By By Kev Hedges Nov 30, 2010 in World London - Students in the University of London (UCL) are now into the second week of an occupation that is steadily gaining momentum and support. Just one part of the most sustained student unrest seen across the country in decades. These students are in a dawn-of-time event; a protest monitored and driven by social media. Students who demonstrated over the Vietnam War or those who rallied in support of the miners and nurses during the 1980s would never have enjoyed such high-speed and effective channels of media projection. Police turn up outside the gates of the UCL, they are checking to see if any trouble or lawlessness is taking place within the occupation. ucloccupation They are in effect making their own news whilst journalists and press agencies look in at their social media messages and read updates as they happen. The message is clear – they want the UCL to issue a statement condemning all cuts to higher education and the rise in tuition fees, ensure no teaching redundancies, ensure no victimization to those participating in the occupation and allowing any student free passage in and out of the occupied room. Police close off parts into Whitehall from Parliament Street. Students occupying a room at the UCL took time-out to demonstrate in a third wave of street protests in London on Nov 30, 2010 ucloccupation The UCL occupation is just one part of a larger scale demonstration going in campuses around England. Students have occupied centres at Southbank, Manchester, Oxford, Holloway, Birmingham, Sussex and Warwick. Flash mobs of students are descending on corporate businesses like Vodafone, Top Shop and some banks, and driven by social media calls to action, demonstrations are disrupting those businesses until police turn up and drag protesters away but not before it is all filmed on Blackberries and uploaded to its YouTube account. English literature student, Sofie Buckland, 24, told the Inside the occupation students entertain themselves with a ceilidh. ucloccupation The plan to almost treble tuition fees to £9,000 ($15,000) per year has triggered these student protests – and much of the antagonism is directed firmly at the door of the coalition government, with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg becoming a particular target for their indignation. Before the election Mr Clegg had pledged that he would Just outside the occupation room lays a coffin symbolising the death of education. Notes that surround the coffin are not what one would expect, no left-wing socialist comments, but more a strong sense of what is right. So far the university authorities have allowed the occupation to remain. Students, some of whom form part of the occupation of the UCL take part in a flash-mob protest outside Top Shop on London's Oxford Street. Owner Philip Green is said by demonstrators to owe the government millions of pounds. ucloccupation They have welcomed a visit from Billy Bragg, a musician, as well as support from a US-based philosopher Noam Chomsky and former London mayor Ken Livingstone. Inside the Jeremy Bentham room, a hall named after the 19th-century social-reformist, 150 students are creating posters documenting the timeline of the occupation. A projector screen inside displays the latest Twitter feeds and others keep up a blog and a Facebook page.These students are in a dawn-of-time event; a protest monitored and driven by social media. Students who demonstrated over the Vietnam War or those who rallied in support of the miners and nurses during the 1980s would never have enjoyed such high-speed and effective channels of media projection.They are in effect making their own news whilst journalists and press agencies look in at their social media messages and read updates as they happen. The message is clear – they want the UCL to issue a statement condemning all cuts to higher education and the rise in tuition fees, ensure no teaching redundancies, ensure no victimization to those participating in the occupation and allowing any student free passage in and out of the occupied room.The UCL occupation is just one part of a larger scale demonstration going in campuses around England. Students have occupied centres at Southbank, Manchester, Oxford, Holloway, Birmingham, Sussex and Warwick.Flash mobs of students are descending on corporate businesses like Vodafone, Top Shop and some banks, and driven by social media calls to action, demonstrations are disrupting those businesses until police turn up and drag protesters away but not before it is all filmed on Blackberries and uploaded to its YouTube account.English literature student, Sofie Buckland, 24, told the BBC , “We’ve taken all the things that were meant to characterize us as apathetic and used them as political tools. They said we do nothing but use social networking all day, but we’re using Facebook to organize protests.”The plan to almost treble tuition fees to £9,000 ($15,000) per year has triggered these student protests – and much of the antagonism is directed firmly at the door of the coalition government, with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg becoming a particular target for their indignation.Before the election Mr Clegg had pledged that he would vote against any proposed increase in tuition fees if elected to Parliament.Just outside the occupation room lays a coffin symbolising the death of education. Notes that surround the coffin are not what one would expect, no left-wing socialist comments, but more a strong sense of what is right. So far the university authorities have allowed the occupation to remain. More about Ucl, Student, Protests More news from ucl student protests