Kimmel Take Over
2009-02-20, 2:28 p.m.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/students-end-nyu-building-takeover/

This NYU thing has been exciting to follow. With every new energetic protest from people in San Fran chaining themselves to the Israeli Embassy (I believe that was the building), to this NYU Kimmel "occupation" it is heartening to know that people feel more comfortable about taking a stand in what they believe in, in a very real way.

A comment I left on the above article.
"I think it's increasingly clear- students are required to pay exuberant amounts of money to get a decent education, the same education that hopefully will lead to them becoming productive members of society.
Education in this country is nothing more than a business. The fact that NO negotiations took place during this event sends a clear message that students today are required to shut up, dish out the money and do what they're told. The problem with this is we should WANT more students to go to good colleges, get a say in what their colleges do, so we can build a strong, well educated community. It is in my our own personal interest that students can get a good, and affordable education. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/education/03college.html).

Furthermore, they should have a say in the things their school does, and the way their school spends their money. As an alumni of any school, your are forever associated with that name, and that institution, and asking for that institution to make responsible decisions- demanding that they make responsible decisions- is not wrong. There may have been better ways to make a statement, and this event may have been better planed, but personally I'm just glad to hear that something is happening.

Granted a business' main interest is going to be making money, and it isn't realistic to expect each of their demands to be met, but at least they're thinking about what they want their university to represent. It's more than I can say for half the students out there who have no idea where their money goes, or even tax payers (for example, how many tax payers know that close to 3 billion dollars a year is sent to fund war crimes by Israel and illegal settlement building? That's 3 billion dollars we don't have the luxury of spending just to defend an illegal occupation. In fact I rather they used it for the scholarships for Palestinians these students demanded, or even for our OWN students educations.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1209/p16s01-wmgn.html
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stats/usaid.html)

These students have some idea of what's going on and at least they're trying SOMETHING."