by Amani Rashid –
A group of students on this campus decided they had something to say; a message to send on behalf of all the students on this campus; turns out we no longer shoot the messenger we just mace him for the hell of it until all the pepper spray is gone and he coughs blood.
“My involvement started March 4th 2010 when the protestors took the freeway after tuition went up. Last year the movement mellowed out, but after the summer fee hikes the movement was re-inspired and we occupied Mrak Hall overnight. We then took the next step and occupied the quad last Thursday and after the events of last Friday, well you know what happened next.”
Eran Zelnik, a history graduate student, is a core member of the organizational force for the movement on campus; he spoke to me very passionately and candidly about the movement and the events of this past week.
When asked if he had expected the movement to garner such support and be as influential as it has come to be, he responded with a laugh and a head shake followed by: “I’m content with the way the movement has evolved but if two weeks ago you told me there would be tents in the quad and a rally of 5,000 people I’d tell you you’re crazy!”
As tragic yet inspiring as these past 2 weeks have been, some students remain skeptical of the protests and rallies. “So I get how we the students of Davis are tied into this whole notion of the 99% vs. the 1%, but I don’t understand why the movement on campus is linked to the occupy movement that started in New York especially at this point in time. I think it makes our actions on this campus less special.”
These concerns were raised by Kelly Adams, a fourth year psychology major, as her friends nodded their heads in agreement; When this opinion was brought to Zelnik’s attention he responded:
“This campus and its movement are a part of it [the occupy movement] whether you like it or not. From the organizational methods to the new language born from this; we are all a part of this fight against austerity. We all must hold 1% accountable and make them pay for their mistakes.”
Another critic, Kevin Cheng, a third year biomedical engineering major, stated: “In this day and age protest comes in the form of lobbying and change in the form of a ballot measure.” Maria Bauman, a fourth year film studies major agrees: “Why would you sit on the quad when, if you channel all that energy, commitment and man power and write letters to your congressmen or state assembly member you might yield a refreshingly different result.”
Why does it have to be one or the other, why can’t we dress up in suits and meet politicians in the capital and at the same time set up tents on the quad and refuse to move until the Chancellor resigns; which leads us to the most controversial occupation topic of discussion.
Is it right to ask Chancellor Katehi to resign?
In Zelnik’s opinion: “It’s not what she has done, but what she hasn’t done. She is complacent and has allowed the regents to restructure the UC’s as private corporations; she has enabled the rich elites to recreate the UC’s according to their own image. But what I really think is that she should at least be put on leave and under investigation until we really know what happened.”
One of the arguments heard in defense of Katehi is: “Just because the pepper spraying incident happened under her Chancellorship doesn’t exactly make it her fault; she wasn’t the one who ordered it. Plus on the whole she does not have as much power as the protestors give her credit for.”
Maybe she doesn’t have as much power as protestors make her out to have but maybe she needs to step down because the incidents of late have proven to me that she is no longer worth the outrageous half million annual paycheck our lovely chancellor receives.
However, it could be that it really is the likes of Yudof and the regents who need to be targeted; but one thing to consider, as considered by Matt Long, a second year statistics major, is: “I don’t give a rats ass about Katehi, but what I do know is that if we get her to resign we send one hell of a message to the regents; a message they urgently need!”
Another hot “Occupy Davis” topic of choice would be: “Was the atmosphere, generated by the protestors on Friday, unnecessarily hostile with regards to the police?”
Zelnik was there and he said: “We were not hostile they were the ones in riot gear, we were just sitting on the ground, holding hands, circling the encampment and it was only as the police tried to arrest people for sitting down that we began to yell; but not at any time did we threaten the police nor did we block off entry and exit.”
According to an article from the New York Times: “To the American Civil Liberties Union, its [pepper spray] use as a crowd-control device, particularly when those crowds are nonthreatening, is an excessive and unconstitutional use of force and violates the right to peaceably assemble.”
On those grounds it’s no wonder that some Davis students are threatening civil law suits against the University.
No matter what we, the UC Davis student body, can and can’t agree on, what some believe is right while others believe it is wrong; this movement has brought us all closer and makes us proud to hear we matter enough to be the number one story on CNN, makes us proud to hear that what students did on my campus might influence someone in the middle east as they hear the story on Aljazeera.
“I’d like to see us leverage our moral capital to build momentum and I think it’s great that people across the nation can use us as an example,” was Zelnik’s response when I told him my friend in a small town college in Nebraska told me his campus had a day dedicated to “Solidarity with UC Davis”.
Amani Rashid
I am a graduate of the UCD medical school. I earned my “credentials” as a non violent protester during the Vietnam Nam war. I would be characterized by most as to the left on the political spectrum. My sympathies are with you and I would like to share my feelings about increasing your effectiveness.
1) Target your protests more effectively. If your goal is lower student tuition and fees, the state capital would be a more appropriate venue and is easily accessible for UCD students. If your goal is to focus attention on the inappropriate use of force by the police, the quad is a good choice. The chancellor cannot offer much help with the economic issue other than standing with you publically.
2) Engage and enlist. The use of force, regardless of what kind, physical, psychological or political, tends to be polarizing.
What is needed here is not resignation of your targeted villain, but cooperation. Who would have a higher stake now in a collaborative approach than Chancellor Katehi ? If a full investigation proves her incompetent or in malfeasance, then she sould resign or be fired. It should never bw the cacaphony of the loudest voices that drives someone out.
3) Intimidation is not an effective tool. Even the most conservative posters on the Vanguard recognize that we are in very inhospitable economic times and that students today are facing a steeper economic climb than we had. Their well being is threatened too and many of them are afraid both economically but also socially. They are afraid of you. Fear is not a good motivator. It causes people to become further entrenched in their own positions.
4) Be careful what you wish for. Many are calling for the resignation of Chancellor Katehi. I have yet to see a suggestion for her replacement. In the current climate, do you honestly believe that her replacement will be someone more to your liking, or perhaps someone who is just more skillful at avoiding the appearance of being out of touch with the students while pushing the same agenda? Focusing on the negative is insufficient. One must also have a positive alternative plan.
Medwoman: Amani is just a reporter who talked to some of the students involved in the movement, I’m not sure you should be directly your comments to her.
I stand corrected and redirect to those involved in the protests.
[quote]If the effects and impacts of the events that recently unfolded on our campus haven’t moved you then just remember why it is any campus anywhere holds rallies and protests; public education in America, especially California, stands on the brink of extinction, and I’m just hoping my little sister can go to college in two years and not have it cost her an arm and a leg and eternal debt from the “Bank of Hell”.[/quote]
[quote]If the effects and impacts of the events that recently unfolded on our campus haven’t moved you then just remember why it is any campus anywhere holds rallies and protests; public education in America, especially California, stands on the brink of extinction, and I’m just hoping my little sister can go to college in two years and not have it cost her an arm and a leg and eternal debt from the “Bank of Hell”.[/quote]
[quote][/quote]This is not reporting… this is editorializing… which is fine, but the writer needs to be able to defend their position… I havbe no problem with her position… but it is NOT “reporting”.
Medwoman: I first voted when I was 18 yrs, 1 day old, in ’72… the first year 18-year-olds were allowed to vote… I faced the choice to be drafted, enlist, or run… why I love lotteries – my number was in the 180’s, they only drafted up to 90… I decided that if I got drafted, I’d serve as a medic, as my Dad did in WWII [in the Pacific theater]. I wasn’t “called”… to all, paix…
“I’m just hoping my little sister can go to college in two years and not have it cost her an arm and a leg and eternal debt from the “Bank of Hell”.”
She can. It’s just that the University of California is becoming unaffordable to the middle class. But fees at Sacramento State are about $2200 per semester, compared with annual tuition and fees at UC of about $13200.
Vote with your feet, students. Enroll elsewhere.
[quote]”My involvement started March 4th 2010 when the protestors took the freeway after tuition went up…”[/quote]
The protestors were never allowed on I-80 as far as I am aware… what else has this guy exaggerated/lied about?
[quote]…public education in America, especially California, stands on the brink of extinction, and I’m just hoping my little sister can go to college in two years and not have it cost her an arm and a leg and eternal debt from the “Bank of Hell”[/quote]
Excellent point.
Nice article! Interesting discussion of differing views…
Don, that’s what I’ve been saying for a few years now . If I don’t like Nugget, I go to Raley’s !
“Maybe she doesn’t have as much power as protestors make her out to have but maybe she needs to step down because the incidents of late have proven to me that she is no longer worth the outrageous half million annual paycheck our lovely chancellor receives.”
no way she is worth her salary, and never was to begin with. but that is a separate issue. the question is was friday’s incident grounds for her termination and based on what the vanguard is admitting in this sentence, there doesn’t seem anything anyone can point to to show she should be fired.
You should really do some research if you want to be a “reporter”.
[quote]I’m just hoping my little sister can go to college in two years and not have it cost her an arm and a leg and eternal debt from the “Bank of Hell”.[/quote]
In fact, unless you are from a family making over $80,000, you will pay ZERO to go to UC Davis.
[url]http://financialaid.ucdavis.edu/undergraduate/students/BlueandGold.html[/url]
Don: [i]”Vote with your feet, students. Enroll elsewhere.”[/i]
bidlin: [i]”Don, that’s what I’ve been saying for a few years now . If I don’t like Nugget, I go to Raley’s !”[/i]
LOL!
I agree with Don. Except for a few disciplines, I don’t value a “Nugget” UCD undergraduate degree any more than a “Raley’s” Sac State undergraduate degree. The difference, if any, is not so much the quality of education, but the higher admission standards for students. But these are higher academic standards… and not a measure of what makes a better employee.
Frankly, I think the entire UC system is heading for a big crash. You don’t sustain annual increases of two or three times the rate of inflation and escape from judgment day.
When you add a student’s living expenses to the current tuition, we are talking about $35-40k per year. Also, add to this: freshman-mandated degree selection, a screwed up scheduling system and inflated curriculum… all pushing students to require five or six years to acquire a their four-year degree.
Notice to college-bound students… this hiring manager does not value your UCD four-year degree more than a CSUS degree. He also does not care if you attended community college first to complete your GA requirements. Here is a better idea for you. Attend community college and then CSUS to earn a four-year business degree. Do this while you gain work experience working for minimum wage. Then ask your parents to front you some of the money they saved on your education expenses to help you open a business. Even if this business fails, put the experience on a resume and you will have a much better chance getting a good job than the student with only that high-priced, prestigious, UCD four-year degree. If you are dedicated and work hard, your business may grow. Then you might need to hire some recent graduates.
“You should really do some research if you want to be a “reporter”. “
JR: Is that really called for? I asked my student intern from last year to get some student interviews to help me out, and I get adults insulting her. I’m sure you could have made your point in a more appropriate manner. She did exactly what I asked her to do, which was to get the student perspective on what’s going on. We already know what the curmudgeon perspective is.
Fair enough. I hadn’t realized that this writer was not an adult.