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.
