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We have received word from a commenter that there have been arrests in the UNC anti-sweatshop sit-ins. The UPI reports that five students were arrested today after they moved their protest from the building’s rotunda to the chancellor’s office.
Neither source provides details on the charges filed. As of 5:30 pm Eastern time the UNC sit-in blog had not been updated with news of the arrests.
Update: Minutes after the above was posted, the sit-in blog was updated with a detailed report on this morning’s events.
May 5 Update: The link I provided earlier has been taken down, but a fuller report and other materials have been posted. Check the sit-in blog’s main page for updates.
The anti-sweatshop sit-in at the University of North Carolina is now in day 16. Here’s what’s happened since our last update:
• UNC chancellor James Moeser traveled to Washington DC for a State Department conference on education and global development, and United Students Against Sweatshops made sure the jaunt was no vacation. A group of DC-area activists held a demonstration as delegates arrived at the conference, chanting and leafleting as Moeser walked in.
• Wireless internet access to the building the demonstrators are occupying mysteriously went down about a week ago. A unversity IT person checked on the network a few days ago, and claimed he could find nothing wrong. For now, the folks sitting in are sharing a single ethernet connection.
• In the early days of the sit-in, UNC administration took a relaxed attitude toward the demonstrators hanging signs inside and outside the building. In the wake of an Obama rally on campus, and with commencement fast approaching, that lenience may be ending.
• The sit-in has spread to Second Life.
The 31 protesters arrested in the Penn State admin building sit-in earlier this month will be charged with “defiant criminal trespass,” police announced Friday. The charge is a third-degree misdemeanor, and carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $2,500 fine.
Penn State United Students Against Sweatshops plans a rally for the arrested students at 2 pm this Thursday, May 1.
An online petition in support of the students and contact information for the president of PSU can be found here.
The anti-sweatshop sit-in at UNC is heading into its second weekend, with no end in sight.
Last weekend the UNC administration closed the administration building down over the weekend — they allowed students who were sitting in to stay, and they allowed students to leave at any time, but they refused entry to new students from Friday afternoon until Monday morning.
This week protest organizers have a new strategy to bulk up the weekend sit-in contingent — they’re throwing a dance party in the admin building rotunda on Friday night. Here’s the latest entry from their blog:
HEY ALL.
So tomorrow (Friday) we are throwing a slammin’ dance party at our new pad… South Building. At 6pm. But you must get there early! Before 5pm.
Our house is PERFECT for it… it’s got a rotunda-esque dance floor and great acoustics.
YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS THIS.
So here’s the deal… there is going to be really tight security at our place. We are hiring police to patrol the area. But don’t feel threatened. This is only a precautionary measure to ensure everyone’s safety. Also, we are expecting HUGE attendance, so security will help keep track of numbers.
THIS IS IMPORTANT…. EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO ATTEND THIS AWESOME PARTY HAS TO BE IN SOUTH BUILDING BEFORE 5PM ON FRIDAY. We are going to close down the place after 5, and no one else will be let in. So you better get here early, because it’s going to get crowded fast.
THE DANCE PARTY WILL BEGIN EXACTLY AT 6. It will end… never?
Heck. Stay the entire weekend if you like. We have plenty of floor space for you to crash with your friends. But if you want to leave early, you can. Although, we will feel sad.
SPREAD THE WORD. Join the facebook event for it. Much love. Buh bye.
(remember to get here before 5pm… Friday the 25th)
As of Friday morning, thirty people had confirmed for the dance party on Facebook, with another four hundred yet to respond to the invitation.
The anti-sweatshop sit-in at the University of North Carolina that began last Thursday is now in its sixth day. About a dozen students spent Monday night outside the university chancellor’s office, and the university has so far made no move to expel them from the building.
Protest organizers have set up a blog where they are providing regular updates on the protest as it develops. That site also includes information on the sit-in’s demands, links to press coverage of the action, a roster of individuals and groups who have endorsed the Designated Suppliers Program campaign, and a series of short profiles of the members of the “occupying force.”
It also features a YouTube video of the university chancellor dancing to the protesters’ chants.
studentactivism.net 
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