Headlines for Friday, November 20, 2009

Cal student protests continue following tuition hike
Following a controversial announcement yesterday that the California State University System would raise tuition rates by 32%, students at the Berkeley campus mobilized and are now holding a sit-in.  Former FSRN technical staffer Puck Lo is among the students holding up in a campus building.

“We’ve been here since last night in Wheeler Hall.  What we’re asking for is for the reinstating of all the workers who have been furloughed or laid off.  And we’re asking for amnesty for everyone in the building, and an end to the fee hike.  Those are the conditions that we have to leave the building.  We’re trying to hold on to the building as long as we can.”

She says that between 40 and 60 students are in the building and the crowd continues to grow outside as well.  She says police used a baton on one protester, but other than that, things have been relatively peaceful.

“People are very, very upset.  This is not an action that people take lightly.  People have spent the morning and night agonizing over the fact that they’re losing their fellowships.  They might be loosing their jobs.  I might be losing my job.  I skipped a class that I’m probably going to get dropped from.  People are not here for fun.  This is an emergency.  The measures that we’re taken are taken in that light.”

Students are also protesting on the UCLA and UC Santa Cruz Campuses.

Environmentalists try to block 12 new coal plants in Texas
While much of the country is moving towards a greener energy supply, Texas seems to be moving the other way.  The state currently has 12 new coal-fired power plants in the works.  Now environmental, religious, and medical groups are requesting intervention from the Environmental Protection Agency.  Shannon Young has more.

Texas leads the nation in greenhouse gas emissions and coal fired power plants.  The state accounts for more than 11 percent of the nation's emissions of carbon dioxide.  That figure is likely to increase if 12 new proposed coal-fired plants become functional.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality - or TCEQ - has the legal authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions in the Lone Star State.  But every member of the commission is an appointee of Republican Governor Rick Perry, who is a proponent of coal.  Advocacy group Public Citizen filed a lawsuit in October arguing that the TCEQ has not been acting in the public interest.

On Thursday, members of the Sierra Club, Public Citizen and the Interfaith Environmental Alliance delivered more than 2000 signatures to regional EPA headquarters in Dallas.  They're calling on the federal government to block the 12 proposed plants and to use the Clean Air Act to review the permits of the 17 facilities already in operation.  Shannon Young, FSRN.

Romanian elections preview
On Sunday, Romanians will go to the polls to try to resolve a political crisis that has left the country without a government for two months.  FSRN’s Dana Lapadat reports from Bucharest.

The situation here is a bit unusual because Parliament dissolved the government two months ago.  Now the administration is working with an interim Government that has technically expired.

This has caused problems with the economy.  The IMF has delayed a transfer of 1.5 billion Euros in loan money, saying it won’t be delivered until January or March.  Budget legislation has also been held up, and funding for the public sector could run out by the end of the year.  The economic problems, in turn, have caused a string of protests and strikes by the Romanian people.

Voter turnout has been steadily declining since 2000.  Residents are very disappointed by politicians, and don’t believe they can help.  Twenty-one million people are expected to vote in Sunday’s elections.   Dana Lepadat, FSRN, Bucharest.

Anti-Piracy law unveiled in the UK
The British Government unveiled its digital economy bill today – a plan steeped in controversy.  In one provision, the government wants to tax landline phones to fund super-fast broadband in rural areas.  It also seeks to crackdown on illegal internet file-sharing and downloads.  Like France, which has created a "three strikes and your out" law, the bill includes powers to cancel people's internet if they don’t comply.  But will it work?  Tom Allan's been looking for perpetrators on the streets of Edinburgh.

I'm trying to find some software pirates...but what do they look like?  Right, here we go, lots of students here...  You look like a dodgy bloke - do you ever download stuff illegally?

“I'm embarrassed to say I have.”

And what would it take to discourage or stop you doing that kind of thing - how about a strongly worded letter?

“I'm not sure if that would discourage me...the amount I use it isn't really that despicable.  I really use downloading music like a library, it's mostly to find out about music that I don't normally purchase, but when there's an artists or group that I like, I purchase their music, and I try to encourage people to buy music whenever I can.”

So it's kind of a try before you buy thing?

“That sort of thing.”

The Government's hoping that two warning letters will be enough to cut downloads by at least 70%.  But if that fails, it will be able to cap or cut off internet connections.

The new bill has had a mixed response.  The music industry is happy, but internet service providers are not.  The law won't go into effect for some time, but be warned - illegal downloads are being monitored in the UK, as of today.  Tom Allan, FSRN, Edinburgh.