Milwaukee, WI – For the second week in a row, students, faculty and staff rallied at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in opposition to Governor Scott Walker's budget cuts. Walker is threatening to cut $300 million from Wisconsin’s universities.

The governor plans to restructure Wisconsin's public university system into a ‘Public Authority.’ As a Public Authority, the governor will hand pick the appointees who run the higher education system. With more power in his hands, Walker argues he will have the “flexibility” to make up for budget shortfalls by raising tuition and cutting the number of professors, graduate assistants and workers.

Over 100 people gathered in Spaights Plaza, Feb. 11, in front of a large banner reading, “They say cut back, we say fight back!” Progressive Students of Milwaukee, an affiliate of Students for a Democratic Society, organized the protest. Labor leaders from AFSCME, MTEA, and TAUWP spoke at the rally about the importance of uniting workers and students to fight the cuts.

After getting fired up, students marched through the Lubar School of Business and into the Student Union, where a student involvement fair was taking place. Several students joined the march as it circled the union concourse before returning to Spaights Plaza.

“I participated in the rally because as a student I feel it is necessary to stand up against Walker's war on education and I believe every student and staff member should have been out there with us,” said student organizer Sarah Shelleh. “We have a lot of work ahead of us, so I am eager to see everyone come together in this struggle to get our voices heard and put a stop to these outrageous budget cuts.”

“We vow to continue building the movement against the proposed budget cuts and Walker’s attempts to take over our public university system. Students need accessible and affordable education, not the ‘flexible’ higher costs and lower quality Walker is offering,” explained Daniel Williams with Progressive Students of Milwaukee.

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Milwaukee, WI – Over 200 students, faculty, teaching assistants and workers rallied at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Feb. 4, in opposition to Governor Scott Walker's proposed $300 million budget cut. Governor Walker's cuts to the statewide system will force layoffs, fewer courses, the closure of departments and possibly some campuses. The proposed budget will place the UW system under the control of the governor-appointed Board of Regents instead of the elected state legislature.

“No ifs, no buts, no education cuts!” and “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Scott Walker has got to go!” rang out as the crowd in Spaights Plaza on the Milwaukee campus grew larger and larger.

Protesters marched into the student union after listening to students and professors speak about the harm the proposed cuts would cause, particularly to working class and low-income students. Students formed a large picket line taking over the concourse, while a group dropped a banner from the third floor stairway reading “They say cut back. We say fight back! No cuts to UW.”

“The rally for me was a small but incredibly important starting point for what I hope is a long and successful struggle against those who support these cuts,” said student protester Will Guenthner.

He continued, “Education is something I find essential to our society and its prosperity. Also, solidarity is something that honestly gives me the chills. There's nothing more powerful than unifying with your peers, especially when the consequences are as drastic as the ones we face.”

Organized by Progressive Students of Milwaukee, an affiliate of Students for a Democratic Society, there are more plans are in the works to oppose Governor Walker's austerity plans. Student leaders say they do not want to sacrifice the quality, accessibility and affordability of higher education in Wisconsin just to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy.

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Abudayyeh explained that Odeh’s arrest is part of a pattern of political repression targeting Arabs and Muslims, particularly those who criticize U.S. support for Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people. “We're not talking about Rasmea in a vacuum here. We're talking about Rasmea in the context of political repression of other Palestinian leaders.” Those include people such as the Holy Land Five and University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian. He also emphasized the need for unity with different communities facing political repression. “When you are opposed to U.S. policy, you are repressed, and it's not just something that Palestinian communities face.”

Reflecting on the underlying causes of this repression, Abudayyeh argued that in order to manufacture support for its foreign wars and interventions, the ruling class in the U.S. must create the impression of an ‘enemy within.’ Demonizing Arabs and Latinos at home legitimizes U.S. intervention in the Middle East and Latin America, Abudayyeh contended. “They have to convince the public that there are terrorists here; and that face is Arabs and Muslims and the thousands of Mexican and Central American immigrants deported each day.”

Rasmea Odeh is a leading member of Chicago's Arab and Muslim communities, a mentor to hundreds of immigrant women and a well-known and respected organizer. She has made it her life's work to serve and help empower Palestinian and Arab families and is a proud reminder of the millions of Palestinians who have not given up organizing for their rights of liberation, equality and return.

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Cedarburg, WI – One day after the protests against the Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Sept. 5, members of the Progressive Students of Milwaukee caught wind that Republican presidential and vice-presidential candidates John McCain and Sarah Palin, were headed to Cedarburg, Wisconsin, a Republican stronghold town of 11,000, for a rally.

Following through with a commitment to bring truth about the McCain/Palin agenda to the people, ten university students from Milwaukee drove up to protest the event, taking with them a number of signs and a banner that read, “Fund education, not occupation.”

There were police at every corner and a double row of fencing surrounded the event. Snipers held rooftop positions and a Secret Service agent approached the students within minutes of them arriving to town. The Republican police state had arrived in small town America.

The students marched down the street despite the official hostility to protesters. They eventually stood with their banner propped up behind the walled-off rally area near the press tent. The students later appeared on two local TV channels and three radio stations, expressing their dissatisfaction with McCain and Palin’s support for the wars and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and the downturn in the economy.

#CedarburgWI #AntiwarMovement #News #Iraq #JohnMcCain #RepublicanNationalConvention2008 #antiwarProtest #SarahPalin #ProgressiveStudentsOfMilwaukee