Feature Archives

18 people were arrested, cited and released, on 9/19 after the Daily Californian office was occupied for over 12 hours by up to 130 people demanding the newspaper issue an apology and meet six demands. Supporters - most of whom had occupied the Daily Cal office until a police dispersal order was given - cheered as the protesters were released one-by-one through the doors of Eshlemen Hall. Members of several student groups met with a representative of the Daily Cal editorial board and were refused their demands. Come out and support the continuous encampment in front of the Daily Californian office (in Lower Sproul Plaza) against racist scapegoating. Full Report

4/17: Scores of pro-Israel demonstrators took to Sproul Plaza on UC Berkeley's campus to commemorate the founding of the state of Israel, which came at the cost of the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Photos & details

9/25: Saying that the Ché Café link to the website of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) violated a law that bans "providing material support to support terrorists," administrators with the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) ordered its removal. UCSD officials claim that it 'could be interpreted as a violation of the [PATRIOT Act].' The lengths to which the Bush Administration will go to silence dissent and crack down on political radicals of all stripes remains to be seen. The fact that there is a crackdown, however, goes without question.

burn.ucsd.edu | Ché Café's correspondence with UCSD

11/19: On 11/19 former prime minister of Israel Ehud Barak spoke at Zellerbach Hall on the Univeristy of California at Berkeley campus. Barak was invited to UCB by the Israeli Action Committee (a right wing Jewish Organization) and while the title of the talk was "Peacemaking: Prospects for the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict," he spent most of the talk attacking the Palestinians.

Protesters gathered in lower Sproul Plaza near Zellerbach but the entire area was cordoned off by the police. About 300-400 people carried signs calling for an end to the occupation while others spoke on microphones about the failure of Barak's supposed offers to the Palestinians. In the middle of Barak’s talk about 25 protesters stood up (wearing t-shirts with the word "lie" printed on them) and walked out. They were briefly detained but then let go.   Photos: 1   2

11/14/2003: The students say that there are “Cockroaches in the cafeteria, rats are all over the campus, and the bathrooms don’t work!” The final insult to the 500 students, who walked out of school on November 14, was when the Fresno Unified School Board authorized a $25,000 salary increase for Superintendent Santiago Wood. The students were angered and outraged that the school districts top administrator would be given and accept a salary increase when their school was falling apart. Over 500 students walked out of Fresno High school and marched downtown and to the school administration building to protest this injustice. Photos   |   Video

Sacramento--Thousands of teachers, students and parents will rally on Thursday 5/8 against Governor Davis' proposal to gut millions of dollars from education while padding the state's prison budget. Protesters will ask lawmakers to save the jobs of thousands of pink-slipped teachers and improve school funding by reducing prison spending. "It speaks very poorly of how we choose to invest in the future when the only area of state spending slated for an increase is prison spending," says Wayne Au, a Berkeley High teacher. "While 30,000 California teachers have already received lay-off notices, prison guards await a 7% raise." Some schools have "simplified" matters by pink-slipping every teacher on staff, and later sending apology letters to those who can stay on. Report | Read more: 1 | 2 | 3 | May8.org

2/14/2003: Several hundred Oakland residents marched today to demand that money go to Oakland schools and libraries rather than to kill the innocent people of Iraq. The United States is the wealthiest nation in the world, why can't it provide all its students an equitable and quality education? Report and Links