Alright all, just posting to let you all know that around 100 students have been occupying their library for the past hour and there are no plans to go anywhere any time soon. Will keep you all posted about any other developments. Meanwhile, here's something on the newswire to keep you happy 
Mar 8 2006 22:40
Mar 9 2006 00:36
Alright, don't get shirty mate. You're just jealous coz your uni are a bunch of Tory shithouses 
Anyway, here you go. Here's the press release. Hopefully enlightens you a bit more.....
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Release date: RELEASE IMMEDIATELY
Sussex University Library Occupation
‘Sort US Out’ campaign
University of Sussex
Brighton
BN1
Wednesday 8th March 2006
Over 100 Sussex students have gathered in the library, the hub of the education system, to protest their unease at the financial mismanagement of Sussex University. The Vice Chancellor Alistair Smith has presided over a dramatic deficit of four million pounds. This has resulted in staff cuts, lack of student/tutor contact time and cuts to multiple courses.
The students have peacefully occupied the space since 9.30pm. They have successfully been forming their own workshops with the intent to educate themselves whilst the University refuses to.
We are protesting against:
- Lack of teaching hours in many arts and humanities courses
- Severe lack of food provision on campus
- Challenging cuts to interdisciplinary courses and cuts to courses advertised in the 2005/06 prospectus
- Opposition to rent rises privatisation of university campus residencies
- Opposition to the introduction of top-up fees
The students demand:
- A minimum of eight contact hours per week for every course
- No departmental closures- no cuts to interdisciplinary course
- Cheap healthy meals to be available all day on campus
- Essential reading should be available for all students in the library
- Adequate affordable and well-maintained university managed housing for all first years. No more rent rises beyond inflation
- Free and equal education for all- Do not introduce top up fees and a living grant for all
Students are demanding a response to all their demands from their Vice Chancellor.
Members of the student body and sortUSout campaign have been sharing their skills and discussing tactics for further actions to achieve their aims in the campaign as well as further workshops. This is to empower and organize in the belief that people should control their own lives and work together as equals and they extend solidarity to student movements fighting privatisation and corporatisation of their higher education throughout the world.
CONTACT:
DAN GLASS
Tel: 07717811747
Alasdair Russell
Tel: 07793059982
Mar 9 2006 00:46
Quote:
From Bogota to Paris, our struggle at Sussex University is global.
Mar 9 2006 00:49
I've texted a friend at sussex who's probably involved. I might have to write a fucking article now 
Mar 9 2006 08:09
exellent news!
Mar 9 2006 10:56
you fucking leftist scum!
Demanding more course hours?
What sort of fucking art students are youse? 
Mar 9 2006 20:07
Just thought I'd post a little report on what happened.
Basically, yesterday was really good. At 9:30pm (yes, that's what time our library closes at!), about 100 students occupied the university library and held a 'learn-in'. We'd gone in individually but also made sure that we knew enough people were coming. Any less than 35 and the action would've been called off. Luckily, we got around 100! 8)
It was a really cool night with quite a party atmosphere to it. We had workshops on different political issues, film showings and people just using the library until late to do their coursework. We even had groups of people from one course getting together and teaching each other in mini-reading groups. We also played hide and seek and had spinny chair races (I got so dizzy I fell over 
). Also, decisions on what we were gonna do, as well as approval of press releases etc were all done by mass meetings of everyone at the occupation, held every hour. These were good though there were a lot of pointless votes about votes ("hands up who wants to take a vote about whether we should discuss this more" sort of thing) and a lot of lefties and careerist politicians-of-tomorrow doing a lot of the talking. At points they almost made the idea of community democracy really unappealing! On many occassions it seemed obvious that people were talking just to feel important. Any thoughts on combatting that in future? Probably just need better chairing....
All in all though there was a good atmosphere and we had the support of staff even though they had to stay with us until 2am (four and half hours later than usual!) at which point we all left together in one organised block.
There's lots of enthusiasm about it amongst the people who were there and we managed to spread the message quite widely. Within a couple of hours we'd had a solidarity text from Stoke and press releases were sent to London Student and a few newspapers. Ironically, the trouble will be getting people at our uni to hear about it! That said, a lot of people who almost came have been kicking themselves about not coming so any future ones look like they'll be even bigger!
So yeah, it felt good and, as its part of a wider campaign, it felt like it was part of something building up momentum. Dunno where it'll go next but a few ideas are floating around for future actions, events etc. All looks a bit exciting
Mar 9 2006 20:21
Nice one Ed, and for keeping us informed.
Mar 9 2006 20:56
Cool I didn't realise that there was a libcommer on site.
I thought it was going to be an ongoing thing.
Nice work anyway, keep us posted.
Mar 10 2006 11:33
Ed wrote:
Just thought I'd post a little report on what happened.
That's why you were late...
Nice one Ed. Good on youze an yours!
Mar 10 2006 13:10
Nice one Ed 8)
Mar 10 2006 13:27
From Sussex to the Sorbonne? "Insert symbol for direct action!"
Mar 10 2006 15:54
Oh it only lasted for 4 hours?? I've been telling people they're still there!! From what I've heard, a lot of Sussex students didn't even know it was happening themselves.
Mar 10 2006 17:13
Ed - with regards to my proposal in this thread for a meeting on the ongoing occupations in France in London, is there anyone from the occupation who'd like to come up to speak?
Do you think the issues are sufficiently similar to figure in the same meeting?
Mar 10 2006 17:18
That's more like it Si (or should I say S.I.??). 8)
Mar 10 2006 17:21
yeah pretty much I really need to be convinced that SI were wrong in any way other than their slight over-focus on circulation.
Mar 10 2006 17:40
Uh oh, way to derail the thread.
Mar 10 2006 17:52
cunt >:\
Mar 10 2006 18:05
Ed wrote:
- Lack of teaching hours in many arts and humanities courses- Severe lack of food provision on campus
- cuts to interdisciplinary courses and cuts to courses advertised in the 2005/06 prospectus
- rent rises privatisation of university campus residencies
oh fuck off i'm going there next year! your protest had better work
Mar 12 2006 17:21
For some pictures of the occupation, click here (keep an eye out for me, I'm the really good looking one...seriously)
Some solidarity messages we got for the occupation:
Quote:
Just heard about your occupation. Well done and keep it up! You are an inspiration to us all. Here at Lancaster Uni we are engaged in the defence of the 'George Fox Six' -The six students arrested for protesting on campus. Our struggle here is against unethical corporations hijacking the university and silencing dissent.We will talk about you at our next demo outside Lancaster Crown Court this Monday!Solidarity!
Quote:
Salutations and solidarity from Dublin! I received an e-mail this morning outlining your struggle. Strangely enough it evoked lots of memories of a similar series library occupations we carried out two years ago in University College Dublin. Again the parallels are striking. We too were fighting library cuts and for extension of library hours. Integral to our eventual success was forging links with library staff, who participated in our actions. The restoration of library hours was a vindication of our tactics. And I am hopeful history will repeat itself in Sussex University.I've posted a story and your press release on our Student Union website at http://www.ucdsu.net/newswire.php?story_id=1030. I'll also submit a motion to SU Council extending solidarity to your struggle. The next Council meeting is due in 4 weeks unfortunately. In the meantime, i'll pay close attention to your efforts and encourage other activists to send e-mails of support. The struggle is global!
Darren Cogavin,
Third Social Science Rep UCDSU
Quote:
Hello, do you have any photos of the occupation I can show to students here in Colombia? The police killed another student, Oscar Salas, during a protest at the national university yesterday - I'll send the urgent action when it's translated. A message of solidarity from the students involved in the occupation telling them a bit about what you're doing might help boost morale here.Nice one and keep up the struggle.
Lara
Alan's got a point though, a lot of students on campus didn't even know it was happening and a lot still don't. Of course we'll try and remedy that with articles in the union paper, future actions, talking to people etc but it is a problem. Its a shame when struggles can't be perfect....
Mar 12 2006 18:11
One amazing thing was how quick it was to spread the news around the country...Ooop north here we saw the news from Sussex on indymedia and we were then able to instantly forward the news to probably thousands of people over various local and national activists e-lists, including the AUT national activists list. This could never have happened before...when we last had a big occupation here in Lancaster in 1992 that would have taken days! Now someone can sit in an occupation with a laptop or mobile and the news can get out in minutes and spread around the world...(if people like us who recieved it are excited enough)
Up here in Lancaster we got emails from Sussex staff and students, asking about an occupation at their own university that they did not yet know about!!!
(ooohhh what a 'network-info-probably-post-something-sorta-society' we all live in. maybe).
Next time the best tactic for spreading the thing locally is this: Plan to stay in for at least a few days - and have banners outside, on the roof, etc. In the morning and next day people will then come and support you and re-enforce you! People with megaphones on the roof really helped back in those pre-internetty days as well! And a posse of people outside the occupation smothering campus in posters. leafletts and shouting about it helps too!
If you can sustain an occupation for at least a few days, lots of other students come and take a look - oftern out of curiosity- and then join in, because its quite fun, and usually the most interesting thing happening around! (I knew a whole lot of students who were hating their time at college untill the big '92 occupation, where they then had a really good time and made some of their closest friends!)
Hopefully there will be more occupations next term, or whenever. Next time:a) STAY IN! and b) GET THE MESSAGE OUT!
Mar 12 2006 18:19
It might be an idea to occupy the kitchens as well, so you can feed yourselves
It's fucking brilliant though, after the complete rollover on fees and then on topup fees it's great to see some militancy.
A bit more would really cheer me up.
To my mind UCL/KCL/LSE libraries would be very easy to occupy.
Some fairly easy to hold too.
Can comment on articles and discussions
Haha....
That news article doesnt give much bakground... what triggered the occupation? Is it linked to the strike yesterday? What do the library staff think of it?