For Student Power

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NYU Administration refuses to negotiate, threatens expulsion

02/19/2009 - 4:00am

This is Jasper Conner's first post on For Student Power - thanks for writing, Jasper! - Patrick

NYU Refuses to Negotiate with Student Occupation!
SUPPORT NYU OCCUPATION!

NYU’s administration refuses any face-to-face contact with student occupation, drawing out Take Back NYU!’s occupation, currently making national news.

The occupation, which began at 10pm on Feb. 18th with the seizure of the 3rd floor of the Kimmel Center has made news across the country and received declarations of support from universities across the world.

NYU’s Administration refuses to allow the students of the occupation a place at negotiations, instead relying on threats and intransigence to try to end Take Back NYU!’s campaign.

The NYU administr...

NYU Occupation!

02/18/2009 - 4:00am

http://www.takebacknyu.com

****FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE******

NYU BUILDING TAKEOVER!!!

At approximately 10pm tonight (Feb. 18), students of Take Back NYU! took over the Kimmel Marketplace. They have blockaded the doors and declared an occupation! They presented their demands to the NYU administration. They read as follows:

DEMANDS

We, the students of NYU, declare an occupation of this space. This occupation is the culmination of a two-year campaign by the Take Back NYU! coalition, and of campaigns from years past, in whose footsteps we follow.

In order to create a more accountable, democratic and socially responsible university, we demand the following:

1. Full legal and disciplinary amnesty for all parties involved in the occupation.

2. Full compensation for all employees whose jobs were disrupted during the course of the occupation.

3. Public release of NYU's annual operatin...

Arne Duncan: Your Voice for a Commodified Education

02/06/2009 - 4:00am

Last week, CNN's Campbell Brown took new Education Secretary Arne Duncan to task on "accountability," No Child Left Behind, and testing. As you can see, she gave him every opportunity to say something in the teeny-tiniest way progressive when it comes to education, and he steadfastly refused. Huzzah, Scantrons for everyone! ( Read more >

Rendell proposes consolidating 400 school districts

02/05/2009 - 4:00am

Philly Inquirer:

Gov. Rendell wants to slash the number of school districts statewide, eliminating about 400 of the current 501 Pennsylvania public school systems.

The controversial proposal would make a more efficient public education system, he said.

"There is nothing sacrosanct about the need to maintain 500 separate school districts across the state - each with its own staggering, and growing, administrative costs," the governor said in his budget address.

Rendell wants a legislative committee to study consolidation and return recommendations within a year.

This plan is a mixed bag: while it helps better distribute property taxes between urban (poor) and suburban (rich) districts, it consolidates the organizational structure from top to bottom. What we should be fighting for is the centralization of funding and ...

More Coverage of the New School Occupation

01/05/2009 - 4:00am

Various Marxist parties have articles and interviews up on the New School occupation. The Stalinist Freedom Road Socialist Organization has an interview with Eric Eingold, and an article up in the Workers World Party's newspaper by SDSer Tyneisha Bowens discusses the role the UniteHERE local played in supporting the occupation.

Probably most interesting - and useful - is MediaChannel's overview of the occupiers' use of media:

But they can also claim a key victory in a less obvious battle—the battle over message. For two and a half days students reported from inside the cafeteria using text messages, email, blog posts, Youtube videos, and Twitter feeds. They responded to New ...

Safe Alternatives to Road Flares

01/02/2009 - 4:00am

The traditional red road flares that emergency responders use - police, fire, ambulance, and tow trucks - are dangerous, unsafe, and harmful to the environment. What's needed are alternatives to road flares. The best example I've ever seen is the Road Strobe - a portable LED lighting system that comes in combinations of red, blue, amber, and white. Check out these photos!

Road Strobe, the best alternative to road flares!

The Road Strobe is our best bet for greener, safer highway lighting.

Upcoming Conference - "Reworking the University: Visions, Strategies, Demands"

12/23/2008 - 4:00am

The awesome folks who put on the Rethinking the University conference are at it again! Mark your calendars, to either attend or contribute to what should be a very important gathering.
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Reworking the University: Visions, Strategies, Demands
April 24-26, 2009, University of Minnesota
Call for Ideas - Please Distribute Widely!

The current “financial meltdown” has exacerbated the ongoing crises within the university, resulting in even greater budget cuts, tuition hikes, hiring freezes and layoffs. Responses from university administrations have been predominantly reactive and have served to fortify the university as an institution of neoliberal capitalism. The administration and others have narrated this crisis as an external force that, while dramatic in the short run, can nonetheless be managed properly. It is clear to many, however, that the neoliberal logic that has been used to transform the university over the...

The New School Occupation: Recaps and Analysis

12/21/2008 - 4:00am

—The New York Times has a few decent articles on the New School Occupation and the larger context of everyone hating Bob Kerrey, but probably the most useful writing on the occupation was written by one of the occupiers.

With blazing speed, Tim Hearin, a New School grad student, penned an analysis of what happened over the past several days, with an eye for lessons we all can learn from the occupation. I'm reprinting it here, but it's also available at Indymedia and elsewhere. If others are posting analysis pieces, link to them in the comments.

Rules of Thumb Learned by An Occupant of the New School in Exile
As the dust settl...

VICTORIES at the New School!

12/19/2008 - 4:00am

Letters of support have been pouring in, most recently one from Todd May of Clemson, and one from student activists at Antioch.

Last night, the occupying students (the Occupation Assembly) listed a set of demands (apart from the larger long-running demands) that they insisted be agreed upon by the administration that night:

Amnesty for all participants in this student movement, including Elliot Liu. Staff and security guards affected by this protest shall receive appropriate compensation and no repercussions for dutiful fulfillment of their jobs;

That students may use the GF building at 65 Fifth Avenue until a suitable replacement is secured, that all capital improvements at the university shall be suspended and these funds shall be red...

Videos from the New School occupation

12/18/2008 - 4:00am

Youtube user givehimdanger is posting videos from the occupied building. This one lays out nicely some of the problems students have with Kerrey and his cronies, but check out all his videos!