A man observes the crowds on Upper Sproul from the balcony of the MLK Student Union
Last school year was marked by activism. Fall 2009 had multiple protests, including the first walkout, with an estimated 5,000 person turnout, and the Wheeler Occupation. In Spring 2010 there were riots in the streets of Berkeley - all responses from the continuing frustration with how the UC Regents and the state of California were handling the budget crisis in relation to higher education.
This year another walkout was planned for October 7. The turnout was substantially less impressive than last fall, but the fact that there was a heavy police presence proved how serious the university and city has taken these demonstrations. There have been random other acts of protest throughout the course of the semester, but nothing as dramatic as before.
Part of me is glad to be graduating, I'm not sure how Berkeley will look in a few years, especially the ever shrinking Art History department.
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