s Park on Tuesday morning, a little more than a week after it was constructed by a park user in collaboration with UC Berkeley students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A small group of UC Berkeley students constructed the FreeBox, a consolidated donation space protected from the elements and urban wildlife, in honor of the park\u2019s 50th anniversary, according to People\u2019s Park Committee member Lisa Teague. Teague said FreeBoxes have been put up and taken down because of campus orders several times throughout the park\u2019s history. The most recent FreeBox was removed because the campus believes there are better alternatives to the box, according to UC Berkeley spokesperson Dan Mogulof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe structure in question was removed due to a long, unfortunate history with similar boxes that have been placed in the park in the past,\u201d Mogulof said in an email. \u201cWe believe there are far better, safer and healthier ways of meeting the needs supposedly addressed by a box of this sort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FreeBoxes generally \u201cfill an important need,\u201d according to Mike Zint, co-founder of the homeless advocacy group First They Came for the Homeless. Zint said in an email that homeless community members were able to replace blankets and clothing at a successfully operating FreeBox during the post office occupation that lasted<\/a> 17 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teague said that when People\u2019s Park Committee members got wind of the fact that the new FreeBox was likely to be removed, she approached the ASUC for support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ASUC Senator Teddy Lake served as the primary sponsor for a resolution in support of the FreeBox in the park. Lake also called on Chancellor Carol Christ and Mayor Jesse Arregu\u00edn to try to ensure that the FreeBox remained in the park \u201cwithout interference.\u201d ASUC executives also published a letter on behalf of the entire organization extending their support for the initiative, while acknowledging that community members have attempted to construct FreeBoxes for years that UCPD has continuously \u201cdestroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mogulof said in the email that the university-funded, full-time park social worker helps provide park users \u201cthe same sort of assistance\u201d the FreeBox is intended to provide. He added that in the past, boxes of this kind have attracted unwanted items, caused hygiene and health risks and required monitoring and cleanup. Mogulof also added that past FreeBoxes have been subject to arson, noting that the past two FreeBoxes, \u201cfor whatever reason,\u201d were destroyed with fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are still committed to having a new FreeBox. It is important to the community and to the functioning of the park,\u201d Teague said. \u201cWe would be happy to talk about the FreeBox with the (UC Berkeley) administration. \u2026 If that could happen, we could try and negotiate something that would be agreeable to all parties.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact Rachel Barber at rbarber@dailycal.org<\/a> and follow her on Twitter at @rachelbarber_<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May 8, 2019 (dailycal.org) Photo by LISA TEAGUE\/COURTESY BY\u00a0RACHEL BARBER\u00a0| STAFF Suspect flees area after shooting in People\u2019s Park Campus maintenance workers removed a \u201cFreeBox\u201d donation and distribution site in People\u2019s Park on Tuesday morning, a little more than a week after it was constructed by a park user in collaboration… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11868"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11868"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11869,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11868\/revisions\/11869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}