MEDIA ADVISORY
For immediate release,
May 10, 2010
For immediate release,
May 10, 2010
CONTACT:
Marco Amaral (619) 764-8540 marco.amaral6@gmail.com
Tanya Smith (510) 325-6381 tanyagays@yahoo.com
Maricruz Manzanarez (510) 375-0245 balucu@hotmail.com
Horacio Corona (fasting) (559) 789-2381 corona12@berkeley.edu
Katherine Isabel Vega (661) 802-2943 kathyivega@gmail.com
UC Berkeley Police forcefully take down hunger strike encampment as Chancellor returns from trip to Europe
After 170 hours without food, strikers vow to continue until demands met
When: Now, Monday May 10th
Where: California Hall on UC Berkeley Campus
Visuals: dozens of supporters, hunger strikers forced dispersal of encampment.
BERKELEY, CA— At 6am UC Police arrived at the site of the 7 day-old hunger strike with an order to disperse the encampment or face arrest.
This all comes as UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, who has been traveling in Europe during the duration of the strike, returns today to face the strikers for the first time. Many had criticized the Chancellor for not returning earlier to work to resolve the situation, though it appears the administration’s techniques have taken a more forceful turn as with the Chancellor’s return. Hunger strikers, visibly weak after fasting for over 170 hours, are currently struggling to take down the camp.
“They say they’re doing this for our health and for the good of the students” says Marco Amaral, a freshman who is one of the organizers of the strike. “But if Chancellor Birgeneau really cared about the health of the students he wouldn’t be forcing those on the strike to leave in this manner. If the Chancellor truly cared about the students and workers of this campus he would meet our demands and end the strike.”
Students, workers, and community supporters have been protesting on the front lawn of California Hall since last Monday. The 19 individuals on the hunger strike have demands of denouncing racist legislation in Arizona, creating a sanctuary campus and ending retaliation against student and worker activists (see next page for complete demands).
“Our demands are very reasonable and the Chancellor could meet them at any time”, continued Amaral. “We are not ending this strike until they are all met. The Chancellor needs to decide if he’s going to stand with the students, workers, faculty and supporters at the Berkeley campus, and the people of California, or if he’s going to stand with the racists who are passing these laws in Arizona and perpetuating violence against people of color”.
A rally has been planned today at 3:30pm to increase the pressure on the administration. In addition, regularly scheduled demonstrations each day with an 11am mass and prayer service and a 7pm rally.
For up-to-date information on the hunger strike visit our Facebook page at
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=114079228632152
The demands to end the hunger strike are:
1. Publically denounce Arizona’s SB1070 Law and ask President Yudof and other UC Chancellors to do the same. We urge you to bring this up at tomorrow’s UC system-wide meeting with other Chancellors. Blatantly racist and xenophobic laws run counter to the values of the UC education system.
2. Make UC Berkeley a Sanctuary Campus and provide extensive protection for undocumented students.
3. Drop all student conduct charges related to protest actions that occurred during the academic year 2009-10.
4. Stop cuts to low-wage workers on campus and stop attacks against union activists; rehire all AFSCME service workers and UPTE union activists and Cal performances employees.
5. Suspend the Student code of conduct and initiate a democratic student-led process to review the code. Those participating in this process should be charged with attending particularly to concerns about students’ due process rights and to free speech considerations. If, through this review, it is determined that a new code can be written in any way that adequately addresses these concerns, a new code should be written by a democratic, student-led body. If not, the student code of conduct should be abolished.
6. Accept responsibility for the violence and escalation of the confrontation surrounding Wheeler Hall on November 20th and December 11th 2009 that resulted in injuries to many students and jeopardized the safety and security of AB540 students. Additionally, commit to using non-violent means of ensuring safety at student demonstrations in the future.
2 comments:
This is quite possibly one of the most close minded things I have ever read. I cannot stand how these strikers can accuse those passing the legislation as "blatantly racist and xenophobic" without considering what exactly the bill is attacking. Let me say that I am part latino, I do not consider myself a racism, and I completely understand that this country was founded by immigrants that have been oppressed. By saying this I am not being racist, nor am I being anti-immigration. From a philosophical point of view, these strikers are being hypocritical. Just because one's holds a liberal view, does not mean their open-minded. They are accusing the bill of being close-minded, and then demanding that their chancellor agree with them. Im sorry, but what happened to freedom of expression? And honestly, this bill is not made out of racism or xenophobia, rather to control a growing problem in this country: illegal immigration. Let me repeat: ILLEGAL immigration. Let's not just protest something we don't understand and make an excuse to back it such as racism. Man up and stop looking for racism. Most the time it's not really there. Secondly, do these people understand how state schools receive funding? Taxes, which are only paid by documented citizens. Living in this state of country illegally and attending these universities is practically stealing. Not to mention the are taking the spot of a hard working, tax paying Californian. So please people, open you mind, stop forcing your views on people, consider the argument from the opposing side and don't just label everything that doesn't agree with you as racist.
--Just my two cents
Most democratic politicians, who openly support corporate interests agree that the Arizona anti-immigrant bill will lead to racial profiling. And what is racial profiling, but treating people a certain way based only upon their race? Isn't that racism?
I argue that the whole concept of "illegal" immigration is flawed. Mexicans don't cross the desert at great danger and expense to themselves and their families because they opportunistically want to "steal" a university education. US subsidies to the giant American agri-businesses has put many thousands of small farmers in Mexico out of business and into destitution. Global capitalism has sent the extremely low paid jobs in the maquiladoras to even lower waged countries in Asia. It may be against the US law for many immigrants to come into this country, but what should they do? Starve in their own country or follow the jobs? And one more thing, illegal immigrants often pay taxes.
Read up on the issues a little, Realist. You're not going to get any reality on the nightly news
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