University of Puerto Rico students resume strikes (tuition hikes)

[Hannah Bell]

STUDENTS FROM six campuses in the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) system have held a series of 48-hour strikes in the last week to oppose the imposition of an $800 fee that is scheduled to take effect at the beginning of the January 2011 semester.

The chancellor of the Río Piedras campus used every means possible to try to stop the students from gathering, including the canceling academic recess, freezing the bank account of the student council so that it couldn't pay for the sound system, and denying students the use of a space for their meeting....But UPR students are already used to doing things the hard way, so the night before, they raised funds by approaching cars stopped at traffic lights so they could rent a sound system for the outdoor meeting...

THE WAVE of strikes in the last week is a continuation of the struggle against tuition hikes that began last summer with a two-month strike that shut down all 11 UPR campuses. Students ended their strike in victory when the administration agreed not to impose a $400 fee at the start of the fall semester. But UPR is now trying to undo that victory for students by imposing an $800 fee for the spring semester.

If imposed, the fee would place a college education out of reach of many working-class people. But students aren't ready to throw in the towel....

http://socialistworker.org/2010/12/10/upr-students-resume-strikes