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40 Arrests Made To End UC Berkeley Protest

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Nov 20, 2009 9:00 pm US/Mountain

40 Arrests Made To End UC Berkeley Protest

BERKELEY, Calif. (CBS) ― Students barricaded themselves inside buildings on University of California campuses at Berkeley and Santa Cruz Friday to protest a 32 percent increase in student fees and budget cuts that have led to slashed programs and lost jobs.

UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof told CBS station KPIX-TV on Friday evening that more than 40 people occupying Wheeler Hall, at least some of them students, had been arrested and the protest there appeared to be coming to a "safe end."

Those demonstrators were being cited in the building for misdemeanor trespassing, and then would be released, he said.

Demonstrators first occupied Wheeler Hall - located just east of Sproul Plaza - about 6 a.m. and hung a sign from a window that read "32 Percent Hike, 900 layoffs," with the word "Class" crossed out in red. A group of students, sometimes numbering in the hundreds, also rallied outside the building throughout the day.

University police Lt. Alex Yao said demonstrators had barricaded themselves behind fire doors on the second floor, apparently by using bike locks and placing chairs near the doors, but police had control of the rest of the building.

The occupiers were demanding the university rescind the fee hikes, rehire 38 laid-off custodial workers and give amnesty to anyone arrested in the protest.

Wheeler Hall houses various humanities departments, and Mogulof said the protests caused students to miss classes in the building Friday.

Claire Holmes, UC Berkeley's associate vice chancellor for communications, said a group of administrators, faculty and students unsuccessfully attempted to have a dialogue with the occupiers before police entered the building about 5:30 p.m. and started making dozens of arrests.

At UC Santa Cruz, Provost David Kliger said a group comprised of dozens of students was blocking exits at Kerr Hall, which houses science departments and administrative offices.

Kliger said he would not consider the students' demands until they cleared the obstructions.

"We are all concerned about fee increases and the impacts of $50 million in state budget cuts to our campus. Unfortunately, occupying buildings ... does little more than divert precious resources while denying others their rightful access to campus facilities and services," Kliger said.

Undergraduate student fees will increase by more than $2,500, or 32 percent, by the 2010-11 school year, with some increases taking effect next spring.

Regents said they had to raise fees because the cash-strapped state government can't meet the university's funding needs.

Protests over the fee hikes have taken place all week at UC campuses across the state by students and university union members sympathetic with their fight.


(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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