The occupation at the University of Vienna continues today.  Messages of support can be left at the solidarity page on Facebook, and are much appreciated. The students are demanding free education,  and banners with slogans like ‘EDUCATION IS NOT FOR SALE’ are hanging from the University. The students have the support of many lecturers, and remain strong in their convictions. Messages of solidarity from international students are appreciated, if you have a minute to spare drop them a line. It is an inspiring example of the action students can take, and we in Free Education for Everyone are right behind them!

Internatonal Press release:

Saturday, 31 October 2009 17:33

Austrian students squat universities! Mass-demonstrations and broad solidarity throughout the country. Throughout the last years studying conditions at Austrian universities have dramatically declined. The introduction of tuition fees, a massive cutback of democratic structures and the lack of course availability are only some examples for that development.

Reasons for that process can be found in the huge decline of university funding on one hand and the introduction of the three level “Bologna” system on the other hand. In that context the implementation of admission reductions and limits was conducted.Obviously several reasons constituted an insufficient status quo. On Thursday, October 22, the insatisfaction turned into savage protest.

At 12:00 PM several hunderd students of the Academy of Fine Arts (which was squatted the day before) and the University of Vienna gathered to make notice of their desperate situation. In a spontanious action they squatted Austrias largest auditorium in the main University building. The news of the squatting spread rapidly and soon after students from several other departments joined.

What started as a spontanious act of protest within the course of just a week, evolved into massive student protests throughout all major Austrian university cities. The University of Vienna for example is constantly being seized by several thousand people. Self-organized action groups have build up an efficient infrastructure that includes i.e. a public kitchen, first aid and legal consulting. In addition to that 100 work groups have been formed, whose main subject is the discussion of strategic and content related issues.On Wednesday October 28th , seven days after the initial squatting, Vienna witnessed one of the largest education related rallies in Austrian history, with 40.000 attendents. The following day, in Graz, Austrias second largest city, a demonstration with several thousand people took place.

The students have presented a broad catalog of demands to public and university policy makers. Those demands include among others the democratization of all aspects of university life, a massive increase in funding, free and equal admission modalities and a 50 % women clause in all positions of university adminisration and education.

Along with various organisations and groups from all corners of society and the world, many universityprofessors and administrative staff have demonstrated their solidarity with the protesting students. This and the incredible power and hope that have developed, encourage the movement to persist and grow until the students’ demands are met.

international media contact:

Workinggroup internationalpress / Occupied University of Vienna

mail: internationalpress.unsereuni@gmail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

tel.: +43 699 1920 3371

web: www.unsereuni.at

Victory to the University Of Vienna occupation! Education remains a RIGHT.

Streaming .TV shows by Ustream

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfk2SOVHEWw[/youtube]

]]> http://free-education.info/support-the-student-occupation-in-vienna/feed/ 1 http://free-education.info/florida-usa-students-teachers-protest-education-budget-cuts/ http://free-education.info/florida-usa-students-teachers-protest-education-budget-cuts/#comments Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:17:09 +0000 Sam http://free-education.info/?p=475

Students, teachers and parents all over Central Florida are protested school budget cuts, Friday morning.

If you get a cut on your finger, you bleed. That’s why students and educators at Glenridge Middle School decided to wear red to symbolize the bleeding of the education system.Educators say the state’s budget cuts are hurting students, they even put out a sign that reads, “Cuts in education never heal.”Scores of students at Glenridge Middle School were wearing red as they headed to class on Friday. “We want to keep our teachers, we love them,” said student Carlos Cabrera. “We want money for stuff. We need books and stuff.”

http://www.wftv.com/news/18809269/detail.html#-

On Friday, Feb. 20, the student occupation of New York University’s Kimmel Center for Student Life ended, and the repercussions began. The university suspended the last 18 students who remained in Kimmel Friday morning, and non-N.Y.U. participants were told that their information would be given to the NYPD for trespassing.

Judicial hearings begin on Monday for some of the NYU 18, who face possible expulsion for their role in the building takeover.

more – http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2009/02/103742.shtml

Up to 200 students of the faculty of humanities at the University of Copenhagen gathered in front of the entrances to the university’s Saxo Institute and Central Administration to protest the financial aid cuts.

The protest follows similar moves from students at the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Sociology and a demonstration by students of Roskilde University. While these protests have been independent of each other, Dalum warned that the student demos are gathering support.

‘We are holding a national demonstration on 26 February in every major city, where we will be joined by primary and secondary school students.’

A student sit-in at the administration building of the Helsinki University ended peacefully this morning. The protestors held discussions with Helsinki University Chancellor Thomas Wilhelmsson about proposed regulatory reform, details of university legislation and the status of students.

About 100 students occupied the university’s administration building from Thursday afternoon. About two dozen protesters remained until morning.

Nationwide Protests

The students had occupied the building as part of a nationwide wave of demonstrations protesting a slew of legislative reforms approved by government the same day.

A group of about 100 students took over the building during the afternoon, and remained on the first and fourth floor of the building located at Yliopistonkatu 4.

“We have had prolonged discussions with different working groups. We need more time before these laws go forward, and the right to discuss the matter, and not just with marginal groups,” said Heinonen.

The students believe that Thursday’s protest action, which also attracted staff members, was successful.

University students and faculty around the country held protests on Thursday over the timetable for university legislation reforms. Demonstrations were held in Helsinki, Turku, Tampere, Oulu, and Joensuu.

http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2009/02/overnight_student_sit-in_ends_at_helsinki_university_557609.html

Following what has been a wave of student activism over the past couple of months, including student occupations in Greece ,Great Britain , and the United States and protests across Europe, students from the Take Back NYU coalition have begun to occupy the Kimmel Center for University Life at New York University. 

The coalition, which includes a diverse number of groups ranging from Amnesty International to the NYU chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, is demanding that the university operate in a more transparent, open, and democratic way. 

Among the student demands are legal amnesty for the participants in the occupation, compensation for workers at NYU whose jobs were disrupted as a result of the occupation, disclosure of NYU’s budget and endowments, and the creation of a student elected “Socially Responsible Finance Committee” that would look into NYU’s investments into companies involved with the occupation of Palestine. 

http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2009/02/103597.shtml

Students at Roskilde University set up a blockade at the institution’s administrative offices this morning in protest against educational cuts proposed by the Tax Commission, reported Berlingske Tidende newspaper.

The commission’s proposal to reduce students’ eligibility period for state financial assistance from six years to four has met with disapproval with university students across the country. But students at Roskilde University are the first to have taken action against the proposal.

The students began the blockade at 7:45 this morning but later dispersed, with hundreds of students gathering at a 9:30 meeting on the issue at the university cafeteria.

Full article : http://www.cphpost.dk/culture/culture/44775-student-blockade-over-grant-cuts.html

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) has called for a 48-hour strike in the university from Monday to intensify its ongoing struggle against non-fulfilment of demands.

JNUSU will also organize a protest march on Tuesday at 9 pm on the campus. JNU students have been protesting for about two weeks for demands like installation of electricity metres for each hostel room, conservation of the green areas on the campus like the Parthasarthy rocks and reforms in JNU’s admission procedure. 

JNUSU had also launched a protest on February 10 for which around 2000 students had turned up.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Delhi/JNUSU_called_for_a_48-hour_strike_from_Monday/articleshow/4132720.cms

Clark Atlanta University students gathered in front of the president’s office Monday with petitions protesting faculty layoffs. Seventy professors were let go Friday because of declining enrollment.

Spokeswoman Jennifer Jiles says 70 faculty members and up to 40 staff members learned from supervisors Friday that their positions would be cut. No more cuts are expected, for now.

Full article : http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/Clark_Atlanta_Students_Protest_Layoffs_020909

About 1,000 people filled an auditorium at the University of the District of Columbia yesterday to vent their anger at a proposal that would nearly double tuition at the city’s only public college.

UDC students, who come from all over the world as well as D.C. neighborhoods, told trustees repeatedly that UDC is the place where people go when they need an education and can’t afford any other school.

Full article : http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/02/11/ST2009021103355.html