The man standing beneath the Limb is one of those who (apparently) is charged with protecting the Fig from any well-intentioned swings or art pieces. In order to preserve this aesthetic act of love the artists and their friends and allies began an occupation of the Morton Bay Fig. Nevertheless, the Phantom Limb was removed at 7:30 this morning, the dubious explanation being that it was “hurting the tree”. Of course, how a piece of diligently hung sculpture could hurt the tree more than the blatant sawing off of a branch is beyond me.
Some of the Tree’s Family members placed a memorial at the former site of the Phantom Limb:

It seems to be a canvas cloth, intended for use by those who wish to congregate around the base of the tree to study or simply enjoy the peace of the park.
As tuition increases (and may increase rapidly in the near future) the idea that students cannot inhabit and enjoy the campus they pay so much for becomes more and more absurd. If you believe in the right to love/hug/climb/swing on trees then feel free to stop by the Morton Bay Fig, have a conversation, find an interesting bug, and support the idea of public art and public joy. I’ll sign off this post with a poem about the tree from our cohorts at UC Rebel Radio.

It was that they took down a limb
where people used to swing
that made the ghost limb
appear on that tree;
ephemeral but extravagant,
like a ghost or piñata.

The limb will be missed,
but swing they will,
still.

Visit the Family Tree’s Facebook here.

The UAW 2865 internal union Elections Committee has been conducting a vote count since Friday, April 29th for a contentious election for the Local’s top elected leadership. As the count proceeded, it appeared possible that a slate of reformers, Academic Workers for a Democratic Union (www.awdu.org) would win the election. Then, at 8 pm Saturday, April 30, the incumbent- controlled Election Committee abruptly decided to terminate the vote count, leaving 1500 ballots uncounted — nearly half the ballots cast.

In a blatant effort to hold on to the power and privileges of their high paying positions, paid union official Daraka Larimore-Hall and his incumbent slate have tried to spin this egregious violation of UAW election procedures. Many of the incumbent candidates are not graduate students, including three of the incumbent candidates for top officer positions. With the vote count, together these candidates stand to lose the hundreds of thousands of dollars in income and benefits they give themselves annually with graduate students’ dues dollars.

Cheryl Deutsch, AWDU candidate for President, said, “We won’t know if AWDU won the election until all the votes are counted, but it’s hard to understand why else the current union administration would abandon the vote count without having counted nearly half the ballots cast in the election.”

All but three of the Elections Committee members abandoned all of the election materials in the union’s LA conference room, including boxes of more than 1500 uncounted ballots from UCLA and Berkeley union members.

A group of more than 20 UAW 2865 member reformers and three Elections Committee members still present left all materials in the conference room exactly as they were when the Elections Committee abandoned the vote count. The group then locked the conference room to preserve the integrity of the ballots, after photographing and videotaping the room and its contents in detail. UAW 2865 members remain at the LA office to monitor the ballots and ensure they are not tampered with until they can be counted.

AWDU has demanded that our UAW 2865 Elections Committee count every vote and have called on Mr. Larimore Hall and all candidates on his slate to join us in our demand.

###

Academic Workers for a Democratic Union was formed by graduate students who had been actively organizing against the implementation of budget cuts in the UC since summer 2009. We felt it inexcusable that our union was not at the forefront of this fight for public education–everywhere grad students were self-organizing, working with undergraduates and other workers in the UC, but without the benefit of support from our union.

For background on the election, and what’s at stake, please see the following links:

http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2011/04/union_needs_internal_democracy

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_17924741

http://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2011/04/california-grad-students-seek-bottom-union

http://www.dailycal.org/article/112993/concern_over_voting_fraud_grows_in_union_elections

Read more about AWDU here: http://www.awdu.org/about

The Irvine 11 appeared today, and had their arraignment continued another month.  The students are asking the California state Attorney General to take the case, after discovering leaked emails between DA Tony Rackaukas and others referring to it as “the Muslim case.”  While some of the local Zionist financiers have been meeting face to face with Tony to convince him to silence the anti-Zionist movement, we support the Jewish Voice for Peace letter to the DA, asking that their members be charged for similarly disrupting speakers.  (See our other post for more examples of unpunished disruption)  And we also appreciate calls by Mark Petracca and the majority of the local Zionist organizations to drop the charges as well–in their case, the more the 11 and Palestine are in the news, the less they are able to silently support ethnic cleansing and forced migration in the West Bank and Gaza.  Perhaps in that regard, we should applaud Tony for keeping the media spotlight on Palestine!

Student rapist Regent Jesse Cheng was found guilty by UCI’s Repression Kommissar Edgar Dormitorio of “unwanted touching” and is sentenced to “probation.”  What this means is that by the time the appeal is over, Jesse will have already graduated, without final charges.  It also means that the UC Regents will not be removing him from his position of representing students.  However, it should be said, conduct charges do not equal justice for Laya, and instead make a mockery of her case.  By charging Jesse through the Office of Student Conduct, UCI is trying to both validate their past repression of 30 students while also letting him off with a slap on the wrist.  We want Jesse to be held accountable for his actions–whether or not he did it–BY STUDENTS, not by a politically driven kangaroo court.  Not to mention it’s downright ridiculous that students be suspended, assigned community service, and have their organizations banned for participating in nonviolent protests, while a student is given probation for sexual battery.

Meanwhile, NorCal students have been hard at work outing informants and spies on their campuses.

SAY “NO” on MARCH 16 -

STATEWIDE DAY OF ACTION TO DEMAND RETIREMENT WITH DIGNITY!
THURSDAY, MARCH 16
(campus information below)

Where in the country are front line workers being forced to take layoffs, paycuts, and benefit cuts while top executives are getting
bonuses?

When these workers join together to fight this, where in the country are public officials calling for an end to collective bargaining?

Did you say Wisconsin? Think again.

University of California Regent David Crane is demanding to END the right for public sector workers to join together under one voice to advocate for our students, patients, and families. UC executives have spent $3.5 million on a union busting law firm to take away basic rights – such as the right to strike. UC has banned union buttons and stickers at the UC Irvine Medical Center.

While UC officials continue to give extra pay and retirement perks to executives, they want to cut vital services by laying off staff, and rolling back wages and benefits. Some workers make as little as $26,000 a year and fear being forced out of their homes because of the drastic cuts.

We must stand together March 16 to fight these unjust cuts.

UCSF
8am – Mission Bay (1675 Owens St)
12-1pm – Parnassus (513 Parnassus Ave)

UCD
12-1:00pm – UCDMC (2301 Stockton Blvd, Sacramento)
3-5pm – UCD Campus (Russell & Larue)

UCSC
3-5pm Quarry Plaza, Baytree Bookstore

UCLA
11:30am – 1:30pm, and 2pm-4:30pm RRMC on Westwood

UCSB
12-1:30pm Chealde Hall

UCI
11:30am – 1:30pm – UCIMC (City Dr/Medical Ctr Dr)
(Campus action – March 15, 11am-12:30pm by the flagpoles)

UCR
11:30-2:30pm Pentland Building “A”

UCSD
11:30 – 12:30pm – Hillcrest Hospital
11:30 – 12:30pm – Thornton Hospital

for more information call 888-856-3299

From ThoseWhoUseIt:

The 11 students from the UC Irvine Muslim Student Union who interrupted Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren‘s 2010 on-campus speech will be arraigned in front of a grand jury on Friday, March 11.  They face up to 6 months in prison.  We’ll post updates as soon as we hear anything.  Our comrades over at Occupy UCI should have updates as well.

It goes without saying that this case has no basis whatsoever and is clearly an instance of politically motivated prosecution.  The Orange County DA is seriously going to try these students for conspiracy due to some relatively benign civil disobedience?  And check out how it’s being framed.  Susan Schroeder, chief of staff to the DA, had this to say:

I think it’s kind of silly to think we’re targeting a group based upon their religion when they targeted the speaker based upon his religion.

And there you have it.  Apparently this is no longer about the means of intervention, but instead about representing legitimate criticism of Israeli foreign and domestic policy as anti-Semitism.  Absolutely disgusting, though we can’t say we’re surprised.  For background information, check out the following video put together by Mother Jones:

We also urge you to sign a petition demanding that all charges be dropped immediately and unconditionally here.  Hands off student protesters!  Criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitic; it’s anti-colonial!

UCI Police apparently forwarded the charges, PC 243.4 (a) sexual battery) and PC 664/261 (a) 2 attempt rape, to the Orange County District Attorney’s office and UCI’s Student Conduct Office.

However, the OCDA’s office has declined to file charges.  The OCDA’s Chief of Staff Susan Kang Schroeder told New U:

“The case was received by our office, a deputy DA received the case, and she concluded that she could not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt… It was submitted to our office for misdemeanor sexual battery. We’re not saying it didn’t happen, we’re just saying that we cannot file a case unless we can prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. And in this incident we could not. The deputy on this case was not aware of any position that Cheng held, nor would it have made a difference.”

The Inquirer, a Filipino-American news outlet, reported that Cheng sent the following email to Laya:

“I am sorry for sexually assaulting you. I want to take complete ownership of that thought, that I tried to convince you to have sex with me when you clearly didn’t want to, when you screamed no and fought me… I tried to rape you and I thank you everyday for not letting me do that to you.”

The Association of Filipinas, Feminists Fighting Imperialism, Re-feudalization, & Marginalization (AF3IRM) has released the following statement regarding Cheng:

AF3IRM DEMANDS JUSTICE FOR LAYA; CALLS FOR UC STUDENT REGENT JESSE CHENG TO BE REMOVED FROM HIS POST

The Association of Filipinas, Feminists Fighting Imperialism Re-feudalization, & Marginalization (AF3IRM) stands firmly with Laya, a UCLA student, who spoke out against Jesse Cheng, University of California (UC) Student Regent, who sexually battered and attacked her on October 3, 2010.  Cheng, who is supposed to be the “student voice” as the only undergraduate UC student on the highest decision-making body of the UC system, the Board of Regents, has done a disservice to all UC students by misrepresenting them with his sexist, violent, irreproachable behavior.

Jesse Cheng’s inexcusable behavior, coupled with his representative power as an appointee UC Regent, will not be tolerated. AF3IRM draws attention to the fact that though Laya was brave enough to file a police report on the
incident, the Orange County District Attorney’s office has never seen it, thus never formally holding Jesse Cheng legally accountable for his actions. AF3IRM will remain steadfast in demanding that Jesse Cheng take full
responsibility for his crime and that the UC students be able to elect a Student Regent who is truly representative of their needs. Batterers should not be the voice of the UC students.

In the face of UC-wide budget cuts throughout the state of California, including a new cut proposal of $500 million in Governor Jerry Brown’s budget, it is also time for students to ensure that their tuition pay for important services for women on UC campuses, instead of forcing survivors like Laya to depend on university authorities, who take months or even years to investigate and punish crimes of sexual assault on campuses.

AF3IRM calls on all UC students to demand justice – an attack on one student is an attack on all! Demand that Jesse Cheng be removed from his post as student regent, that students be given the right to elect their next regent,
and that student resources for women be preserved and funded in the UC system! No longer will Jesse Cheng be able to use his power to sidestep justice. We applaud and echo Laya’s brave statement: “I don’t want to let
him silence me anymore.”

We have previously been appreciative of Cheng’s support for students during the past two years of budget cuts and fee hikes, but we feel that Cheng no longer represents the interests of UC students and should immediately step down.  We understand the complexity of rape accusations, but Cheng’s email is an admission of guilt, and even if he isn’t criminally prosecuted, he must do everything in his ability to make himself accountable to Laya and to the UCI community.

Additionally, it must be stated that the lack of interest in this case by the OCDA demonstrates the absolute hypocrisy of the criminal “justice” system and the UCI administration.  We stand firmly in opposition to the prison system and Prison-Industrial Complex, but we must question why Cheng, who caused and attempted to cause physical and emotional harm to another person, is not being charged, while 30 students and community supporters are facing criminal charges–possibly resulting in prison time–for participating in protests in which no one was injured and no harm was intended.

DROP THE CHARGES AGAINST THE 30, OR CHARGE CHENG!

CHENG MUST RESIGN, BUT NOT BEFORE YUDOF, DRAKE, AND THE GILDED 36!

A rally outside the Orange County District Attorney’s office in Santa Ana February 1 drew about 40-50 UCI students, faculty, and alumni, and community members including Christian and Muslim religious leaders and Jewish activists.  Student organizers called on the District Attorney to end criminal proceedings against the 11, and warned that charges would set new precedents for the criminalization of dissent.

The question of whether the protest is “free speech” is moot.  Free speech at UCI is so limited that numerous campus rules must be broken to enter one’s views into the public form, and clearly any speech that challenges the dynamic and asymmetry of power on campus can result in arrest if not criminal charges.  Especially in this case, when we take into consideration the aerial assaults on Gaza, the innumerable arrests of Palestinian children, and the widespread but concealed rounding up of Israeli leftists and anti-Zionists, it is clear that the Palestinian voice is muted, while Israeli speech is hegemonic.  Not only was Michael Oren’s voice NOT silenced February 8, he is paid to speak, and he has the power to directly implement policy related to his speech without grovelling at the feet of power just to be heard.  On the other hand, for the 11–as representatives of Palestinian and Arab students at UCI, and of the Palestinian people as a whole–interrupting Oren’s speech (which, it should be reiterated, he WAS allowed to finish) was the ONLY way for their voice to be raised without a stream of bullets or extended jail sentence to follow.

Even more shocking is that the punishment for the 11 exceeds that facing the UCI 19.  While we believe the 19 should not face charges either, any rational person can see that the protest of the 11 is considerably tamer than what happened at the sit-in that happened two weeks later.  Of course, the two cases differ in two ways: First, the 19 case does not primarily touch on the hot-button issue of Palestine; and second, the 19 case has not seen the widespread community–and national–attention that the 11 have received.

But the punishment in general–for both cases–is both excessive and unprecedented.  Just as there have never been real charges (criminal or conduct) against students for sitting in on their own campus, there has rarely been charges for heckling a public official.  Googling “Obama heckled” reveals countless cases in which the President was interrupted by opponents, even US Senators; George W Bush faced even more challenges, and none of these ever resulted in felony charges, not even misdemeanors.  That’s because such an action is a PROTEST, not a CRIME.

Let’s look at similar protests that HAVE NOT resulted in felony conspiracy charges:

And, finally, during a speech at the University of North Carolina, sponsored by the overtly white-nationalist Youth for Western Civilization, Tom Tancredo was interrupted and chased off campus.  During the altercation, UNC police used pepper spray and threatened to use tasers, and a window was broken.  To our knowledge, no criminal charges have been filed.  Chapel Hill SDS explained that, like Oren, “Tancredo is not only in the position to have his hate speech heard by millions of people, but he also has the connections and money to put his words into action.”

We think that is a sufficient survey of past heckling and protests, none of which have resulted in criminal charges, much less felony conspiracy.  As one speaker at today’s rally rightly articulated, this criminalization of protest will result in violence in the future, because the charges for peaceful protest already exceed the punishments for violent and destructive forms of protest (all discussions of violence and non-violence aside).  Is that what District Attorney Tony Rackauckas or Chancellor Drake want?  President Kennedy, in his single positive contribution to society, recognized that “those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable.”  And we don’t have to look to far for examples of what to expect: the Weather Underground, Red Army Faction, and Baider-Meinhof emerged from the repression of student dissent of the late 60s.  Students want the opportunity to dissent peaceably, and know that this will have some effect.  The UCI administration would be wise to finally recognize this and make themselves accountable to those who pay their salaries and pensions.

Have yet to receive independent confirmation, but OC Weekly reports:

Radio station KPCC 89.3 reported today the Orange County district attorney’s office has convened a grand jury to look into the possibility of filing conspiracy charges against a group of Muslim students busted at the UC Irvine campus in 2010 for disrupting the speech of  U.S. Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren.

The information was reported during Larry Mantle’s morning show, Air Talk, which then opened the phones to callers expressing incredulity that a grand jury was convened for what they feel is essentially a free-speech issue. There were also those who theorized that a politically motivated Tony Rackauckas is strategically appeasing conservative Jewish Orange County constituents. Orange County DA’s office spokeswoman Farrah Emami declined to comment, saying it was the policy of that office to not discuss grand-jury proceedings.

What are grand juries? From the Grand Jury Resistance Project:

What is a Grand Jury?

In the federal legal system, the grand jury is used to decide whether someone should be charged (“indicted”) for a serious crime. The grand jury hears evidence presented by the prosecutor: the U.S. Attorney. The grand jury uses subpoenas to gather this evidence. It can subpoena documents, physical evidence, and witnesses to testify. The “special” federal grand jury, created in 1970, can be used to investigate “possible” organized criminal activity rather than a specific crime. The California legal system also has grand juries, but it is optional whether criminal prosecutions are initiated by grand jury indictment, or by a complaint by the District Attorney and preliminary hearing before a judge.

How is a Grand Jury Different Than a Trial Jury?

Unlike the “petit” jury, which is used to determine guilt in a trial, a grand jury consists of 16 to 23 jurors who are not screened for bias. The purpose of the grand jury is not to determine guilt or innocence, but to decide whether there is probable cause to prosecute someone for a felony crime. The grand jury operates in secrecy and the normal rules of evidence do not apply. The prosecutor runs the proceedings and no judge is present. Defense lawyers are not allowed to be present in the grand jury room and cannot present evidence, but may be available outside the room to consult with witnesses. The prosecutor and the grand jury members may not reveal what occurred in the grand jury room and witnesses cannot obtain a transcript of their testimony.

How Has the Grand Jury Been Misused?

Because of their broad subpoena powers and secretive nature, grand juries have been used by the government to gather information on political movements and to disrupt those movements by causing fear and mistrust. The grand jury lends itself to being used for improper political investigation due in part to the prosecutor’s ability to question witnesses without regard for rules that prohibit irrelevant, unreliable or unlawfully obtained evidence. Those called before the grand jury may be compelled to answer any question, even those relating to lawful personal and political activities. That information has been used by the government as a basis to conduct further surveillance and disruption of political dissent. When used against political movements, the grand jury causes fear and mistrust because persons who refuse to answer questions about their First Amendment political activities, friends and associates may be jailed for the life of the grand jury: up to 18 months. If a witness asserts her Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, she may be forced to accept immunity or go to jail for contempt. Even a witness who attempts to cooperate can be jailed if minor inconsistencies are found in her testimony. Such a perjury charge may stand even when the grand jury fails to hand down any indictment for what it was ostensibly investigating.

No Compromise has this guide to “Crush Grand Juries”:

Grand juries are a tool of political repression which the government uses to frighten activists, create mistrust, drive people out of the movement, and cause others to inform on friends out of fear. Grand juries are the modern day Inquisitions. But instead of scapegoating innocent people as “witches” and “heretics,” they target innocent activists as “terrorists.” At grand juries, your rights are stripped away and chucked out the window! You have NO right to remain silent, NO right to be represented by an attorney, and NO right to a trial should you be jailed. In fact, you can be jailed for up to 18 months without even being charged for a crime!

Yes, grand juries are unconstitutional. Yes, grand juries are wrong. And yes, grand juries are often used by the FBI’s as part of a COINTELPRO efforts against activists because they steal our rights. That is why we cannot cooperate with them. And that is why we have the following strategy on combatting these true threats to democracy:

1. Organize Early. As soon as you hear a grand jury is convening, start organizing to fight it. The sooner you start working against it, the more options you will have to fight it through legal and political channels.

2. Get Help. Start organizing by contacting other animal groups who have experience and expertise in fighting grand juries. ( See the resource groups below.)

3. Stick Together. Typically, when a grand jury convenes, activists avoid those targeted with subpoenas for fear that associating with them will make them a potential target –YOU MUST NOT DO THIS! Activists must stick together and support each other — not isolate targeted activists as the authorities want us to do! Thankfully, the nationwide coalition of grassroots militant activists who have helped support the LA3, Barry Horne, Tony Wong, and Sue McCrosky, as well as other activists, will not abandon you should you be targeted for government harassment. Be sure to contact the resources group’s below to tap into their support.

4. Set Up a Defense Committee. To organize support, resistance, and educational efforts locally, a defense committee should be formed. They will be responsible for coordinating media, organizing news conferences, support protests, producing educational literature, working with the lawyers of the targeted activists, supporting the activists in other ways, and coordinating jail support should anyone be imprisoned.

5. Expose the Authorities Abuse of the Grand Jury System. Conduct news conferences, send out news releases, organize protests, and distribute literature exposing the government’s harassment of activists, the FBI’s COINTELPRO activities, and the unconstitutional and undemocratic nature of the grand juries. Exposing the authorities abuse of our civil liberties in the media typically causes them to back off. And right now the FBI are most vulnerable to bad press because of FBI whistle-blowers who say the crime lab has falsified evidence to gain convictions, and because their blunders at Waco, Ruby Ridge, and Atlanta City are still fresh in the minds of most Americans.

6. Don’t Cooperate with the Authorities. This means knowing your rights, and asserting them. You do not have to talk to the government agents. Even if arrested, you do not have to talk to them. If arrested all you have to give is your name and address — tell them no more. You do not have to let them search your house or car without a warrant — so don’t. In fact, you don’t even have to answer your door when the police are there unless they have a warrant. By asserting your rights, you again frustrate their attempts to get information on activists to further their COINTELPRO actions and harassment against the movement.

7. Educate Other Activists. Be sure to educate other local activist on what their rights are and how grand juries work. Let them know that, should they be a subpoenaed, there is a support committee of people available to help.

8. Utilize All Legal Strategies. There are plenty of court strategies that can be used to frustrate the authorities’ grand jury witch hunts. Motions to quash the subpoenas, or motions for discovery of electronic surveillance can be used to tie them up in the courts for months and force them to give over information they would prefer to keep secret.

9. Have Patience. Resist the temptation to “get it over with” by testifying at the grand jury or going to jail. It is important to resist for as long as possible. Activists who are quick to go to jail, can be used to scare other activists into cooperating with the authorities. Instead, be sure to exhaust all of the many legal, political, and constitutional solutions. Grand Juries last for 18 months, and the longer you can stall them, the less time activists will have to spend in jail, should they be jailed.

10. Do NOT Testify or Capitulate to Their Demands. Never enter the grand jury chamber. And unless you are going to be issuing some motions, don’t even go to the courthouse. If they want your fingerprints, or mailing lists, don’t give it to them. Resist and fight! The stronger you resist, the better it will turn out for you. According to a publication by the National Lawyers Guild, “For many political activists, the historic and principled way to avoid these dilemmas (informing, perjury) has been the invocation of absolute non-collaboration with grand jury investigations of political movements. While this has resulted in many instances with the witness’ incarceration for contempt, it has also discouraged the subpoenaing of further witnesses, and on some occasions, the withdrawal of all subpoenas.”

The Grand Jury Resistance Project has lots more resources on fighting illegitimate grand juries.

If you have been indicted, subpoenaed, or contacted by the Orange County DA regarding this case, call the National Lawyers Guild Hotline at 415-285-1041 and the Los Angeles NLG Chapter at 323-653-4510.

According to the report, the first 5 students that were detained were not caught writing anything, but had chalk on their hands or were standing near a chalk message.  Additionally, the cost of cleanup of this “malicious vandalism” was… $10.  What?  The Student Center apparently did not request any arrests, but the report suggests that decorated officers Jamie Park and Michael Keller WOULD HAVE ARRESTED STUDENTS FOR CHALKING had it been requested by the UCI administration.  As the one checked box indicates, they considered chalking a “violation of criminal laws”, even though we’ve previously posted legal justification that chalking IS NOT illegal.

The report was forwarded to the Office of Student Conduct and Director of Punishment Edgar Dormitorio, though to our knowledge, no action has been taken by the kangaroo court.

We will also try to release police reports for several UCI dance parties in the near future.