Tag Archives: Protests

Berkeley to Review Police Response to Protests

The Chronicle: Berkeley to Review Police Response to Protests

The University of California at Berkeley announced on Monday that it would review police actions during a large protest on Friday, responding to accusations that the police used unnecessary force in trying to control a crowd that had gathered outside a main academic building, Wheeler Hall, to assail a 32-percent tuition increase approved last week by the Board of Regents amid widespread protests that culminated in arrests. “Any tactics to exercise crowd control on campus must provide a safe platform for expression of free speech and freedom of assembly, and we expect that, as a result of this review, modifications will be made,” the university said in a written statement.

UC Berkeley students end occupation

San Francisco Chronicle: UC Berkeley students end occupation

BERKELEY, CALIF. — Forty protesters who barricaded themselves inside Wheeler Hall for 11 hours Friday didn’t win back the 38 custodial jobs they demanded, nor did they persuade the UC regents to rescind their decision to increase tuition by 32 percent next fall.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/21/MN611ANSAB.DTL#ixzz0Xhe1j3Rm

UCSC police force demonstrators out of Kerr Hall

Santa Cruz Sentinel: UCSC police force demonstrators out of Kerr Hall

UC regents approve 32 percent student fee increase; protests heat up

SANTA CRUZ — Demonstrators say police officers in riot gear began forcibly removing dozens of barricaded students from UC Santa Cruz’s Clark Kerr Hall at dawn, and after an hour-long standoff, students vacated the administration building.

Protesters have been occupying offices in the building for three days in opposition to a 32 percent fee hike, employee furloughs and other budget cuts. Campus officials had warned of possible arrests on Friday but continued to negotiate with students and faculty advocates until Saturday night, when both sides say talks broke down.

Library sit-in at UCSC

Contra Costa Time: More than 100 students stage protest in UCSC library

SANTA CRUZ – More than 100 students occupied the UC Santa Cruz Science and Engineering Library Friday night in protest of budget cuts and the decision to close the library at 5 p.m. on Fridays and all day Saturdays.
According to student protester Brian Glasscock, the protesters had permission from library administration to do the overnight sit-in. As students flo

San Diego: SWC Professors Won’t Face Charges Over Campus Rally

10news.com: SWC Professors Won’t Face Charges Over Campus Rally

CHULA VISTA, Calif. — Criminal charges will not be filed against three Southwestern College professors involved in a recent on-campus rally, 10News reported

On Friday, about 300 students and faculty members rallied in protest of the school’s free speech rules.

“I think we’re all here because we love this college,” said Rep. Bob Filner, who joined the rally against Southwestern College’s rules regarding when and where students can gather to protest.

Police and basiji crack down hard on opposition demonstrators

Asia News: Police and basiji crack down hard on opposition demonstrators

Reports indicate some deaths and dozens of arrests. Protests take place in Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan and Mashhad. Pasdarn go on red alert to suppress unrest. Today is the 30th anniversary of the takeover of US Embassy and the seizure of 52 hostages.

Tehran (AsiaNews) – Iran’s infamous basiji attacked opposition demonstrators today. Tear gas was used, shots fired, as the regime’s vigilantes used stick and knives to subdue and arrest protesters. Sympathisers of ex presidential election candidate Mir Hussein Moussavi and security forces clashed in the capital, scene this summer of a bloody crackdown against the green wave that swelled against President Ahmadinejad after his contested re-election. Today is the 30th anniversary of the seizure of the US Embassy in Tehran, one of the most dramatic and significant episodes that marked Iran’s Islamic Revolution.

Police deployed at Zululand U

The Mercury: Police deployed at Zululand U

A student mob burned and trashed parts of the University of Zululand yesterday, resulting in tens of millions of rands in damage.

Security on the campus has been beefed up after the rampage, with more police officers deployed there.

CALL: March 4 Strike and Day of Action To Defend Public Education

On October 24 more than 800 students, teachers, and other workers met to plan how to advance the struggle to defend and transform public education in California and beyond.

The 10/24 conference endorsed the U of California and California State U strike and mobilization on Nov. 17th– 20th and decided to call for statewide solidarity actions on these days.

In addition, Conference participants also called for a “Strike and Day of Action that is inclusive of all different tactics, including: walkouts, rallies, march to Sacramento, teach ins, occupations, and all other forms of protests chosen by schools and organizations.”

CALL: March 4 Strike and Day of Action To Defend Public Education

On October 24, 2009 more than 800 students, workers, and teachers converged at UC Berkeley at the Mobilizing Conference to Save Public Education. This massive meeting brought together representatives from over 100 different schools, unions, and organizations from all across California and from all sectors of public education – Pre K-12, Adult Education, CC, CSU and UC – to “decide on a statewide action plan capable of winning this struggle, which will define the future of public education in this state, particularly for the working class and communities of color.”

After hours of open collective discussion, the conference democratically voted, as its principal decision, to call for a statewide Strike and Day of Action on March 4, 2010. The conference decided that all schools, unions and organizations are free to choose their specific demands and tactics – such as strikes, walkouts, march to Sacramento, rallies, occupations, sit-ins, teach-ins, etc. – for March 4, as well as the duration of such actions.
We refuse to let those in power continue to pit us against each other. If we unite, we have the power to shut down business-as-usual and to force those in power to grant our demands. Building a powerful movement to defend public education will, in turn, advance the struggle in defense of all public-sector workers and services.

We call on all students, workers, teachers, parents, and their organizations across the state to endorse this call and massively mobilize and organize for the Strike and Day of Action on March 4.

Let’s make this an historic turning point in the struggle against the cuts, layoffs, fee hikes, and educational segregation in California.

To endorse this call and to receive more information, please contact march4strikeanddayofaction@gmail.com and consult www.savecapubliceducation.org

California: University Students Continue To Rise Up Against Budget Cuts

KPBS: University Students Continue To Rise Up Against Budget Cuts

SAN DIEGO — Several hundred San Diego State University students rallied today against deep budget cuts to the California State University system. One part of the rally included a student walkout.

SDSU students took their message to the steps of university president Stephen Weber’s office. They want smaller classes for all students, no new fees or fee increases, and an end to employee furloughs and layoffs.

When Is a Suspension Not a Suspension?

Inside Higher Ed: When Is a Suspension Not a Suspension?

Officials at Southwestern College, a community college outside San Diego, moved Friday to explain why three faculty members have been barred from teaching or stepping foot on the campus for more than a week, but the answers aren’t quelling faculty anger.

The college has been facing scrutiny over its action against four professors (one of whom was soon permitted to resume teaching) the day after a student-organized campus protest against budget cuts, and about how the administration has responded to them. While the college didn’t explain why it barred the professors — including the president of the faculty union — from the campus, officials denied that the move had anything to do with the protest.

California’s Crisis of Higher Education

IndyMeida: California’s Crisis of Higher Education

On October 21, 2009 – hundreds of students at Fresno State walked out of their classrooms and held a rally at the university’s Peace Garden to protest the massive cuts to higher education and the California State University system. Students voiced their concerns with the unprecedented tuition increases, canceled classes, furloughed faculty and staff, and reduced enrollment opportunities. They then took their message to the sidewalks and streets of the campus calling out to students, faculty, and staff to take a stand and join the walk out. Many did. By the time the march reached Shaw and Cedar Avenues, all four street corners were overflowing with students speaking out on behalf of themselves and the future of higher education in the state. “I hope that this walkout will increase community awareness that the budget cuts to the CSU are delaying our graduations, forcing would-be students out, and creating a precedent that “its ok” to cut education when really funding education gives back in more ways than one,” explained Whitney Thompson, a women’s studies major at Fresno State and a spokesperson for Students for Quality Education, the organization spearheading the event. At the end of the march, the students presented Dr. Welty with a list of demands, which Welty indicated he would address at a later meeting.

Can Free Speech Be Furloughed?

Inside Higher Ed: Can Free Speech Be Furloughed?

On Thursday, several hundred students at Southwestern College, a community college outside of San Diego, held a peaceful protest over budget cuts that are leading to the cancellation of more than 400 additional course sections next semester. On Friday, the students got a sign that someone was paying attention to the protest, but they didn’t get the response they wanted: Four faculty members were immediately suspended and barred from the campus or using the campus e-mail system.

In Solidarity with the occupations in Vienna [Austria] for Free Education

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In Solidarity with the occupations in Vienna [Austria] for Free Education

Details at Emancipating-Education-for-All.org

Facebook group: In Solidarity with the occupations in Vienna [Austria] for Free Education

Iraq suspends university for politics

AP: Iraq suspends university for politics

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s prime minister suspended classes and banned political activities at one of Baghdad’s leading universities following student protests on campus, a government spokesman said Wednesday.

India’s Ivy League Protests Lack of Public Funding

Wall Street Journal: India’s Ivy League Protests Lack of Public Funding

Faculty of the Indian Institutes of Technology Stages a Hunger Strike to Demand Higher Pay as Schools Face Staffing Shortage

NEW DELHI — The Indian Institutes of Technology, the subcontinent’s Ivy League, are in danger of losing their prestige, professors and alumni contend, because of faculty salaries starting as low as $6,000 a year.

Students protest campus cuts

Press-Enterprise: Students protest campus cuts

Rallies, teach-ins and class walkouts were held Thursday at University of California campuses, including UC Riverside, to draw attention to state cuts to higher education.

Hundreds of UC Riverside students, faculty, staff, union leaders and alumni gathered to voice anger over decisions earlier this year to increase student fees, decrease enrollment, cut class offerings and lower employee pay.

Union calls for boycott of Rutgers president speech

AP: Union calls for boycott of Rutgers president speech

Rutgers President Richard McCormick speaks during Rutgers 243rd Anniversary Commencement in New Brunswick.
NEW BRUNSWICK — Union officials called for a boycott of Rutgers University President Richard McCormick’s annual address today.

The Union of Rutgers Administrators is at an impasse about its contract. The URA and two American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees locals represent 2,300 clerical, lab and maintenance workers.

Walkouts Across U. of California

Inside Higher Ed: Walkouts Across U. of California

A broad coalition at the University of California formed a united front Thursday, joining in a protest that participants say will be the first of many opposing budget cuts across the 10-campus system. Students, faculty, staff and unionized labor workers on a one-day strike participated in organized class walkouts, picketing and teach-ins. Jorge Serrato, a senior at the Riverside campus, had declared the Riverside campus’s walkout a success by mid-afternoon. “The whole [protest] spot was completely flooded by students,” said Serrato, raising his voice over bongo drums and bullhorns in the background. Participants in the Riverside protest estimated that as many as 500 to 1,000 protesters attended rallies at peak times. Davis campus officials used a Web site to communicate the impact of the walkout, indicating that some professors had canceled classes and e-mailed students syllabuses and assignments. Officials at the University of California president’s office said the protests had caused “minimal” disruptions to classes. The demonstrations came in response to the university regents’ approach to filling an $813 million budget gap, which they have addressed with a combination of furloughs and tuition hikes. If regents approve another tuition increase in November, tuition could go up by as much as 45 percent in a two-year period.

Live-Blog: UPTE Union Strike and Faculty Walkout

Daily Californian: Live-Blog: UPTE Union Strike and Faculty Walkout

This is a live-blog outlining the reporter’s observations of today’s events.

At least two teach-ins took place in front of the Valley Life Science Building this morning on the UC Berkeley campus.

French Professor Ann Smock was one of several speakers who spoke about the budget crisis with about 20 students for an hour on the front steps leading up to the entrance of the building. The teach-in concluded at about 10:40 a.m.

’60s Tactics, New Cause

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Inside Higher Ed: ’60s Tactics, New Cause

Few think the clock will be turned back to the Berkeley of the 1960s, but the protests planned across the University of California today mark a return to the tactics of another era. This time, however, the cause isn’t free speech or an end to war, but instead a response to the university administration’s budget-cutting proposals.

Today will be the first day of classes for 8 of the 10 campuses in the California system, and protest organizers plan to send an early message that the budget cuts besetting the university have been inappropriately addressed by system leaders. The centerpiece of the planned action is a walkout, which has been supported by systemwide student and technical employee organizations…