California: Protesters disrupt meeting of California State University Trustees

      Police  used pepper spray as well as batons to disband protesters who were disrupting a meeting of the trustees being held in Long Beach California. Trustees continued their meeting in another room after the protesters had been cleared out. Four students were arrested and damage estimates were $30,000.
     The board in a 9 to 6 vote raised tuition fees by 500 dollars for the fall of 2012. This will bring the annual charges for undergrads to $5,970 but there are further fees that average over another thousand dollars.
    Students, faculty and labor groups have been putting pressure on university officials to stop further fee hikes and cuts to education funding. More protests by students and others are expected at individual campuses throughout this week. For more see this article.
 

Widespread Protests in California over Education Budget Cuts

This is a blog posting from California that gives information and photos of recent protests in California at different universities. This is from occupyca.

March 4
March 4, 2010 by *
News & Updates from March 4

UC Santa Cruz

5:00am: Students out blocking streets at the intersection of High & Western, Hagar and Coolidge, and the western entrance of campus effective shutting it down. Only people on foot can enter campus.


6:30am - High and Western
7:00am: Some people have been hit by cars breaking the picket line, breaking someone’s leg and hitting another 3 or so people.

8:00am: Campus administrators activated the CruzAlert messaging system with the following message “Please avoid both campus entrances due to safety concerns. Check web or 459-INFO at noon for update.” (source)

9:40am: Currently a rally is being held at the main entrance (i.e. the east entrance) with 250 participants. For a while 2 helicopters were flying above. The students blocking the intersection of High and Western have left after most of the workers were blocked from entering campus (it would appear some dining hall workers were able to get on campus, but many others were unable to get on campus). Many of the workers are now here supporting the students.

Earlier this morning, multiple students were injured by two separate incidents where cars rushed the strike line (one at the intersection of Hagar and Coolidge, and the second at the intersection of High and Western). The car at Hagar and Coolidge was tailgating a police car being let through, students then approached the vehicle to stand in front of it and tell them about the strike. The car hit the gas and drove into the mass, injuring a student’s leg, fortunately not broken. In the incident at High and Western, a tan volvo began accelerating into the crowd blocking the street, despite the fact that cars driving down High (away from campus) were being slowly let through. The volvo hit around 5 students, one student flipped over the hood of the car and over the top, breaking the rear window as the student fell off the back. As the volvo sped away, students kicked the car, denting it. Several cars and motorcycles have tried to slowly push through the crowd through out the day, but all failed. Rumors of other car incidents exist, but the others have yet to be confirmed.