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BERKELEY, Calif.—On Sept. 24, the first day
of classes, University of California students and faculty across
the state walked out against fee hikes, cutbacks in services and
classes, increased class sizes, and faculty and staff layoffs,
furloughs, and pay cuts.
Out
of the 10 UC campuses statewide, Berkeley had the largest walkout by
far; some 5000 students (out of a school enrollment of 35,000) joined a
rally in Sproul Plaza that day. Observers said it
was the largest protest gathering at the university since the Vietnam
War days.
Also
at the rally were students from local community colleges and from San
Francisco State University, some faculty, and a fair number of workers
from UPTE (on strike for unfair labor practices), and some from AFSCME,
the UAW, AFT, and CUE. After the rally, students and workers joined a
march through the campus and into the streets of downtown Berkeley behind a banner reading:
“Solidarity with Students, Teachers, and Workers!” Marchers chanted,
“It’s our university!” and “Defend public education!”
The
walkout was promoted throughout the UC system by a call signed by over
1200 faculty members. Some faculty members at Berkeley led “Teach-out” seminars inside
and outside campus buildings on topics such as “The Free Speech
Movement Was Just the Start” and “Confronting the Crisis.”
The
UC Board of Regents has ordered faculty and staff pay cuts of from 4 to
10 percent. In addition, UC President Mark Yudoff
proposes raising student fees by close to a third—to over $10,000 a
year. The university system faces a budget shortfall largely because of
cutbacks in financing from the state. Many signs at the rally read,
“Chop from the top.”
Yudoff, for example, has a salary of $540,000 a year—plus
lucrative benefits, such as free rent for his house.
In
the evening, some 500-600 enthusiastic Berkeley students assembled at a
meeting to decide what to do next. Plans were made for an Oct. 24
conference in Berkeley to coordinate the struggle
to defend public education across California—from K-12 to community
colleges and universities.
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