The occupy movement hit the UC Davis campus last week as
a reaction to the Occupy Wall Street initiative that began on September 17th.
The UC Davis movement is an attempt to
reclaim the rights of public school students and stop the massive cuts to our
education. Students set up tents in the quad to protest their dissatisfaction
with the giant hikes in student fees. This sign of peaceful protest led to the
city ”placing itself on the map” by being featured on news stations worldwide. Last
week Chancellor Katehi instructed campus police to take down the tents set up
on campus and everyone was left shocked by what happened next.
On Friday, November 18th, students were
peacefully protesting by sitting on the sidewalk in the quad. When refusing to
move the silent protestors were pepper sprayed in the face by police officers.
This incident spread like wildfire all over the internet and the news. Over the
next few days images parodying this attack went viral on the internet. A
collection of some of the best can be viewed here: http://www.smosh.com/smosh-pit/memes/best-pepper-spraying-cop-meme.
The first image is of what actually happened on Friday, the rest, although
humorous are no laughing matter. These images have now made Davis quite famous
because not only did they spread over the internet, they were seen on national
news stations and featured on the View.
Since this incident several of the officers involved,
including the campus police chief have been put on paid leave. But this does
not leave UC Davis students, faculty members and the entire community content.
Chancellor Katehi apologized publicly for the incident, but many are pushing
for her to resign. This indecent use of pepper spray should not have happened
in the first place so a lot of students and faculty have had enough of her
methods. They say her leadership is a failure and more and more people have
been e-mailing letters and statements calling for her to resign. So far she
states that she has no plans to step down.
These incidents have created more involvement in the protest
and the occupy movement has now grown. Seems like the pepper spray kind of had
an opposite effect. Didn’t think that one through, did you?
This is a view of the quad today. There are still many tents set up despite the cold weather. This site actually makes me pretty proud of the community in Davis. I am thankful for these people standing up for their beliefs and not just bowing down in the face of controversy. Those students who were pepper sprayed in the face have become campus heroes. I am disappointed I could not be a part of the protests as none of my professors would allow me to skip class this week. There is a general strike set for this Monday, November 28th which I intend to be a part of whether or not my teachers decide to cancel class. For more information on the UC Davis occupy movement check on google, youtube or facebook. There are tons of fascinating news stories, videos and photos circulating and I expect the involvement will only increase as Monday approaches.
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