Dozens of Santa Monica College students protest college's plan to offer high-priced classes, police pepper-spray protesters
Los Angeles Times
April 5, 2012
About 100 students protesting a plan to offer high-priced courses at Santa Monica College this summer tried to storm into a meeting of the college's Board of Trustees on Tuesday evening.
A handful of protesters suffered minor injuries as campus police tried to prevent dozens of chanting students from disrupting the meeting during a public comment period. Several were overcome when pepper spray was released just outside the meeting room as officers tried to break up the crowd. Two people were taken to a hospital.
Police are investigating the circumstances of when the pepper spray was used and by whom.
The protest came on the same day that a group of students said that it will call for a campus strike if the school moves forward with plans to offer the two-tier pricing plan.
Members of the Student Organizing Committee said they want a campuswide referendum before administrators begin implementing the program, which will offer such high-demand core courses as English, history, math and biology at a cost of about $180 per unit.
The classes would be offered along with many of the same state-funded courses, which are set at $46 per unit during the upcoming summer session
