UC Students Protest Ahead of 32% Fee Hike

Students demonstrate as regents vote at UCLA

(NEWSER) - Student protesters chanted “Shame on you! Shame on you!” on the UCLA campus today as the University of California board of regents approved a whopping 32% tuition hike. A year at a UC school—not including room and board—will now cost $10,300, three times the price in 1999. The moves comes as the university system struggles with draconian cuts in funding from the state's strapped government. More»

Activists win concessions after 7 hours on ledge

(NEWSER) - A tense day of protests against massive budget cuts at UC Berkeley ended with protesters claiming victory. Eight activists who spent seven hours chained together on a fourth-floor ledge as riot police faced off with protesters below came down after reaching an agreement with campus officials, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. As part of the arrangement, university officials have agreed not to punish the students involved and to drop charges against several other protesters arrested over the last year. Officials haven't budged, however, on cuts to the university system. More»

13 arrested, 15 pepper sprayed, officer conked on head with own baton

(NEWSER) - A 300-person strong protest against raising University of California fees got out of hand yesterday, and 13 people—mostly students—were arrested. The demonstration took place outside a UC regents meeting about the proposed increase in San Francisco. The UC San Francisco police chief called the crowd "angry and unruly and aggressive" and said some protesters threw barricades and other objects at university and city police, the Los Angeles Times reports. More»

(NEWSER) - California's budget crisis has taken an $813 million toll on its famed UC system, Time reports. The University of California's 10 campuses are attempting to deal with the 20% budget cut by instituting mandatory furloughs for 80% of staff, drastically cutting or even freezing new hires, and increasing tuition by 10%. Even a budget solution in the capital will likely not affect state funding, which UC officials say is now “exactly where it was in real dollars a decade ago.” More»

Protesters hit the street to rip rich regents

(NEWSER) - University of California students stormed a Bank of America branch in downtown San Francisco yesterday, pitched a tent and chanted, "Shame, shame, shame" before 100 of them were arrested and hauled out by city cops. The bank invasion was part of an afternoon of protest by students demonstrating against the UC regents, calling them rich tuition boosters who don't care about education. One of the regents is on the board of the Bank of America. Demonstrators had planned to target a meeting of the regents in the city, but officials canceled it, fearing violence. Those arrested will be charged with trespassing, notes the San Francisco Chronicle . More»