Ending on a High!

Hey y'all!

So we can chalk up this year as a success! Today, after a short rally, SDS activists took the bold step of directly confronting the Board of Trustees of New School University, demanding the means for ensuring direct accountability to students, including full financial disclosure and student representation on the board of trustees. We also raised several issues we have campaigning around all semester. We announced our distress at Treasurer Robert B. Millard's connection with war profiteer L3 communications (who was, ironically, today named in a lawsuit by victims of the concentration camp at Abu Grahib). We demanded justice for New School construction workers, exploited, underpaid and forced to work in dangerous conditions by contractor Arun Bhatia. And we raised the issue of the $3000 tuition hike that has caused distress to thousands of students already struggling to afford their education. Security around the building was heavy (in fact, most of the 11th street building was locked down), but protesters managed to outflank them and make it to the door of the meeting. At that point, the administration decided to negotiate rather that risk their meeting being disrupted.

After talking with the Dean of Lang College, our folks secured a written promise that we would be allowed to meet with the President of the University and members of the Board of Trustees to raise our concerns directly by May 14th. We consider our action, therefore, a great success, in that we have brought the issues to the spotlight and have forced them to the negotiating table when they refused, previously, to even acknowledge students' voices. We were put in the position of having to use direct action to accomplish our goals, but we'd like to remind you SDS is not just about protest. A huge amount of planning, outreach and research went into this action, and we have also spent considerable time participating in indirect action such as student government and education programs. There is lots of work yet to be done, but we look forward to a productive summer and an amazing next semester!

Remember, it's never too late to get involved, and there's lots of great work you could be doing to help out! Email us at newschoolsds(at)riseup[dot]net, or come to our final meeting of the semester on Monday at 6pm in the student activities space, room 101, 55w. 13th!

Spirit Squad Shuts Down L3

At approximately 8.25 am on Wednesday, a group of young people entered the revolving doors of a building on Third Avenue. The building was headquarters of L3 Communications, one of the biggest and most nefarious war-profiteers that makes over $13 billion dollars a year from providing torturers, surveillance equipment, weaponary and logistics to the US Armed Forces, CIA and Department of Homeland Security. The kids, however, were members of the Anti-Profiteering Spirit Squad, and for that reason did not intend to leave those doors.

Out came chains, and the eight kids, which included activists from Union Semester, Queens College SDS, NYU SDS, Hunter SDS and, of course, New School SDS, rapidly locked down the building, to the surprise of the security staff and corporate yuppie mercenaries. Within minutes, reinfocements arrived from the Public Library, the posted meeting point, and began chanting to support the blockade. Meantime, the building manager had called all available security staff, even deputizing maintenance workers ("they look like pantera!"), and the New York Police Department soon arrived. And, though their illegal surveillance had allowed them prior knowledge of the protest (but not the location), they were completely unprepared to deal with the lockdown - The front doors were out of service for over an hour. New School SDSers Jerry Koch, Patrick Hughes and Alex Cline were amongst the first detained, after the police refused their suggestion that they arrest L3 Communications instead. Journalists swarmed as other arrests followed; pictures and footage have been published both in New York and worldwide.

The arrestees were transfered to the headquarters of the Manhattan South Task Force, questioned, then moved to the infamous central booking in Downtown Manhattan. Five were released close to midnight and recieved ACDs (conditional dismissal) with community service. The rest were forced to spend the night in a grusome cell (and witness the tragic death of a fellow prisoner), held more than the legal limit and are pleading not guilty, with the help of the National Lawyers Guild.



Our attitude is that our so called 'crime' is actually an attempt to stop a far greater crime; that is the tragic war which has lead to the deaths of more than 4,000 Americans and 1,000,000 Iraqis. Our court date is April 28th. Our next action is imminent. We need your support! If you agree with what we're doing to stand up for peace and justice, let us know!

Rally for a Responsible University!

http://newschool.facebook.com/event.php?eid=12805521557

On Wedensday the 12th of March the New School chapter of Students for a Democratic Society is joining with several other campus activist organizations to call for students to walk out of class and rally in the Courtyard between the 12th and 11th Street Buildings. Too long have we allowed the University to ignore student demands that it respect its workers, stop supporting war and allow students a voice in decisions that directly affect them. Too long has the spirit of apathy prevailed on a campus full of intelligent, politically and socially consious students.

We ask that all those against the war, all those for environmental sustainability and labor rights, and all those who believe students have the right to a democratic university join us as we struggle for reckognition. We ask that you make the effort to come out and show support for student power! We ask that, if you have a class, you respectfully ask to leave early and explain to your professor that, while thousands die each month in Iraq, and while workers are paid abysmal wages and are forced to ignore environmental regulations or risk losing their job, you cannot remain silent.

We know that our apathy is complicity. We know that only an organized, passionate student movement can really work to end the war and institute social justice. We know we're committed to doing what it takes. Are you?