November 22, 2011

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Town hall with Katehi tonight

Call for columnist! If you think you are a cultured, cerebral human being who has an opinion and a way with words, contact opinion@theaggie.org to apply.

5 to 7 p.m. in Freeborn Hall. Doors open at 4:30pm. Email sac@ucdavis.edu more information.

serving the uc davis campus and community since 1915

www.theaggie.org

volume 130, number 119

tuesday, november 22, 2011

Students take back the Quad Monday’s rally draws in thousands by HANNAH STRUMWASSER, BECKY PETERSON, and ANGELA SWARTZ Aggie Editors

Jasna Hodzic / Aggie

Thousands filled the Quad Monday to rally against the use of pepper spray on student protesters.

The UC Davis Quad has been reoccupied following a rally of around 5,000 people on Monday at noon. The rally was held in solidarity with non-violent student protesters who were pepper sprayed during a protest on Friday. The East Quad was completely covered in students, alumni and community members listening to speeches made by students and faculty. News vans parked near the fountain, and media outlets rushed to broadcast. Slow internet stifled the KDVS 90.3 live stream. Twitter updates and text messages took minutes to load. “The whole world is watching Davis,” a speaker said during the General Assembly. Speeches were followed by a formal consensus-based meeting, in which participants voted in

support of holding a general strike on Nov. 28. A second proposal, to “declare campus as an autonomous sanctuary space based on international historic model” and to disband campus police, did not pass. Monday evening, students joined together to build a 15 foot tall dome and reoccupy the Quad with tents. Student speakers described their personal feelings on Friday’s police actions and encouraged the audience to continue to be nonviolent. “They started pulling my friends from the circle, and throwing them on the ground and putting them in handcuffs and dragging them away,” said senior mechanical engineering major David Buscho. “At that point, there was no more encampment, there was no more stuff there. We were just kids, sitting down in a circle singing.” First-hand experiences of being pepper sprayed garnered an

See QUAD, page 2

ASUCD Chief Justice Occupy Davis has moved, but still standing in Central Park resigns during City asks movement to comply with city codes impeachment Chief Justice Rudy Ornelas finds allegations false, unsupported By MAX RUSSER Aggie News Writer

Current Chief Justice Rudy Ornelas is resigning from office in the midst of being indicted by members of the ASUCD Senate for allegations pertaining to remaining impartial in office. Ornelas gave his letter of resignation to ASUCD President Adam Thongsavat stating that he would resign by Nov. 23 or when Thongsavat had found a replacement

Chief Justice. In his letter Ornelas stated that the current slate process politics is a major factor in his resignation. “The allegations against Rudy have nothing to do with the slate process or politics, instead I think it’s about his own actions,” said ASUCD President Adam Thongsavat. “Rudy came from a very slate oriented background as a former member of LEAD which is no longer a party.”

See ORNELAS, page 2

Stop Online Piracy Act is in amendment process Bill eliminates foreign rogue websites By CLAIRE TAN Aggie Staff Writer

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On Oct. 26, Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) proposed the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). The bill has bipartisan support from 25 cosponsors and is supported by the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Motion Pictures Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America and others. “There are four tracks to the bill and not all four are controversial,” said a judicial aid for the House Judiciary Committee, in which Smith is chair. “In [1997], there was a bill called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which was the first time Congress addressed the issue of infringing websites because the internet was relatively new at the time.” According to SOPA, the four tracks expand existing authority /A

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Today’s weather A.M. fog High 60 Low 45

for law enforcement and provide a mechanism for rights holders to protect their internet protocol (IP) rights. One would need to take out a court order and have a judge determine whether the website is engaging in illegal activity. “But it didn’t touch any foreign w e b s i t e s ,” the aid said. “Now we are in this global marketplace and there are foreign websites dedicated to stealing American intellectual property and selling it.” Foreign websites that steal intellectual property, sell it and profit off it are known as rogue websites because consumers come across them unassumingly. “The theft of America’s intellectual property costs the U.S. economy more than $100 billion annually and results in the loss of thousands of American jobs,” said Smith in a statement. “Rogue websites not only

See PIRACY, page 4

Madison Dunitz / Aggie

Occupy Davis protesters, who have continued to occupy Central park despite recent events at Davis, temporarily moved their tents on Monday for requested city maintenance.

By ANGELA SWARTZ Aggie City Editor

The Occupy Davis movement is still active in Central Park, tents included, despite recent events on the UC Davis campus. Occupy did temporarily move to a different location in Central Park to comply with City of Davis’ demands. Occupy Davis originally set up tents in the park on Oct. 15 and have since continued camping. Last Thursday, city staff brought protesters a notice of changes to make to the encampment, including fire concerns due to dry grass underneath the tents, health permits for cooking, removing pets and signs on oak trees in the park and other stipulations. Initial reports said police came to take down Central Park’s tents Thursday morning, but city staff actually delivered the notice. Lieutenant Paul Doroshov of the Davis Police Department clarified that city police are not involved in any decisions made for the future of the encampment. According to Deputy City

Forecast Yet again, dense fog will dampen you on your way to your morning class, before yielding to clearer skies. However, Thanksgiving will be another story. Good thing classes are out for the day! Nothing worse than sitting in class sopping wet from the rain. Alex Neigher, atmospheric science major Aggie Forecasting Team

Manager Kelley Stachowicz, the most pressing issue for the city was that the group’s two tarps needed to be replaced with a fire-resistant one as soon as possible. The group deadline was set for Monday and it did buy a fire-marshalapproved fire retardant tarp last Friday. “It’s a balancing act between lawful assembly and public safety maintenance,” Stachowicz said. “We did need to do some maintenance on the grass [Monday], so Occupy Davis did agree to move their tents temporarily for this purpose.” The group said tents will be periodically moved around to avoid doing permanent damage to the grass. Occupy Davis participant and junior political science major Artem Raskin said the tarp did not have an official stamp of approval from the fire marshal, but is made of fire retardant vinyl. At a meeting Occupy Davis had with Councilmember Stephen Souza last Thursday night, several occupiers suggested that fire safety was being used by the city as an

Wednesday

Thursday

Chance of rain

Rain likely

High 58 Low 46

High 57 Low 43

excuse to begin undermining the occupation. “Souza failed to promise that the city would allow the occupation to continue if the city demands were addressed,” Raskin said. “Nevertheless, Occupy Davis is moving to address the demands. Counting a 10 percent discount provided by the seller to help out the movement, the tarp cost $587.” Aaron Long, who graduated with a degree in sociology in 2011 and who has been visiting the occupation, said he found the Occupy Davis protest to be the most peaceful occupation he’s seen in the country. Councilmember Souza said he has been dropping in at Central Park everyday to reach out to the protesters and reach a collaborative solution. “We respect the right of free speech, but we also respect the laws on the books,” Souza said. “We are requiring that the Occupy protesters get a health permit for cooking and other stipulations. Unlike the university, Central Park is a public space, so protesters can

See OCCUPY, page 4 Ever heard of Buy Nothing Day? It is celebrated on “Black Friday” and is a day of protest against the consumerism observed by social activists. Instead of shopping, relax and do nothing for the economy and for yourself. Check out www. adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd to learn more. Amanda Nguyen


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