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Play: A Day in the Life of Bob Kerrey

The New School in Exile, a group created by students at the New School in response to injustices by their administration, has vowed that they will be shutting down their school on April 1st unless their President, Bob Kerrey resigns. Well, they've created a play in two parts about the politics surrounding the issue. What an entertaining way to educate!

Protest Paterson's draconian budget and FOR THE FAIR SHARE TAX REFORM ACT

Come out today 4-6pm in front of the West Building at Hunter College, 695 Park Ave, to protest that David Paterson's ridunkulous idea of a budget that will award banking corporations and steal money from workers and students. But when they say cut back WE SAY FIGHT BACK.
link to the facebook invite here.

Student Occupy Universidad de Barcelona as police forcibly remove them

The ITS reports that yesterday, March 18th, students at the Universidad de Barcelona were violently evicted from a university building which they had occupied for 118 days.
Mo got this description of the event (Check the link for the video after the quote):

This morning the Mossos D'Esquadra (catalonian police) have entered the historical building in the University of Barcelona, the rectorate, to evict it violently. they have charged brutally against people that were peacefully concentrating in front of the building.
This morning, between 5:30 and 5:45 12 police vans have arrived, they have evicted the occupied rectorate by force and making use of violence.
Outside the building people have made a peaceful concentration, students, professors, workers in the university, media and citizens.
Police have charged brutally against all these people, turning the centre of Barcelona into a police state. It seems that there have been 17 people arrested and more than 100 people injured.
The assembly of the occupied rectorate has always had the will of dialogue and debate. The rectorate and political institutions have proved that this will is answered with repression and the most brutal physical violence. We are astonished, indignant and hurt. They hace entered by force in a space that was a place for resistance and critical thinking. the rector and politicians are the repressors that have applied to franquist politics.
Ramirez, Moreso, Palmada, Huguet, Saura: they are all to blame.
The rectors have decided to start repression.

There's a video link and, although I have no idea what anyone is saying, the video makes it clear just how brutal the police force was. I mean, SHIT, you're talking multiple officers swinging multiple clubs at individual protesters.

NYPD Fail

Last night, Tuesday March 10th at 11pm, NYPD swarmed and barricaded the entrance to NYU's Kimmel Center on Washington Square, which, last month, was the scene of the mass protest against NYU Administration's refusal to make transparent their profits and expenditures. Apparently NYU got a tip that there would be another protest or some sort of "hooligan-ry." They sent in 50 police officers and 30 police cars as a precaution. :cough:Gestapo:cough:
But SURPRISE! No one was there. Seriously though, there was no protest/hooligan-ry. lolerskates. We ought to do that every night!
Washington Square News has up to the minute coverage of Take Back NYU.

Fair Share Tax Reform Act NOW!

The Professional Staff Congress (PSC), the union that represents the faculty and staff of CUNY, has put together this great ditty where you can automatically contact your very own representatives and ask them to pass the Fair Share Tax Reform Act of 2009 that would undo the regressive (and fucked up) tax reforms that have taken place since the mid-90's.

From the PSC's Website:

Send a letter to your State Senator and Assembly member today, urging them to support the Fair Share Tax Reform Act of 2009 (S 2021; A 5912).  This tax reform legislation would raise $6 billion in revenue for New York State by increasing the marginal tax rate on adjusted family income over $250,000.Fair Share Tax Reform has broad backing from labor and community organizations -- and the general public, as demonstrated by numerous opinion polls. The PSC has taken a leading role in proposing revenue solutions to the current budget deficit.  Responding to this budget deficit by cutting services like public higher education makes no sense. Investing in CUNY, and public higher education, is the best way to reinvigorate our economy and rebuild our future.

EFFING EVENTS and Info!

Yes, I know. The blog has been terribly slow this last week. Hope our small troupe of followers haven't disintegrated into other (less cool) Blog scenes. Truth is:
1) Going to change servers soon.
2) Have been doing a lot of organizing at CUNY

That said, here is what's up:

This Thursday, March 5th there will be a rally and march to City Hall which is in protest of the proposed CUNY budget cuts and tuition increases and in favor of the fair share tax reform. Rally begins at 3pm at Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers Street. March to City Hall begins at 4pm. Have class? Don't go. Have work? Call in sick. For more info on bureaucracy  behind CUNY and why this is important, visit the excellent blog,  CUNY Disorientation Guide. For more info on the Fair Share Tax reform and why this is important, click here. 
If you straight up want me to feed you reasons for why you should go, here are some facts:
1) David Paterson and Michael Bloomberg have agreed to CUNY Chancellor Goldstein's proposed CUNY tuition increases of $600 with the pretext that it will fill the budget which NY State wants to cut in order to save mullah.
2) This is horseshit because they only want to spend 20% on CUNY ($22 million) and use 80% ($88 million) to backfill the NY state deficit caused by wall street. In other words, they want to take more from poor students, mostly minorities and disadvantaged students, many of whom work jobs to stay in school, and relegate little (i.e. no) responsibility to all of the very wealthy individuals who enjoy this city.
3) The fatcat administrators at CUNY have no problem cutting CUNY's budget by $51 million, which includes financial aid as well as NYC-based, merit-based scholarships, while taking (i.e. stealing) $7 million is administrative salary increases in the last few years. their arrogance is appaling.
4) Contrary to what Bloomberg, Patterson, and Goldstein want us to believe, this isn't an individualized instance of tuition increases necessitated by the economic crises. The latter two have actively been privatizing CUNY, slashing their budgets and raising their tuition for many years. We've had enough.
5) Implementing the Fair Share Tax Reform would undo the tax cuts to NY's wealthy, implemented since the mid-1990's, and would very easily backfill the deficit.

Coming? Good. Facebook has en events page.

New York Magazine's article of Bob Kerrey and the New School

New York Magazine has an article up of Bob Kerrey, President of the New School. Kerrey was given a vote of no confidence by faculty late in 2008 and his presidency has been perhaps the deciding factor in the 2008 New School occupation, where dozens of New School students took over their cafeteria for 30 hours or so. Students are still interested in getting rid of him. Check it out.

CUNY students mobilizing events

Lots of IMPORTANT CUNY events are coming up. I will attend all of them, so if you're crushing then this would be a good opportunity to stop by.

Upcoming Events Feburary 10th Hearing  at 11am at BC in the Tanger Auditorium. The City University Board of Trustees is launching a search for a new President of Brooklyn College.  As part of the process, the CUNY Trustees appointed to the Presidential Search Committee will visit the College. They have asked to meet with various constituent groups, including students, faculty, staff, alumni, local community partners and stakeholders. This is an opportunity to learn about the search process and ask questions, and also a chance for the Trustees to hear what the College community wants in a new president.

February 17th Meeting Brooklyn College Coalition Against the Budget Cuts and Tuition Hikes (location to be announced).

February 18 CUNY wide meeting at Hunter, with the primary purpose of planning a CUNY-wide budget cut and tuition hike event for April.

Feburary 26th Public Hearing on the budget cuts and tuition hikes in the Wood Tanger Auditorium of Brooklyn College at 4:00pmwith a collection of city and state legislators including Senator Parker and Senator Jacobs.

March 5 rally against the budget cuts at BMCC followed by a march to City Hall to join the protest called by the UFT and other unions against the budget cuts.

For more info, click here.

Last Night's Protest at NYU

Last night hundreds of people from different backgrounds, universities, and age groups, crowded around the occupied Kimmel Center  mostly in support of, though a fair few in opposition to the NYU student protest of administrative financial mishaps, secrecy, disturbing salary multiplications, and exploitation of workers abroad. The rally was not peaceful, there were a few fist fights and the polic maced some of the demonstrators. The NYPD also attended a few tactics which included attempting to separate the crowd by brining (all the kings?) horses and trucks through the crowd, but the demonstrators quickly mobilized and created a human wall wherever they turned. Sweet. Throughout the night adminisrative promises were broken and some of the student protesters in Kimmel were forcibly evicted from their NYU housing (wtf @ making someone homeless for protesting?).

The occupation ended at 2pm today, but the movement continues in many ways. You can check out more on Take Back NYU here.

Enjoy some pics I took. CUNY support made me smile.

Join rally in solidarity with Take Back NYU

As I posted earlier, students at NYU have taken over a university building in protest of financial mismanagement, diminished/suppressed voice of students, and some other shameful acts by NYU administration.  They're calling all folks to stand with them in solidarity tonight.

From the Website:
The NYU Admin has told us we need to leave by 1am or we will be officially tresspassing. We are expecting a confrontation with security and/or police.
We really need you now, more than ever - please get everyone outside for a giant rally at 12 midnight tonight. The more people there are outside, the less likely it is that NYU will call in the police to drag us out.

WHEN: Tonight
WHERE: Outside the occupied Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South.