Vanguard at UC Davis Archives - Page 63 of 72

Threat of Police Restraining Order Delays Release of Pepper Spray Report

By David GreenwaldMarch 6, 201226 comments

Reynoso-pepperspray

The university was all set for the Tuesday release of the report from Kroll and the Task Force, however late yesterday UC Davis and the University of California Office of the President announced that the union representing UC campus police and a police officer at the center of the pepper-spraying incident at UC Davis will request a court order to halt public disclosure of a report by a task force headed by former California Supreme Court Associate Justice Cruz Reynoso.

The request for the temporary restraining order will be presented today in Department 31 of the Alameda County Superior Court. As a result, Cruz Reynoso, acting on advice from counsel, made the decision to postpone the public release of the report.

Pepper Spray Report to Be Released on Tuesday

By David GreenwaldMarch 3, 201234 comments

The twice pushed-back report will finally be released at noon on March 6. Downloadable task force findings, recommendations and background documents will be available on the UC Davis home page.

Former California Supreme Court Associate Justice Cruz Reynoso, chair of the task force investigating the pepper-spray incident on Nov. 18, said today (March 2) that the group will outline its findings and recommendations to the UC Davis community – students, faculty and staff – on Tuesday (March 6) from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the UC Davis Conference Center Ballroom.

Sunday Commentary: Lawyers, Lawsuits, and Public Cynicism

By David GreenwaldFebruary 26, 201251 comments

Frankly, I was unprepared for the level of cynicism engendered by the lawsuit filed by the ACLU and two other civil rights attorneys, on behalf of the pepper-sprayed protesters at UC Davis.

It is one thing to argue that the police acted appropriately, and therefore you think the lawsuit is unjustified. It is another to imply that the attorneys were doing this because they would be making big money.

ACLU Files Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit on Behalf of Pepper Sprayed Students

By David GreenwaldFebruary 23, 201257 comments

On Wednesday, the ACLU announced that nineteen students and alumni filed a federal lawsuit in the Eastern District against UC Davis, over the university’s treatment of protesters during a Nov. 18 demonstration, in which campus police were caught on video dousing seated protesters with pepper spray.

According to a release from the ACLU, the lawsuit seeks to determine why the university violated the demonstrators’ state and federal constitutional rights, and seeks to result in better policies that will prevent repetition of such response to a non-violent protest.

UC Davis Settles Title IX Case with Former Students for 1.35 Million Dollars

By uptownstudiosFebruary 22, 20125 comments

Former Westling Coach Alleges Judge in Case Had Conflicts of Interest

By Paayal Zaveri

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 states that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance”

UC Davis was found in to be in violation of that by not providing adequate athletic opportunities for women during the years 1998 and 2005. This was found when former UC Davis students and women wrestlers, Arezou Mansourian, Christine Ng and Lauren Mancuso, filed a claim against UC Davis in 2003 because they cut the women’s wrestling program, while continuing to expand other male-dominated sports teams. A settlement was finally reached last Thursday by a payment of $1.35 million to the plaintiffs’ counsel for legal fees. This means that the damages phase of the trial that was scheduled to start March 5^th will no longer happen.

UC Davis Townhall Covers Police Practices at UC Campuses

By uptownstudiosFebruary 19, 20124 comments

Written by the UC Davis Dateline Staff

Top UC officials at a UC Davis town hall last Friday on systemwide police practices heard suggestions to disarm campus police units or even disband them altogether. But some who attended the forum raised a question about protester practices: Have they gone too far?

“This has gone on for too long,” said Quyen Le, a second-year biochemistry major. He recalled losing five to 10 minutes of writing time on a fall midterm when chanting and drum-beating demonstrators marched through Wellman Hall.

Chancellor Katehi Survives Non-Binding No-Confidence Vote

By David GreenwaldFebruary 18, 20125 comments

Supporters of the chancellor will point to the final vote on a motion of “non-confidence” in UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi’s leadership. 697 votes were against the motion with 312 votes for the motion – 69 percent support for the embattled but still alive and surviving UC Davis Chancellor.

The vote was non-binding, and no one is sure exactly what effect such a vote, had it succeeded, would have had on the chancellor, even as UC officials were unaware of a successful no-confidence vote at any of its campuses.

Another Delay in the Release of the Pepper Spray Report

By David GreenwaldFebruary 17, 201213 comments

In late January, the Vanguard reported on a letter from former Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso sent to UC President Mark Yudof, indicating there will be delays in the original timeline of the report regarding the pepper-spraying incident at Occupy UCD. The delay meant that Justice Reynoso was then “targeting February 21, 2012 for the release of the report of the Task Force.”

The reason for the delay was that the UC Davis police were not cooperating with the investigation, as the former Justice of the California Supreme Court indicated in a letter to President Yudof, saying that although consulting firm Kroll, Inc., has conducted a number of interviews with students and faculty, they have “not had access to subject and non subject officers.”

Speaker Looks to Cut College Costs

By David GreenwaldFebruary 11, 20127 comments

Two of the major planks of the unrest generated by the Occupy Movement have been foreclosures and rising college costs. Earlier this week, Attorney General Kamala Harris announced a huge settlement that promises to provide relief to people who have been caught in the mortgage foreclosure crisis. Just as bold is a plan unveiled on Wednesday by Speaker John Pérez to cut college fees by two-thirds for middle class Californians.

However, the plan would rely on funding from the closure of a tax loophole that benefits out-of-state corporations, something that would require a two-thirds vote and something that Republicans, at least at the outset, seem reluctant to do.

Strange Theft Remains a Mystery For Both Occupiers and UC Davis Officials

By David GreenwaldFebruary 7, 201251 comments

On January 24, a small group of UC Davis Occupy protesters moved into the vacated Cross Cultural Center building. It was a move that would divide the movement, in part because it was not sanctioned by the Occupy UCD’s General Assembly and in part because the cottage was to be the new home of the Educational Opportunity Program and Guardian Scholars Programs, both of which aid those who might be priced out of a UC education.

In the early morning hours on January 26, the students reported a strange robbery. According to a press release, at about 4:00am, someone entered the occupied former-Cross Cultural Center and took valuable equipment from the main room where occupiers were sleeping.

Student Hit by Non-Lethal Munitions at UCR Protest Speaks to Vanguard

By David GreenwaldJanuary 30, 201217 comments

The events at UC Riverside, like those in many in the Occupy Movement, caught the attention of the public after police fired rubber bullets and paint ball rounds at the crowd as the students chanted “Peaceful Protest.”

Lee Rogers is a graduate student at UCLA, but he drove to UC Riverside for the day of action. He is getting his PhD in political science. He has had some involvement in Occupy UC, but he identified more with the Occupy Los Angeles movement.

Higher Education News – UC Looking For Revenue Sources and CSU Limits Executive Pay

By David GreenwaldJanuary 26, 20122 comments

While the protests dominated the news regarding the UC Board of Regents meeting last week, they met to discuss savings from cost-cutting and development of new revenue to fill a looming budget gap.

During the two days of meetings, senior administrators outlined for the board the latest state funding proposal and discussed a variety of initiatives now under way, including efforts to pare operational costs and enhance revenue opportunities from new inventions.

Letter From Reynoso Indicates UCD Police Not Cooperating With Investigation

By David GreenwaldJanuary 25, 201213 comments

A letter from former Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso sent to UC President Mark Yudof indicates there will be delays in the original timeline. The delay means that Justice Reynoso is now “targeting February 21, 2012 for the release of the report of the Task Force.”

Mr. Reynoso indicates the changes result “primarily from our negotiations with the Federated University Police Officer’s Association (FUPOA) for access to non subject officers.”

Students Denounce Police Violence at UC Riverside

By David GreenwaldJanuary 23, 201232 comments

A group called Occupy Colleges, fashioning themselves after Occupy Wall Street, has issued a statement denouncing what they are calling the “police shooting and beating of students at UC Riverside.”

In a statement they argue that students were “brutally and unnecessarily injured” at a peaceful demonstration at UC Riverside.

Student Protests: Relative Quiet Shattered by New Events and Announcements

By David GreenwaldJanuary 21, 201227 comments

After weeks of quiet, student demonstrations re-emerged in the news. On the local front came the not-unexpected news that the Yolo District Attorney had declined to file charges against the UCD protesters who were pepper sprayed.

For the most part, the district attorney has declined to involve his office in the politics of student protests.

Rubber Bullets at UC Regents Meeting in Riverside Ends Relative Calm of New Year

By David GreenwaldJanuary 20, 201245 comments

Chancellor Katehi Issues Another Message on Pepper-Spraying Incident

A group of students from UC Riverside attempted to storm the UC Regents meeting on Thursday, and were confronted by riot police. Numerous YouTube videos showed that they were fired upon with paint-filled bullets and other projectiles that injured several at the scene.

According to a news report from the local ABC affiliate, the protests were more peaceful than most, with people peacefully protesting inside. However, things started to go downhill after students refused to stay within the time allotted to speak at public comment to the Board of Regents.

Budget Analysis: Welcome Relief or More of the Same For Higher Education?

By David GreenwaldJanuary 9, 20120 comments

Last week, the Orange County Register ran an article arguing that criticism by students over UC salaries has fueled the student protests that exploded in the late fall of 2011.

As the paper notes, “Over the past few months, the University of California has raised undergraduate tuition by 18 percent, awarded raises of as much as 23 percent to a dozen high-ranking administrators and announced a possible 81 percent tuition increase over the next three years.”

Analysis: Cruz Reynoso Takes Control of Investigation and Release of Information

By David GreenwaldJanuary 8, 20126 comments

According to a letter from former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso, the report from the independent investigation led by former LA Police Chief William Bratton, and his private company Kroll, will be completed in early January, but the task force will withhold the results from the public and only release them after they have completed their review.

In a letter from Justice Reynoso to President Yudoff, outlining a December 13 meeting, the former justice writes, “We established ground rules, procedures, and a schedule that put us on track to release a report by late January or early February.”

Commentary: Is Student Anger Misplaced and Student Fee Hikes Really Inevitable?

By David GreenwaldJanuary 4, 201211 comments

A lot of people have questioned the anger of students over fee hikes and their targeting that anger toward the chancellor, the regents and UC President Mark Yudof. After all, it can be argued – as many have – that the real culprit in the fee hikes is not the University of California but rather the state legislature.

It is fairly easy to blame the California Legislature – whether you want to actually put the blame on the structural issues that prevent a majority of legislators from raising revenue, hyperpartisanship that prevents compromise, term limits that dilute the “talent” pool or simple incompetence – the fact remains that the legislature has for years acted imprudently during good times and taken out easy targets like education during tough times.

The Burning Question for the New Year: What Will Come of the Pepper Spray Investigation

By David GreenwaldJanuary 3, 201211 comments

I note another Op-Ed, written this time by entomology professors Walter Leal and James Carey. Their central argument that the faculty should speak for themselves and that we ought to “abide by the vote of the majority regardless of the outcome” is fine, though it comes across really as too much inside baseball, embodying some internal battle for the university.

But it does lead somewhat tangentially to an assessment of what it would take at this point to force Linda Katehi to resign. Let me back up for a second, because there is an important point and lesson in all of this – in matters like this, the first few days are critical to the survival of the leader.

By Paayal Zaveri

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" size-full wp-image-11142" alt="UCD-Police-Practices" src="https://davisvanguard.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/UCD-Police-Practices.png" height="362" width="600" width="665" height="401" />

Written by the UC Davis Dateline Staff

Chancellor Katehi Issues Another Message on Pepper-Spraying Incident

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