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About 300 protestors confronted a blockade of police today in an unsuccessful attempt to march on Interstate 80 in Davis, resulting in one student’s arrest.
Tensions erupted when protestors tried to push past shoulder-to-shoulder lines of 120 officers from 10 law enforcement agencies. Laura Mitchell, a senior sociology-organizational studies major, was arrested on suspicion of inciting a riot and resisting arrest and was dragged from the group of protestors into a law enforcement vehicle. Protestors left the scene after police agreed to cite and release Mitchell instead of taking her to jail.
The protest was part of the March 4 Day of Action, a nationwide series of rallies for K-12 and higher education funding.
Officers in full tactical gear fired pepper balls at the ground in front of the protestors. At one point, police used batons to beat back a throng of students pushing forward.
Some police had stun guns, but a UC Davis police spokesperson said they were not used by any officers, despite what many students reported hearing and seeing. A California Aggie photographer captured an image of a California Highway Patrol officer pressing a stun gun to a protestor’s neck. A CHP spokesman told The Aggie that no stun guns were fired.
Protestors encountered three separate lines of police on Old Davis Road and pushed through the first two. At the second line, about 100 yards from the I-80 on-ramp, police began firing pepper balls at the ground. At the last line, Mitchell was arrested and protestors stopped pushing against police.
The day of action began at 11 a.m., when students gathered at the Activities and Recreation Center and began a march around campus. Students marched in protest of fee increases, furloughs, cuts to campus services and the structure of the UC system.
While some students went to the Capitol in Sacramento during this time, many stayed on campus to call awareness to what they believe is a corrupt UC system.
“Even if UC got more funding from the state, they wouldn’t spend it on students,” said Cynthia Degnan, a graduate student in the English department. “They would spend it on privatizing our university.”
Fire alarms were pulled in Storer, Chemistry, Olson, Kerr, Wellman and Hart Halls, as well as at Shields Library, forcing all those inside to evacuate. No suspects have been identified.
“It was a symbolic gesture to show that education cannot continue under these circumstances,” Degan said.
Some students inside the buildings said the false alarms were counterproductive to the message of education.
“It was completely and totally disrespectful that they pulled those alarms,” said Maggie Mello, a senior history major who evacuated Olson Hall. “We pay $100 a day to learn without disruption here, and I have a right to be in class. It was petty and irrational.”
The students marching then moved the MU bus terminal and blocked Unitrans and Yolobus buses in order to communicate the importance of their cause.
“Business cannot go on as usual,” said Sergio Blanco, a senior political science major.
After halting bus services for approximately 30 minutes, the march progressed down Howard Way, stopping at the intersection of Russell Boulevard. Unitrans service was severely affected during this time and after, said Greg Strecker, a third year political science major and Unitrans dispatcher.
“Most of the buses could not get through and ran late,” he said. “I know a lot of people who were late to school. One guy missed his midterm. I agree with a lot of [the protestor’s] ideas, but we are here for an education and we already paid for it.”
Still, those involved were pleased with the way the march was able to rally support and draw attention, said protestor Brian Ramirez-Corona at the intersection of Howard and Russell.
“I’m really proud of our students,” Ramirez-Corona said. “We just got so many people to come out to this intersection, and I think it’s really going to make a statement to the UC regents.”
Students then marched 2.5 miles around the perimeter of central campus to the Interstate 80 on-ramp where the arrest occurred at approximately 2:45 p.m. Sheri Atkinson, director of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center, arrived after Mitchell’s arrest to negotiate her release and stayed after the protestors left to assist Mitchell.
Protestors then returned to campus and marched throughout the library and other lecture halls, where more alarms were pulled. The march moved to the intersection of Anderson and Russell, where approximately 100 students blocked traffic and danced to the beat of drums.
Earlier this morning at UC Berkeley, 100 protestors held a peaceful rally at Sather Gate. Another rally on Sproul Plaza was held at noon.
Approximately 1,000 protestors – along with high school students – marched south for six miles to rally at Oakland City Hall. The march proceeded south to rally in Oakland and later seven blocks were occupied. At 3 p.m., 1,500 people filled Frank Ogawa Plaza.
About 120 protestors were arrested for blocking traffic on Interstate 880 during rush hour, just before 5 p.m. Although police reopened lanes at 5:30 p.m., traffic was already backed up for miles in all directions.
One protestor either fell or jumped from the freeway onto a tree and roadway about 25 feet below. Paramedics took the protestor away.
For more information on today’s march in Davis, read Monday’s Aggie.
JEREMY OGUL contributed to reporting. LAUREN STEUSSY can be reached at campus@theaggie.org. POOJA KUMAR can be reached at city@theaggie.org.
UPDATE – March 5, 2010: CHP has confirmed they did not fire any stun guns. Laura Mitchell is a sociology-organizational studies major. Cynthia Degnan’s name was misspelled in the original version of this article.
To everyone who did nothing yesterday, and to everyone who is whining about the protesters:
Be sure to tell your kids you witnessed the end of public education, and did nothing about it.
Just a note to The Aggie…since this issue isn’t going away anytime soon, you should probably pick one spelling of “protestor”/”protester.”
@TheForce2Swear: While I agree with most of your points, I think something needs clarification: “Besides, a lot of this would not be happening if the UC Regents actually took the high road. I don’t see them proposing cuts in their own pay while they don’t mind cutting teachers’ pay and faculty workers’ without hesitating.”
Regents don’t have a salary. They aren’t paid for being regents, they don’t get anything. The only one being paid at all in the higher UC-system governance is Mark Yudof (granted he gets paid a shit ton). So, while I think the regents make some poor decisions and have contributed to the downfall of our university and the fee hikes and so on, the common claim that they should be cutting their salaries to help our fees is bs — because they don’t even have a salary.
In other responses: Yes, some of the protestors’ actions were inconsiderate of other students’ rights to learn. But that’s just what happens when people protest — things get interrupted and certain segments do more idiotic things (like the fire alarms). But, it would be far worse to have no protest at all. One day of inconvenience is nothing compared to the grander scope of the students’ situations, and the symbolic message behind the protests across the state were heard. We want education funded more than prisons, we want AB Bill 656, we want a fee freeze on tuition/fees. We aren’t asking for everyday taxpayers to be taxed more, so I really don’t get why people think the cause is so wrong.
only some of the issues that will result from budget cuts:
lower quality of education
loss of jobs for janitors, faculty, staff, and student-workers, fee Increase: Every students’ educational fee will increase 32%. Undergraduate tuition will increase $2,378 per year, going from $7,473 to $9,811. This follows a long line of fee increases, closure of affordable and sustainable housing, closure of the geography grad department, closure of the Breastfeeding Support Program, cuts to the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences: $3.8 million cut in funding for 2009-2010. It will go from $70 million to $66.2 million, a 5.2 percent decrease, privatization of the University, closure of the Textiles and Clothing division. No longer funding the department nor hiring teachers to replace those that retire. “There will be fewer TAs for discussions and laboratory courses, reduced maintenance and expansion of facilities and fewer student service and outreach funds, closure of Nematology, closure of Environmental Design
So you guys were protesting budget cuts, which would prevent students from getting an education, by disrupting classes and stopping buses, which prevented students from getting an education?
@MilesPrower “I could not possibly care less if we disturbed your classes. The 32% fee hikes and growing privatization of the university should be disturbing you much more. ”
This is where you and some of the protestors crossed the line. What gives YOU the right to make that decision for other people? Everyone has the right to choose and say how they want to support/not support the causes behind the protest. If they want to go to class, let them go to class. If they want to study in the library, let them study in peace.
It’s the principle of the matter that ticks off a lot of people – the students you disrupted have rights to, but clearly they were ignored.
I dont understand why people whine every time protesters do anything. Theres always a grip of republicans bawling about how the protesters are all overprivliged/stoners/liberals. Some people want to protest. Doing anything is better than doing nothing. If you are willing to let them take public education away from you, you do not deserve it in the first place. I could not possibly care less if we disturbed your classes. The 32% fee hikes and growing privatization of the university should be disturbing you much more.
For those who think the protestors were being rude and childish or whatever not, you got a point, but take a step back and look at it from a sociological or even a psychological stand point. The higher powers want us to get on a bus, go to school, go to our classes, etc. By simply disrupting that routine and being different from the norm, we draw attention. Yes, skipping a class that you paid for just to protest paying higher prices for that class is counterproductive, but it’s a sacrifice to a greater goal. Also, a lot of it was symbolic. If you have a baby crying, what do you try to do? You try to sooth it and make it stop crying! Well, we’re crying and throwing traumas, and the next move is theirs.
Besides, a lot of this would not be happening if the UC Regents actually took the high road. I don’t see them proposing cuts in their own pay while they don’t mind cutting teachers’ pay and faculty workers’ without hesitating. I don’t see them reaching out, call town hall meetings with student representatives from each UC to discuss increase proposals, and actually explain the situation clearly and personally. I don’t see the point of teaching a democracy in school, emphasizing we have a voice and then enforcing a dictatorship on us. Even though we’re being “immature” about this, they are too.
Interesting, though, that there isn’t an easy means to obtain an education on those problems and constraints within our education system.
The protests actually provide an excellent opportunity to talk to one’s peers, get educated, and hear the things that others have learned about the Regents and the structure of the university. The protests have led to the creation of blogs like ouruniversity.wordpress.com, where such information is shared. It pays to talk to new people and gain new perspectives, outside of the narrow circles of one’s roommates and occasional classmate. Get out and learn.
RealityCheck,
It’s not just sexy and good sloganeering. This country (and we are not alone in this)is founded on the principal of rule by elites. This is evidenced in the original right to vote being the sole domain of white male owners of property. Two of the greatest levelers in our history were the founding of the land grant colleges and the GI bill after WW II. The expansion of the educated masses in this country are responsible, more than anything else, for our economic, political and military status in the world. Those at the top have always sought to restrict the leveling of our society. Whether it is resisting legal equality for all, resisting the regulation of business and commerce or resisting the levying of taxes, corporate and big money interests will always fight(either directly or through surrogates) for a bigger slice of the pie and against anyone else getting a piece of theirs.
Our “flawed system of governance” is a reaction to a time when this state was controlled by railroad and land development interests. They made sure that whatever reforms came out of the process (the ability of the legislature to control to the budget effectively and the initiative process)were flawed and limited.
If we allow access to education to be restricted, if we go back to the time when only elites could go to college we will weaken our economy and increase the rate of social stratification that started 30 years ago.