Why do I occupy?

By Max Anderson, Documentarian and member of Occupy Texas State

When I was a young boy I was told that I could be anything I wanted to be as long as I set my mind to it.  The possibilities were endless: a doctor, a lawyer, an astronaut, a paleontologist (I really wanted to be a paleontologist), even the president.  Being the optimistic kid that I was I believed them; I set my expectations high.  I longed for the great pie in the sky.

As I grew older reality set in and I realized that this was not the great country I had once imagined.  Before I was even old enough to work millions of jobs had been shipped overseas with the passage of NAFTA.  America no longer produced goods, we just consumed them.  At the age of 12, terrorists wreaked havoc on America and sent us into a decade long war that costs taxpayers trillions of dollars.  With the start of theWar On Terror, so too did the encroachment on our civil liberties.  In 2008, the financial crisis seemingly shut down Wall Street and left millions wondering what the future would bring.  All of these factors have left me with a lack of faith in America.

And what of my fellow countrymen?  When I look around all I see is an apathetic populace and a culture that is obsessed with entertainment, celebrities, sex, violence, video games, sports, and reality television.  What should I expect from my fellow countrymen when they only care about the big issues as long as they can press a Like button?  How could I expect them to be the watchdogs of freedom when all of the media is controlled by the 1%, the corporations.  (Fox News is owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation; CNN is owned by Time Warner; MSNBC is currently part of NBCUniversal, a joint venture of Comcast and General Electric; ABC is owned by the Walt Disney Company.)  These companies do not have a vested interest in informing the mass of the public, why that would be unprofitable.  Instead the mainstream media divide people on hyper-partisan issues. I cannot expect the average joe to sift through all the misinformation, chatter, and noise and come to a reasonable, logical conclusion.

I do not have much faith in the future of America.  This once shinning beacon of freedom and liberty has mortgaged away its future.  I am of the generation that will not see prosperity and peace, instead we will face a mountain of debt and endless war.  A generation with millions in prison and even more in poverty.  A generation of uninsured and uninspired.  A lost generation.

The Occupy Movement gives me hope, because I know that I am not the only person that is pissed off with the current state of affairs.  It gives me hope, because the people are finally standing up to the status quo and making their voices heard.  “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out.” “End corporate welfare.” “Money for schools and education, not for greed and corporations.” We are the 99%, and together We can make a difference.

 

Occupy Movement Organizes On Texas College Campuses, Prepares For Future Action

by Teddy Wilson of the American Independent

Occupy Texas State rallies in the Quad at Texas State University - San Marcos. Photo by Caitlin Ortiz.

In the months since the Occupy Movement has begun, a significant segment of the protest has been focused on issues relevant to college students. The rising cost of higher education and the heavy burden of student loan debt have spurred students to get involved in the movement.
On college campuses around the country the occupy movement has been engaged, and the reaction to the protests by some administrators has spurred controversy. Democracy Now! reported that at the University of California at Berkeley police forcibly removed students and arrested 39 people, and at University of California, Davis, campus police pepper-sprayed student protesters as they sat together to protest the dismantling of the “Occupy UC Davis” encampment.

In Texas the occupy movement has been embraced on some college campuses, but there has not been the same types of confrontations with campus police that have been seen elsewhere. The students have often chosen to work with local occupy movement organizers than to focus solely on campus actions. However, as the movement has grown that appears to be changing.

According to the student newspaper the Daily Texan, a student walkout began the occupy movement at the University of Texas at Austin on October 5 as students joined with Occupy Austin. The event took place nationwide as Occupy Colleges called for students and faculty at college campus across the country to solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street Movement.

According to the Occupy UT Austin Facebook page, the group stands in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement. “The community is comprised of students, staff, faculty, and anyone affiliated with (or standing in support of) occupying university members.” A semester long event is being planned for January 16 until May 4 to occupy the University of Texas Tower. The Facebook event page says “that beginning on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Occupy Wall Street movement will come to the University of Texas.” According to the group’s web site, a planning meeting is scheduled for December 13.

The Occupy Movement has also come to Texas A&M University. In November students organized with professors and community members in Occupy Bryan-College Station protests. The Texas A&M student newspaper the Battalion reported that a protest in November organized on campus, and an estimated 40 occupiers marched to the local branch of Bank of America.

However, students at Texas A&M have not “occupied” areas on campus, and their activities have been limited to protests and days of action. Junior mechanical engineering major Justin Montgomery told the Battalion that it wouldn’t be effective to set up occupied encampments. “We’re doing this to show our support for what’s going on elsewhere, and also for all these people to have an outlet to voice their opinions,” said Montgomery.

Joshua Christopher Harvey, one of the organizers of Occupy Texas State, told the Texas Independent that he became involved in the occupy movement because “over the years it had become apparent to me that our government has grown less accountable to the people.” Harvey went on to say that the “encroachment of corporate personhood in our society and its impact on our political system was also of great concern.”

“Here in Texas,” said Harvey, “grants and funding for higher education were and are being cut. These cuts have led my university to increase the student population in an attempt to balance the $10 million budget cut by the state. This puts a great burden on our teaching staff. Due to further cuts next year, our tuition will rise. The Occupy Colleges Movement, which started in California allowed me and others an outlet to be a participant in the greater movement at a local level and to seek solutions to counteract the negative effects of corporate personhood and a failed economy on education in our state.”

Like Occupy UT Austin, Occupy Texas State is also planning future events, including the possibility of acts of peaceful and minor civil disobedience. These events could be “sit-ins or erecting a tent on the Quad and occupying it for a number of hours or possibly days to challenge university policies that we feel limit free speech and expression,” said Harvey. In addition Occupy Texas State is planning on working with the Texas State Employees Union, CWA-TSEU, in the coming weeks to “address cuts and freezes to faculty and staff pay at our university.”

Moving forward, Harvey says that the Occupy Movement on the Texas State campus is going to continue its efforts to further the message of the movement and engage students in action. “We will hold more Days of Action rallies, shows of solidarity to the greater Occupy Movement and seek to work with our local and state governments. We feel it is time to move from demonstrating to action and we are planning a host of activities for the Spring semester including a voting drive to register the incoming students in time for the 2012 elections,” said Harvey.

Constitution of Occupy Texas State

CONSTITUTION OF OCCUPY TEXAS STATE

ARTICLE I – NAME

The name of this organization shall be Occupy Texas State (OTX).

ARTICLE II – OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this organization shall be:
A.) to foster solidarity between students, faculty and staff of Texas University and the surrounding community.
B.) to engender in the same an interest in the Occupy Movement and
to further educate the same to the effects of recent and proposed cuts being taken against higher education.
C) to build viable solutions to positively combat the challenges posed by such fiscal cuts.
D) to enrich and diversify campus life by creating a space for alternative ways of thinking.

ARTICLE III – AFFILIATION

Occupy Texas State (OTX) shall be affiliated with the national Occupy Colleges movement and the The Texas State Employees Union (TSEU). We also stand in solidarity with the larger and international Occupy Wall Street movement.

ARTICLE IV – MEMBERSHIP

Any student, faculty, staff or alumni of Texas State University – San Marcos as well as supportive members of the community who are in agreement with the principles of the organization, attend meetings regularly, participate the activities of the group and are willing to take responsibility for actions of the group as a whole are eligible for membership. This body of the organization shall be called collectively The General Assembly.

ARTICLE V – VOTING

Votes concerning internal affairs such as

A.) Council positions

B.) financial decisions

C.) amendments to this constitution

shall be made by a two-thirds vote by those members of the General Assembly who are Texas State students, faculty, staff and alumni. Proposals for amendments and bylaws may be presented by the non-affiliated community but only the affiliated community may vote on any actual changes to this document.

Votes concerning community action events such as

A.) rallies

B.) teach-ins

C.) social events

D.) shows of solidarity

shall be open to all members of the General Assembly regardless as to university affiliation.

ARTICLE VI – THE DUTIES AND PRIVILEGES OF MEMBERSHIP

Members are encouraged to be active participants in all areas of the organization’s activity. Regular attendance at weekly meetings, participation on committees and in study groups, help in publicizing the group and its events, and work with allied organizations are all requirements. Active members will enjoy full participation in all discussions and decision-making for the organization as well as eligibility for leadership positions. Membership shall allow for voting and appointment to The Council which serves to organize the group. Members may vote immediately upon joining the organization. Membership shall be maintained by attendance rosters.

ARTICLE VII – THE COUNCIL

Members elected to The Council shall serve a Fall-Spring term. Elections for the next term will be held the final month of a semester.

The Council

A.) shall act as coordinating body composed of members with equal status to members of OTX as a whole and will hold separate weekly meetings.
B.) shall have no special powers beyond the coordinating of activity in between weekly meetings and shall be held accountable by the membership. Full transparency and explanation of all decisions shall be mandatory.

C.) shall consist of a Chair, a Co-Chair, a Treasurer, a Secretary of Internal Affaires, a Secretary of External Affaires, and Media Affaires specialists.

The responsibilities of the Chair shall
A.) consist of serving as a moderator within The Council and shall work with outside media inquiries. The Chair shall keep the Council open and transparent and shall serve to chronicle the actions of The Council and The General Assembly. The Chair shall serve as a liaison between OTX and the university.

The responsibilities of the Co-Chair shall

A.) consist of all of the duties and functions of the Chair should the Chair not be available or present and shall include the primary task of reaching out and working with local businesses and organizations.

The responsibilities of the Treasurer shall
A.) consist of allocating funds for group events and activities, depositing donations and reviewing financial requests made by the General Assembly to the Council as well as request made directly by the Council. The Treasurer must present the request for financial allocations to the advisor for approval.

The responsibilities of the Secretary of Internal Affaires shall
A.) include being in responsible for all minutes from Council and General Assembly meetings. They shall be in charge of maintaining membership lists and sending memos for events to all members. The secretary shall also be in charge of attendance.

The responsibilities of the Secretary of External Affairs shall
A.) consist of working with the Chair and Co-Chair to work with local labour unions affiliated with the university and education in the state of Texas to secure support as well as with local businesses to secure venues for events, supplies and donations and to foster general community support.

Media Affairs shall be an internal team that documents events through video and photography as well as working towards designing event flyering and literature that shall be handed out by the group.

The Council shall be answerable to the General Assembly but shall function as a force that helps to empower and mobilize the organization. The General Assembly shall vote and make suggestions as to the exact plans of action for the group.

ARTICLE VIII – ELECTION AND RECALL OF COUNCIL MEMBERS

All members selected to The Council must be current, regularly enrolled students in good standing at Texas State. Members shall be voted into their position by a two-thirds General Assembly vote.

The Chair, Co-Chair and Treasurer must have a minimum Texas State University GPA of 2.25.

Officers are subject to recall for malfeasance in office. Recall procedures will be initiated at the request of any two members before the General Assembly.

A two-thirds majority of those active members voting in a recall at the end of the hearing is necessary to remove any office.

ARTICLE IX – FREQUENCY OF MEETINGS

Meetings shall be every Wednesday at 630. Location to be attached Spring of 2012.

ARTICLE X – DUES

No dues shall be requested of our members, however members and those interested in joining OCCUPY TEXAS STATE are encouraged to make a per semester donation in any amount they deem appropriate.

ARTICLE XI – VOTING

The General Assembly shall be the voting body that determines those who shall serve in the Council as well as the determining vote on propositions presented by the Council to the General Assembly. Any member may make a motion for proposition which must be passed by a two-thirds majority.

ARTICLE XII – COMMITTEES

The membership may, from time to time, constitute committees to facilitate an efficient division of labor for the organization. The establishment of committees will require a two-thirds majority vote in a branch meeting.

ARTICLE XIII – FACULTY ADVISOR

The faculty advisor will be selected by majority vote of the membership.

The removal of the advisor can happen two ways:
A.) the advisor removes him/herself from the position, or
B.) the majority of the group decides to remove the advisor under the rules governing removal of the organization’s officers. Selection of a new advisor will require another majority vote.

ARTICLE XIV – DISBURSAL OF FUNDS

Should OTX become defunct, the organization’s assets will be disbursed to the Center for Economic Research and Social Change.

ARTICLE XV – PROCESS FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS AND BYLAWS

To amend this constitution, a motion must be made by a member and seconded. A two-thirds majority of  university affiliated members i.e. students, faculty, staff and alumni must vote to approve constitutional changes and bylaws.

ARTICLE XVI – STATEMENT OF RATIFICATION

This constitution is hereby ratified and by a majority vote of Occupy Texas State on this day, December 7th, 2011.

The Roots Of A Movement

Submitted to Occupy Texas State by Gregory VanWagenen, Philosophy Major at Spokane Community College

Missing amid the cornucopia of goodies shoveled at the feet of the one percent, provided endlessly and thanklessly by the productive American worker, is a list of demands, a manifesto, an explanation for the appearance of so many people flooding the streets during the occupy protests.

Critics of the occupation – both the wealthy and their closest lackeys – are united around the idea of entitlements. The same people who create the vast majority of this society’s wealth, it is assumed, owe those who buy and sell, but produce nothing. The producers don’t merely owe their masters money, food, a life free of taxes. They also owe them a categorical explanation for everything they do and say. The same workers and farmers and thinkers, once they quit working and farming and thinking, owe their overlords an explanation for the mass gathering that has taken shape in Zucotti Park and which has subsequently spread to cities and towns throughout the world.

What the banker class and their media seem not to understand is that they were not owed anything, ever. They can’t be faulted. Those same people were born, and came to adulthood in an era in which such an unnatural state of affairs was deemed to be normal. Many of them likely imagine that this is the way life ought to be. A few people get to live well without working, while millions struggle to provide them with wealth while enduring deprivations.

In fact, this is not a normal state of affairs. It isn’t healthy, sane or sustainable. The advanced industrial societies of the world are all built upon a structure which is now collapsing beneath the weight of its own internal contradictions. The occupy movement is not an ordinary protest. It is not a protest which seeks to change some superficial aspect of the system, so structured as to make the protest irrelevant once a few grievances are addressed. The fact that it seems directionless is not an accident. Rather than a movement with a manifesto, it is a tendency driven by conclusions rooted in the dissonance of modern life. A hundred people come together in a park one day, each convinced, in his own unique way, that the social order is dysfunctional. Within a month, he’s joined by three thousand others.

The protests are not taking place in impoverished nations, or in nations which are particularly brutal to the majority populations. The occupy protests, post-modern and leaderless, are constructing a critical theory of societies which have, for generations, provided a minimum level of subsistence for the material bodies of their inhabitants. At stake is not reform, but the necessity of consolidating an entirely new theory of social praxis, of including aesthetics, sensibility and sensitivity in the social contract. Most importantly, they seek to address an oft neglected dimension of human existence within the ongoing discourse.

If there is an underlying issue, then, it is psychological rather than physical, expressed in the conscious drive of the inhabitants of the affluent society, toward making an absolute break with the social structure they find themselves in.

Education Is A Necessity Not A Privilege

by Joshua Christopher Harvey

On June 9, 1963 then Vice President of the United States (and our universities greatest alumnus) Lyndon Baines Johnson, stated that we had “entered an age in which education is not just a luxury permitting some men an advantage over others” but rather  “a necessity without which a person is defenseless”  in a complex and industrialized society. Indeed, our university was established to strengthen the foundation of education in our state and, since 1899, it has risen to be among Texas’s leaders in the number of new educators for the state. But ours is a state in which, despite the job growth and economic clout touted by Governor Perry, has cut and continues to cut education funding.

According to a survey of school districts representing 39 percent of the state by the school finance consultant Moak, Casey & Associates, more than 60 percent of Texas school districts can expect further staffing reductions next year as they grapple with state budget reductions. These reduction come after those districts reported a loss of 9,586 school district jobs — one-third of which were classroom teachers despite those same districts serving 17,593 more students than in the 2010‐11 academic year. Applying these figures across the state would mean there are roughly 32,000 fewer school employees in Texas, including 12,000 fewer teachers.

During its 82nd session the Texas Legislature eliminated a host of grant programs  and slashed grants for higher education. These cuts totaled $5.4 billion. Schools through out the state were underfunded a further  $4 billion in basic aid and cut $1.3 billion from grant programs that paid for full-day prekindergarten and assisted students struggling to pass state standardized tests. These cuts would have been more drastic for the 2010-2011 academic year had Texas not received a one‐time grant of $820 million in federal education jobs funds to mitigate the impact of the state cuts. But the one-time grant was a double edged knife for the state – more jobs are expected to be lost during the 2012-2013 academic year because schools are relying on the one-time federal money to prop up their budgets this year and some districts will lose additional state aid next year.

Cuts to grants and funding mean increased tuition rates for us as students. Due to cuts by the 82nd legislative session, funding to Texas State University was reduced $10 million. This led to a decision by our nine-member Texas State University System Board of Regents to approve a tuition raise to be implemented  in January 2012.  We will now spend and additional $16 per credit hour for a total of $167. This tuition hike will only generate about $6.7 million for the university in general revenue which is the main source of state funding for the university. Overall, our university has lost about 3.6 percent of the 28 percent in state funds of the total university budget in the educational and general portion.

Bill Nance, vice president for Finance and Support Services said these cuts have led to the record enrollment that has led to the housing strain on the campus this year. “Given the progress we’re trying to make at the university, we just didn’t feel like we could go in and start cutting things like degree programs,” Nance said. “When you increase enrollment it puts stress on the workload of our existing faculty and staff. We don’t like having to do that, but it’s what we had to do to survive the cuts.”  Our enrollment increased 4.7 percent from 32,572 in fall 2010 to 34,113 for fall 2011.

In 2008 the College Board’s “Trends in College Pricing” reported that in the ten years prior the public college costs have risen at an average rate of 6.9 percent per year and four-year private college costs have risen at an average rate of 5.8 percent per year. As we grapple with high student loan payments for the first few decades of our adult lives, we will have less money to spend and invest in our nation and her industries where it would have been spent in future years. Unlike our parents, we might not be able to spend and invest enough to allow great economic growth to occur. It is vital to our survival as an economically competitive nation to hold education as a necessity and a fundamental cornerstone to our democracy.

Public education and higher education is for the whole of society and to fund both it to invest in our future. Without adequate funding many of the gains our schools and universities have worked so hard to realize will fall short in the growing face of international education and business competition. Even our own corporations see this as they continue to divest in our nation, ship jobs overseas and charge us more back home to cover their costs. The argument that education is a privilege not a right advocates a selfish society in which the American dream can never flourish. It is an argument that justifies a class system and allows for greater disparity in opportunity. For us to rise on the wings of a stable economy, attract back jobs and foreign companies and elevate our society we must not cut funding to education.

The structure and bureaucracy that exists within the educational superstructure itself hinders our progress and must also be addressed and combated. But first and foremost, if Texas is to succeed economically and, to quote President Eisenhower from a 1958 speech – “if the United States is to maintain its position of leadership and if we are to further enhance the quality of our society, we must see to it that today’s people are prepared to contribute the maximum to our future progress and strength” and the only way to do that is if  “we achieve the highest possible excellence in our education.”

Save our teachers, save our schools, save our grants and our future will prosper.

Police Brutality Unacceptable At Occupy Movements

by Isabella Wisinger , Marketing Freshman at Texas State University

The Occupy Wall Street movement is no longer a local, state or even a national movement. It is international, with hundreds of cities holding occupations all over the world. However, this growing force has been met with much resistance from local police forces, especially in the U.S. The kind of brutality that has been displayed by police in the past week has been an abuse of power. Police are unnecessarily breaking up groups of peaceful protesters and using near-lethal methods against unarmed citizens when they should be working in the interest of the citizens.

There have been numerous cases since the inception of Occupy Wall Street involving officers arresting nonviolent civilians under the guise of things like trespassing, disorderly conduct and violating a city ordinance when the only crime being committed is standing on the wrong piece of land while working and fighting for a just cause. Police should give more lenience and stop resorting to methods that put a division between them and the people.

Police have been getting entirely too violent without just cause. Take the story of Scott Olsen, former Marine and two-time Iraq war veteran. While participating in Occupy Oakland, he had his skull fractured after being hit by a tear gas canister thrown by police. Then, when fellow occupiers tried to step in to offer their help, police threw in a flashbang grenade to break up the crowd. If you watch the videos of what Olsen was doing prior to being hit, he was simply standing with a fellow veteran, showing no violence toward officers. The fact that police would go after a man who has shown such commitment to our country and then proceed to break up the group trying to help him is truly sickening.

In Austin on Saturday night, 38 were arrested for refusing to comply with the two-day-old city ordinance that food tables must be put away between 10 p.m. and 6 p.m. This occurred the weekend after a group of about 200 Occupy Austin activists showed their support for Scott Olsen by getting candles and holding a silent march from Austin City Hall to the Texas Capitol building. The protesters held a rally for about half an hour to show solidarity with Occupy Oakland and to protest police brutality. A moment of silence was held before the group began chanting, “We are Scott Olsen!” and marched through Cesar Chavez and Congress Avenue back to City Hall.

Joshua Harvey, organizer of the Occupy Texas State movement, was active in the silent march in Austin. He noted while he saw little resistance from the police, their march seemed to have caused City Hall to take action.

“It was interesting, right after that happened, City Hall implemented all these new rules restricting the protesters being there, pretty much making it so that they have to find somewhere else to go,” Harvey said. “I’m thinking that that was in retaliation because no one got arrested that night. And then, the weekend after that, suddenly 38 people were arrested and all these new rules had been implemented.”

It is clear that activists in the Occupy movements are not asking for violence, nor want to provoke it. They are willing to work with the laws put in place, as long as these laws are just in themselves, and aren’t being abused. These recent cases of police brutality, all occurring within the past week, show our policemen fighting against the people they are sworn to protect. The fact that it has come to this — police officers trying to break up a crowd offering medical attention is a sign that things need to change. People deserve to know when they are falling asleep at night that their police force is on their side.

Candlelight Vigil for Veteran Scott Olsen

There will be a peaceful vigil held tonight, November 1st, for Scott Olsen, Marine veteran with two tours in Iraq and member of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). Scott was critically injured by a police projectile at Occupy Oakland on October 25. We will assemble at the Stallions in the Quad with candles and hold a silent march to the court house where we will hold a moment of silence. The march back to the quad will allow for chanting.  Please bring plain white taper candles. We will have a few extra to provide. To show you will attend please follow this link here.  A map of the location of the rally point is linked here.

Donations for Scott’s medical costs & his family’s travel expenses can be made at IVAW.org with ‘Scott Olsen’ under Special Projects linked here.

Scott Olsen being carried to the hospital after being knocked unconscious by both a tear gas canister and flashbang grenade.

Occupy Texas State And Occupy Austin United In Solidarity With Occupy Oakland And Scott Olsen

Police raid Occupy Oakland encampment

By Joshua Christopher Harvey

On Tuesday, October 25th Occupy Oakland protestors united in a show of solidarity against the razing of their camp the night before by The Oakland Police Department. The protestors crime was establishing a public forum on public land to highlight critical public issues about the nation’s financial crisis, the consolidation of wealth and power, and the ability of citizens to meaningfully participate in the democratic process. Among those involved was Scott Olsen, a 24-year old  former Marine, two-time Iraq war veteran, and member of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Scott had returned from his military service in 2010 to a nation in which, as of January of this year, the unemployment rate  among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans stood at 15% nationwide. For California veterans  aged 18 to 24 the percentage is even more staggering – 25% unemployed. Factor in disability and that percentage almost doubles to 47%.  Despite all the numbers against him Scott secured a job as a systems network administrator in Daly, California. According to Keith Shannon, who deployed with Scott to Iraq, “Scott was marching with the 99% because he felt corporations and banks had too much control over our government, and that they weren’t being held accountable for their role in the economic downturn, which caused so many people to lose their jobs and their homes.” Indeed, unemployment aside, California, like the rest of the country, has been in a financial meltdown since 2008. In 2009, the state of California issued IOUs to state agents. It was the second time since the Great Depression that California has issued IOUs, known as warrants, to its state employees. About one in every 239 homes is foreclosed on in California as of July of this year. So it was not question for Scott and many of his fellow veterans to join their fellow citizens in drawing attentions to the issues they faced and utilizing their First Amendment rights to assemble peacefully and work towards solutions.

Scott Olsen

It was no question for Scott Olsen and his fellow protesters to reoccupy the space at the Oakland Library only to be met with heavily armed riot police and their tear gas, rubber bullets and flashbang grenades. No sympathy was shown by a police department that in 2009 was facing 100 lay-offs due to a city budget deficit of $83 million. Not to mention cuts and reductions in retirement pay. But their unrestrained brutality resulted in a two-time veteran of Iraq being hit in the head with a tear gas canister which was followed by a flashbang grenade when a group of fellow citizens tried to lift his unconscious body. He now has a fractured skull and a swelling brain and remains unconscious in critical condition at Oakland’s Highland Hospital.

Scott Olsen being carried to the hospital after being knocked unconscious by both a tear gas canister and flashbang grenade.

Last night, Occupy Austin along with representatives Matthew Molnar, Lindsey Huckaby, Joshua Christopher Harvey, Rex Pape and Clifton MacAlbrecht  of Occupy Texas State united with other occupy movements across the country in a coordinated demonstration with the city of Oakland. In Austin, about two hundred Occupy Austin protestors gathered with candles and marched silently from Austin City Hall to the Texas capitol building in downtown Austin. Despite the capitol building being closed, protestors went through gaps in the fencing to climb the steps of the capitol where they were met by capitol police. Despite being asked by the capitol police to leave the protestors held a rally for about half an hour to show solidarity with Occupy Oakland and Occupy Atlanta as well as to protest police brutality. A moment of silence was held before the group chanted “We are Oakland, we are Atlanta!” and “We are Scott Olsen!”  and marched back to Austin City Hall through the middle of Congress Avenue and Cesar Chavez.

Riot police storm through Occupy Oakland.

The demonstration aimed to draw attention to fellow Americans who have been subjected to violence at the hands of their own government for exercising the constitutional freedoms their government is sworn to protect. The violent raid on the 25th of Occupy Oakland resulted in the arrest of 85 people and the  brutalizing many peaceful participants, using excessive physical force, tear gas, and dangerous projectile rounds. Our elected public officials must listen to the grievances of this popular movement. It is absolutely unacceptable to attempt to dissuade civic engagement through the use of brutality, repression and retaliation against movement participants. This is America. All Americans have the freedom to peacefully protest our government. That right defines who we are as a country and a people, and when it is denied, all of America is the poorer for it. The Mayor of Oakland — and mayors and city governments across the country — should get on the right side of history and honor all Americans’ freedom to peacefully assemble and to civically engage.

We conclude with the video footage of a raid that aimed to suppress a movement and the collective voice of the people but inspired a show of national solidarity for WE ARE ALL SCOTT OLSEN!

Call Mayor Quan’s office and demand that she investigate this incident and allow peaceful protests to continue: (510) 238-3141

Occupy Texas State And Occupy San Marcos Stand In Solidarity With The Move Your Money Project

On November 5th members of both Occupy Texas State along with Occupy San Marcos plan to pull their money from large corporate banks such as Bank of America and instead with to a local credit union. A+ Federal Credit Union which is hosting a “Go Bank Free” event between now and November 5th.  A+FCU will deposit $50 into the members savings account for every Checking account opened and give a $20 deposit for every friend that is referred and becomes a first time member. On November the 5th they will have special extended hours and will stay open until 4PM at all branch locations to make switching more convenient. To make the deal even sweeter they are doing HOURLY prize drawings for Visa Gift Cards from $25-$100 for those who open up new checking accounts on Bank Transfer Day. This event was inspired by the The Move Your Money project is a campaign that aims to empower individuals and institutions to divest from the nation’s ‘Too Big To Fail’ Wall Street banks that  have wreaked havoc on our economy and created the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Below is information taken from their site:

WHY SHOULD YOU MOVE YOUR MONEY?

Moving your money out of the big Wall Street banks to small community banks and credit unions is a great idea for a number of reasons: you will get better rates and fewer fees, your comunity banker will learn your name and provide you with more personal service, and you will be keeping money in your local community which increases economic development and eventually, creates more jobs. Yet the most important reason to move your money is to make your voice heard, to stand strong and no longer help a banking system that has run amok

INVEST IN MAIN STREET, NOT WALL STREET

When you keep your money in a local financial institution, that money in turn is reinvested in local businesses, which is important for building a stable economy and encouraging local growth. Put your money in the big Wall Street banks however, and they will use your deposits to make risky investments, gambling at the expense of the economy as a whole.

END TOO BIG TO FAIL

The big banks on Wall Street gambled with our money, then demanded a bailout of $700 billion. The size of these Wall Street “Banksters” threatens our economic system, yet their size has only increased since we bailed them out. According to FDIC data, the largest 5 banks held 13% of US deposits in 1994, today they hold 38%. If the government wont step in and break them up, then we must move our money ourselves and end ”Too Big To Fail” once and for all.

FEWER FEES, MORE SAVINGS

Worried about ATM fees? You shouldn’t be. More and more community banks and credit unions offer ATM surcharge-free networks, providing you with even more access to ATMs nationwide. Community banks and credit unions also charge on average less in fees, and often pay you higher interest on your accounts than big banks. The numbers are clear: the bigger the bank, the higher the fees.

GET MORE PERSONAL SERVICE

According to JD Power and Associates, small banks have consistently rated higher in overall customer satisfaction than their Wall Street counterparts and the gap has only widened in the last few years. Customers of community banks and credit unions talk to actual people when they call, instead of robotic phone-trees. Tellers often know them by name and treat their customers like family.

LEND A HAND TO LOCAL BUSINESSES

Smaller banks do disproportionately more small business lending than the big banks. Small businesses, in turn, are the main engine of job growth, accounting for 65% of new jobs. Banking locally is a great way to support independent businesses and create more jobs in your home town.

 So go out into your local community and move your money! 

Harvard Economics Professor Lawrence Lessig on the Occupy Movement

Harvard economics professor Lawrence Lessig offers his thoughts on the Occupy Movement. He compares it to the citizen uprising in Wisconsin and says that the movement might unify left and right against the corrupt influence of corporate money on politics.