UC San Francisco, 03/25/05 - Today witnessed a passionate display of concern and anger at the decision that the University of California will bid with corporate war profiteer, Bechtel, for the nuclear labs at Los Alamos.

In a time when many schools are on break, more than four dozen students, mostly organized by UC Santa Cruz's Students Against War (SAW), woke at 4:30am to attend the UC Regents meeting in San Francisco. With strong words and strong actions, these students did everything in their power to ensure that they would not be silenced and that the interests of the globe would not be ignored. However, the UC Regents voted unanimously to bid with Bechtel and two other suspicious corporations on the management of Los Alamos labs.

The University of California has been responsible for every nuclear weapon in the U.S. stockpile, including those dropped on Japan. This year will be the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. (Pre-Action Info: 1 | 2)

Photos and Reportback: 1 | 2

[ Students Against UC Exploitation | The Regents | Military Research | UC investments || UC Nuclear Free || Waging Peace || TriValley Cares ]

Action Day for a Better California Rallies Against Governor's Reforms

Pajaro Valley AFT 1936 Committee on Political Education organized a rally at the Plaza in Watsonville on May 25, which included students, teachers and their supporters. The theme of the demonstration was Broken Promises + Broken Schools = Broken Dreams. About 100 people where part of the energenic protest against Arnold and his neglect for youth and education in Watsonville. The rally was part of a statewide day of protest against Governor Schwarzenegger and his so-called "reforms." Photos: 1 | 2 || Audio

In Sacramento, more than 25,000 people, including teachers, nurses, firefighters and labor unions, rallied against Governor Schwarzenegger and his broken promises to public services. Country Joe sang "I Feel Like I'm Fixing to Die," his famous anti-Viet Nam War song. The crowd enthusiastically sang along in the heat. Representatives from the so-called special interests groups spoke and told their powerful stories and demanded that Arnold keep his promises to California. An airplane flew the message "California is not for sale!" Read more... || Reportback and Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 || Audio

In Los Angeles, about three thousand public employees attended a rally, “Action Day For a Better California,� in Downtown LA at Pershing Square. Parents, teachers, registered nurses, firefighters and police officers showed up to display their discontentment about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's policy agenda shortchanging them and their children." Reportback and Photos: 1 | 2

Read more on Indybay's Education page

Escalations in protest against military recruitment locally and nationally have shown results. Recuiters have been harassed, confronted, sued, kicked out, and engaged in dialogue. And they are worried.

May 20th, 2005, all US Army recruiting offices will be CLOSED in order to "reaffirm" their "oaths." This should be seen as a victory to those who have engaged in dialogue with recruiters--who have fallen short of their "goals" for enlistment consistently the past few years.

Free Radio call-in (.mp3) and info from the Capitola Recuiting office and the Watsonville "job" faire.

See also: Mumia Abu Jamal: Harder and Harder to Recruit || UCSC Students Kick Military Recruiters Off Campus || www.Indymedia.us || Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors || RCNV's Draft & Military Alternatives Program || CodePink's Counter-Recruitment Campaign

Organized labor in the Monterey Bay area is a potent force -- powerful enough apparently to intimidate Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger from visiting Salinas. The Governor was planning an appearance in Salinas on Wednesday, May 12, to commemorate the opening of a new California Highway Patrol facility, but when a sizable protest organized against him was publicized, he canceled out at the last minute on Tuesday evening. Representatives from Schwarzenegger's office deny that he had planned on being at the Salinas ceremony, but insiders confirm that the city was preparing for the governor's visit.

Various labor groups have been organizing against Schwarzenegger throughout the state. The first was the California Nurses Association, who have protested his ban on safe nurse-to-patient ratio mandates in medical facilities throughout the state. The California Teacher's Association and California Federation of Teachers have worked in solidarity opposing Schwarzenegger's theft of two billion dollars from last year's education budget, which has yet to be returned. Meanwhile, schools throughout the state are suffering from budget shortfalls. Other labor groups, including state and school employees and service workers, have fought the privatization of the state's retirement system, cutbacks to Worker's Compensation and the Governor's proposed anti-Proposition 98 special election slated for November.

Despite the governor's absence, the demonstration on Wednesday brought record numbers of union supporters out into the streets of Salinas, according to Monterey Bay Central Labor Council's Executive Director, Paul Johnston. He estimated that there were 100 - 200 representing a wide variety of unions in the morning and another several hundred of school employees who arrived in the afternoon. "Outside of farm worker demonstrations, this is probably one of the biggest in the last 50 years," he observed.

Many are trying to resume their normal schedules in the couple of weeks that have passed since the violent arrests of 19 students and community members at UC Santa Cruz. Last week, a group of involved students, members of the community, faculty, and administration sat down to talk about what happened on the night of April 18th. Chancellor Denise Denton apologized to those involved for the excessive "pain compliance" tactics used on peaceful demonstrators. The platform as a list of demands was also given to the administration.

The Tent U community believes that the police repression that night constitutes a violation of free speech and a glaring contradiction to the supposed educational mission of the UC system.

The rally on Friday the 13th was given to the Chancellor as an opportunity to respond to the demands on the Tent U platform, which include banning the use of pain compliance measures on peaceful student protesters, a democratic forum for student's concerns with the administration, reinstatement of the journalism department as well as the allocation of hard funds for humanities, and free speech 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A full list of demands is posted at ucsc.tentstate.com. The rally honored Pat True, UCSC worker and member of the local clerical union (CUE) who went on a hunger strike to demand information be released on who ordered the excessive force on the 18th.

The rally was held at the Baytree plaza at 1pm, during normal free speech hours. Chancellor Denton was invited but did not RSVP and failed to show up.

Audio: TUSC Rally on 5/13: Taking Back Democracy!

Photos: 1 | 2

Video from April 18: Resist and Unite: TUSC

[ Tent State University || Tent City Austin (Audio) || TSU Rutgers || TU Santa Cruz || TSU Kansas City || TU Colorado College ]

Cabrillo College students have organized a
Voter Rally to encourage Cabrillo students to get out and vote in the California Special elections.
The event takes place Novemeber 8th (Election Day) from 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. in the 900 Building (Student Center.) Public speakers, food, raffles and and more. This event is free.

The Foothill Anti-Capitalist Action Committee spread the word of a protest on November 1, 2005 against the military recruiters who table in the quad every Tuesday at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, California. However on this Tuesday, the military recruiters failed to show up. It looks like the military learned about the protest and thought it would be a better idea to stay away from it, rather than be the focus of the demonstration.

About 15 people marched from the Smithwick Theater plaza to the quad where people eat lunch and take breaks between classes. A lot of people were very supportive of the demonstration, which included a mobile sound system.

The 3rd Annual Practical Activism Conference, Tools for Local and Global Change, was a day-long conference which took place on October 29, 2005 at the University of California at Santa Cruz. It offered a series of workshops addressing activism and change in the local and global context, as well as keynote speeches from Daniel "Nane" Alejandrez and Nzingha Dugas.

Last week, Rosa Parks, the legendary figure from the Civil Rights Movement, passed away at the age of 92.

Moved by her death, students held a somber vigil last night in honor of her life and legacy. Organized by UC Santa Cruz's African/Black Student Alliance (A/BSA), the late-night vigil featured song, prayer, a moment of silence, and speeches on Parks' life.

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