[scimc-news] BREAKING NEWS: Police Attack Students Protesting UCSC Development Plan

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BREAKING NEWS: Police Attack Students Protesting UCSC Development Plan
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/11/07/18458761.php

Police Attack Students Protesting UCSC Development Plan
Wednesday Nov 7th, 2007 1:47 PM

BREAKING NEWS - Students protesting UC Santa Cruz's long-range  
development plan are under attack by police. About a dozen students  
were pepper-sprayed, and police with "less than lethal" weapons are  
filling the campus. Two tree-sits on the site of proposed new  
development have been cordoned off by police, and at least one tree- 
sit supporter has been arrested.

BREAKING NEWS
11/7/07, 1:00 pm

 From a phone report:

Students protesting UC Santa Cruz's long-range development plan are  
under attack by police. A protest participant reported that about a  
dozen students have been pepper-sprayed and that police can be seen  
with other "less than lethal" weapons, including tear gas canisters,  
tazers, and metal batons. Among the police officers are members of  
the UC Police Department, the Santa Cruz Police Department, the  
California Highway Patrol, and the Scotts Valley Police Department.  
More police are reportedly on their way, and the situation on campus  
is being described as "tense."

Hundreds of students rallied at 11 am today at UCSC's Baytree Plaza  
before marching to a site slated for new development under the plan,  
on the campus' Science Hill. Two tree-sits have been established on  
the site. The tree-sits have been cordoned off by police, and at 4 am  
today, police arrested a supporter delivering supplies for the tree- 
sitters.

UCSC's long-range development plan is widely opposed by students,  
faculty, and Santa Cruz residents. Opponents of the plan argue that  
it will undermine the quality of undergraduate education, devastate  
the campus' forests, and open the way for the further privatization  
of the university. Opponents also criticize the university for  
failing to meaningfully involve students and community members in its  
decision-making processes and for going ahead with the plan despite  
financial difficulties facing the university.

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