Fuck Dave Kliger

from an autonomous collective:

Statements like, “these efforts [to clean up after the occupations] will run into tens of thousands of dollars” completely undermines any seemingly reasonable complaints that the university had to start with. The reality of the situation is that other than minor damages to benches or scratches here and there on furniture, nothing was destroyed. Individuals unrelated with the occupation spray painted all the messages you have seen. Although we don’t deny our sympathy with those statements, it is a complete and utter shameful tactic to attack these things as “vandalism” and ignore the elephant in the room. We can’t take this bullshit, these budget cuts, these cynical administrators any longer.

Tens of thousands of dollars in damage? Let’s talk real numbers: what about the $337 million that the UCOP caused to this university? What about the damage in excess of $813 million from the state? You’ve got to be fucking kidding us.

There was an occupation last night. It ended. Mistakes were made, and lessons were learned. To err is to be human. However, as full of holes as any occupation is, including October 15th, we are not going to see a change in this system if we do not take our spaces back, if we don’t show the system that the machine will no longer be tolerated.

To clarify: the police came at some point during the dance party. The police shouting, “Hey folks, this is vandalism” is not a call for dispersal, it isn’t a warning that people will be maced. When Kliger writes that three people carrying a large table “cursed at an officer,” he isn’t lying. They were cursing at the fuckers who were macing them. No shit.

“The two ‘occupations’ of campus buildings since the beginning of fall quarter appear to be related to dissatisfaction with UC funding and related budget issues.” We pay this guy in excess of $250,000 a year for this? People occupying buildings, people protesting and demanding the layoff of Mark Yudof are not dissatisfied. No, we’re livid. No, we’re fucking pissed. And this means, “fuck you, Kliger.” It means we reject anyone handing out budget cuts. You aren’t being cut, we are. You are the representatives and defenders of an order that is gutting the university. Getting an education is becoming increasingly difficult, and it’s autocrats like Kliger and Yudof who are planning and enforcing it. The budget cuts are a ploy to increase bond ratings and promoting misleading construction projects.

The occupiers and their comrades are not asking you to agree with everything that they did. They aren’t asking you to not criticize these actions. They’re asking you to stop listening to the lies the UC administration is feeding you. Dividing us in this fight is what has let them run this university into the ground. Just remember, we are the university, and it’s within our power to establish.

[original article by Kliger can be found here]