California IN BRIEF : BERKELEY : 36 Seized in Protest at People’s Park

A bulldozer moved into People’s Park to build volleyball courts, and 36 protesters were arrested in the ensuing scuffle, officials said. “What I think is happening here is the destruction of history,” said Jerald Nixon, watching as the grass was torn up. “They want to destroy People’s Park and make it into a yuppie playground.” The park was created when free speech and anti-war protesters spontaneously took pickaxes to a university parking lot in 1969. Since then, the site has evolved from the scene of violent riots to a meeting place and community garden and, in recent years, a haven for the homeless. After months of tense negotiations, the city agreed to lease the center of the park from the university for $1 a year and to help build lighting, toilets and sand volleyball courts. But when a bulldozer moved in, protesters sat down and blocked police from setting up temporary barricades, university spokesman Ray Colvig said. After the arrests, construction crews got down to work tearing up grass and grading the property.