Stanford's tree was cut down last week:

The student wearing the costume of the legendary mascot was suspended from duty after UC Berkeley police observed her drinking from a flask during a Stanford-Cal basketball game last week, officials said today.

"She was taking drinks inside the tree,'' said Kevin Klintworth, assistant athletic director at Cal. "The officers could see the flask through the costume.'' . . .

The band oversees the tree. Spokesman Sam Urmy said the incident began as a misunderstanding when Lashnits began prancing in the middle of the court, as she is allowed to do at Stanford, instead of confining her routines to under the basket, as Cal requires. That's when officers began observing her more closely, Urmy said.

"She wasn't doing anything offensive,'' Urmy said. "She was just jumping and dancing. The tree's movement is usually consistent with that of someone who's had something to drink.''

The imbibing tree violated the terms of the band's three-year alcohol ban, which Stanford administrators imposed after band members got drunk on a notorious bus ride home from a USC football game in Los Angeles in 2003.

Urmy said the band would be picking a new tree next month. He said the band had relieved the tree of duty on its own accord, before the university took action.