On Sept. 24, called to direct action by university faculty and workers, thousands walked out of the classrooms, offices and labs at UC Berkeley. We stood shoulder-to-shoulder on Upper Sproul Plaza, in numbers not seen for decades. Our message bears repeating: "Whose university? Our university!"

Now, in defense of our university, in defense of public education and in defense of our community, we're opening the doors-and opening the books! As the Daily Californian reported on Monday, many campus libraries are being forced to close on the weekends due to budget cuts.

We aren't only losing our study space; major staff layoffs across the UC system mean that people are also losing their jobs. These libraries are the symbolic heart of the university. And the university will simply not survive if its heart beats only six days a week.

In response to this attack on education we are calling a "study-in" on Friday, Oct. 9, at 4:30 pm in the anthropology library in Kroeber Hall. On this crucial weekend before midterms, when the doors of many campus libraries are supposed to close, we will say NO! We will stay, we will keep the doors open-and we will study for our midterms.

But we want to be clear that we're not "taking over" the library. We are actively consulting with staff to ensure that the library and its contents remain safe, and our "cleaning commission" will make sure that we leave things in even better order than we found them.

We have considerable support from university faculty, who will be present to offer teach-ins and facilitate dialogue during the study-in. Together, we'll be reclaiming our libraries as a creative space for learning and teaching the issues we face during this budget crisis.

By taking this action, we are stepping up to our responsibility not only as members of this university and this campus, but also as Californians-as the owners of the university-to have an earnest discussion coupled with strategic planning on what we want public education to look like. And we already know what public education doesn't look like: the UC administration.

So let us be very clear that the "real problem" isn't just the elected legislature in Sacramento, but the unelected UC administration. The Board of Regents is an undemocratic body, directly appointed by the governor and not subject to university oversight. UC President Mark Yudof has invoked "emergency powers" to systematically ignore the input, demands and alternative proposals of faculty, students and staff.

At UC Berkeley, Chancellor Robert Birgeneau hired consulting firm Bain & Company for the hefty sum of $3 million, to streamline the business of public education and concentrate even more power in the hands of the UC senior administration.

And let us not forget that privatizing our university has been on the UC administration's agenda for years. Student fees have increased by over 250 percent in the last decade. In 1993, the faculty/senior manager ratio was 2.5:1, this year it is 1:1.

This increase in senior management has added an estimated $791,981,440 to overall UC expenses. In 2004, a different (also overcompensated) UC President signed a compact promising to seek private funding to enable the state to continue defunding the university. While overall university funding is slashed, the UC administration continues to be richly rewarded for its oversight of these cuts.

The purpose of our walkout was to take power back from the UC administration, by shutting down the university and waking us up to a common cause. On Friday, we'll be pulling an all-nighter to reopen a part of the university that has been closed to us. So we ask all students to join us-study for your midterms and save the university at the same time!

This piece was submitted on behalf of the Student Library Intervention Committee (SLIC).

Tags: FEE INCREASES, WALKOUT