Protests at UC Berkely as student fees increase 32%

This video was from yesterday, where student protesters sit around a van to block regents from leaving UCLA. The UC Regents voted earlier in the day on November 19, 2009, to raise student fees by 32% by next fall quarter.

Here is today’s update:

ktvu TV 36

Posted: 7:14 am PST November 20, 2009Updated: 11:08 am PST November 20, 2009

BERKELEY, Calif. — Four people, including at least two students, have been arrested in connection with the takeover of Wheeler Hall on the UC Berkeley campus Friday morning to protest fee hikes approved by the UC Board of Regents.

A UC Berkeley spokesman said the students began occupying Wheeler Hall, located just east of Sproul Plaza, between 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m.

Undergraduate student fees will increase by more than $2,500, or 32 percent, by the 2010-11 school year, with some increases taking effect next spring.

The students locked the building from inside, apparently by using bike locks and placing chairs near the doors, the spokesman said.

Campus police were able to get into the first floor of the building and arrested three people, including two students, for burglary, according to the spokesman.

Police cleared the building except for the second floor, where a group of students have barricaded themselves.