The past week has brought a flurry of excitement, as the Free Cooper Union effort has led to over 50 students, faculty, and staff maintaining a sit-in occupation inside college President Jamshed Bharucha’s office on the 7th floor of the Foundation Building of the Cooper Union.

This occupation comes in response to the decision to begin charging tuition for the first time, ending a 154 year tradition of free education, as well as in the context of the broader unfolding tuition and student debt crisis across the country.

Watch Free Cooper Union on livestream and follow their live-tweets @FreeCooperUnion.

Many Occupy groups have protested outside in solidarity, The Illuminator has projected on the walls, Occupy Museums delivered sushi for dinner.

We stand in solidarity with the students, faculty, and next generation of art students who have lost this amazing gift from Peter Cooper, education which is “free as air and water.”

-- from the ‘Your Inbox: Occupied’ team

United Against Pipelines Update

This Monday, hundreds of occupiers and climate activists from dozens of groups came together to challenge President Obama on the Keystone XL Pipeline and climate change at large during a fundraiser he was holding with the 1%.

Check out photos of the action on Flickr, watch livestream footage from StopMotionSolo, and join the protest this Thursday of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper for his promotion of the pipeline.

Occupy in the News

Allison Kilkenny at The Nation covers developments with Free Cooper Union, and Felix Salmon at Reuters chronicles the tragedy of Cooper Union.

PressTV covered Obama being greeted in NY by Occupy protesters.

The Village Voice blog covers DebtFair, an action initiated by Occupy Museums to draw attention to debt and inequality within the art world. “Turn[ing] art fairs and auctions like Frieze New York and Sotheby’s on their heads” the fairs will display art about debt at many populist venues as well as “in front of banks or ‘more arrestable actions’ inside banks...”

At hyperallergic.com, Debtfair’s mission was described as such: “...to predicate compensation [for an artist] on their debt load, allowing patrons to make direct payments on their student loans or outstanding consumer credit. By correlating the value of an artwork with the fiscal situation of its producer, it’s an objection to capitalist exchange...”

The Arts and Labor Working Group, along with various affected unions, has been agitating for changes in the hiring practices of the Frieze New York art fair. Letters were sent out recently asking participants to boycott over Frieze’s unfair use of non-union labor.

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Via Occupy Wall St.:

“This is a non-violent direct action, you are not being held in this room, you are free to exit when you please. We no longer recognize your presidency at Cooper as legitimate and in so doing we commit to re-claim this office in the interim until a suitable administrative alternative is secured."

Over 50 students have overtaken the office of Cooper Union President Jamshed Bharucha in response to the Administration and the Board of Trustees announcing the implementation of tuition for the incoming class of 2014- desecrating a 154 year old tradition of meritocracy and free education. "We stand together with the extended Cooper community in opposition to this decision; we reaffirm all of the previous and future actions of our fellow students and allies."

UPDATE: Cooper Union Students are calling for a Solidarity Rally Friday at 6PM outside the Foundation Building at Cooper Square Park.

The students delivered a Statement of No Confidence from the School of Art, one of the three colleges that make up Cooper Union. Similar Statements of No Confidence are currently in the process of being drafted and voted upon by the School of Architecture and the School of Engineering.

On April 23, 2013, Cooper Union’s board of trustees announced that they will begin charging tuition, ending the university’s 144-year-old mission of providing free education to all those who merited entry. The decision was met with a united uproar of dissent from nearly all sectors of the university community, including students, faculty, and alumni. While it might seem counterintuitive to get behind a relatively small struggle at one of the most exclusive universities in the country—an old-fashioned meritocracy in a world in which a young person’s “potential” is directly proportionate to their family’s economic station—Cooper Union is by far the most diverse of all elite colleges: white students are a minority here and two-thirds of the student body attended public high schools.

Institutions funded by philanthropy and real estate earnings are clearly unsustainable as foundations for a quality education, but the school’s economic problems and its board’s regressive solutions mirror the situation currently taking place at countless other universities, both public and private. From CUNY tuition hikes to the torpedoing of Medgar Evers College to NYU’s unprecedented land grab, students across the city are fighting back. As student struggles continue across the globe, Cooper Union is a flashpoint for something much larger than itself.

Peter Cooper, the school’s founder, railed against the scourge of student debt a century and a half before the streets of Montreal exploded with resistance, before New York universities faced a string of militant occupations, before students in California put their bodies on the line against tuition hikes and the commodification of higher education. The ongoing fight at Cooper Union is but one part of the broader struggle against austerity, debt, and all other symptoms of capitalism.

On May 1, a 36-page mini-zine that serves as a postscript to last year’s Why is Cooper Union Being Occupied? was produced and distributed around the city. Collecting recent articles, editorials, and primary source documents, this basic update outlines the current situation at Cooper Union, at once a eulogy and a call for new resistance.

Download the PDF here, read online here, or come down to Cooper Union and pick up a hard copy.

For Live Updates, follow Free Cooper Union on Twitter

Senator Warren Introduces the Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act, her first piece of stand-alone legislation, on Wednesday, May 8, 2013. The bill would enable students who are eligible for federally subsidized Stafford loans to borrow at the same rate the big banks get through the Federal Reserve discount window.

From her floor speech:

“Some people say that we can’t afford to help our kids through school by keeping student loan interest rates low,” said Senator Warren. “But right now, as I speak, the federal government offers far lower interest rates on loans, every single day–they just don’t do it for everyone. Right now, a big bank can get a loan through the Federal Reserve discount window at a rate of about 0.75%. But this summer a student who is trying to get a loan to go to college will pay almost 7%. In other words, the federal government is going to charge students interest rates that are nine times higher than the rates for the biggest banks–the same banks that destroyed millions of jobs and nearly broke this economy. That isn’t right. And that is why I’m introducing legislation today to give students the same deal that we give to the big banks.”

“Big banks get a great deal when they borrow money from the Fed,” Senator Warren continued. “In effect, the American taxpayer is investing in those banks. We should make the same kind of investment in our young people who are trying to get an education. Lend them the money and make them to pay it back, but give our kids a break on the interest they pay. Let’s Bank on Students… Unlike the big banks, students don’t have armies of lobbyists and lawyers. They have only their voices. And they call on us to do what is right.”

Add your voice. Please click here to tell your senators to cosponsor the Bank On Student Loan Fairness Act.

You can view the full text of Senator Warren's speech here.

350.org founder Bill McKibben's sermon delivered on April 28 at the Riverside Church in NYC, on the topic of climate change.

Here are some excerpts from McKibben's inspiring sermon titled "God's Taunt":

...Rather, Job has to answer as all mortals did up until our time, because all of a sudden we've gotten rather large. Our first sense of that sudden change in stature came with the detonation of the first atom bomb at Alamagordo in the New Mexico desert. J. Robert Oppenheimer, watching the mushrooming cloud, quoted from the [Bhagvad Gita], from the Hindu scripture - "We are become as gods, destroyers of worlds."

But the images of those blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki were enough to persuade us, so far at least, to go no further down that path, thank god. We could imagine the horror of those titanic explosions. We, so far, have NOT been able to adequately imagine the effect of the explosion of billions of pistons in billions of cylinders every minute of every hour of every day, but those explosions are wrecking the earth just as surely and almost as fast as nuclear war.

Consider that, so far, human beings have burned enough coal and gas and oil to raise the temperature of the planet 1 degree Celsius...the energetic equivalent of exploding 400,000 Hiroshima-sized bombs every day...enough energy so far to melt the Arctic...We've taken one of the largest physical features on earth and we've broken it, and with the others not far behind. The oceans are now 30% more acidic...The atmosphere itself, because warm air holds more water vapor than cold, is now 5% wetter than it was 40 years ago, which loads the dice for drought and for flood...

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It's May Day, and Occupy Wall Street will be acting in force across New York City.

Join us on this day of celebration and agitation for the struggles of workers the world over. As the May Day music video "We Stand For Justice" depicts.

"We stand for justice. We know what it feels like. We stand together, for justice we will fight!"

Indeed, the most important way you can show your support is by joining us in the streets on May Day. But we also need financial and material resources to spread the word and to support actions.

Please donate today to support OWS May Day 2013 activities.

Then tomorrow, stand together with us and fight for justice for the 99%!

-- from the ‘Your Inbox: Occupied’ team

May Day NYC

See the full May Day NYC schedule, as well as specifics on the events below:

all day: The People’s Puppets

We begin the day early in 2 groups: Uptown (meeting in Bryant Park at 10am) and Downtown (meeting in Union Sq at 11am). After marching with different groups, we’ll meet back at Union Square for more performances, especially game time at 4pm!

11am- 230: Free University @ Cooper Union

The Free University of NYC invites neighborhood organizations, schools, unions, spiritual centers, and other community education-oriented groups to create your own Free Universities this May 1st. The impetus behind this May Day call to education is to encourage local communities to host your own gatherings of free education to ensure they’re directly relevant and empowering on a ground level.

noon: Immigrant Worker Justice Tour @ Bryant Park

Join immigrants and workers this May Day as we highlight the daily struggles facing immigrants and workers in New York City. We will visit several workplaces in midtown to demand an end to exploitation of immigrant workers, ending at Schumer's office for a speak-out on what real immigration reform looks like.

2:30: #99PKTS Solidarity Swarm @ Union Square

Join 99 Pickets, the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, and allies as we march on employers around Union Square to demand fair pay and justice for all workers. We'll be visiting the offices of Frieze Art Fair to call for a fairer art world, Wendy's to support the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the Travel Channel to support members of the Writers Guild. Gather at 2:30pm in the NE corner of Union Square; we'll leave at 3pm. Look for Rude Mechanical Orchestra!

3:30: Everybody Now! Sing along @ Union Square

Everybody Now! is a choir that you join as soon as you start to sing (or whisper or hum). On May Day, we will be sharing this song, "We Stand For Justice", at the beginning of the rally at Union Square, and we would love to you to lift your voice and sing with us! Our goal is to make it as resonant and contagious as possible - ideally everyone at the rally will feel empowered and excited to sing along! Listen to a demo of the song and meet us at the SE corner of Union Square (14th St between Broadway and Lafayette, right across from the Duane Reade) AND THEN SING WITH US IN THE RALLY AT 4 PM!!

4pm: Unified Rally for Immigrant & Worker Rights @ Union Square

Joint rally with the May 1st Coalition; the Alliance for Labor Rights, Immigrant Rights and Jobs for All; immigrant rights groups; and Occupy Wall Street. The rally will be a mix of speakers and entertainment drawing attention to the struggles and victories of labor unions, workers, immigrants and the 99%. Followed by a march down Broadway to City Hall.

7pm: May Day People’s Assembly @ Foley Square

This Assembly will be the first in a series of monthly People's Assemblies that will take place on the first Wednesday of each month. What do we have in common, how do our experiences vary, and what can we build together? As the march ends, gather in Foley Square starting at 7pm. We will split into multiple groups based on the struggles, campaigns and people present.

7:30: Occu-Evolve Kimani Grey Assembly @ Zucotti Park

Emphasis on current labor struggles, ending Police Murder and Brutality, stop & frisk, mass incarceration and the War on Black and Brown People, justice for victims of Hurricane Sandy and building Occupy Wall Street to truly reflect and fight for all of the people in New York City.

9pm: Dance Your Debt Away @ Washington Square Park

A party to end the day!

Learn more about the plethora of events and actions happening all day at http://maydaynyc.org/schedule/.

By Marian Wang, ProPublica

As college-bound students weigh their options, they often look to the various statistics that universities trumpet — things like the high number of applications, high test scores, and low acceptance rate.

But students may want to consider yet another piece of info: the ways in which schools can pump up their stats.

"There's no question about it," said David Kalsbeek, senior vice president for enrollment management and marketing at DePaul University. "There are ways of inflating a metric to improve perceived measures of quality."

Some of these tweaks — such as a more streamlined application — can actually benefit students. Others serve to make the admissions process more confusing. Here's a rundown.

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[Mature content, viewer discretion advised.]

Part One:

How do you go on?

Filmmaker David Sutherland explores that question tonight in Kind Hearted Woman, a two-part television event from Frontline and Independent Lens.

The five-hour film, aired in two parts on PBS April 1 and 2, focuses on Robin Charboneau, a member of the Oglala Sioux tribe in North Dakota. A single mother struggling to raise her two children on the Spirit Lake Nation reservation, Charboneau faces daunting odds living in a community plagued by poverty, alcoholism, domestic violence, sexual abuse, and a systemic unwillingness to address its own worst problems.

Charboneau’s path is made no easier by her own troubled childhood. From the age of 3 she was brutally assaulted by family members, then placed in a foster home at 13. Alcoholism, depression, and troubled relationships with abusive men, including her ex-husband, marked her young adulthood. The couple’s custody battles over their children -- daughter Darian, now 17, and son Anthony, 14 -- frame much of Sutherland’s story, which he began filming in 2008, following Charboneau as she fled the reservation and tried to establish an independent life for herself and her kids.

Part Two:

By Marian Wang, ProPublica

At the University of California Santa Cruz, where tuition runs to nearly $35,000 for non-residents, students every year pay more than 30 additional fees — including a small charge for what's billed as "free" HIV testing. Students at Oklahoma State University pay a handsome sum to attend one of the state's flagship schools, but they are also responsible for covering 18 different fees, including a "life safety and security fee."

The $100 "globalization fee" at Howard University is listed — without explanation — in the school's tuition and fees brochure. A school spokeswoman said the fee "supports internationalization initiatives" such as study abroad. Students pay the fee even if they have no intention of studying abroad themselves.

Worcester State University in Massachusetts, however, might have one of the most arresting fees. Students fortunate enough to be admitted face the challenge of paying the required tuition. But before they step foot on campus, they also will be hit with a fee to, well, step foot on campus. A portion of the school's "parking/pedestrian fee" goes to the upkeep of the sidewalks on campus.

Student fees have been something of a known irritant for years, often criticized as a kind of stealth, second tuition imposed on unsuspecting families. But such fees are still on the rise on many campuses. And though their names can border on the comical — i.e., the "student success fee" — there's nothing funny about how they can add up.

"It's a way for colleges to increase the cost that may not be as apparent to as many students," said Mark Kantrowitz, a financial aid expert and the founder of finaid.org and fastweb.org. "You focus in on tuition and when you get the bursar's bill, there are lots of little lines for all these fees, but because each is a relatively small amount, you may not notice it as much. You focus in on the big figure but not on these little figures that collectively add up to a lot."

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Via OccupyWallStreet.net:

On March 10th, 40 Occupiers gathered at Judson Church for the Unorganized Workers Assembly to share experiences and tactics about a wide range of workplace organizing campaigns and projects around the city. The assembly was sponsored by Occupy Your Workplace (OYWP), a working group coming out of OWS. From Hot N Crusty to Golden Farm and Tom Cat Bakery, restaurant workers to carwasheros, Student-Worker solidarity at Columbia University and organizing in the Arts industry, New York is buzzing with initiatives.

Breakout groups discussed both the theory and practice of workplace organizing as well as ways to build solidarity across campaigns. There was also a discussion of an ongoing project of OYWP: a workplace Operations Manual inspired by the Debt Resistors manual, which issued an open call for submissions about workplace experiences of the 99%. The manual aims to locate the strategies and tactics of resistance used by the 99% to gain power and visibility in the workplace. There is also an editorial group open to people willing to work on shaping the manual.

Join the Occupy Your Workplace/Organize the Unorganized Facebook group and learn more about the OYWP mailing list, find details about any of their projects, or to get information about upcoming Unorganized Workers Assemblies.

-- from the ‘Your Inbox: Occupied’ team

Occupy in The News

Tidal #4: Block by Block is ready for download. Articles include meditations on Debt and the Commons, reflections on Occupy Sandy and the connections between Occupy and the Civil Rights Movement.

Occupywallstreet.net reports on the third day of demonstrations spurred on by the death of sixteen-year-old Kimani Gray, with on-the-scene coverage from Occupy activist Austin Guest.

On the blog, Waging Nonviolence, Yotam Marom compares his feelings about Kimani Gray to those he had in 2011 when Georgia executed Troy Davis, “I remember the rally held at Union Square, and the feeling that it was one of the most real political moments I’ve ever experienced — with the deepest hurt and the rawest anger mingling together in a beautiful and tragic human knot.”

Alexis Goldstein, former VP at Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch and now OWS activist, reports back on a recent visit to the Rachel Maddow Show where she talked about the Senate hearing on JPMorganChase’s so-called ‘whale’ trades--the risky derivative trades that ended up costing the company six billion dollars in losses. After a nine month investigation, the bank was found to have “ignor[ed] risks, deceiv[ed] investors, [and fought] with regulators.” According to Goldstein, “the great abuse of the London Whale trade is that it was done with “excess deposits,” which is depositor money (your checking account, my savings account) that is not loaned out. JPMorgan gambled customer money, and then lied about it.”

Strike Debt’s coming action--abolishing over one million dollars in medical debt for randomly chosen people in Indiana and Kentucky--can’t help but garner attention. CNN Money and The Daily News reported on Strike Debt’s work and helped to spread the word about the national week of action taking place right now.

Featured Occu-Project

http://osproject.tumblr.com/

In the spirit of mutual-aid, the Occupy Sandy Grants/Projects Group brings you this web-based resource of projects coming out of OS and OWS, and tips on structuring and funding them.

Submissions welcome, contact Kristian at knammack AT gmail.com.

#LifeOrDebt Week of Action

Thursday, March 21st, 4:00pm

Strike Private Health Insurance

Bryant Park

Kick off the Strike Debt week of action with a rally and creative actions against the private insurance companies!

Saturday, March 23rd, 9:30am-7:00pm

Life or Debt: A Day of Free Healthcare and Education

Judson Church, 55 Washington Square South and Washington Square Park

Join us on March 23 for a day of free healthcare, radical education and a march to highlight community hospital closings. @Washington Square Park 9:30am – all day: Free education, legal advice, performances and music 2pm – March to highlight community hospital closings

@Judson Church 9:30am – 1:30pm: A health fair with FREE HEALTHCARE! 5:30pm – 7pm: Continuation of health fair. We also plan to have practitioners on call to answer medical questions live on the internet all day!

Saturday, March 23rd, 9:30am-7:00pm

Occupy Town Square: Life or Debt

Washington Square Park

Occupy Town Square has joined Strike Debt in a day of free healthcare, radical education and a march to highlight community hospital closings. If you are interested in tabling, doing a teach-in, or have other ideas for how you would like to participate, drop us a line!

We also plan to have practitioners on call to answer medical questions live on the internet all day! It wouldn't be an Occupy Town Square without the OWS Screen Printers! Bring your blank T-shirts, totes and other clothing for the brilliant screeners to customize.

Sunday, March 24th, 1:00pm

Hospital Closings Protest

Former Site of St. John’s Hospital Queens, 90-02 Queens Blvd.

St. John’s Hospital Queens has been closed for about 4 years now. At the time of its closing, St. John’s and its sister hospital had debts and losses in excess of $110 million. Our debt-ridden healthcare system drives hospitals into closure. Join us to demand that healthcare, hospital, and medical debt be absolved, so that healthcare stops driving community hospitals — and people — into bankruptcy.

Occupy these Actions & Events

March 22nd - March 24th

Organizing New York

United Federation of Teachers building, 52 Broadway

A “Force Multiplier” is an approach or tool that dramatically increases effectiveness or impact.

For the new generation of political changemakers, mastering the tools of organizing is that force multiplier. That’s the thinking behind Sunday’s Rootscamp, a day long unconference that is part of a three day Organizing New York training event.

Master advanced social media techniques, grassroots fundraising, tips on messaging for the media, or learn about new tools and strategies you haven’t even heard of yet. Have questions? Please email ONY@organizing20.org. (Your Inbox: Occupied has endorsed this event).

Saturday, March 23rd, noon-2pm

Divest from TD Bank Day of Action and Rally

Union Square, 14th Street

Join Occupy the Pipeline, 350.org and Sane Energy Project as we call out TD Bank for Greenwashing their Image! We are Calling for All Concerned Citizens to Stop Providing Tar Dollars for Total Destruction! If you have money in TD Bank we think it’s time to MOVE YOUR MONEY. You don’t have to live in NYC to join in this Action! Learn more

Sunday, March 24rd, noon-3pm

National Day of Action to Save the People’s Post Office

James A. Farley Post Office, 421 8th Ave

Congress has manufactured a crisis in the Post Office by requiring it to pre-fund its employee benefits for 75 years. Their ‘solution’ is to cut Saturday Delivery service, following the standard prescription of cutting public services before privatizing them. Tell Congress to stop dismantling the Postal Service so it can keep Delivering for America at this rally.

Monday, March 25th, 7:30pm

Everybody now! Direct Action Singing Group

Judson Memorial Church

To be a part of Everybody Now!, all you have to do is start to sing (or whistle, or hum). We amplify the voice of direct action, not just in loudness, but in beauty and in power. New to Everybody Now? Our mission statement lives here: http://everybodynow.net/about/

7:30-8: Skill Share, 8-9:30: Singing Together, 9:30-10: Discussion + Snacks

Do you have ideas for songs that you would like to share? Or an event/rally/action/march that you think we should collaborate with? Let us know!

Wednesday March 27 - 7pm

Building an Alternative to the Two Parties of Wall St.

CUNY Graduate Center Room 5414 (365 5th Ave, Manhattan, btw 34th & 35th)

Join Occupier Kshema Sawant, Lucas Sanchez from NY Communities for Change and Eljeer Hawkins for a discussion how we can continue to build a left alternative to the two parties of Wall Street. Last Fall, Kshama Sawant ran against the Washington state’s Democratic Speaker of the House to demonstrate that it is, in fact, possible to challenge the two parties of big business. She won a historic 29% of the vote as a Socialist Alternative candidate even though her campaign refused corporate donations and was largely ignored by the corporate media!

Friday, March 29th, 6:30-9:00pm

Women’s History Month Assembly

60 Wall Street

In this special assembly to honor and commemorate Women’s History Month, we will discuss the issues surrounding women and the importance of organizing around Feminism and Womanism and their connection and effectiveness in combating the issues that People of Color, the Working Class, Women, Poor People and all of the 99% face today.

Saturday, March 30th, 10am-8:00pm

Building the Commons - Making Worlds

The Brooklyn Commons, 388 Atlantic Avenue
“Making Worlds: a Commons Coalition” was formed during the occupation of Zuccotti Park in order to bring projects working to reclaim the commons to the fore of the Occupy movement. Last year’s Forum on the Commons sought to conceptualize and explore different areas for commoning – natural resources, arts and education, care and reproduction, alternative economies. This year, we would like to open up space for a horizontal conversation with a strong focus on the concrete processes of commoning that are taking place or could take place in New York City now. To register and for a detailed schedule please visit makingworlds.org

Occupy the NRA is launching a long ­term social action campaign to hold Wall Street firms accountable for their investments in gun manufacturers.

Join us for an Occupy the NRA hedge fund divestment action this Monday.

At 12pm on Monday, March 18th, Occupy the NRA will take action against Blackstone, Cerberus & Owl Creek Asset Management. These firms were chosen either because they own millions of dollars of holdings in gun manufacturers’ stock or bought stock as a direct result of the Sandy Hook massacre.

Take action to hit these blood­soaked companies where it hurts most: their bottom line.

-- from the ‘Your Inbox: Occupied’ team

p.s. Not a fan of Facebook? Find this Occupy the NRA event on NYCGA.net.

#LifeOrDebt Week of Action Update

Strike Debt is demanding the cancellation of all medical debts and a radically transformed healthcare system based on everybody’s need for wellness and not the 1%’s desire for wealth.

Take action March 16 – March 23 for this matter of “Life or Debt”.

A large amount of medical debt has been bought and abolished, and announcements in that regard are forthcoming. Yet although this will provide real relief to thousands of people who need it, it is only crumbs in light of the 70 million who still owe money on medical bills.

There are a host of #LifeOrDebt actions planned in New York City. Full event entries are organized by date below in this newsletter, including actions like: You Are Not a Loan Music Video Filming, Strike Private Health Insurance, Life or Debt: A Day of Free Healthcare and Education, Occupy Town Square: Life or Debt, Hospital Closings Protest.

Debt like these are literally killing patients, students, providers and communities.

Join us to strike these debts down.

Occupy in the News

Subscribe to the OWS News Coverage blast here.

Strike Debt Declares Healthcare Emergency: 'It's a Matter of 'Life or Debt''
The Nation
Strike Debt, one of the offshoot groups of Occupy Wall Street, has planned a week of action March 16–23 in response to what it calls a “healthcare emergency.” A majority of personal bankruptcies in the United States are linked to medical bills, with 75 percent of people declaring bankruptcy even though they have health insurance.

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