Feature Archives

On March 4th, students and educational workers rose up against budget cuts, layoffs, fee hikes, and the system that prioritizes war and prisons over schools. Demonstrations took place in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, Concord, Vallejo, Santa Cruz, Aptos, Watsonville, Monterey, Davis, Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno, Los Angeles, and numerous other locations across California and the U.S. Actions included rallies, marches, and occupations of buildings and freeways. One hundred and fifty-seven people were arrested at I-880, an Indybay reporter amongst them. Most were charged with unlawful assembly and obstruction of a public place (misdemeanors). All have been released by now. Arraignments for I-880 arrestees are set for April 2nd and April 5th. A local high school student, Francois Zimany, is recovering from a 25-30 foot fall off of I-880.

In anticipation for the statewide strike and day of action on March 4th activists have stepped up their actions with a renewed round of occupations in California. An occupation of a construction site at UC Berkeley resulted in a "mass riot" on Telegraph Avenue with hundreds of youth fighting the police. March 4th actions are planned throughout the Bay Area, California and beyond. In the East Bay strikes and walkouts are planned to converge in Downtown Oakland and an evening rally is planned for San Francisco.

In anticipation for the statewide strike and day of action on March 4th activists have stepped up their actions with a renewed round of occupations in California. An occupation of a construction site at UC Berkeley resulted in a "mass riot" on Telegraph Avenue with hundreds of youth fighting the police. March 4th actions are planned throughout the Bay Area, California and beyond. In the East Bay strikes and walkouts are planned to converge in Downtown Oakland and an evening rally is planned for San Francisco.

On February 25th, a banner was placed on the Humanities 2 building at UC Santa Cruz displaying support for the upcoming March 4th strike. The banner reads "Strike March 4. Stop Privatization!" and criticizes the trend the UC has taken of prioritizing building construction over student instruction. The action also serves to mobilize protestors for March 4th, the statewide day of action against the privatization of public education.

A National DREAM Week of Action kicked off on February 22nd and will last until Friday, February 26th. Students across California and 16 other states are organizing in support of the DREAM Act, a piece of federal legislation that would provide a pathway to legalization for undocumented students educated in the U.S. Every year, 65,000 undocumented students graduate from U.S. high schools, but these students face serious barriers to higher education.

On Monday through Thursday, February 8-11, UCSC staff and students will hold demonstrations at a different dinning hall for each of the four days, from 11:30am-1:30pm to protest the rising cost of student fees while student services are being slashed; major cuts to labor time while forcing workers to perform more labor; and workers, being rushed through their shifts, aren’t able to thoroughly clean dining halls, resulting in unsanitary eating commons and an unsafe working environment.

Shortly after midnight on January 31st, San Francisco police and fire marshals raided a benefit party for student arrestees from recent campus occupations. The party was organized by students to help raise money for fines issued during last semester's spate of demonstrations. Eleven people were arrested. One person remains jailed on felony aggravated assault charges. Several party-goers received physical injuries from police.