UC Santa Cruz students are protesting what seems to be unfair cuts to the Community Studies aka Ethnic Studies programs.  They feel so strongly about the injustice in the cuts, some students started a hunger strike, which ended after almost a week.  They're sending a petition around for folks to sign. Here's an excerpt from the petition.

The Student of Color Coalition (SOCC) is a collective of student of color organizers actively working for an equitable, more accessible higher education for all students. Comprised of student leaders, ethnic organizations, and concerned students of color, the coalition works to take back ownership over the system of higher education that has historically excluded/exploited communities of color. The coalition recognizes the particular struggle of students of color to access, engage, and retain themselves in an institution that has, through the use of institutionalized racism, undervalued, underutilized, and overlooked the importance of a diverse student body. The coalition asserts that as a public institution, it is the duty of the university to serve the public justly by reflecting the demographics of California.

In the short term, their demands include:

-Maintain academic integrity and current structure of Community Studies Dept. by keeping field study coordinators Mike Rotkin and Flor Marchetti and Department Manager Penny Stinson and not merging the department into Sociology.
-Retain both Latin American and Latino Studies lecturers Guillermo Delgado and Susan Jonas
-Make UCSC a sanctuary campus for undocumented communities
-UCSC openly and publicly support the state and Federal DREAM Act
-Permanent funding for Ethnic- Year-End Ceremonies from college C.A.O.s and Provosts
-Support Family Student Housing in receiving equitable rent for next year 09-10 funding (no rent increase)
-Fair transparent negotiations with workers and unions to ensure equitable pay, working condition and representation
-No layoffs!
-No worker deportations by ICE
-Freeze on Budget Cuts over the summer, while students are not present

In the long term, students are demanding:

Long Term:
•Institutionalize scholarships and other resources for AB540 students
•Access and affordability to higher education for underrepresented communities- STOP STUDENT FEE HIKES!
•Outreach and retention of faculty and staff of color (including hiring a full-time Counseling & Psychological Services staff of color)
•Fill Asian American “specialist” position for American Studies
•Movement towards an Ethnic Studies Program
•Affordable and quality housing for under resourced immigrant students
•No cuts to Disability student resources
•No cuts to Rape Awareness Programs

Sign the petition here.