The UC Berkeley protest has come to an end with many arrests. A protest on the UC Berkeley campus was taking place after California voted to raise tuition for state universities in a 32 percent increase. The increase is an unbelievable number, and led to protests all across University of California campuses throughout the state. According to CNN, 100 protesters at UC campuses have been arrested over two days of demonstrating, and the biggest one was at UC Berkeley where 41 arrests took place late on Friday. The UC Berkeley protest involved students taking over a campus building, and having to be forcefully removed on Friday evening.
The UC Berkeley protest went to the next level when students began to occupy the second floor of Wheeler Hall. A barricade was put up by students that included furniture and office equipment on the ground floor in order to take over the building. Campus police did not seem to take too kindly to this barricade or the fact that the students had tried to take over a University building. In the protest, they weren't just railing against the increase of tuition, but also 38 custodial staff members that had recently been laid off. There are still hundreds of protesters outside of Wheeler Hall at this time in a continued protest against what is taking place in UC schools.
Berkeley wasn't the only place where students were taken into custody, as action was taken against UC Davis protesters as well, with 52 students taken into custody there. These arrests took place at the main administration building, and at one point CNN reported that more than 150 students were there to protest the tuition increases in person. UCLA wasn't left out of the protests, as Thursday night they too had many demonstrations protesting the costs that were being levied upon the institutions and their students.
The California system has 10 campuses within it, and it was the UC regents that decided to raise the tuition by the additional 32 percent increase in student fees. This isn't the first increase this year either, as there was a 10 percent increase earlier in 2009. These cost increases are really starting to put tuition and fees into places where they won't be able to be afforded by many students, and the unfair nature of the increases could be the strongest reason why the protests are taking place.
It doesn't seem that the protests are working against getting the tuition increases from being put into place at this time, but maybe if a national spotlight is placed upon the problem in California the students will win this out in the end. It's often very hard to fight the system, and many of the students who have been arrested for fighting for their right to attend school at a reasonable price could be quickly coming to that realization.
The protests are still continuing, and it has seemed that they are entirely peaceful demonstrations, so hopefully they remain that way and all of these students have their rallying cry heard for affordable tuition prices.
Are you a student that is participating in these protests first hand or has seen what is taking place? Please feel free to share your opinion on what is taking place, and what should be done in the state of California.
Mercury News Story on Protests
Comments
I am a UCD undergrad and am very disheartened over the fee increases. We get e-mails about twice a month from the chancellor talking about tightening our belts and bearing with California through this financial crisis. This is good and well except that our fees already increased this year to cover her 40% raise over the last chancellor. It are facts like that which are continuing to add to the growing rift between an indifferent administration and a fed up and thinning student body.
The biggest disappointment is that the fees are not really paying for anything. The increase wouldn't sting as much if faculty were being replaced and classes were not being cut left and right but classes are being cut and departments being told that their staff will not be replaced and effectively ending many majors (such as UCD's Textiles & Clothing department). If we are going to be paying so much more, shouldn't we be getting more or at the very least retaining what we have now?
Wow...I just heard about this. I was at the UC-Davis campus just last week, and then the Berkeley campus (for work).
Thanks for the info!
:)
Third culture kids examiner
Seattle stay-at-home moms examiner
I would suggest the best protest the students could do is hit the UC system by withholding payment of the fee's if enough do that it will force their hand.
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