Tag: occupyucdavis

There was a letter published in the Davis Enterprise (Letter to the Editor – The Davis Enterprise) co-signed by many UC Davis Faculty. I have been sent the letter by Walter Leal, one of the coordinators of the distribution and signing, and he also sent the latest list of faculty signers (which has expanded greatly since the Enterprise letter was published). I am posting the letter and the latest list here. Note – I am also (slowly) adding links to web pages for the faculty so that people can find out more about who they are.

We, the undersigned UC Davis faculty, support the free exchange of ideas on campus and students’ right to peaceful protests. We are appalled by the events of Friday, Nov. 18 in the Quad, but heartened by the Chancellor’s apology and her commitment to listen to and work on the students’ concerns. We strongly believe that Linda Katehi is well-qualified to lead our university through this difficult healing process and oppose the premature calls for her resignation; this is not in the best interest of our university.

1. Walter S. Leal, Professor, Entomology
2. Nina Amenta, Professor, Computer Science
3. Francisco J. Samaniego, Distinguished Professor, Statistics
4. Ricardo H. R. Castro, Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering & Material Science
5. Kevin Johnson, Professor and Dean, Law School (signing in his individual capacity)
6. Eduardo Blumwald, Professor, Plant Sciences
7. Miguel A. Mendez, Professor, Law School
8. Maureen Stanton, Professor, Evolution and Ecology
9. Miguel A. Marino, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Hydrologic Sciences, Civil & Environmental Engineering, and Biological & Agricultural Engineering
10. Adela De La Torre, Professor, Chicano/a Studies
11. James B. Ames, Professor, Chemistry
12. John E. Bolander, Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering
13. Charles L. Judson, Emeritus Professor, Entomology
14. Joaquim Silvestre, Professor, Economics
15. Satya Dandekar, Professor and Chair, Medical Microbiology and Immunology
16. James R. Carey, Professor of Entomology and Director, Biodemographic Determinants of Lifespan
17. Emanuel Maverakis, Assistant Professor, Dermatology
18. Abhaya M. Dandekar, Professor, Plant Sciences
19. Renee Tsolis, Associate Professor, Medical Microbiology and Immunology
20. R Holland Cheng, Professor, Molecular & Cellular Biology
21. Robert H. Rice, Professor, Environmental Toxicology
22. Susan Rivera, Professor, Psychology
23. Andre Knoesen, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
24. Lorena Garcia, Assistant Professor, Public Health Science
25. Angela Gelli, Associate Professor, Pharmacology
26. Susan E. Ebeler, Professor, Viticulture & Enology
27. George Bruening, Professor Emeritus, Plant Pathology; Member, National Academy of Sciences
28. Anh-Vu Pham, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
29. Xiaoguang Liu, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer EngineeringM. Saif Islam, Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
30. S. Geoffrey Schladow, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
31. Venkatesh Akella, Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
32. Judith S Stern, Distinguished Professor, Nutrition and Internal Medicine; Member, Institute of Medicine
33. Fu-Tong Liu, Distinguished Professor and Chair, Dermatology
34. Neville Luhmann Jr., Distinguished Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
35. William J. Murphy, Professor and Vice Chair of Research, Dermatology and Internal Medicine
36. Susan Kauzlarich, Professor, Chemistry, Recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring
37. Alan Hastings, Distinguished Professor, Environmental Science and Policy; Member, Academy of Arts and Sciences
38. Richard Michelmore, Professor and Director, The Genome Center
39. Sebastian Schreiber, Professor, Evolution and Ecology
40. John S. Werner, Distinguished Professor, Ophthalmology & Vision Science; Neurobiology, Physiology & Behavior
41. Terence M. Murphy, Professor Emeritus, Plant Biology
42. Judy Callis, Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biology
43. Frank McNally, Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biology
44. Susan L. Keen, Senior Lecturer SOE, Evolution and Ecology
45. Kimberley McAllister, Professor, Center for Neuroscience, Neurology, and NPB
46. Joseph F. Antognini, Clinical Professor, Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine
47. Charles A. Fuller, Professor, Neurobiology, Physiology & Behavior
48. W. Martin Usrey, Professor, Center for Neuroscience, Neurobiology, Physiology & Behavior, and Neurology
49. Kyriacos A. Athanasiou, Distinguished Professor & Chair, Biomedical Engineering and Orthopaedic Surgery
50. Sue C. Bodine, Professor, Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior
51. David M. Rocke, Distinguished Professor, Public Health Sciences and Biomedical Engineering
52. Scott I. Simon Professor and Vice Chair, Biomedical Engineering
53. Leah Krubitzer Professor and MacArthur Fellow, Psychology
54. Yong Duan, Professor. UC Davis Genome Center and Biomedical Engineering
55. Emanuel Epstein, Research Professor, Land, Air and Water Resources; Member, National Academy of Sciences
56. Subhash H. Risbud, Distinguished Professor, Materials Science
57. David P. Fyhrie, Professor, David Linn Endowed Chair, Biomedical Engineering
58. Thomas R. Gordon, Professor and Chair, Plant Pathology
59. Pam Ronald, Professor, Plant Pathology and Genome Center
60. Douglas Cook, Professor, Plant Pathology
61. Charles W. Bamforth, Professor, Food Science and Technology
62. Michael R. Hill, Professor and Vice Chair, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
63. Diane M. Beckles, Associate Professor, Plant Sciences
64. Sashi K. Kunnath, Professor and Chair, Civil and Environmental Engineering
65. Mary L. Cadenasso, Associate Professor, Plant Sciences
66. Mary Louise Flint, Extension Entomologist, Entomology
67. John I. Yoder, Professor, Plant Sciences
68. Bryce W. Falk, Professor, Plant Pathology
69. Douglas A. Kelt, Professor, Wildlife, Fish, & Conservation Biology
70. Benjamin J. McCoy, Professor Emeritus, Chemical Engineering
71. Bo Lonnerdal, Distinguished Professor, Nutrition & Internal Medicine
72. J. Bruce German, Professor, Food Science & Technology, Director, Foods for Health Institute
73. Janet F. Roser, Professor, Animal Science
74. Robert K. Washino, Emeritus Professor, Entomology
75. Iannis E. Adamopoulos, Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine
76. Kathryn Dewey, Distinguished Professor, Nutrition
77. Tina Jeoh, Assistant Professor, Biological and Agricultural Engineering
78. Harry H. Cheng, Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
79. Michael Denison, Professor, Environmental Toxicology
80. Ye Chen-Izu, Assistant Professor, Pharmacology
81. Trish Berger, Professor, Animal Science
82. Linda J. Harris, Cooperative Extension Specialist, Food Science and Technology
83. Stefan Wuertz, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
84. Rob Y. H. Chai, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
85. Stephen Kowalczykowski, Distinguished Professor, Microbiology, and of Molecular and Cellular Biology; Member, National Academy of Sciences
86. James F. Shackelford, Professor, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
87. Deb Niemeier, Professor, Civil Engineering
88. Maria Marco, Assistant Professor, Food Science & Technology
89. Brian Mulloney, Distinguished Professor, Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior
90. Katherine Ferrara, Professor, Biomedical Engineering
91. William D. Ristenpart, Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering & Materials Science
92. Jean-Jacques Chattot, Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
93. Anita M. Oberbauer, Professor, Animal Science
94. David Gilchrist, Professor Emeritus, Plant Pathology
95. Jay R. Lund, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
96. Carlos E. Puente, Professor, Land Air and Water Resources
97. David Biale, Distinguished Professor, History
98. Lynn Kimsey, Professor, Entomology
99. David Horsley, Associate Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
100. Valerie Williamson, Professor, Entomology and Nematology
101. Kyaw Tha Paw U, Professor, Atmospheric Science & Land, Air and Water Resources
102. Matthew J. Wood, Associate Professor, Environmental Toxicology
103. Eduardo A. Silva, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
104. Ning Pan, Professor, Textiles, Biological & Agricultural Engineering
105. Debra Long, Professor and Chair, Psychology
106. Robert Emmons, Professor, Psychology
107. Brian Trainor, Associate Professor, Psychology
108. Shelley A. Blozis, Associate Professor, Psychology
109. John P. Capitanio, Research Psychologist, Psychology
110. Joy Geng, Assistant Professor, Psychology
111. Valley Stewart, Professor, Microbiology
112. Ann Huff Stevens, Professor, Economics
113. Lisa Oakes, Professor, Psychology
114. Kristin H. Lagattuta, Associate Professor, Psychology
115. Robert Feenstra, Distinguished Professor, Economics
116. Gregory Clark, Professor, Economics
117. George A. Barnett, Professor & Chair, Communication
118. Fadi A. Fathallah, Professor, Biological and Agricultural Engineering
119. Jeff Sherman, Professor, Psychology
120. James E. K. Hildreth, Professor and Dean, College of Biological Sciences (signing in his individual capacity); Member, Institute of Medicine
121. Sally P. Mendoza, Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Staff Scientist, California National Primate Research Center
122. Peter H. Lindert, Distinguished Research Professor of Economics
123. Scott E. Carrell, Associate Professor, Economics
124. Steven J. Luck, Professor, Psychology, Director, Center for Mind & Brain
125. Robert A. Bell, Professor, Communication
126. Dean Keith Simonton, Distinguished Professor, Psychology
127. Ahmet Palazoglu, Professor & Chair, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
128. Stephen Lewis, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
129. Delmar Larsen, Assistant Professor, Chemistry
130. Gary N. Cherr, Professor and Interim Director, Bodega Marine Laboratory
131. Mario Biagioli, Distinguished Professor of Science and Technology Studies & Law Director, Center for Science & Innovation Studies
132. Michael D. Toney, Professor, Chemistry
133. Shota Atsumi, Assistant Professor, Chemistry
134. Kirill Kovnir, Assistant Professor, Chemistry
135. Thomas W. Schoener, Distinguished Professor, Evolution and Ecology
136. Simon R. Cherry, Professor, Biomedical Engineering
137. Alyson Mitchell, Professor, Food Science & Technology
138. Kent J. Bradford, Professor, Plant Sciences
139. T. M. DeJong, Professor, Plant Sciences
140. Carlos H. Crisosto, Specialist, Plant Sciences
141. Neil E. Schore, Professor and Vice-chair, Chemistry
142. Louis W. Botsford, Professor, Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology
143. Robert H. Becker, Professor, Physics
144. Marylynn Barkley, Emeritus, Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior
145. Joseph M. DiTomaso, Cooperative Extension Specialist, Plant Sciences
146. Bruce C. Kirkpatrick, Professor, Plant Pathology
147. Jay A. Rosenheim, Professor, Entomology
148. Hildegarde Heymann, Professor, Viticulture and Enology
149. Douglas Nelson, Professor, Microbiology
150. Richard Grotjahn, Atmospheric Science and Climate Dynamics
151. David Simpson, Professor, English
152. Frederic Chedin, Associate Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biology
153. Alan L. Balch. Distinguished Professor, Chemistry
154. J. Edward Taylor, Professor, Agricultural and Resource Economics
155. Bruce Hartsough, Professor, Biological and Agricultural Engineering
156. Jacquelyn Gervay-Hague, Professor and Chair, Chemistry
157. Nael H. El-Farra, Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering & Materials Science
158. Giovanni Peri, Professor, Economics
159. Carlton Larson, Professor, School of Law
160. Athena Soulika, Assistant Professor, Dermatology
161. Gabriel J. Chin, Professor, Law School
162. Matt Traxler, Professor, Psychology
163. Alan Brownstein, Distinguished Professor, Law School
164. Evelyn Lewis, Professor, Law School
165. Dennis Ventry, Professor, Law School
166. Barbara A. Burrall, Health Sciences Clinical Professor, Dermatology
167. Robert Hillman, Professor, Law School
168. Lovell (Tu) Jarvis, Professor, Agricultural and Resource Economics
169. Donna Shestowsky, Professor, Law School
170. Margaret Johns, Senior Lecturer, Law School
171. Albert Lin, Professor, Law School
172. Rex Perschbacher, Professor, Law School
173. Edward Imwinkelried, Professor, Law School
174. Marilynn Etzler, Professor, Biochemistry
175. Andrea Bjorklund, Professor, Law School
176. Elizabeth Joh, Professor, Law School
177. Tilahun Yilma, Distinguished Professor of Virology; Member, National Academy of Sciences
178. Ashutosh Bhagwat, Professor, Law School
179. Frank Osterloh, Professor, Chemistry
180. Richard M. Frank, Professor, Law School
181. Leslie Kurtz, Professor, Law School
182. Yoko Ono, Assistant Researcher, Dermatology
183. Jinyi Qi,Professor, Biomedical Engineering
184. Courtney G. Joslin, Professor, Law School
185. Isao Fujimoto, Emeritus Senior Lecturer, Community & Regional Development & Asian American Studies
186. R. Paul Singh, Distinguished Professor, Food Engineering
187. Wendy Silk, Professor, Land, Air, and Water Resources
188. Jared T. Shaw, Assistant Professor, Chemistry
189. Joel C. Dobris, Professor of Law, Emeritus
190. Madhavi Sunder, Professor, Law School
191. Donald P. Land, Professor, Chemistry
192. Anupam Chander, Professor, Law School
193. Kit S. Lam, Professor and Chair, Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine
194. Peter B. Moyle, Professor, Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology
195. John M. Labavitch, Professor, Plant Sciences
196. Anthony Wexler, Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering 
197. Robyn M. Rodriguez, Associate Professor, Asian American Studies
198. Robert H Smiley, Dean and Professor Emeritus, Graduate School of Management
199. Daniel L. Simmons, Professor, Law School
200. Annaliese K. Franz, Assistant Professor, Chemistry
201. Eric E. Conn, Professor Emeritus, Plant Biochemistry; Member, National Academy of Sciences
202. Carlito Lebrilla, Distinguished Professor, Chemistry
203. Clayton Tanaka, Professor, Law School
204. Lisa Pruitt, Professor, Law School
205. Sherman Stein, Professor Emeritus, Mathematics
206. Charles F. Shoemaker, Professor, Food Science & Technology
207. M. Levent Kavvas, Civil and Environmental Engineering
208. Patricia A. Conrad, Professor of Parasitology, School of Veterinary Medicine
209. Yannis F Dafalias, Professor, Civil Engineering
210. Hsing-Jien Kung, Distinguished Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Medicine
211. Jean VanderGheynst, Professor, Biological and Agricultural Engineering
212. Themis J. Michailides, Plant Pathologist in AES, Department of Plant Pathology
213. Mary Christopher, Professor, Veterinary Medicine
214. Harold G. Levine, Professor and Dean, School of Education (signing in his individual capacity)
215. Dennis Pendleton, Dean UC Davis Extension (signing in his individual capacity)
216. Rena Zieve, Professor, Physics
217. Georgia Drakakaki, Assistant Professor, Plant Sciences
218. Michael W. Maher, Professor, Graduate School of Management
219. Michael J. Singer, Professor Emeritus, Land, Air and Water Resources
220. Jeffrey Mount, Professor, Geology
221. Nicholas Curro, Associate Professor, Physics
222. David Woodruff, Professor, Graduate School of Management
223. Howard J. Spero, Chair, Geology
224. Louise Kellogg, Professor, Geology
225. Chih-Ling Tsai, Professor, Graduate School of Management
226. Peter Schiffman, Emeritus Professor, Geology
227. Howard W. Day, Professor, Geology
228. Kenneth L. Verosub, Distinguished Professor, Geology
229. Shannon W. Anderson, Professor, Graduate School of Management
230. Warren Pickett, Distinguished Professor of Physics
231. Athanasios Geromichalos, Assistant Professor, Economics
232. Ryosuke Motani, Professor, Geology
233. Christine Bruhn, Extension Specialist, Food Science and Technology
234. Hemant K. Bhargava, Associate Dean, Graduate School of Management
235. Shirley Chiang, Professor, Physics
236. Eldridge Moores, Professor Emeritus, Geology
237. Qing-Zhu Yin, Associate Professor, Geology
238. Abigail Thompson, Professor, Mathematics
239. John M. Boone, Professor and Vice Chair (Research) of Radiology; Professor, Biomedical Engineering
240. Ken Joy, Professor, Computer Science
241. Michelle Yetman, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Management
242. Shannon McCormack, Acting Professor, Law School
243. John W. Poulos, Professor of Law Emeritus, Law School
244. Hearne Pardee, Chair, Art Studio
245. Bruce D. Hammock, Distinguished Professor, Entomology; Member, National Academy of Sciences
246. Margaret Ferguson, Professor, English
247. Gina Werfel, Professor, Art
248. Michael D. Lairmore, Dean, School of Veterinary Medicine (signing in his individual capacity)
249. Damian C. Genetos, Assistant Research Professor, Anatomy, Physiology, and Cell Biology
250. Greg Kuperberg, Professor, Mathematics
251. Andrew Waldron, Professor, Mathematics
252. Alex Mogilner, Professor, Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior and Mathematics
253. Anne Schilling, Professor, Mathematics
254. Joseph A. Biello, Associate Professor, Mathematics
255. Constantin Genigeorgis, Professor Emeritus, School of Veterinary Medicine
256. Annabeth Rosen, Professor Art & Art History
257. Becca Thomases, Assistant Professor, Mathematics
258. Dennis L Matthews, Director of the Center for Biophotonics and Professor, School of Medicine
259. Margherita Heyer-Caput, Professor, French & Italian (signing in her individual capacity)
260. Stephen M. Lane, Adjunct Professor Neurological Surgery
261. Michael Kapovich, Professor, Mathematics
262. John R. Roth, Distinguished Professor, Microbiology; Member, National Academy of Sciences
263. Anthony Tyson, Distinguished Professor, Department of Physics; Member, National Academy of Sciences
264. Konstantinos Zarbalis, Assistant Professor, Davis Medical Center Department of Pathology
265. Fumio Matsumura, Distinguished Professor, Environmental Toxicology

Below is an email letter I just received from Linda Bisson the Chair of the UC Davis Academic Senate and I thought it might be of interest.  It contains many details regarding the pepper spray incident and response(s) that I have not seen described anywhere else.

Well, today was interesting at UC Davis (and I note – it is only 5:15 PM as I start to write this).  Two major related events were happening on campus today.  First, there was a meeting of the UC Regents that had a presence on campus (more on this in a bit).  Second, partly in response to the Regents meeting, there was a call for a “Strike” by UC Davis students as well as “sympathy” events planned at all other UC Campuses (Cory Golden in the Davis Enterprise has a good summary of these two related events here).  I note, I am adding links to my posts about the various events for those interested.  I know this is a bit self centered but I think it may help explain my thinking on the various issues.

The momentum for the strike came from a rally on the UC Davis quad last Monday (see my post about that here: An exhausting and exhilarating day at the #OccupyUCDavis rally).  On that day there was enormous amount of passion to rise up and do something in response to the pepper spraying incident of last Friday (see my post about that day here: A day of almost pure joy in #DavisCA and at #UCDavis, until … #OccupyUCDavis).  1000s of people were there and though the Chancellor of UC Davis Linda Katehi talked, she did not assuage the crowd much if at all.  Then there was a General Assembly of sorts, out in the quad, where a vote was taken to hold a “strike” on Monday the 28th (i.e., today).  Some of the passion clearly came from the pepper spraying incident itself, some of it came from ongoing frustration with financial issues (e.g., tuition hikes) and some of it came from dismay and/or disappointment at the UC Davis administrations role in the incident as well as their response (e.g., the Saturday Press Conference did not go so well: My accidental encounter with the #OccupyUCDavis crowd at #UCDavis #impressed).  And one thing that happened that day was the “re-occupation” of the UC Davis Quad – this time with more tents, a geodesic dome, and many people.

The next day (Tuesday as we call it) the UC Davis administration held an open Town Hall meeting for members of campus to “address concerns”.  The meeting seemed to temper some of the anti-administration component of the passion on campus, but did not seem to stop the momentum behind a growing movement (Reporting from #UCDavis Town Hall meeting re: #OccupyUCDavis).  And on Wednesday (#UCDavis quad – a place for gatherings for a long time) the Occupy UC Davis crowd hunkered down for a long four day weekend while most people left campus.

I spent much of the long weekend obsessing with the events of the week.  I posted and posted and posted and tweeted and tweeted and tweeted.  And I tried to wrap my brain around everything going on.  My gut told me that a general strike, where faculty stopped teaching classes, seemed, well, misguided (Should #UCDavis faculty “walkout” from teaching to “support” students? I do not think so).  If only they had proposed a big march, or a picketing of some administrative buildings.  But how exactly would walking out on teaching help?  It just did not make sense to me.   And most of the people I talked to said the same thing.  So it seemed to me possible that with the long weekend, and with the limited support for a strike, that Monday might be a quiet day.  On the other hand, there were a growing number of “teach ins” being scheduled for Monday and for the rest of the week and these at least seemed interesting (thought I note, the list of events was extremely heavy on the Socialist point of view, which is not really my cup of tea).

I note I had wanted to go to the quad over the weekend but came down with a nasty cold and did not make it.  And then quicker than I expected, Monday arrived.  What follows is a bit of a quick update on the events of the day.

Regents Meeting (in absentia) at the ARC

My day started off a bit annoyed.  I had trouble sleeping, mostly due to my cold, and woke up at about midnight after having slept for about an hour.  I could not get back to sleep an eventually ended up browsing the web.  That’s when I discovered an announcement from UC Davis about the events coming up today and, well I got a bit annoyed about it since while trying to promote tolerance for free speech they also said “no banners” would be allowed in the Regents meeting.  Was that really necessary?  I mean, making sure people get to speak their mind is a good thing for these meetings.  But outlawing banners?  Uggh.  So I wrote a a blog post: UC Davis News Release: “A Day of Civil Discourse & Peaceful Expression” – except when not allowed #Uggh #OccupyUCDavis.  I posted a collection of things to twitter and then finally managed to get to sleep again.

I got up pretty early (thus not much sleep) to help get my kids going as today they had to get to school.  And then I finally got out the door to head to the Regents meeting which was taking place at the “ARC“.  I note – this was not really a Regents “meeting” in that it was unclear if any Regents would show up at UC Davis and what was really going on was an “open mic” with an audio call to the Regents scattered around CA.  The meeting was to start at 9 AM and I did not get out the door until a minute after 9.  Fortunately the prelude to the meeting was being covered live on the radio (I think KDVS) and I got to listen to the Roll Call.  It was very very foggy which made me wonder how many people would come out to the rallies later in the day (i.e., if the fog did not burn off).

As I got to the ARC, there was a fire truck and an ambulance pulling in with sirens blaring and this freaked me out a bit worrying it might have something to do with the Regents meeting.  Apparently they were there for some bike accident instead (not a good thing, but I did breathe a sign of relief).

There was a small crowd outside the meeting area, some of whom had signs.  It was very quiet – just chatting going on.

I went past them, up to the security gate and, after a brief screening, got inside.  And then I made my way to the ARC Ballroom.  I note, the last time I had been to the Ballroom (I think) was when I hosted a talk by Rebecca Skloot about her HELA book.  I then stood on the side and in the back and took a bunch of pictures and posted some updates to twitter about what was going on there.  First, some of the local “Regents” and other administrators got to say a few words.

This included the Speaker of the California Assembly John Perez.

I posted a few of his comments to twitter “Speaker John Perez says he objects to notion of tuition because education is supposed to be free in CA” “Speaker Perez thanks students for not backing down in face of appalling police activity” and “Speaker Perez – it is not enough to speak to people who agree with us about education funding – need to talk to others too”

Overall he seemed quite concerned and vowed to do what he could to support students in the continuing budget wars in the California legislature.  Then some others spoke on the phone including I think the Chair of the Regents.  FInally it was time for the public comments from the four places where meetings were being held.  And Davis got to go first.  They called some “numbers” which I guess people had gotten online by registering a question and then people lined up to make statements.  They were told they would get one minute each.

I took some pictures of the questioners and posted a few of their comments to twitter.  Here are some of the pics.

 I rushed over a took a closer pic and then when she came to the back took some more.

Statements continued.  Then more signs and banners started showing up.  Not that I agreed with everything they said.  But I LOVE freedom of speech, so this made me happy:

And then the Davis statements were done.  I lingered listening to statements from people at Merced and left in the middle of statements from UCLA.

I took some pictures and talked to some of the protestors outside.  The tone was a bit muted compared to the people the previous week.  But it did seem like in a way they were just warming up.

And then I headed on over to the quad on my bike (which I had brought in my car – normally would just ride to campus from home but with my cold was worried a bit about too much riding around and I had gotten started so late I wanted to get to the Regents meeting before too late) to see what was going on over there.  I got there at maybe 10:30 and it was quite quiet.

Intro Bio Class
And then I grabbed some tea, sat down outside the coffee house, bumped into some parents of kids in the same Coop preschool (DCCNS) as my son, talked to then for a bit.  My Intro Bio class was meeting.  Now – I was not teaching today.  Brad Shaffer was.  And he clearly was in favor of teaching classes and not “walking out” though he did note on Friday that he would respect the decision of students who decided to walk out.  Our classes are all audio podcasted and slides are posted (when used) so those who would walk out would not be severely disadvantaged.

If I were teaching today I am not sure what I would have done.  Maybe I would have tried to do something a bit different – not a normal class or something.  Maybe a teach in of a kind.  But I probably would have held class.  As I said, it just did not make sense to me to walk out on class as a part of a protest relating to affordability of education.  But I do plan to do some sort of teach in later in the week about “open textbooks” and reducing costs for students in a variety of ways.  But again, canceling class seemed, well, not right.  Plus I had talked to many of the students in the class and none I talked to were enthusiastic about a walkout by the professors.  Maybe this was a science vs. humanities thing (many of the humanities students I have talked to supported the walkout).

Regardless, I was not on the line to decide about class.  And Shaffer was lecturing in a few minutes.  And then he walked by where I was sitting and I walked with him to class.  And it seemed like nobody was walking out since it was packed to the gills.  And I got to hear a nice lecture on Echinoderms.

Quad Pass Two

And then after I went back out to the quad to see what was going on.  And things had picked up a bit since 10:45.  There were some teach ins apparently going on and at least a hundred people or so milling around.

I took some pictures of the scene for a bit:

And then there was a mini assembly where people discussed plans for the rest of the day.  It was not, they noted, one of their “General Assemblies” but more of a discussion.  There was an interesting discussion of whether the strike was a good idea or not.  Some of the comments I posted to twitter: “speaker announcing a plan for a march to disrupt classes”, “Speaker saying that he does not think classes should be disrupted ” “Continued discussion about whether disrupting class is a good idea or not ” “Speaker says if this movement is about student rights – should not disrupt classes” “Continued discussion about whether or how to shut down classes ”  Basically people were expressing some very similar feelings to what I had.  And there was a discussion and then one person said “why don’t we just let people do whatever they want – some can protest – some can picket and some can do teach ins.”  And it was sort of left there.

And finally I decided it was time to head out for a bit.  Overall the “rally/strike” seemed a bit, well, quiet but that was fine.  The teach-ins were still getting going.  Students had just gotten back from break.  And the notion of a strike was clearly not what all the students or others wanted.  But maybe momentum would pick up for protests in some way.  I then headed back to where I had parked my bike.

And just as I unlocked my bike, I heard chanting and the crowd was on the move.  So much for quiet. I took a few pics and made a few little videos (which I will post later).

I had left my bike unlocked and I decided to go back to grab it.  By the time I got to it, the crowd seemed to have disappeared.   So I headed off to my office/lab to at least check in with people there.  And I was there no more than about an hour and was still feeling crappy from my cold.  So I decided to head home.  And while heading to my bike to ride back to the ARC where my car was, I saw some tweets about “a take over of Dutton Hall”.  Hmm … that was right where the crowd was headed when I had left — I guess they had stayed there and done an occupation.  I guess things had picked up since I had left.  It was now gorgeous outside – probably mid 60s and crisp and sunny and my cold did not feel so bad – so I headed back to the Quad to see what was going on.  I parked my bike and then walked across the quad.  I got to see some sign making in progress:

And then I walked across the Quad to Dutton Hall where there were some TV crews and a bunch of people coming out.  Turns out I had missed a “teach in” there by a few minutes by Nathan Brown (I think it was about Marx).

Yet, though many people were leaving, the Occupy folks were still lingering around inside and out.  I talked to a few people about what was going on – found out that part of the reason for the take over of Dutton was to support a takeover that was done of a building at Santa Cruz.  I also watched some banner hanging and then went inside and took some pics:

It was then time for me to go home.  With my cold I promised myself to take it easy today … So I headed back towards my bike and took some pics of the TV crews.

And then headed home.

I note – I think this day was very interesting in many ways.  I think the OccupyUCDavis crowd missed a bit opportunity in many ways by pushing the strike instead of some type of picketing of admin buildings or protest march or such.  I also think they alienated many people with the excessive push regarding socialism.  As on previous days, my interactions with UC Davis students consitently left me impressed.  My interactions with some of the outsiders were less positive.  I do hope that the movement can take advantage of this moment to lead to real change in how universities throughout the country deal with students and in increasing the affordability of public education at the university level and in reducing the excessive use of force against peaceful protestors. But I think things need to be done carefully so as to not alienate too many people —

I need to get my kids to sleep right now and then get some rest and I will then revise this post to add some details and more commentary.  Apologies for being somewhat incomplete for now …