[Community_garden] Community garden protest in Tulsa - Oklahoma, USA

[Don Boekelheide]

Associate Press

Feb 28, 07

Garden Planned At Stillwater Eminent Domain Site

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- More than two dozen Oklahoma
State University students and Stillwater residents
want to plant a community garden in the yard of the
last piece of property the school needs to build the
first phase of a $316 million athletic village.

It's part protest against OSU's use of eminent domain,
the taking of private property for a public use, to
acquire the 66-year-old ranch house and turn its land
into outdoor practice fields.

Group members say that it also demonstrates the
strained, four-year relationship between outgoing OSU
President David Schmidly and some faculty and
students, who say OSU has put too much of a priority
on athletics instead of academics.

The eminent domain move sparked a legal fight last
year between the university and property owners Kevin
and Joel McCloskey, who continue to battle in court
over the parcel.