Chaos on campus: Riot police rush in as eight students chain themselves to fourth floor balcony at University of California



Baton-wielding riot police confronted growing numbers of student demonstrators angry over state education cuts at the University of California.

Eight protesters occupied the fourth-floor outside ledge of the university's Wheeler Hall, with six of them chained together.



Police officers clambered through the building and grabbed one protester though a window to arrest him.

Education: Eight protesters angry at deep spending cuts at the University of California yesterday occupied the fourth-floor of the building before police brought them down



Force: Groups of protesters battled riot police who were called in by university heads to tackle the second day of demonstrations



Television showed hundreds of protesters on the ground yelling and chanting while a line of police in riot gear surrounded the building.



Eight suspected leaders of the protest locked arms using cardboard tubing and unfurled a large red banner that read 'Our University, Stop the Cuts' off the building’s ledge.



UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau ordered the building to close at 4 p.m. and police began moving students, faculty and staff from the area, according to the university.



University officials said 26 classes were canceled forcing more than 1,000 students out of lessons.



A crowd of more than 300 people are estimated to have gathered in front of Wheeler Hall observing the remaining protesters on the ledge of the building.

Protests: The crowd of some 300 students supporting the demonstrators in the building watched as riot police stormed in yesterday while the university cancelled classes



Ouch: A students claimed he was struck in the face by riot police who confronted protesters who voiced their concerns over deep spending cuts and the continual increase in tuition fees



Stirring the unrest: A student whipped up support for the demonstrations against spending cuts with a large microphone outside the building where eight demonstrators occupied a ledge



Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Harry LeGrande, Director of Counseling and Psychological Services Jeff Prince and Associate Chancellor for Government, Community and Campus Liaison Linda Williams joined the police on the fourth floor to appeal to the protesters to reenter the building, and to discuss the protesters’ concerns.



These were relayed to the Chancellor, who responded in a letter that was read to the crowd by LeGrande.



In an open letter to the students, Harry LeGrande wrote: 'Yesterday was a Day of Action for Public Education in which you and many others made your voices heard in support of public higher education.



'Like all of you, I am dismayed at the staggering size of a $1.4 billion cut to all sectors of public higher education. I am fully sympathetic with your concerns about the State’s disinvestment in public higher education and have been working hard in Sacramento to address this issue.



'However, you have chosen a method of protest that I cannot support. I am very concerned about your health and safety and urge you to end this unsafe action.



'In the interest of your safety and that of others, we have closed Wheeler Hall. Please consider your fellow-students’ right to attend classes.'



Yesterday's protest began at around 2 p.m but he demonstration ended when protesters and UC administration officials agreed on a truce that ended the occupation of the building at 8:30 p.m., according to a protester.



Part of the conditions of the truce were reportedly the dismissal of previous protesting charges levied by the university against some of the demonstrators who participated in the latest act.



They followed demonstrations against state education cuts on Wednesday that led to the arrests of 17 people who university police said refused to leave a campus building.



All 17, including seven students, were cited for trespassing. Police Lieutenant Alex Yao said three people in the group also were taken to the Berkeley jail on suspicion of obstructing police.



The protest on Wednesday was part of a day of action by students around the country opposed to education cuts.



They were organized by student groups furious at the continual increase of tuition and deep cuts to funding for the University of California system.



The UC system has raised tuition by more than 33 percent in the past three years and implemented a number of money-saving cuts to help solve a multi-million dollar deficit.

