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1. 

   Erich Vieth November 20, 2011 Reply

   At Salon, Joan Walsh urges us to watch to the very end of the video to see who prevailed.

   What the UC Davis protesters did Friday was non-violent. What the cops did in response was brutality. The video is very hard to watch. But if you watch the whole thing, you’ll see the remaining students begin to chant “Shame on you!” and slowly move toward the police. And you’ll see the cops begin to retreat, maybe because their work is done, but maybe because they’re feeling the moral and political power of that non-violent crowd. Some of the cops really do look ashamed, including Pike himself (in my opinion; you might see it differently.)

   http://www.salon.com/2011/11/19/the_face_of_police_cruelty/

2. 

   Erich Vieth November 21, 2011 Reply

   Interview with a pepper-sprayed UC Davis student:

   XJ: So, we see in the videos and photos that you were one of the students pepper-sprayed by Lieutenant John Pike yesterday. How are you doing today?

   W: I still have a burning sensation in my throat, lips and nose, especially when I start coughing, or when I’m lying in bed. Everyone who got sprayed has sustained effects like this.

   XJ: Can you tell us how it happened, from where you were sitting?

   W: I’d pulled my beanie hat over my eyes, to protect my eyes. I received a lot of pepper spray in my throat. I vomited twice, right away, then spent the next hour or two dry heaving. Someone said they saw him spray down my throat intentionally, but I was so freaked out, and I was blinded by my hat, so I can’t verify. I did get a large quantity of pepper spray in my lungs.

   Another girl near me who has asthma had an attack triggered by the pepper spray, and she was taken to the hospital.

3. 

   Erich Vieth November 21, 2011 Reply

   Letter from English Professor Nathan Brown, demanding the resignation of Chancellor Linda Katehi. This excellent letter holds a mirror up to Ms. Katehi, advising her of the predictable results of her command to clear the campus of the protesters. Here’s an excerpt:

   “This is what happens when UC Chancellors order police onto our campuses to disperse peaceful protesters through the use of force: students get hurt. Faculty get hurt. One of the most inspiring things (inspiring for those of us who care about students who assert their rights to free speech and peaceful assembly) about the demonstration in Berkeley on November 9 is that UC Berkeley faculty stood together with students, their arms linked together. Associate Professor of English Celeste Langan was grabbed by her hair, thrown on the ground, and arrested. Associate Professor Geoffrey O’Brien was injured by baton blows. Professor Robert Hass, former Poet Laureate of the United States, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winner, was also struck with a baton. These faculty stood together with students in solidarity, and they too were beaten and arrested by the police. In writing this letter, I stand together with those faculty and with the students they supported.”

4. 

   Erich Vieth November 22, 2011 Reply

   Linda Katehi’s role in the Athens Polytech uprising – the creation of a a university asylum law that restricted the ability of police to enter university campuses.

   University campuses are unsafe. While the [Greek] Constitution permits the university leadership to protect campuses from elements inciting political instability, Rectors have shown themselves unwilling to exercise these rights and fulfill their responsibilities, and to take the decisions needed in order to guarantee the safety of the faculty, staff, and students. As a result, the university administration and teaching staff have not proven themselves good stewards of the facilities with which society has entrusted them.

   The politicizing of universities – and in particular, of students – represents participation in the political process that exceeds the bounds of logic. This contributes to the rapid deterioration of tertiary education.

   Among the authors of this report – Chancellor Linda Katehi, UC Davis. And, to add to the irony, Katehi was a student at Athens Polytechnic in 1973.

   http://johnquiggin.posterous.com/athens-polytechnic-comes-to-uc-davis