Investor’s Club: Do the UC Regents Spin Public Funds into Private Profit?

Odds are you knew that yesterday students, teachers, and labor unions joined in protest across California. From San Diego to Sacramento the message was clear - public education is an important public good and tuition hikes and budget cuts threaten that. Almost everyone in California is touched in some way, shape or form by the public education system. A system that used to be described as a crown jewel.

Peter Byrne continues his investigation into the regents financial holdings and what, if any, overlap they might have with the UC investments. He hopes to be done with his reporting by the end of the month. The media was certainly out in force covering the protest, but few are asking the tough questions. At Spot.Us we are proud to be supporting Peter as he goes beyond media hype and dives deep into the matter. We hope you join us in supporting his work by spreading the word about the research he is undertaking. His midway report alone received attention from Senator Leland Yee who has since called for an audit of the UC's financial holdings.

Meanwhile: Spot.Us has collected coverage of the protests from around the state. Enjoy the links below curated to try and give context and diversity to the protests held around the state.

UC Santa Cruz Protest Draws Nearly 1,000 Students - Neon Tommy
blogs.uscannenberg.org
The largest on campus protest was probably at UCSC which virtually shut down the school with 1,000 students. By noon, a large rally formed with students yelling "Student Power!" (YouTube).

March along Telegraph - a set on Flickr
A Flickr set of photos of the march along Telegraph Ave

Sacramento News & Review (a partner in our investigation): As California’s public university system falls apart, three professors and an erstwhile student question why.

From Santa Barbara
thedailysound.com
The rally and march, dubbed March Forth on March 4, began at noon at UC Santa Barbara, where about 400 students railed against state budget cuts that have resulted in 32 percent hike in student fees. From there, four bus loads of university students were taken to De la Guerra Plaza, where they joined with hundreds of students and teachers in the Santa Barbara School Districts for a march up State Street to the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Gardens

UC Berkeley Blackout Protest
YouTube
A look at racial issues tied to the UC protests.

Education Crisis: Behind the March 4 Day of Action
oaklandlocal.com
California spends $2,400 less per student than the national average and ranks 47th in per-pupil expenditures compared with other states, according to the Oakland Unified School District’s Every Student Blog. The state also ranks at the bottom of barrel for staff-to-student ratios. According to the blog, California cut money for education by $18 billion for 2008-09 and the first half of the current school year. As a result, each classroom has lost about $11,750.

UC Irvine March 4 Protest 3
YouTube
Students block traffic at the intersection of Campus and University.

KALW News Erica Mu gives a blow by blow on her blog.

Cal Students Rally to "Educate the State" on Day of Action
YouTube
From Youth Radio: UC Berkeley students, their parents, faculty, and labor unions rallied and marched from Berkeley to Oakland as part of a statewide Day of Action protesting fee hikes and budget cuts in state educat.

Protests Spotlight UC Fee Woes
YouTube
"There is not an atmosphere of cooperation with the legislation because there is an aura of secrecy within the UC system" Senator Leland Yee - at 1:10 into the video.

From the AP: Millions Protest Education Cuts in California
YouTube
Millions rallied across California to protest deep spending cuts to schools and universities. Demonstrations, marches, teach-ins and walkouts were planned in what was called the "March 4th National...

Shutting down 880
SFGate.com
More than 150 protesters were arrested on Interstate 880 in Oakland after using an exit ramp to walk onto the freeway and shut it down for nearly an hour. Many wore black, identified themselves as anarchists and carried a banner that read, "Occupy everything."

In San Diego
San Diego Union Tribune
At San Diego State University, the University of California San Diego and other campuses, students, faculty and staff members banded together in anger over the budget upheaval, saying it undercuts the state’s 50-year-old promise to provide students with an affordable, quality education.

Lesson in SF grade schools: protest education cuts
sfpublicpress.org
Many students intending to begin the protest early were initially going to do so as a school-organized field trip, with fellow students and teachers, until the superintendent’s office issued a memo Friday banning field trips to the march, citing of safety concerns. “The notice came out on the 26th, very late in the organizing, and since then we have had a lot more families come on board to be part of the march,” said Adrienne Johnstone, a teacher at San Francisco Community School. She said many families were “coming to take their kids out of school early.”

NPR station KPCC in Los Angeles reports:
scpr.org
Audio interview with the following guests. Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, KPCC’s education reporter John Travis, Chair of California Faculty Association’s political action committee, Professor of Political Science at Humboldt State Issamar Camacho, By All Means Necessary (BAMN) Organizer at UC Berkeley, at UCLA today Joaquin Beltran, Associated Students President at Cal State Los Angeles. He will also be emcee of the Pershing square rally at 5pm. Steve Boilard, Director, Higher Education in the California Legislative Analyst's Office Jack Scott, Chancellor, California Community Colleges H.D. Palmer, Deputy Director of External Affairs, California Department of Finance

UCSC protesters stream toward downtown Santa Cruz again...
San Jose Mercury News
The protest at UCSC continues.

Protest outside my office - UC Berkeley
YouTube
Video of the UC Berkeley Protest - March 4th, set to calm music