Friday, November 20, 2009

Students at the University of California Berkeley have barricaded themselves inside a campus building to protest a 32% increase in student fees.

Campus police say they've arrested three of the demonstrators, but aren't saying how many remain in the building. They say the students have barricaded themselves behind fire doors on the second floor of the building, but police have control of the rest of it.

The Daily Californian student newspaper says it received a text message from one of the protesters, saying there are about 60 students inside.

They are demanding the university rehire laid-off custodial workers and give amnesty to anyone arrested in the protests.

Some 30 to 50 protesters staged a takeover at UCLA yesterday, as regents there met to approve the fee hike for the state university system.

More than 50 were arrested during demonstrations at UC Davis.

Regents say they've been forced to raise fees because the state government can't meet the university's funding needs.