In light of recent events...
Nov. 15th, 2011 03:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lunasarielIt's been an...eventful few days here at Cal. Things kicked off with Wednesday's Day of Action/Occupy Cal, which spilled over into Thursday. Things turned ugly with Thursday night's shooting at Occupy Oakland, which isn't Cal-sponsored, but a lot of students (and faculty!) were there or knew someone who was. The weekend was pretty quiet, but the midden hit the windmill today, when another Day of Action demonstration came into conflict with the annual tree-chopping rally. And I just now got news that someone was shot over at the Haas School of Business.
The Day of Action was huge. I usually have a 12-1 PM class in a building right near Upper Sproul Plaza, where the demonstration was, but it was so loud, and there were so many people, our professor just said "screw it" and let us off. It officially kicked off at noon, so I was there for the first few speeches (not that I could hear much of them; the PA system was trying its lil' heart out, but just couldn't compete with I don't know how many hundred people all yelling at once). There was a police presence, but just a few campus cops; nothing excessive (that I saw, anyway). I was in class for the police crackdown, but I was in the area right after, when there were a lot fewer people and plenty of cops in riot gear, with batons out.
I was expecting the general strike today, so you can imagine how confused I was when I was sitting in my Celtic Mythology class, and I heard a marching band strike up the Cal fight song, which, as I understand it, isn't the usual song of choice for economic reform activists. It turns out that the General Strike was happening on Upper Sproul, while Lower Sproul was being used by another group for the Tree Chopping Rally, one of the many rallys that preclude Friday night's Big Game. Our professor eventually let the class out early, since it's a wee bit hard to apply a Dumézilian analysis to power structures in The Wooing of Etaín when you have to yell over hundreds of loud, angry people with PA systems. I swung by Upper Sproul on my way home, and things were definitely a lot more tense than they were on Thursday. There were more cops, but also more news crews, and plenty of helicopters representing both.
And now, the icing on the cake is that someone has just been shot over at the Haas School of Business. Information is still coming out, but from what I can tell right now, a guy brought a gun into the building in his jacket, someone saw it and called the police, and they shot him when he drew it. The Mario Savio speech (an annual event that began in the Free Speech Movement, and always addresses social injustice of some kind) was supposed to be this evening, out on Upper Sproul, but with all the craziness, I wouldn't blame Robert Reich, this year's speaker, if he wanted to speak inside, or even not at all.
So, yeah, things are looking kinda hairy out there right now. Stay safe, stay smart, and stay sane, Cal!
The Day of Action was huge. I usually have a 12-1 PM class in a building right near Upper Sproul Plaza, where the demonstration was, but it was so loud, and there were so many people, our professor just said "screw it" and let us off. It officially kicked off at noon, so I was there for the first few speeches (not that I could hear much of them; the PA system was trying its lil' heart out, but just couldn't compete with I don't know how many hundred people all yelling at once). There was a police presence, but just a few campus cops; nothing excessive (that I saw, anyway). I was in class for the police crackdown, but I was in the area right after, when there were a lot fewer people and plenty of cops in riot gear, with batons out.
I was expecting the general strike today, so you can imagine how confused I was when I was sitting in my Celtic Mythology class, and I heard a marching band strike up the Cal fight song, which, as I understand it, isn't the usual song of choice for economic reform activists. It turns out that the General Strike was happening on Upper Sproul, while Lower Sproul was being used by another group for the Tree Chopping Rally, one of the many rallys that preclude Friday night's Big Game. Our professor eventually let the class out early, since it's a wee bit hard to apply a Dumézilian analysis to power structures in The Wooing of Etaín when you have to yell over hundreds of loud, angry people with PA systems. I swung by Upper Sproul on my way home, and things were definitely a lot more tense than they were on Thursday. There were more cops, but also more news crews, and plenty of helicopters representing both.
And now, the icing on the cake is that someone has just been shot over at the Haas School of Business. Information is still coming out, but from what I can tell right now, a guy brought a gun into the building in his jacket, someone saw it and called the police, and they shot him when he drew it. The Mario Savio speech (an annual event that began in the Free Speech Movement, and always addresses social injustice of some kind) was supposed to be this evening, out on Upper Sproul, but with all the craziness, I wouldn't blame Robert Reich, this year's speaker, if he wanted to speak inside, or even not at all.
So, yeah, things are looking kinda hairy out there right now. Stay safe, stay smart, and stay sane, Cal!
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Date: 2011-11-16 12:35 am (UTC)no subject
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