UC Berkley Students/Staff/Faculty protest fee hikes

POLICE, ACTING on orders from university and state officials, cracked down on protests and occupations at campuses across California, in a clear escalation of force against the growing movement of students, staff and faculty protesting severe budget cuts and tuition increases.

The last police attack of the weekend, and one of the most violent, came early Sunday at the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC). Officers clad in riot gear forced their way through lines of protesters at an occupation of Kerr Hall, the central administration building on campus--and began manhandling demonstrators. One faculty member, who was acting as an observer, was injured when he fell 12 feet to the ground while trying to avoid the dangerous crush at the top of a staircase.

At six schools--UC Berkeley, UCLA, San Francisco State University, UC Davis, CSU Fresno and UCSC--students took over buildings to reclaim space and send the message that they won't tolerate an exorbitant fee increase, coming on the heels of cuts, layoffs and furloughs, and an increasing reliance on private funding and free-market logic in place of public financing and support.