<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18882"></HEAD>
<BODY style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff" bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman">Students Defy
Attack on Higher Education in California</FONT><BR></DIV></FONT>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><FONT face=Georgia></FONT><BR>By Kate Maich and
Paul Abowd<BR>Z Magazine<BR>February 2010<BR><BR><A
href="http://www.zmag.org/zmag/viewArticle/23763">http://www.zmag.<WBR>org/zmag/<WBR>viewArticle/<WBR>23763</A><BR><BR>Annual
fees at the University of California in 1979<BR>were $685. Thirty years later,
they were $10,302 as the<BR>University of California's appointed regents,
who<BR>oversee 10 campuses throughout the state voted to raise<BR>fees by 32
percent, to begin next fall. Schools<BR>throughout the state's three-tiered
public education<BR>system-including hundreds of state schools and
junior<BR>colleges-are also seeing fee hikes and program cuts.<BR><BR>September
24 walkout turns into a march and rally at UC<BR>Berkeley-photo by Lara
Brucker/Daily Californian<BR><BR>In response, an unprecedented coalition of
students and<BR>workers is fighting the attacks on affordable
higher<BR>education with large-scale democratic organizing,<BR>including
marches, teach-ins, strikes, and building<BR>occupations. Technical, clerical,
and service workers,<BR>facing layoffs and cuts at the bargaining table,
have<BR>also entered the fray.<BR><BR>"There has never been a coalition like
this on campus,"<BR>says Claudette Begin, whose clerical workers union,
the<BR>Coalition of University Employees, called a two-day<BR>strike together
with technical workers (UPTE) at UC<BR>Berkeley and UCLA.<BR><BR>At Berkeley,
the seven days between the last class and<BR>the first exam is referred to as
"dead week." It made a<BR>lively comeback this December when students,
workers,<BR>and community members "liberated" Wheeler Hall, a major<BR>classroom
building, during an open occupation that<BR>lasted four days. Students reclaimed
the space for<BR>meeting and study, holding lectures and teach-ins on<BR>the
budget crisis, distributing literature on the fee<BR>hikes, and dancing. At the
end of each night, students<BR>diligently mopped the lobby floor.<BR><BR>The
takeover wasn't easily accomplished. Police<BR>videotaped protesters and
threatened arrests of those<BR>who peaceably remained inside on the first
night.<BR>Months of democratic organizing lay behind the<BR>operations. Two- to
three-hour open meetings of the<BR>general assembly, student-worker action team,
and<BR>graduate student organizing committee drew hundreds.<BR><BR>Students and
workers voted for three days of action to<BR>coincide with the Regents meeting
in late November,<BR>where the tuition hike would be decided. Students
also<BR>called a three-day strike at Berkeley coinciding with<BR>the clerical
and technical workers' walkouts. Then on<BR>November 20, students barricaded
themselves inside the<BR>second floor of Wheeler Hall. They communicated
their<BR>demands by bullhorn to thousands of supporters gathered<BR>outside:
rehire laid off service workers, make the<BR>budget transparent, and reverse the
fee hikes. UPTE<BR>members set up pickets, to protest what they call
the<BR>university's "illegal bargaining tactics," and called
a<BR>rally.<BR><BR>UC called in several police departments which were<BR>unable
to break the barricades for several hours as<BR>students held the doors and
called, unsuccessfully, for<BR>negotiations. "They kept yelling through the
doors,<BR>'prepare for the beat-down,'" said UC grad student
Zach<BR>Levenson.<BR><BR>Throughout the day, students linked arms in
tussles<BR>with cops, while others sat down in the street to block<BR>police
trucks entering campus. Police eventually<BR>arrested 40, but faculty and
students negotiated their<BR>release. The cuffs came off and the students
emerged<BR>before a cheering crowd.<BR><BR>Service workers with AFSCME Local
3299 have helped<BR>support student organizing against fee hikes.
They<BR>blocked a back entrance to the building, one of several<BR>actions aimed
at reversing layoffs-44 have lost their<BR>jobs at Berkeley. "How do you have a
32 percent fee<BR>hike and then cut services on campus?" asked
AFSCME<BR>President Lakesha Harrison.<BR><BR>Organizing
Everywhere<BR><BR>Students at UC Davis and Santa Cruz also led
several<BR>occupations during the week of the Regents meeting,<BR>which was held
at UCLA. The administrators were greeted<BR>in Los Angeles by thousands of
protesters. Students and<BR>campus workers established a tent city outside
the<BR>meeting-which took place behind a police line. As at<BR>Berkeley, UPTE
workers walked out.<BR><BR>Eric Gardner, a member of the Coalition of
University<BR>Employees, spent the day running between an assembly<BR>outside
the Regents meeting and another that formed<BR>outside Campbell Hall, where
dozens of students had<BR>locked themselves in. "After they voted for the
tuition<BR>hikes, the anger was palpable," he says. "People more<BR>or less
spontaneously blocked the Regents from<BR>leaving."<BR><BR>For three hours,
activists sat down in front of a<BR>garage where a van full of "fee-hikers" was
trying to<BR>escape. The police attacked the students with pepper<BR>spray.
Though their demands were not met, Gardner says<BR>the culture has already
changed. "Campus has been quiet<BR>for years," he said. "We did this to show we
can take<BR>over this place."<BR><BR>The California State University system of
23 schools<BR>relies more heavily on state funding than does the UC<BR>system,
which draws only about 20 percent of its budget<BR>from the state. Summertime
budget cuts turned into<BR>department cuts, teacher layoffs, and fee hikes at
CSU.<BR><BR>Student occupation at SFSU -photo by Luz
Clemente,<BR>www.indybay.<WBR>org<BR><BR>San Francisco State University's
sizable working class<BR>population is dropping out in droves, unable to
weather<BR>new fees or find classes they need. Undergraduate Ryan<BR>Sturges, an
organizer with Student Unity & Power, says<BR>the hikes (he paid $300 more
this semester) are helping<BR>construct a multi-million-<WBR>dollar recreation
center<BR>aimed at attracting a wealthier "clientele." Sturges<BR>and 300
students marched into the administration<BR>building in late November as part of
an open<BR>occupation. Two weeks later, 20 students locked down<BR>the SFSU
business building for a day. Police broke<BR>through student pickets outside
and, with guns drawn,<BR>arrested them.<BR><BR>Huge public events don't mean
that the movement has<BR>been a huge success, however, as protests have
left<BR>some students alienated and many on the sidelines.<BR>Nevertheless, the
fee hikes remain, as do the UC<BR>Regents-an undemocratic, appointed body with
little<BR>concern for the workers and students most affected.<BR><BR>The
statewide resistance has brought questions of<BR>class, race, and privilege to
the fore as the new fees<BR>will make public education unreachable for
many<BR>residents. Despite UC President Yudof's claims that<BR>financial aid
will rise, there won't be enough to<BR>offset hikes, which will
disproportionately affect<BR>working class students and students of color-only
3.5<BR>percent of students currently at Berkeley are
African<BR>American.<BR><BR>Organizers are crafting a different list of
priorities<BR>for the school. "We don't want to just return to the<BR>way the
university was in, say, 2007," says Berkeley's<BR>Levenson. The list includes
lowering the pay of the<BR>highest-salaried administrators,
re-emphasizing<BR>outreach to communities of color, halting
construction<BR>projects funded by fee hikes, making governance<BR>structures
more democratic, and "de-privatizing" as<BR>Levenson says. This list is
essential as 80 percent of<BR>UC funding comes from private sources.<BR><BR>The
fight against privatization of education-a public<BR>good-isn't happening only
in California. It has been<BR>tied to a series of strikes, rallies, walkouts,
and<BR>occupations taking place in schools across the U.S. and<BR>in Austria,
Germany, and Greece. The highs and lows are<BR>being shared in solidarity with a
much larger movement.<BR><BR>Meanwhile, California organizers are casting a
wider<BR>net, fomenting an ambitious March 4 student and worker<BR>strike
throughout the state's education system that<BR>will bring together K-12 and
higher education<BR>activists.<BR><BR>____________<WBR>____<BR><BR>Kate Maich is
a graduate student in sociology at<BR>Berkeley. Paul Abowd lives in Detroit
where he writes<BR>for Labor Notes. His work has appeared in Monthly<BR>Review
WebZine and Electronic Intifada. (For a tactical<BR>guide to student sit-ins, go
to "Strikes" on<BR>www.labornotes.<WBR>org/blogs.<WBR>)<BR><BR><BR>.</DIV><IMG
src="http://geo.yahoo.com/serv?s=97359714/grpId=15714059/grpspId=1705060682/msgId=16772/stime=1265556854/nc1=3848643/nc2=5522124/nc3=5191954"
width=1 height=1> <BR>
<DIV style="HEIGHT: 0px; COLOR: #fff">__,_._,___</DIV><!--~-|**|PrettyHtmlEnd|**|-~--><!--~-|**|PrettyHtmlStart|**|-~-->
<STYLE type=text/css>#ygrp-mkp {
BORDER-BOTTOM: #d8d8d8 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #d8d8d8 1px solid; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 10px 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px; PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BORDER-TOP: #d8d8d8 1px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: #d8d8d8 1px solid; PADDING-TOP: 0px
}
#ygrp-mkp HR {
BORDER-BOTTOM: #d8d8d8 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #d8d8d8 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #d8d8d8 1px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: #d8d8d8 1px solid
}
#ygrp-mkp #hd {
LINE-HEIGHT: 122%; MARGIN: 10px 0px; COLOR: #628c2a; FONT-SIZE: 85%; FONT-WEIGHT: 700
}
#ygrp-mkp #ads {
MARGIN-BOTTOM: 10px
}
#ygrp-mkp .ad {
PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px
}
#ygrp-mkp .ad A {
COLOR: #0000ff; TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
#ygrp-sponsor #ygrp-lc {
FONT-FAMILY: Arial
}
#ygrp-sponsor #ygrp-lc #hd {
LINE-HEIGHT: 122%; MARGIN: 10px 0px; FONT-SIZE: 78%; FONT-WEIGHT: 700
}
#ygrp-sponsor #ygrp-lc .ad {
PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 10px; PADDING-TOP: 0px
}
A {
COLOR: #1e66ae
}
#actions {
PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; FONT-SIZE: 11px; PADDING-TOP: 10px
}
#activity {
PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e0ecee; PADDING-LEFT: 10px; PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; FLOAT: left; FONT-SIZE: 10px; PADDING-TOP: 10px
}
#activity SPAN {
FONT-WEIGHT: 700
}
#activity SPAN:first-child {
TEXT-TRANSFORM: uppercase
}
#activity SPAN A {
COLOR: #5085b6; TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
#activity SPAN SPAN {
COLOR: #ff7900
}
#activity SPAN .underline {
TEXT-DECORATION: underline
}
.attach {
PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; WIDTH: 400px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; DISPLAY: table; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; CLEAR: both; FONT-SIZE: 12px; PADDING-TOP: 10px
}
.attach DIV A {
TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
.attach IMG {
BORDER-BOTTOM-STYLE: none; BORDER-RIGHT-STYLE: none; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; BORDER-TOP-STYLE: none; BORDER-LEFT-STYLE: none
}
.attach LABEL {
DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5px
}
.attach LABEL A {
TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
BLOCKQUOTE {
MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 4px
}
.bold {
FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-WEIGHT: 700
}
.bold A {
TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
DD.last P A {
FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; FONT-WEIGHT: 700
}
DD.last P SPAN {
FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; FONT-WEIGHT: 700; MARGIN-RIGHT: 10px
}
DD.last P SPAN.yshortcuts {
MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px
}
DIV.attach-table DIV DIV A {
TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
DIV.attach-table {
WIDTH: 400px
}
DIV.file-title A {
TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
DIV.file-title A:active {
TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
DIV.file-title A:hover {
TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
DIV.file-title A:visited {
TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
DIV.photo-title A {
TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
DIV.photo-title A:active {
TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
DIV.photo-title A:hover {
TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
DIV.photo-title A:visited {
TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
DIV#ygrp-mlmsg #ygrp-msg P A SPAN.yshortcuts {
FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-WEIGHT: normal
}
.green {
COLOR: #628c2a
}
.MsoNormal {
MARGIN: 0px
}
o {
FONT-SIZE: 0px
}
#photos DIV {
WIDTH: 72px; FLOAT: left
}
#photos DIV DIV {
BORDER-BOTTOM: #666666 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #666666 1px solid; WIDTH: 62px; HEIGHT: 62px; OVERFLOW: hidden; BORDER-TOP: #666666 1px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: #666666 1px solid
}
#photos DIV LABEL {
TEXT-ALIGN: center; WIDTH: 64px; WHITE-SPACE: nowrap; COLOR: #666666; FONT-SIZE: 10px; OVERFLOW: hidden
}
#reco-category {
FONT-SIZE: 77%
}
#reco-desc {
FONT-SIZE: 77%
}
.replbq {
MARGIN: 4px
}
#ygrp-actbar DIV A:first-child {
PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 2px
}
#ygrp-mlmsg {
FONT-FAMILY: Arial, helvetica,clean, sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: small
}
#ygrp-mlmsg TABLE {
}
#ygrp-mlmsg SELECT {
FONT: 99% Arial, Helvetica, clean, sans-serif
}
INPUT {
FONT: 99% Arial, Helvetica, clean, sans-serif
}
TEXTAREA {
FONT: 99% Arial, Helvetica, clean, sans-serif
}
#ygrp-mlmsg PRE {
FONT: 100% monospace
}
CODE {
FONT: 100% monospace
}
#ygrp-mlmsg * {
LINE-HEIGHT: 1.22em
}
#ygrp-mlmsg #logo {
PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px
}
#ygrp-mlmsg A {
COLOR: #1e66ae
}
#ygrp-msg P A {
FONT-FAMILY: Verdana
}
#ygrp-msg P#attach-count SPAN {
COLOR: #1e66ae; FONT-WEIGHT: 700
}
#ygrp-reco #reco-head {
COLOR: #ff7900; FONT-WEIGHT: 700
}
#ygrp-reco {
PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 20px; PADDING-TOP: 0px
}
#ygrp-sponsor #ov LI A {
FONT-SIZE: 130%; TEXT-DECORATION: none
}
#ygrp-sponsor #ov LI {
PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; LIST-STYLE-TYPE: square; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 77%; PADDING-TOP: 6px
}
#ygrp-sponsor #ov UL {
PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 8px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px
}
#ygrp-text {
FONT-FAMILY: Georgia
}
#ygrp-text P {
MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em
}
#ygrp-text TT {
FONT-SIZE: 120%
}
#ygrp-vital UL LI:unknown {
BORDER-RIGHT-STYLE: none !important
}
</STYLE>
<!--~-|**|PrettyHtmlEnd|**|-~--><!-- end group email --></BODY></HTML>