Vanguard at UC Davis Archives - Page 64 of 72

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.

Occupy Battle Heads to the Courtroom

By David GreenwaldDecember 24, 20114 comments

One of the lesser-known features of the Occupy movement is that attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild have embedded themselves with protesters as observers for the next stage of the fight.

And so, while most of the major encampments have been dispersed by authorities, the battle will live on as a flurry of lawsuits, in which protesters are asserting their constitutional rights to free speech and assembly, and challenging authorities’ mass arrests and use of force to break up tent cities.

Should Chancellor Katehi Still Resign?

By David GreenwaldDecember 21, 201199 comments

It has now been over a month since the initial pepper-spraying incident that caught the attention of the region, the state, the nation and even the world. In the aftermath of that event, the Vanguard joined many others in calling for the chancellor to resign.

The reason we argued that the chancellor should resign is that (A) we believe the police acted wrongly on that day in November in violation of the university’s and UC’s use of force protocol and also, according to case law, we believe they acted in violation of the 4^th Amendment, (B) the chancellor was too busy attending to other matters to address a critical precursor to the pepper-spraying event, and (C) in the aftermath of pepper spraying, the chancellor appeared to have first backed police action and then slowly changed her view – eventually both taking responsibility and shirking from it.

Vanguard Analysis of Pepper Spray Video

By David GreenwaldDecember 20, 201169 comments

A few weeks ago, a version of the pepper spraying was posted on YouTube by “UCDCollegeRepublican” which purports to show a different vantage point of the incident than what was previously aired. I was a bit skeptical about this purportedly new video, because I had watched the full 25 to 30 minute version on AggieTV.

Some who have watched this video claim that it has changed their mind. So, the Vanguard has watched this clip repeatedly to see what, if anything, can be gleaned by watching it.

Commentary: UCD Complaining About 8500 in Occupy Costs? Really? That’s it?

By David GreenwaldDecember 19, 201128 comments

I could not believe when I saw the release from UC Davis: “Occupy’s aftermath: 8,500 for cleanup and repair,” my thought was, really? That is what you are going to complain about?

More remarkable still was that the Davis Enterprise ran it as their headline story: “Occupy camp costs UC Davis $8,500 in cleanup, repairs.”

Commentary: Everyone Says the Right Thing, But No One Knows What to Do

By David GreenwaldDecember 16, 201117 comments

One of the key moments of the actual hearings on Wednesday came when Assemblymember Marty Block asked perhaps the most critical question of Chancellor Linda Katehi – what would you have done differently that day?

Hindsight, while 20-20, is also revealing about what people believe is right and what people believe is wrong.

Confrontation Between Katehi and Pepper-Sprayed Student Steals Show At Capitol

By David GreenwaldDecember 15, 201150 comments

Wednesday featured a joint legislative hearing looking into UC and CSU system-wide policies and procedures regarding non-violent protests and campus police use-of-force rules.

Assemblymember Marty Block (AD-78), chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee, and Senator Alan Lowenthal (SD-27), chair of the Senate Education Committee, called the meeting.

Attorney General Punts UC Davis Pepper Spraying Investigation Back to Yolo County

By David GreenwaldDecember 15, 201114 comments

Apparently the Attorney General did not want the political hot potato of the pepper spray investigation, either. In a press release from the office of District Attorney Jeff Reisig, he announced that on December 9, 2011, the California Attorney General’s Office declined a request to investigate the events surrounding police officers’ use of pepper spray against protesters on the campus of the University of California at Davis last month.

Both the District Attorney and the Sheriff had requested the Attorney General’s assistance, based on the significant and statewide issues involved, as well as other factors.

Democratic Mayors Lead the Way on Cracking Down on Occupy Movement

By David GreenwaldDecember 9, 201143 comments

On Wednesday, with little fanfare or controversy, Occupy Davis left Central Park, having decided on Monday that there were other ways to more effectively protest.

“I think we’ve made a significant statement with the time we’ve been here already,” Skyler Blakeslee told the Davis Enterprise on Wednesday. “Also, it’s cold and it’s wintry and it may be a good time to hibernate.”

Yudof Names Remainder of Reynoso’s Task Force

By David GreenwaldDecember 6, 20115 comments

On Monday, UC President Mark Yudof appointed 12 members of the task force that will be headed up by former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso, a professor emeritus at the UC Davis School of Law.

As previously advertised, most of the task force members are affiliated with UC Davis and were nominated by relevant campus organizations.

Commentary: Why I think Katehi Ought To Resign But Won’t Have To

By David GreenwaldDecember 5, 201138 comments

In yesterday’s column “viewpoints,” I wrote something that I think needs clarification in light of the response to a statement: “Call me a cynic, but I don’t see any way at this point that the findings from an investigation will be such that she has to step down.”

This statement was meant to express skepticism and cynicism that the process set forth by UC President Mark Yudof will bear fruit. Some took it to mean that I have made up my mind and no finding would be adequate to change my opinion.

Viewpoints: White Protesters and Police; Waiting Out the Investigation

By David GreenwaldDecember 4, 201155 comments

Two pieces on the UC Davis situation warrant some discussion. First, we will look at Daniel Filler’s op-ed that appears in the Davis Enterprise, “Policing’s ‘new normal’ doesn’t work with white folks,” which focuses on an issue that has long troubled me, that police get away with certain tactics on minorities that would outrage the white community if it happened in middle America.

The second piece is by UC Davis Law School Dean Kevin Johnson, who argues in this morning’s Sacramento Bee that we ought to allow the UC Davis probes to take their course before casting judgment and calling for the resignation of the Chancellor.

Commentary: Why I Love My Country

By David GreenwaldDecember 3, 201128 comments

A friend of mine at lunch this week tells me a story that happened in Yolo County recently. A man is being followed by an undercover police officer. How he knows this, I’m not sure. I’m not sure the guy was undercover, he may just have been off-duty. After awhile, the man has enough and starts snapping pictures out of the side of his car, toward his back.

At this point, the officer radios to get a marked unit there, the marked unit comes, follows the man and the same thing happens. So the man is pulled over and arrested for evading arrest. A misdemeanor. But because the man has pictures of the whole thing – due to his paranoia that the law is following him, he has a record and can demonstrate that he was not, in fact, evading the law.

Questions About the Independence of the Investigation and the Future of Katehi in the Face of Official Inquiry

By David GreenwaldDecember 2, 201116 comments

While the Vanguard welcomed the news that Cruz Reynoso, a former California Supreme Court Justice, would head up the UC Davis Task Force that will review the independent investigation led by William Bratton, a retired Police Police Chief with the Los Angeles Police Department, the key to any inquiry will be the ability of that team to have access to crucial information.

According to UC Davis spokesperson Andy Fell, Mr. Bratton and his investigating team will not have subpoena power.

Commentary: The Arrogance of UC Regent Power

By David GreenwaldDecember 1, 201148 comments

Entomology Professor Walter Leal’s letter, signed by over 206 other professors, backed Chancellor Katehi in the face of strong public and student sentiment that she ought to resign, sentiment bolstered by those such as English Professor Nathan Brown, the English and Physics Departments and the board of the Davis Faculty Association.

However, on Tuesday Professor Leal wrote: “We strongly believe that Linda Katehi is well-qualified to lead our university through this difficult healing process and oppose the premature calls for her resignation; this is not in the best interest of our university.”

Commentary: Mark Yudof Remains Oblivious To the Rest of the World

By David GreenwaldNovember 30, 201116 comments

During a time when the University of California is reeling from the mishandling of student protests by campus police on multiple campuses – protests spawned by increasing fees – it is appalling the degree to which the university is completely tone deaf to the concerns of students, many of whom believe that their fees are going to line the pockets of already wealthy and highly-paid administrators.

And at such a time, President Yudof and the regents supported a pretty massive increase to already well-paid executives. His defense was almost laughable.

District Attorney and Sheriff Refer Pepper Spraying Matter to Attorney General

By David GreenwaldNovember 30, 201113 comments

From the beginning, we were concerned about the ability of the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office and the Sheriff’s Department to do a fair investigation into the pepper spraying incident at UC Davis.

It quickly became clear, apparently, to the DA’s office and the Sheriff’s Department that this was a matter that, not only were they not well-equipped to investigate, but it would probably be more trouble than it was worth.

Project Occupy Dutton Hall

By uptownstudiosNovember 30, 201129 comments

“We have three demands: 1)The immediate resignation of Chancellor Katehi; 2) A replacement of campus police with a ‘student run safety team,’ or on-campus police must be unarmed (this demand is still under discussion); 3)A freeze on tuition hikes.”

At 6 pm on Monday, November 28^th, 2011, a general assembly was held on the UC Davis campus, during which a unanimous decision was made, by a group of students, to occupy Dutton Hall for two weeks.

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