March+4+Day+of+Action--Nationwide

Martin Morales WikiPost 3 [] This YouTube video really caught me by surprised. I recall a few class periods ago we were assigned a reading for homework and the name Shirvani was mentioned. In the piece, Shirvani stated that education was basically a privilege not a right that only the few are worthy of receiving. I didn’t know that he worked so close to us. This video shows a good amount of students at CSU Stanislaus, getting together and marching to Shirvani’s actual house with different slogans, one being “CSUs are ran by thieves”. The reason for this protest was because of budget cuts and the way that Shirvani has dealt with them and the decisions he’s made. 150 classes have been cut, 60 students and faculty had to leave, and a whole department is planned to be eliminated for next year. I also saw some posters said that they wanted the winter term back. I’m not sure if that means that they are cutting back on a lot of days in the winter term but that sounds really serious. It says in the information about this video that Shirvani makes $328,067 a year. That was amazing to me and takes me back to my research log. Why are these people earning so much money? They are like CEOs that do a terrible job but still win more than they should. Something that I found extreme was really how they showed up to his house. Things like this are the reason other people, such as the neighbor, look at students as too liberal and hooligans. Shirvani’s neighbor was almost a perfect example of what people think of students how he stated repeatedly “Just because you are a student that doesn’t mean u know everything.” That guy seemed really aggressive and came off as a jerk. Then when people started asking him question he began to be really passive and just didn’t seem to care about why they were protesting because it obviously didn’t affect him directly. He made the most ignorant comment I’ve heard in a while saying “hey I was a college student once.”  He obviously didn’t care and thinks that because he was a student once HE knows it all. In fact, doesn’t know it all. As we have observed in our class with readings and videos the old college experience is dying and a new one is being born. I feel that that is one of the problems and reasons why people don’t seem to care or take action. Because they don’t see how it affects them and they feel that they’ve been there before and it’s nothing new, when in fact it is something totally different. [| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNxMyZ4ZV1g] Cole Gonzalez English 130p 3/8/10 Wiki Post # 3 When I came to my workshop class on Thursday my mentor had a website posted onto the projector. He then began to ask if anybody knew what today was. I was unsure what he meant by that, I knew it was Thursday but that was it. He then began to explain that today March 4 was the day students when down to city hall and protested. In fact March 4 is Nation Day of Action to Defend Education. All this was coming to me as a surprise, but I was very interested. The website that our mentor had on the projector was an instant update on what was going on. People where posting comments and videos to show their support and give us who were not their update on what was happening. We watched some video of different students giving speeches and starting up different chants to get the crowd pumped up. Seeing other students who care enough about the problems that we are facing to get up and do something about it is very empowering and inspiring to me. It makes me want to be a part of this moment. We saw many different updates on what was going on and the actions that were being made. Many students went inside a building and refused to come out which I thought was really cool. Other just stood outside and chanted different things. They where definitely being noticed and heard, which is I feel one of the main goals in protesting. I feel that March 4 was indeed a success and I can only hope I can start to do my part in helping making education better for everyone.

Garrett Rawlings Wiki post 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nekFATS72nM I watched a video on Youtube about protests that went on March 4th. The report focused on not only changing our higher education system but public school in general around the country. The video showed hundreds and hundreds of college students protesting and holding picket fences at this event. They interviewed a woman who was a part of the protest and she wanted administration to start asking lawmakers to change up the system. Many have complained about college administrators for their lack of effort in helping get more money for higher education. During the actual protest part of the video it showed students gathered together and shouting organized chants outside of an administration building. This video focused on images of large student groups protesting. It also showed interviews of concerned students who are protesting and also talk about how they are negatively affected by these budget cuts. They showed very powerful images of students how cared strongly about their education. The images of all these students around the country protesting was a pretty powerful image to show and hopefully will catch the eye of legislature. The video showed students pounding on water buckets to increase the sound of the chant and to make it more intense sounding. This video leaves out interviews with staff and administrators of colleges which was an unfortunate part. A student who was interviewed while marching mentioned all these other programs receiving more money than education is and said how those programs were not as important. I felt that this would leave a viewer with a false image of what other programs are being funded by our national government even though I do feel some programs are receiving more money than they deserve. I thought it was very good of the person who filmed and edited the video to show students marching for a while and then to show students getting on stage to voice their frustrations about the lack of budget money for our higher education.

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/02/27/18639000.php This article summarized the protests that took place in the Central Valley of California on March 4th, the day of protests for education. The article mainly talks about the arrests and injuries of those protesting in places such as Oakland and Sacramento; there are also links on the page you can follow to photographs from every city which had protests. The images stood out to me because they brought together the hundreds of students and teachers who are being negatively affected by budget cuts and created and image of us all taking a stand together for our better future. The main article talk a lot about what people did to protest at each individual school. For example, a lot of students blocked major street or entrances to the Universities, even the freeway in Oakland. Many places took less extreme measures and simply got up and left their classes to join a protest at the capitol of city hall. Oakland seemed to have the most extreme protestors; blocking the freeway ultimately got many of them arrested, tased, and even injured. To see photographs of not only college students and professors, but also elementary school children was very powerful to me. Even if their parents had made them go out and protest with them, it still shows that everyone, no matter what age, is affected by these budget cuts. This article and photographs have inspired me to also take a stand for my education. I keep saying how much the tuition is affecting me and how badly it needs to change, but I’ve come to realize I need to put in work to make a change. Sara Miner

Wiki #3 http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-03-04-university-protests_N.htm Joshua Paul The report that I read comes from the USA Today and it talked only about what happened on March 4th, not the reason or concerns of the protesters. The article only mentioned in passing what the students, professors, parents, and staff were protesting. Instead, the article focused on what the protesters did and how many were arrested for each different protest. For the most part, the report did not talk about what the protesters wanted and how their demands could be met. As always, the news only report on what happens and not what could help the protesters or why they are really protesting. They also did not mention if the campuses did receive the protesters demands or even acknowledged that the government or campuses took the protesters seriously. The article only used one picture. The picture was of students at UCLA and they have signs that say “Stop Fee Hikes” and “Fees go up Quality goes down”. In my opinion, the picture that the article used was not that powerful, it did not make me want to get up and join the fight; nor did it boil my blood. From what I gather, the article has a tone that makes the protesters sound as if they are just radicals and what their demands are should just be ignored. The article also makes it sound as if these type of protests happen all the time, as if it should be ignored. But as most reports of protest go, the news just acts like its nothing new and sweeps it under the rug.

Wiki #3 Tyler Likins []

This video is just another protest video from March fourth. It shows UCSD students protesting budget cuts and showing everyone how unhappy they are with the direction in which the higher education system is heading. I didn't choose this video because it was the best video I have seen, or because it stood out to me, really too me its just the same as all the others, the only difference is the way they are protesting. Everyone is standing together as one most of the time they are chanting the same thing and it is completely non violent. Unlike some of the other videos I have seen where students are acting stupid and wondering why the police are harassing them, these students are simply protesting and trying to spread the message to others that what is going on is not okay. What I thought was cool was how they had a stage set up and they had one person talking to the masses explaining their mission and why they think they aren't being treated fairly. Now I don't necessarily agree with what they are saying completely but I can at least respect them for not being stupid and making college kids look like a bunch jokes. They are staying professional and trying to fix the problems that they view as oppressive. I thought they these students actually had a game plan going into rally and that they were well prepared. The only way to effectively protest is to stay professional and not let things get out of hand, and that is exactly what they did.