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ILLINOIS INSTITUTE I// OF TECHNOLOGY RYAN HYN ES opinion@technewsiit.com TechNews I Tuesday, November 22, 2011 UC-Davis protestors represent #OWS struggles By Ryan Hynes OPINION EDITOR This past Friday, student protestors at UC Davis were pepper-sprayed by police after the university’s chancellor requested that the police move to disperse the protestors. The video of this incident has since gone viral and has provoked both shock and outrage across the country. The students were demonstrating as an extension of the Occupy Wall Street movement, which has gained notoriety over the last month for challenging the status quo and the vilified “one percent.” Occupy Wall Street seeks to reform the abuses of our current financial and banking industries, and encourages peaceful protest to achieve its goals. Given the current state of economic affairs, it is easy to sympathize with the protestors. The recession is still in full force, and the job market is abysmal. As a college student, the nation’s economic woes only exacerbate the problem of securing a job after graduation, and with scores of unemployed and underemployed professionals, the competition for what few openings there are is fierce. Perhaps that is why it is the youth of this country that are so incensed by the abuses of the political machine and the blatant class favoritism that dominates our current political scene. Indeed, there is a rich history of young people protesting the status quo. Chicago has its own dark past when it comes to youth in revolt. The infamous 1968 Democratic National Convention saw Grant Park transformed into a battlefield as young people protested the Vietnam War. Police responded savagely, beating the protestors and spraying tear gas from their “Daley Dozers,” heavily armored Jeeps surrounded by barbed wire. It is impossible to be a student of this nation’s history and not see the parallels between Occupy Wall Street and the tumultuous nationwide riots of 1968. Something very dissimilar, though, is that technology has shifted considerable power to the protestors. Videos of the UC Davis incident, as well as the entire Occupy Wall Street movement, are easily accessible and are making police more accountable. Already, two police oflicers involved have been suspended and there are cries for the chancellor of UC Davis’ resignation. Technology and social media have had a transformative impact upon world politics and political reform. The Arab Spring was brought about largely through social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter, and the videos of police brutality drew an international response and prompted quick action from the UN. The protestors at Occupy Wall Street hope to accomplish the same thing and are using the Arab Spring as a model for their own movement. You can follow the protestors on Twitter at #OWS, and I encourage it. Not because I feel some particular conviction for their message, but because these are exciting and transformative times, and as students, and the future of this nation, we have more influence than ever on its outcome. Deutschland Travel Blog: “Berlin" By Shefali Umrania TECHNEWS WRITER Excursions, trips, vacations, journeys, picnics, and any other synonyms for the word ‘adventure’ always make me super excited and super nervous. It’s like eating chocolate. You love it so much that it excites you while eating, but it also makes you super nervous while thinking of its effect on your waist size. The night before I left for Berlin, I was in a similar state of mind. The Eurorail or Eurail has received much publicity for its speedy interstate transport, but a ticket from one corner of Germany to another cost 130 Euros! So, I did some scouting around for the best deals to travel in Germany, German style. I memorized two words that my Tubingen flatmate told me: “mit fahr”. Mit Fahr literally translates from German to “with travel”. It is a convenient car-pooling service where people on long-distance road trips offer empty seats in their car to some other people who want to make the same trip on the same day in exchange for cash, which mostly covers a portion of the gas price. It is not really reliable in terms of urgency, but if there is a car listed going to the same place as you, it could work out - as it did for me. I didn’t know what to expect. I had a train already in mind and had a back-up option planned out in case the person who was driving turned out to be a nasty-looking dodgy person. That is very important though, chalking out a plan B while using mit fahr. As it turns out, I was lucky. My driver was actually a German family man who was driving with his wife and 3 kids to Berlin in a big van. He had 3 empty seats at the back and could find only me and one other student to fill them, so it was a comfortable ride for the 500-odd miles that we traveled. Ah, Berlin! Phonetically, Bayrrleen. Just so many things about this city have already caught my attention. Number 1, it is a city! Number 2, when a Berlin local says, “I’m a Berliner” to a German outside of Berlin, he is actually saying “I’m a donut.” This is because Germans outside of Berlin call a particular kind of jelly-filled donut as the Berliner (that donut is known by a different name in Berlin). Number 3, little pieces of the famous Berlin Wall are sold as fridge magnet souvenirs - trust their credibility at your own risk. Number 4, American football in German is called football. Soccer in German is called fuf3ball. Foosball in German is called fuBkicker. Number 5, Berlin has many gardens. They have more than twice the number of beer gardens. Beer Gardens are random gardens with shacks that sell different kinds of beer to people who come there to hang out and drink been Photo courtesy of Wayne Tilcock/Associated Press Number 6, when non-German- speaking 20-year-old research interns find themselves lost in Deutschland for 3 months, they turn into friends for life within 48 hours of meeting each other. Numb er 7, Germans love their bread, their beer, their cars, their parks, their trains, their meat, their science, their language and some more things that I’ll find out soon. Number 8, my host has been to 35 countries and still counting. Number 9, the public transport is so advanced that they offer “Call a bike” services where you can rent out bicycles for specific periods of time. Number 10, when you touch the stones of the Holocaust Memorial, the Berlin Wall, the Bundestag and other monuments that have lived through time, you are in fact, touching history. It is an enthralling moment that no words can describe. Number 11, servers in a restaurant will look at you funnily if you ask for plain water as your accompanying drink with your meal. Number 12, traditionally, Germans drink soda water or fizzed water instead of plain water. Number 13, everyone is surprised I speak such good English and I’m amazed at their surprise! Till next year, happy holidays!