Fight for higher education

Kevin Matsui

10/11/15

Blog Wk 4

            At first glance, it seemed as if Alan Markow’s article, “A Tale of Two Campuses: Berkley and Davis Respond to Occupy movements,” focused on pointing out the differences between the school’s students reaction to rising tuition costs, with Davis students being portrayed as violent and destructive and Berkley students being portrayed as peaceful and pragmatic. But after further reading the article it is later revealed that the article’s main argument is not the difference of the reaction of the students, but rather the difference of the responsiveness between the school administrators. While it is not right that Davis administration focused on publicizing the damages rather than helping their struggling students afford a higher education, it is also not right for the students to use vandalism and destruction to express their distress. However, at the same time it is also difficult to overlook the controversial pepper spray event that took place at Davis when police used unnecessary force against non-violent protestors. How should Davis administration have handled the situation and what other actions could the students have done to benefit their cause?