Occupy Boston Holds March for Free Public Higher Education for All

Almost 100 students from several Boston area colleges held a protest march around Boston as part of a National Day of Action for Education – called by students in the Occupy movement around the United States. The local action was organized by Students Occupy Boston – a working group of the Occupy Boston movement – and its core demand reflected the main theme of the national action: free public higher education for all.

Nate Matthews, a Tufts University student and press representative for Students Occupy Boston explained, “We held this march in solidarity with students in California, New York, and around the nation who called for action on these issues. Tuition has gone up by 900% since 1978, 650 points over inflation. Student debt has soared in recent years, nearing $1 trillion and passing credit card debt as the nation’s leading form of debt. If this bubble bursts, the effects will be felt throughout the economy.

http://tinyurl.com/7ampl4p

Education takes spotlight in Occupy protests

Student protesters said the recent activity among Occupy protesters nationwide does not reflect a new emphasis on education, but rather a possibly more narrow approach to addressing students’ concerns._The Occupy movement resurged Thursday with the National Day of Action for Education.

BU Occupies Boston members joined local supporters and protested throughout downtown Boston and at the Massachusetts State House Thursday, said College of Arts and Sciences junior Brandon Wood, a BU Occupies Boston member.

http://tinyurl.com/87kkvgc

For homeless advocate, paid employment doesn’t bring shelter

Cherie King, 36, has been living in and out of shelters since August 13, 2011. She’s homeless because she dropped everything to care for her mentally ill brother and bedridden mother, the latter of whom died last year. In her work as a homeless advocate with Occupy Boston, King has made it a point to bring light to her story, and to those of more than 1000 other Boston adults who are in the same predicament. She’s also quick to dispel homeless stereotypes: King doesn’t drink or use drugs, and she works as many part-time jobs as she can land. According to a 2011 survey by the US Department of Mayors, Boston’s homelessness rate is in moderate decline. Still, the plight of the working, struggling people on the street remains a real one.

According to past surveys, only about 30 percent of the homeless population in Boston is female. What makes it especially hard to be a woman on the street?

There are not enough beds for women in any shelters. At the same time, there are less services to help men. I came across a single father of a 12-year-old boy; the mother, who is also homeless, is out of the picture totally. There are very few services are out there to help this man keep his child.

http://tinyurl.com/6m92whq

Women Who Took the Pill Had an 8 Percent Higher Income by Age 50

In short, women on the pill are better able to get degrees, choose their occupation, and enter (and leave) the workforce when they want, which in turn gives them better footing with men in terms of commanding wages. “Our estimates imply that the pill can account for 10 percent of the convergence [of] the gender gap in the 1980s and 30 percent in the 1990s,” write the researchers.

http://tinyurl.com/6v5r4vq

Occupiers mic-check Israeli ambassador at AIPAC conference

Shortly after the people’s mic began, the crowd of AIPAC attendees reacted forcefully. Some of them climbed over chairs to reach the demonstrators, and one of the disruptors, Rick Colbath-Hess, was violently yanked down to the floor by his necktie. After the mic-check, Laura Kacere of Occupy DC and Ridgely Fuller of CODEPINK and Occupy Boston both stood on top of chairs and chanted “Don’t bomb Iran!” The AIPAC crowd responded by singing the Israeli national anthem, led by Representative Ros-Lehtinen, and the activists were eventually escorted out.

http://tinyurl.com/6m8rdf7

Privacy Mom Leads Collegiate Nation Against All Tracking

As part of its Occupy Privacy campaign on college campuses, Collegiate Nation announced today that it is promoting the message that college students should not have their youthful transgressions, photos or thoughts stored forever on data bases belonging to companies whose first loyalty is to advertisers, data miners and data brokers.

“Tracking those within our society who are most vulnerable, valuable and likely to make youthful mistakes is not only unethical but cruel,” stated Evelyn Castillo-Bach, the founder of Collegiate Nation — also known as GoCNCN.com

http://tinyurl.com/83glhcl