Campus

Occupy protesters set up tents on Sproul Plaza

Protestors restart the occupation of Sproul with several tents, banners and signs.
Dylan White/Staff
Protestors restart the occupation of Sproul with several tents, banners and signs.

By Oksana Yurovsky | Staff

Occupy Cal protesters set up six tents on the steps of Sproul Hall Thursday, marking the three month anniversary of the controversial Nov. 9 campus protest.

As of about 9 p.m., five tents remained in front of the hall. Demonstrators said they intended to stay overnight, but that a dispersal order from UCPD would prompt either a vote to brave police intervention or to leave the choice up to individual protesters.

About 25 individuals were present when the tents were originally erected at around 1:15 p.m.

Shortly after the tents went up, two UCPD officers requested they be removed, but protesters said they were not in violation of campus policy because no one was occupying the tents.

As a general assembly was underway at about 6:15 p.m., Dean of Students Jonathan Poullard and two police officers arrived but were asked by organizers to leave.

Poullard returned about two hours later with four officers and addressed the protesters gathered on the steps  in front of the hall. He told the demonstrators that they were not authorized to camp on university property.

Poullard told the protesters that those who remained in continued violation of campus policy may be subject “to disciplinary action under the university code of conduct, or arrest,” and that protesters should obtain permission from the appropriate administrators.

At the assembly, two proposals were presented and voted on, one of which was to demand that the officer involved in the controversial Nov. 18 pepper spray incident at UC Davis be arrested for aggravated assault.

“Every police officer will think twice before using that pepper spray or swinging that baton because one of their own is behind bars,” said Berkeley resident Ergoat Oneiric.

While many in attendance favored the proposal, others, such as graduate student Alex Barnard, expressed concerns.

“We’re at a moment when we’re getting people’s attention again, “ Barnard said. “I think we should be refocusing on the message that made up this movement in the first place.”

The proposal did not pass, but a motion to establish a regular noon general assembly solely for discussion did.

As of about 9 p.m., about 25 protesters remained on the steps and a dispersal order had not been given.

Staff writer Afsana Afzal contributed to this report. 

  • Guest

    LOL AGAIN??

  • Corrupted Administrations

    for yo’ mind (though the details are not similar to most cases at Cal):
    11th circuit unanimously upholds ruling against a Valdosta State administrator.
    http://thefire.org/article/14137.html
    THERE IS NO IMMUNITY FOR ADMINISTRATORS WHO KNOWINGLY VIOLATE STUDENTS’ RIGHTS. Administrators may be held PERSONALLY FINANCIALLY LIABLE.
    [this also holds when the administrator should have known the relevant law by virtue of their job description, thus in cases of well established law administrators can't get out of it by claiming they didn't know.]

    Working at the Office of Student Affairs?
    It’s your job to be aware of relevant laws, and to proceed in a manner that comports with those laws.

    • Guest

      You must be a BAMN organizer.

  • Current student

    occupy a job

     

    • Guest

       Like working 90 hours a week to get a degree while getting paid -$20,000 a year? Yeah…

      • Guest

        I agree. It’s just not fair that I worked so hard for 4 years, paying all this tuition, just to get my well-earned and well-deserved Ethnic studies degree, and can now only find the aforementioned terribly paying jobs. Occupy, you have my support!

        • LAWLS

          I don’t think you need Occupy to tell you that getting a job with an Ethnic Studies degree is going to be tough…

        • http://www.facebook.com/VoteforChange2012 Christopher Neal

          Guest: If you were absolutely stupid enough to get a degree in Ethnic Studies then you deserve your sordid future. Campus officials should have had the balls to tell you how worthless such a degree is.

          • John Decker

            But they don’t, because Ethnic Studies and similar grievance courses are a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you spend 4 years being indoctrinated about how you will never make it in the world while learning nothing in terms of marketable job skills, it shouldn’t come as a surprise when you wind up a complete loser. Ethnic Studies is merely a government-subsidized program to expand the Democratic Party voter base, and nothing more.

          • http://www.facebook.com/VoteforChange2012 Christopher Neal

            Damn freakin’ liberals!

          • Nunya Beeswax

             Most Ethnic Studies profs and students I’ve known are to the left of the Democratic Party, as a matter of fact.  If facts matter, that is.

        • Whine and cheese.

          Ethnic studies.  LMFAO.

        • Guest

          Are you actually serious or are you being really sarcastic?

          • Satire

            It’s clearly satire.

      • Whine and cheese.

        Boo Hoooooooooooo.  So sad.

        Not really true, of course.  You never worked a 90-hour week in your life.  Does your Mommy still believe your nonsense?

        …because nobody else is buying this BS.

      • John Decker

        If you’re only capable of making $20K per year (equivalent to $10/hour) after graduation, you obviously picked the wrong degree program.

        • Nunya Beeswax

           …because college is vocational school?

          • John Decker

            No, college is one goes to learn a profession. Funny how the lefties who deride those who pursue college to learn marketable skills are the same ones all resentful over the fact that some people have far more money than they do. Proof positive that some people get it, but you clearly do not.

          • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WRACM77JT2RXUR3LMGDPPUGUYY Tony M

             If you’re independently wealthy and don’t need to worry about making a living, then by all means take some recreational or lightweight course of study, because college is merely a source of entertainment or diversionary activity as far as you are concerned. However, if you are like the rest of us who attended a university to prepare for a real career because we didn’t have trust funds to take care of us for the rest of our lives, then you might just consider all that time, money, and effort in a course of study that will provide you with some payback for your personal and financial investment. It’s rather lame to complain about being poor when you wasted the most significant opportunity to improve your financial situation by studying useless propaganda garbage instead of something that could have opened doors to more compensatory career choices.

    • http://www.facebook.com/VoteforChange2012 Christopher Neal

      Their job is to try and instigate police into a reaction and then sue. That’s why there is usually more retards with cameras than there is protestors. 

      • Anonymous

        hmm that’s odd  over 5000 arrests and has of yet not a single cop or city sued………………………………..

        • John Decker

          Maybe because there are no real legal grounds to sue the cops for doing their job.

          • Anonymous

             cops get sued all the time for use of excessive force and brutality  but that has nothing to do with my response to Christopher…………………here is a idea why don’t you go troll some place else.

            I will say one thing , I will enjoy  crushing the skulls of  boot lickers just has much has the skulls on the boots they lick…………

            you tea bag types love brandishing weapons , but lets see if you can actually use them when the time comes and the blood starts to run in the streets.. For all this countrys might and bravado it has yet to ever when a war fought by insurgents and gorilla militias hope you are ready we sure the heck are.   

          • John Decker

            “you tea bag types love brandishing weapons , but lets see if you can actually use them when the time comes and the blood starts to run in the
            streets.. For all this countrys might and bravado”

            For all you OWN bravado, you seem to forget that there are quite a few of us alums with a military service background, before and after attending college. Some of that time has been spent in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia, as well as places you probably have never heard of, much less will ever see. You can talk all tough about blood running in the streets, but I’m willing to bet you haven’t been in a part of the world where the type of anarchy and destruction you wish for has taken hold. Those of us who have don’t care for it, and I will assure you we’re not going to let a bunch of junior anarcho-marxist wannabes bring us down that path.

            You talk tough, but you’re clearly a coward. Those of us who have been around and actually some something productive with our lives can smell your type a mile away.

          • Anonymous

            well your sense of smell is way off ……………………….I ets’d mid 90′s……….you would be a  fool to underestimate our training ,skills or drive…………see ya under my boot soon.

          • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WRACM77JT2RXUR3LMGDPPUGUYY Tony M

            I really have to laugh at the idea that the same sniveling little malcontents who wet their panties and whined like little girls because the cops were mean to them last November are going to be out there kicking butt when the revolution comes.  Your little masturbatory fantasy of killing off people is merely a sign of your own insecurity and impotence.

      • Santaclaus

         How about using correct English?

    • Anonymous

      most of us already have jobs ………………….we want living wages.

      • John Decker

        Interesting how you say “wages” as opposed to perhaps a salary, which is what employed educated professionals receive as compensation for not merely putting in hours, but making a PRODUCTIVE COMMITMENT to their employer and profession . Sounds like you’re stuck in your hourly worker paradigm from your teenage fast food days. All I can say is better get used to it unless you get out of that frame of mind.

  • Estudiante

    Didn’t you get the memo?  NO ONE LIKES THIS OCCUPY SHIT ANYMORE!!!   Is this put on by BAMN?   If it’s put on by BAMN it doesn’t even count.  Seriously, this smells like BAMN, and BAMN are about as weird and occult as those Lyndon LaRouche guys.    Hey, BAMN, just fold up the tents and get go out and have beers with the LaRouche guys.  

    • Dsfdfsd

      It was NOTHING to do with BAMN, fact.  

      • Guest

        It has everything to do with BAMN.

        • Dsfdfsd

          No it doesn’t.  You are wrong.  They knew sh*t-all about this.  

      • Estudiante

        Okay, so they weren’t.  Couldn’t help but notice them front and center on Sproul in front of you guys with their petition to get charges dropped on student occupy protesters earlier, but okay, I believe you.  

        Question: if you’re so into the 99% then why don’t you join the other 99% of students who don’t give a fuck about your occupation?  I mean really, do something that has meaning because you actually care.  This kind of thing is just for the attention-starved and everyone knows it.  And if you still think the occupy movement has any cred as a constructive and heartfelt effort, you are seriously deluded.  You’re just into spouting polarizing ideology and patting your comrades on the back for being down with “the cause”.  

        Whatever, if you get pepper sprayed and dragged off because of your little grown-persons’ temper tantrums I hope you realize a lot of us are going to be like “oh well”. 

        Take my advice:  pack up your tent, unpack your laptop, and write a series of emails to administrators, legislatures, whoever, articulating the change you want to see take place.  It’s not as fun or romantic as doing a 1960′s reenactment, but if you’re out to have fun and romance you’re going about it the wrong way. 

        Best wishes, and I mean that. 

    • Russbumper

       mierda!

  • Rog

    According to Occupy Oakland, violence is okay.

    So lets get out our batons and break some protesting fingers.

    • Nunya Beeswax

      So according to you, violence is okay.  How does this make you better than Occupy Oakland, again?

      • John Decker

        You clearly miss the point.

  • Anonymous

    I walked by earlier today.  It smelled like a weed bonfire.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/XYGBPHQGBO3KYCS2S3XGJV425Q J

    I hope this time they keep it clean and not trashy….also if they plan on putting on a night rally, try not to turn it into another party (yes, it does end up that way) and smoking weed and passing out beer bottles….if you do that then you’re a bunch of wannabes that are ruining the movement just for your boring fun

  • LAWLS

    DAMN IT not again! It was kinda cool the first semester, but it’s seriously getting old … and if no change was brought about when everybody “cared”, wth is it possibly going to do now anyway?

  • http://www.facebook.com/VoteforChange2012 Christopher Neal

    My God, these people are so radical! They set up tents with no one in them! My God they are heroes and martyrs and we should all praise them for their self-sacrifice.

  • TheFuture

    Get use to it.  The occupy movement is organizing country wide.  Its not going away.  And while you are freaking out get use to Obama.  He will be a shoe in.  The Dems will maintain control of the Senate and probably regain the house.  The Bush tax cuts will end.  The Republicans will have to vote for middle class tax breaks. The economy will continue to recover.  The Supreme Court will lose its Republican majority.  The next step in health care will be another step towards a single payer system. And maybe Americans will grow up enough to address the one problem with Medicare which is that we spend half our health care dollar on the last few months of peoples lives even when they do not wish to go on.  Yes the ultra wealthy will maintain most of its wealth just like every country in all of history but laws will be put in place to limit their use of money to exploit the less fortunate. The Republican party is about to take its last breath. Have a good day Reps.

    • Guest

      Delusional much?

      • TheFuture

        So your best rebuttal is to attack my character and make insulting statements. I’m simply telling you what I think will unfold.  You don’t have to agree but being disrespectful dishonors yourself, no one else.

        • John Decker

          So you come on to a public forum and make silly pronouncements, and you’re feelings are hurt because someone dared to counter your point of view? Best not to waste your time in a public forum if you can’t handle personal criticism.

    • Occupy this!

      You are an idiot.  Get used to THAT.

    • http://www.facebook.com/VoteforChange2012 Christopher Neal

      @01f5d304859f490c9229dc3e5a418916:disqus: You may want to focus on your studies there, bud. Your faulty grammar shows that you are most likely not a UC student, and your errors point to Hispanic heritage. Your ideas are out of touch with reality. Sure, camping is fun and all, but unless you are looking to a future as an outdoorsman, you may want to focus.Have a good day, Loser.

      • TheFuture

        Thank you for your editorial advice. 

  • reztips

    Occupy nationwide has gone off-message, moving from their important signature notion of the growing economic inequities in the US to emphasizing the right to camp in publicly owned zones and criticism of the police. No wondered they have become a national laughingstock.

    And then there are the true morons of Occupy Oakland. Talk about going off-message, they just have alienated most of their Jewish supporters by voting 135-1 to support BDS vs Israel. We can see the hand of ignoramuses like Professor Hatem Bazian in this bullshit and it is not just Jews who are put-off by this lefty ideological rubbish…

    • TrueJew

      Oh no! They lost most of their Jewish supporters?! Since Jews make up only 2% of the US population, I don’t think it’s gonna make that much of a difference and they can still safely call themselves the 99%.

      And incidentally, most all of my Jewish family and friends agree with the BDS movement. Intelligent Jews see that Israel is a failed experiment and the provocative and criminal actions of it’s government are shameful to the tribe as a whole. Someday we will have the opportunity to return to the land promised us, but not until the misguided thugs “occupying” it now have moved along…

      • TruerJew

        I’m not Jewish, but I went to Jewish Summer camp and I’m a better Jew than you, ya shithead.  Maybe some day you’ll have the “opportunity” to return to your homeland?   When you are allowed to?  Well Israel is a tiny sliver of land amidst a sea of Muslim countries as things are right now.  If the Muslim world has suchg a big problem with Jews being allowed that sliver now, what in the fucking world makes you think they’ll accommodate you later?   And who gives a crap what your friends and family say?  For your one set of friends and family who are pro-BDS I might be able to produce ten who are anti-.

      • TheFuture

        You should visit Israel and see for yourself.   Israel is one of the most successful counties in the world. Your viewpoint is uneducated and without any substance.  By the way, thinking that you build an argument by claiming people you know agree with you is a childish statement.  

      • reztips

        If Israel is a “failed experiment,” what would you call its Arab Islamofascist neighbors in general and the Palestinians in particular. Palestinians practice apartheid vs their women, gays and dissidents. Israel is among the world’s freest countries when it comes to women and gays and is a full-fledged democracy when it comes to freedom of expression.  TrueJerk, if you wish to see how much freedom the Palestinians allow, wear a T-shirt with the Star of David on it. We will then count the seconds on how long your lovely Arab friends permit you to breathe…

  • smketr

    Why were the tents not taken down at 1:16 p.m. by authorities?

  • http://www.facebook.com/gsoderberg Gordon Soderberg

    Just keep the Black Bloc from giving you a Black Eye!’

  • ShadrachSmith

    Re: Obama’s Occupiers

    The First Amendment protects speech, writings, and expression of views in any manner in which they can be legitimately and validly communicated. However, it does not guarantee to any person the right to exercise all powers of ownership over someone else’s property; be that property public or private. Neither does it make practitioners of free assembly imune from health, safety and sanitation codes.

    Obama’s Occupiers exist because the Community organizer in chief created and sustains them. They exist to help Obama shift the blame for our social and economic problems from DC to Wall Street,  and thus, from a corrupt and bloated government to the Evils of Capitalism. The Occupiers are the mobilized community of the Organizer in chief, Executive Producers David Axelrod (inventor of Astroturf) and Van Jones (Green Jobs engineer).

    Obama can whine about Republicans, or Wall Street, or Capitalism all he wants. But don’t labor under the illusion that any students of the game think Obama is winning this election. Obama is making Liberals and Liberalism look bad. He took over GM and featured the Volt. The reliability of the Cruze rivals the Yugo. Nobody believes Obama is going to lead our nation to economic prosperity. To be honest, most people wouldn’t hire the man to answer the phone at a pizza joint.

    So, bad economy, bad record on the economy, no Morning in America plan, what else is there but shouting that Republicans are the agents of Sauron and Capitalism is Evil. I think The Occupiers had a banner saying exactly that. If it ever dawns on Obama  that we don’t love him any more, the damage he may do scares most thoughtful people.

    ————————

    Obama put the Occupiers in the streets to chant “Capitalism is Evil” because Obama is running an “Only I can save you from the Evils of Capitalism” campaign. Thanks, Obama.

    • Nunya Beeswax

       Obama is just as indebted to Usury Street as any other pol in the two-party system.  The Occupy protesters aren’t much happier with him than they are with his predecessor.  Your inability to think beyond the false Democrat/Republican dichotomy is leading you to some ridiculous conclusions. 

      After several months of watching the Occupy movement, I’m pretty sure they’re shooting themselves in the foot, and they certainly seem to be losing some of the popular support they once had.  The irony to me is that there are people of good will in both the Tea Party and Occupy camps, and that they’re pissed off at most of the same things.  Sadly, the GOP has pretty much succeeded in co-opting the Tea Party movement, and the Democrats will probably make a similar attempt with Occupy–thus ensuring that the two movements will never find common ground and cooperate, since they’ll be fixated on the brand names pulling their strings.

      • ShadrachSmith

        When there is no cooperation, it is time to pick a side.

        At the price of $5 trillion the American Voters have purchased the most expensive lesson in human history: “Government cannot create wealth, and an overtaxed and over-regulated private sector can’t, either.”

         The Tea Party wants to solve our problems by growing the economy, and  Obama wants to solve our problems by growing the government.   
        Pick a side.  

        The Tea Party wants to avoid the fate of Europe’s Welfare-State economies.Obama says, “What’s the problem?”
        Pick a side.

        The Tea Party believes we should rip out our complex, corrupt, and unpredictable tax code root and branch, and  Obama wants to make it longer.  
        Pick a side.  

        The Tea Party believes that a nation that won’t control is borders has surrendered its sovereignty, and  Obama says, “Let ‘em vote.”  
        Pick a side.  

        The Tea Party beleives we should develop and use our nation’s fossil fuel resources, and  Obama would rather let you freeze in the dark.  
        Pick a side.  

        The Tea Party believes that government should be strictly limited by a written contract with the governed, and  Obama,…not so much.  
        Pick a side.

         See the Tea Party, and  See Obama’s Occupiers.  
        Pick a side.
        One side or the other will control our future.

        • Nunya Beeswax

           copypasta…zzz.

          • ShadrachSmith

            It’s my stuff. The repetition of the articles deserves some canned responses.

            You want fresh and original criticism? Say something :-)  

  • Whine and cheese.

    I love the commentary in here.  One poor sap whi whines (and whines) about getting an ethnic studies degree and not being able to find a job.  Boo Hoo.  You got an ethnic studies degree because it was easy and you never liked to work.

    Get these idiots out of our public places and move them to the homeless shelters they came from.

  • John Decker

    The Occupy children are desperate for attention and relevance.

  • Monkeyboy

    The people who are acting out and diverting the movement are not Occupy supporter’s. I would bet they are from among several groups, anarchists, disaffected, the mentally unable to participate in society due to trauma and those who encourage them, people who want to undermine the Occupy movement and so on, people who want to destroy the system we now have mistaking the practices of the people who currently administer it for “the system”.

    • John Decker

      “the mentally unable to participate in society due to trauma”

      More like the mentally unable due to overindulgence in recreational drugs.

    • http://www.facebook.com/VoteforChange2012 Christopher Neal

      “The mentally unable to participate in society” is the best description of occupiers thus far…

  • http://twitter.com/ArwenLothlorien Arwen

    You can call the Dean of Students Jonathan Poullard 510-642-6741 or visit him  at 326 Sproul Hall | Hours M-F: 10am-5pm and express your displeasure at his conduct toward the students. CALL NOW

    • Student

      Can I call and complain about the conduct OF the students?

      • John Decker

        I would also complain about the behavior of Arwen and his non-student cadre of professional agitators, who don’t belong on campus in the first place.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WRACM77JT2RXUR3LMGDPPUGUYY Tony M

       Can I call and complain that you’re trespassing?

  • John Decker

    “Every police officer will think twice before using that pepper spray or
    swinging that baton because one of their own is behind bars,”
    said Berkeley resident Ergoat Oneiric.

    Note that he is referred to as a Berkeley RESIDENT, and NOT a student. Another example of the activist radical community comprised of people who refuse to grow up.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WRACM77JT2RXUR3LMGDPPUGUYY Tony M

    [Most Ethnic Studies profs and students I've known are to the left of the
    Democratic Party, as a matter of fact.  If facts matter, that is.]

    OK, so they belong to the Extremely Silly Party instead of the Silly Party.

  • http://twitter.com/ArwenLothlorien Arwen

    It is great to see Occupy Cal back up and running. Makes us proud!!!

    • Guest

      It makes professional agitators and malcontents proud.

      It makes hardworking students shake their heads and sigh.

      • John Decker

        And it makes the folk in flyover land shake their head and wonder if everyone in California is on drugs or what. Being a Cal grad isn’t always an advantage if you’re applying for a position somewhere, and the HR people associate your alma mater with a bunch of radical activist fruitcakes.

    • http://www.facebook.com/VoteforChange2012 Christopher Neal

      Yeah, because they achieved so darn much? If that shit makes you proud, you must not get out much…

    • John Decker

      Arwen, have you ever held a real job?

  • http://twitter.com/ArwenLothlorien Arwen

    @a6f584c13851ec230713ca7832522da3:disqus Many students get their undergrad degree in something general like English, political science, ethnic studies, philosophy etc. and later go on to do graduate work in a field that is opening up with regard to jobs.  However, in this economy under the Obama administration, few jobs with any future are available to anyone much less college graduates no matter what their major is/was.

         Many of this generation of students are traveling around the country biding time til things turn around….if that ever happens.

    • Guest

      Delusional.

    • http://www.facebook.com/VoteforChange2012 Christopher Neal

      Let us know how that “biding time” works out for ya, huh? That’s what you guys call hanging out in tents? 

      It is sad to see Mexican students major in Chicano Studies or Asians in Asian American studies or Africans majoring in Pan African studies because really, where can that take you? Thank God schools quit offering women’s studies. In all seriousness, schools should quit offering programs where there is no job placement because the students graduate with major debt and no promising career.

    • John Decker

      We all agree that there are less jobs available under the Obama administration. So why don’t you tell us why you Occupy Cal types want to promote the same type of class warfare and big government corporate socialism that got us in the mess in the first place?

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WRACM77JT2RXUR3LMGDPPUGUYY Tony M

       [Many of this generation of students are traveling around the country biding time]

      So who’s paying their bills, given that even in the world of left-wing politics, nobody rides for free?  Is it Mommy and Daddy, George Soros, or the DNC? Just curious…

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WRACM77JT2RXUR3LMGDPPUGUYY Tony M

    you would be a  fool to underestimate our training ,skills or drive.

    Really now, tell us about your training, skills or drive. You can’t even hold a job, and I’m willing to bet that you wouldn’t last through Basic in any branch of the armed forces more than 48 hours after you dragged your ass off the bus and planted your feet on the yellow footprints at Camp Happy Valley, much less through any combat-related training course. Yet you’re a big, bad revolutionary, and are going to kill off everyone you don’t like. The fantasy of losers everywhere…

  • Lawless Empire