It’s almost noon in California, and closing in on mid-afternoon on the East Coast. I’ll be posting a review of the events of the first half of the day here … starting now.
University of California Santa Cruz | Students blocked both entrances to the campus to vehicular traffic early this morning, prompting the university to send out an alert urging staff and students to stay away. Administrators are passing along reports of intimidation and property damage by students, while students have claimed that two cars attempted to break through the throngs of protesters, injuring one.
Hunter College, New York City | Multiple accounts on Twitter suggest that hundreds of students have been rallying at Hunter College in Manhattan, and it’s been reported that one arrest has been made.
Sacramento, California | An estimated two thousand people are already gathered at the State Capitol building.
California, Statewide | Student demonstrators are entering classes to urge students to walk out at several campuses.
University of Maryland College Park | Students have hung a huge banner from a campus building reading “March Forth: Life Sucks, Let’s Change.”
I’m seeing reports on Twitter and elsewhere from dozens of different campuses across the country, but details are scarce for most of them — students are out marching, not home blogging, and the ones who are updating on Twitter are often posting short cryptic messages. I’m going to go gather some more info, and report back later.
studentactivism.net 
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March 4, 2010 at 5:03 pm
cricketdiane
States and Education budget decision-makers do not understand protests, nor signatures on petitions nor grass roots movements. They act as though they think these are to be mocked and held in contempt, with no decisions impacted as a consequence. The only thing that states, education departments, school systems and district budget decision makers do understand, are lawsuits. Intentional economic exclusion being perpetrated by the state budget comptroller’s office, state legislatures, state governors’ administrations and department of education decision-makers is illegal and that is actually what they are doing. (my note, cricketdiane)
California Post-Secondary Education Commission Reports and Records
This collection relates to the California Post-Secondary Education Commission (CPEC) collected by the Chancellor’s Office of the California State University. Mostly consists of CPEC reports (1976-1994), but also includes minutes, agendas (1975-1980), correspondence and other materials. Reports cover all…
My Note –
In 1975, there was a law made in California insuring that every student, resident, adult and post-secondary candidate would have a right to receive tuition-free or tuition-subsidized education at the state college of their choice provided that they passed the admissions process. Although amendments to that law were made, it still stands and guarantees a right to a higher education for all the citizens of the state of California – It was one of the few states to do it as a response to the system in Norwegian and Scandinavian countries, if I remember correctly, to make freely available higher education available to all in their countries and Canada’s free tuition post-secondary education system which was put into place a little later (I’ll have to look it up – so if this isn’t entirely accurate, please forgive me). To go back on that now, and intentionally exclude thousands of students from that mandate by raising tuitions to non-recoverable rates, is against the law. The comptroller’s office is working with funds that are fungible.
Fungibility is the property of a good or a commodity whose individual units are capable of mutual substitution. (from wikipedia)
They literally determined to not make available the funds to pay teachers and support education budget needs to use the access to the stimulus funds and other emergency funds to cover it. Then they took cuts in all sorts of programs intending to access funds that would later cover those costs. Then, at the same time, they paid off losses with the money that was originally intended to cover those teachers, education systems, state colleges, schools systems and education budget needs. That is because those funds are literally being used in a shell game to pay off losses that were incurred as a result of plowing money into the stock market, hedge funds, credit derivatives, leverage and other fiscal mismanagement techniques such as putting liabilities on off-balance sheet accounting as if it would not undermine funds coming in the front door.
Now what? There have to be lawsuits and class action suits made to force records to come out of the closets and so that the moneys raided from lotteries and stimulus funds intended for education will have to be brought into line with their original purposes. Without the lawsuits, the state governments, budget offices, endowments, trusts and department of education budgets decision-makers will simply snicker at the protests and do nothing any different. Lawsuits and class action suits made en masse across every state can change this – nothing else will. (The money is there if they choose to use it appropriately. The endowments should be taking the losses themselves and rebuilding their trusts over time from these losses – they have no rights to steal from the schools, colleges and university budgets to do it in the shortfall.)
– cricketdiane
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These entries about California Post-Secondary Legislation as possible places to find the law are from –
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/institutions/California+State+University,+Dominguez+Hills::California+State+University+Archives?descriptions=show
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California State University Academic Affairs Office Records CSU Chancellor’s Office division responsible for academics. Includes correspondence relating to educational support and research and development, UC and CSU projects, and material from the Student Affairs Office relating to Title IX. Also includes campus surveys relating to Title…
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The Georgia Lottery Corp. today announced record first-half profits for education. Georgia Lottery profits for the first half of fiscal year 2010 totaled $429,754,000, surpassing the previous record set last fiscal year by more than $8.49 million.
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=226339
My Note –
those are the profits . . .This is what they are doing . . .
In Georgia, a legislative committee proposed $300 million in cuts to the state’s college system, on top of $100 million cut in the past two years, University of Georgia President Michael F. Adams wrote in an open letter to students, faculty and staff.
from cricketdiane at wordpress, Atlanta, Ga
March 4, 2010 at 6:35 pm
Lee Abbott
University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee held a protest and rally of 250 people, including undergrads, teaching assistants, and faculty. The rally assembled at the UWM Student Union and after speakers from the local SDS chapter, the Milwaukee Graduate Assistants Association (the TA union), and The Association of UW Professionals (the faculty and academic staff union), the rally became a march through campus to the chancellor’s office. After peacefully circling the building and demanding entry, UWM and Milwaukee police began arresting, pepper-spraying, and beating up protestors. 18 people were arrested, including student activists, student media, the Student Association president, a union organizer, and at least one by-stander. As of 4:30 PM people were being released with citations.
Video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s33YtHnn4Hs&sns=em.
More info from UWM SDS and the Education Rights Campaign at http://www.sdsmke.com and http://www.educationrightscampaign.com
March 4, 2010 at 11:06 pm
Sure, Why Not? » March Forth!
[…] Look at all that has happened! Mostly in California, but also stuff right around here at good old College Park. […]
March 5, 2010 at 12:21 am
rob mcclean
blah blah blah – you stupid kids think education is a right, well it’s not. The right to bare arms, the right to free speech, the right to pursue happiness, are all rights. The idea that you are entitled to taxpayer money for your education, just because some dipshit liberals in the 70’s codified it, is absolutely stupid. We live in a world of finite resources, and this country just got a capital call. For you non economics and non business majors that means that 30 years of deficit spending subsidized by a big stack of IOU’s just got cut off because nobody is stupid enough to lend money to someone who is never going to pay them back.
If you think that your school costs to much, transfer to community college or a smaller school. Don’t complain about afford-ability when you decided to got to Berkley, Wisconsin, Amherst, etc. You had to work 3 jobs and go to school? Do you understand that some of us have to work 3 jobs to support a family you spoiled piece of shit? The American taxpayers have no sympathy for any of you considering that they are facing foreclosures on their mortgage, declining real wages, unemployment, etc. In fact, they all watch with glee on youtube as the cops body check you wimps with billyclubs. Stop your bitching and face the fact that you aren’t entitled to shit, and that you are ultimately at the mercy of a very pissed of nation of taxpayers.