Here in Bloomington, the occupybloomington encampment has just spent its second night in People’s Park, which is located a few blocks from the Sample Gates of Indiana University (student population 40,000) and directly across the street from Kilroy’s, a bar notorious for noise and mayhem until 3 A.M. On the first night of the occupation, the police made a brief entrance, saying they had had a noise complaint because of the band playing in their tiny park (a band which was, I heard, incredibly good). Kind of a joke, given the presence of Kilroys. They soon went back to playing, but more softly.
Meanwhile, when will the great mass of liquored Indiana University students cease their frantic, numbing distraction from the sobering reality of lifelong student debt slavery? When will they get up, pay their final tab, and walk across the street?
Thanks to thenation.com.
Occupy Colleges announces second day of action
Peter Rothberg
October 10, 2011
Last week, a campus walkout in support of Occupy Wall Street, initially called for just New York City high schools and colleges, spread in a matter of days to dozens of schools coast to coast. (Thank you Facebook and Twitter.)
As reported by the Student Activism blog, the actions on October 5 drew numbers ranging from hundreds to, on at least five campuses, individual students, starting from scratch and organizing on their own. In total, students from at least 100 college campuses around the country walked out of class in a show of solidarity and support for the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Students are angry about the debt that many of them must obtain to go to college and that they are graduating into the worst job market since the Great Depression. And it’s no wonder: Outstanding student loan debt exceeded credit card debt for the first time in 2010 and student loan debt is up 25 percent since 2008.
This week will see the second national student action in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street. This time around, the number of participants is sure to be significantly larger reflecting the increased, and increasingly respectful, attention the growing movement has received in the past seven days.
After a frenzy of discussion and several straw polls on Facebook, the organizers behind Occupy Collegeshave announced this Thursday, October 13, as their next day of action. They’re presenting this as a day of protest rather than a walkout, and they already have fifty-six campuses on board.
Find an event here and check back regularly; updates are being made many times each day. Can’t find an event near you? Check out this terrific guide to staging your own Occupy action and mount your own protest against economic inequality.
