Letters to the Editor: I was caught up in the 1969 People’s Park violence. Let the park become housing

To the editor: Once again, UC Berkeley wants to use People’s Park for student housing, and once again, students and others have erupted in protest. This time, I am on the side of university officials and the cops.

People’s Park in Berkeley has always seen a collection of stoners and others who lived on the margins. In 1969, the student body president-elect at UC Berkeley egged on the cops by announcing a march to retake the park.

My girlfriend and I were on our way to class, trying to avoid all of the racket. Our books were under our arms. A California Highway Patrol officer aimed his shotgun at us. We fled but still ended up in the hospital.

It was a dumb idea to provoke the cops, some of whom loved to chase people with billy clubs. One kid died and another was blinded.

Calling that day sacred is a hippie fantasy. We should have focused on stopping the Vietnam War, not picking a fight we were never going to win.

Mike Roddy, Alameda, Calif.

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To the editor: A state court of appeals is concerned that loud partying by students residing in a dorm to be built on the site of People’s Park might disturb the neighbors.

Is it serious? People’s Park is in a gritty neighborhood populated mostly by students near Telegraph Avenue. There are several enormous dorms in the immediate vicinity already.

This is not a quiet suburban neighborhood. It’s a perfect place for a dorm.

Erica Hahn, Monrovia