Feature Archives

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

On 4/23/2003, Secret Service agents visited Oakland High and interrogated two 16 year-old male students in connection with comments they had allegedly made during a classroom discussion concerning President Bush and the U.S. Government's role in Iraq. When one of the students asked if he had to talk to the agents now, could he talk to them later with a lawyer present, the student said one of the agents told him, "We own you, if you don't talk to us now, and we find out you haven't told us everything, we'll put you MF's in federal prison. This is the beginning of the end for you." The Oakland Education Association issued a statement condemning the interrogation. Read more | SF Bayview story | Secret Service & 2600

9/9/2002:Clerical workers at UC Berkeley and at the UC Office of the President to went on strike from Aug 26-28th 2002 in order to protest the University's Unfair Labor Practices. About 2000 clerical workers -- including phone operators, child care workers, librarians, and secretaries -- started a three-day strike to protest the lack of progress in labor negotiations. photos: 1   2  3 | CUEunion.org

Katie Sierra, the West Virginian High School sophomore suspended for having flyers for a proposed anarchy club in her possession and wearing a shirt, which read: "When I saw the dead and dying Afghani children on TV, I felt a newly recovered sense of national security. God Bless America.", is fighting back. Local School Board members have deemed her a "traitor." She is suing the School Board for the right to wear her shirts and to start the club, and requesting to have the suspension stricken from her record. Indymedia Interviews Katie