UC Irvine PROTEST: 17 Arrested

Seventeen UC Irvine activists were arrested after carrying out an impassioned sit-in outside the school chancellor's office this morning.

According to a report in the Orange County Register, the activists were demonstrating in protest of the dissolution of contract talks between the school and the UC system's janitorial union. The school wants to perform citizenship checks on its workers, potentially endangering their standing at the university and in the country.

The protesters were demonstrating against myriad issues plaguing the UC system, including proposed massive tuition hikes and the system's lukewarm response to a racist television segment produced by UC San Diego student media last week.

The Daily Pilot has more on the scene outside the chancellor's office:

With University of California, Irvine, and Newport Beach police stationed at either end of Aldrich Hall's narrow corridors on the fifth floor, 14 students and three custodial workers sat outside Chancellor Michael Drake's office. They raucously chanted and pounded their fists on the walls until they were taken away in handcuffs.

Among protester chants of "No racist police! no sexist police! UC Regents, UC racists," and "Whose university? Our university!" police decided to put the demonstration to an end.

As of this afternoon, the arrested were being released. A full list of the protesters' demands can be found here.

Comments

[JerryLevy]

09:33 PM on 02/27/2010

Who cares about these 14 spoiled children? Certainly not 99.9% of the student body.

[masanf]

09:20 AM on 02/27/2010

"The protesters were demonstrating against myriad issues plaguing the UC system, including proposed massive tuition hikes and the system's lukewarm response to a racist television segment produced by UC San Diego student media last week."

And exactly would these seventeen cryba... I mean protesters have the administration do about the incident? The speech in the television segment is protected by the First Amendment. UCSD is a state school and is required to abide by the Constitution. Even if it were private, it couldn't do anything to the students because of California's Leonard Law. I get so sick and tired of reading about whiny college students who demand that the right's of others be infringed because they don't like what someone else had to say.

[danusgram]

06:54 PM on 02/26/2010

Racists and thie racism will not be tolerated on college campuses good for those taking a stand and the movement will increase.

[danusgram]

06:56 PM on 02/26/2010

sorry typo ...Racists and their racism is what was meant to be written in this post. However, the meaning still stands.

[Macarius]

03:24 AM on 02/27/2010

You need a social security card to work in this country, you need to be in this country legally to get that number or legally work.

There are hispanics in this country legally with these requirements. They aren't racist in actually abiding by federal law. Your ignorance is seething in your comment, its incredible. Probably were a UCI student.

[danusgram]

11:52 AM on 02/27/2010

What in the world is wrong with you. My post has nothing to do with what you are talking about if you are bilingual translate the post into English and reread it. I am talking about discrimination you are talking about something else go take some ESL classes and learn to read.

[wdmax]

06:35 PM on 02/26/2010

The article leads with the citizenship checks so I guess I'll comment on that aspect of the article. Seventeen activists is a little short of a "protest" by the way...

Exploitation: Unfortunately in America illegal immigrants are open to exploitation. No one should be exploited in America, we're supposed to be past all of that by now. All businesses should be required to prove that the people on their payroll are able to work in the United States (visa, permanent residency, etc...), it just makes sense to make sure that no one is exploited regardless of their current needs and struggles.

Unfortunately our recent history is full of incidents where the civil rights of illegal immigrants were violated. We as Americans should be working hard to ensure that no one has to endure the indignity of being exploited and violated because they can not go to law enforcement agencies due to their visa violations or "illegal" status. The system needs to be reformed to better protect non citizens.

[jane doeV]

06:55 PM on 02/25/2010

And I expect that when people wise up and starting acting in a similar manner to Muslim speakers they find offensive we will still hear the same people applauding these tactics?

[Mike949]

03:50 PM on 02/25/2010

I'm not sure I understand why assuring that the employees are citizens or have legally entered the country is inappropriate. I

Is this what immigration reform is all about? Meaning that anyone may enter the country and enjoy the benefits of citizenship without regard to current immigration laws?

[JStading]

05:29 PM on 02/26/2010

You do realize that no federal law makes crossing the boarder without permission or a visa a crime, right? That's why "illegal" aliens who are caught are not tried in a criminal system, they have their claim adjudicated by an administrative judge.

[masanf]

09:28 AM on 02/27/2010

So you are saying there is no immigration law being violated by someone crossing the border illegally? Yeah, you might need to do a little research on that one.

[KJLSanDiego]

02:17 PM on 02/25/2010

Civil Disobedience at its finest! Great job, all! Keep fighting your fights!

[masanf]

09:27 AM on 02/27/2010

Civil disobedience? Give me a break.. It is a bunch of students whining because students at UCSD were not censored enough to satisfy the protesters delicate sensibilities.

[KJLSanDiego]

12:53 PM on 02/27/2010

Yeah, not wanting to be part of something r@cist, real lame, huh?!?

[Balzac]

01:21 PM on 02/25/2010

These protesters should choose one issue per protest. They should follow arrests with legal action. Every confrontation must go all the way to its logical conclusion, or else all that effort was a waste. It's a battle of will and you've either won or lost before you've even begun. Each protester should ask themselves whether they've won or lost, and either persevere or give up, predicting the outcome based on their own self-awareness of determination or lack thereof.

[Republitarian]

12:48 PM on 02/25/2010

Arrest them and throw them out of school.

[Koolmorning]

01:50 PM on 02/25/2010

Yap, it unamerican to speak out and practice free speech.
How about if we start with you?
Rethugs= Hypocrites.

[Newthron]

02:19 PM on 02/25/2010

We should start with him, most definitively.

[masanf]

09:25 AM on 02/27/2010

Hahahahahahahaha. Never mind the fact that these "protesters" are protesting the fact that students at UCSD weren't censored by the administration. And there is not First Amendment right to take over a person's office. Get a clue, mo ron.

[KJLSanDiego]

02:18 PM on 02/25/2010

If you don't wish to live in a free land, China is always looking for more laborers!

[Pete Lorenz]

09:13 AM on 02/25/2010

So yeah, this kind of thing happens a lot. Admin wants to keep students in line, but that's really not what education's about, right?

[Pete Lorenz]

09:12 AM on 02/25/2010

What happened to UC-San Diego's right to free speech, though? Shouldn't the students there get to say what they want? That said, this is huge for tuition problems across the country. At my school, Towson U in Md., the school paper was threatened by the admin for a racy column in ran for a few months. That got a major reaction in the area.

[Allison Winkler]

11:22 AM on 02/25/2010

UCSD is a different campus than UC-Irvine

[Republitarian]

12:49 PM on 02/25/2010

No, only spoiled little lefty students at UCI get to conduct unlawful assemblies.

[Photon55]

01:19 PM on 02/26/2010

Hopefully they won't end up in congress like right wingers acting like spoiled brats because they no longer control our lives.

[OrangeCatholic]

01:11 AM on 02/25/2010

It sounds like there's some meaty stuff to protest, but requiring citizenship to work a government job isn't one of them.

Really...the concept of citizenship has gone fully out the window when illegals can work for the state government. Even as a janitor. That's NUTS.

Funny thing is, kicking out a few illegals and hiring locals would probably cost the school more, but they're actually trying to "do the right thing" and these dumb kids can't grasp it.

The Left Coast isn't the progressive voice it used to be.

[Republitarian]

12:52 PM on 02/25/2010

Don't forget that you *must* have a social security card to work in the US, and illegals cannot get them, and using a fake one is a crime. If illegal, the janitors should be *arrested*.

My GF is a legal immigrant and can't even get one that isn't completely restricted. She lives in constant fear of not filling out the right form with DHS, and these illegals have government jobs? In a state with 12% unemployment?

The best part is with all the budget cuts in CA in higher ed, the part time instructors with advanced degrees are the first to go. Not a single janitor laid off.

[danusgram]

11:55 AM on 02/27/2010

Illegals should have no jobs on the taxpayer dollar. Its my dollar and right to say it as a born in this country American!

[O K Ali]

12:54 AM on 02/25/2010

Does anyone GO to class in California? Between Compton cookouts, student porn on campus tv, and sit-ins, who has time for learning?

[cloudminder]

09:32 PM on 02/24/2010

* Yakuza Mob and UCLA Med Center on CBS "60 Minutes" by Lara Logan (2009)
* UC San Diego Data Security Hotline Swamped (2009)
* UC Irvine to fire whistleblower nurse?! (2009)
* New UC Davis Chancellor Linked to "Clout" Admissions Probe (2009)
* UC San Francisco belatedly announces September data breach (2009)
* A Tangled Web At Berkeley by UC Santa Cruz Professor John Ellis (2009)
* UC Berkeley Journalism Students Data Breached (2009)
* UC Davis Chancellor's Actions Cause Concern (2009)
* Senator Grassley Supports UCSF Whistleblower (2009)
* Deadly UCLA lab fire leaves haunting questions (2009)
* UC Berkeley computers hacked-160,000 staff,student, alumni etc at risk (2009)
* Cal/OSHA chief to oversee criminal investigation of fatal UCLA lab fire (2009)
* What can be learned from the death of a young biochem student at UCLA? (2009)
* Berkeley Chancellor delivers grim budget news.. (2009)
* UC Spending Big Despite Budget Crisis video KTVU News (2009)
* Farrah Fawcett helped prove UCLA leaked her health records (2009)
* UC Berkeley Alums Get Breached...AGAIN! (2009)
* UC 's Egregious Actions (video-youtube) (2009)
* UCB RIP by Erik Tarloff - Atlantic Monthly(2009)
* Court: U.C. Whistleblowers Have Nowhere to Go (2008)
* After Livers, Cash to UCLA (2008)
* Japanese Mob Boss Gave $100,000 to UCLA, rewards after controversial liver transplant (2008)
* Fired UCSF dean says review backs his claim of irregularities (2008)
* UCSF refuses to release outside review of its finances (2008)
* WhistleBlower Dean David Kessler

[cloudminder]

09:29 PM on 02/24/2010

Those UC Irvine Students are BEAUTIFUL!!!

# Operational Mediocrity- Daily Californian (2010)
# UC regents Schwarzenegger and Wachter – are they making a profit from university investments? (2010)
# Schwarzenegger vetoes whistleblower protections for UC workers (2010)
# UCLA consultant involved in accounting scandal (2010)
# More Scandals Uncovered at UC, Yee Requests State Audit (2010)
# UC Admits Misleading Public About Senior Executive Buyout Taker (2009)
# List of Salaries of UC Highest Paid Employees (2009)
# UC regents OK millions in incentive pay to top execs (2010)
# UC Boss Mark Yudof's Case Against Himself (2009)
# U.S. Senator Grassley Raises Concerns About Integrity of Finances at University of California System (2009)
# UC regents award huge pay increases to execs while furloughing staff (2009)

http://cloudminder.blogspot.com/

[Republitarian]

12:53 PM on 02/25/2010

They should be expelled.