BY GALE SHANGOLD
LOS ANGELES - Eighty-eight demonstrators protesting the implementation of Proposition 209 were arrested at the University of California here May 19 after occupying Royce Hall on the campus for most of the day.

Proposition 209, approved in a California referendum last year, is a measure banning affirmative action in state hiring and contracting and in admissions to state universities. It does not directly affect affirmative action programs in private schools or workplaces.

At the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), Black, Latino, and Native American students account for less than 13 percent of admissions for next fall's freshman class, compared with nearly 20 percent last year.

The arrests took place after three days of demonstrations, called Days of Defiance, that were sponsored by the UCLA Affirmative Action Coalition. On May 14 students protested outside the University of California regents meeting. The next day the protests targeted the inauguration of Albert Carnesale, the new chancellor of UCLA. On May 19 students and others culminated their actions with a rally and march commemorating Malcolm X's birthday. The occupation of Royce Hall occurred after the march.

About 500 students rallied throughout the day outside the building chanting "Affirmative Action," the "Students united will never be defeated," and "We're still here." Some of the Black students wore T-shirts saying, "Black student: endangered species."

Several members of Bruin Republicans and Young Americans for Freedom showed up as a counterprotest, holding U.S. flags and signs in favor of the anti-affirmative action measure.

In a May 18 statement to the media the students explained, "The Affirmative Action Coalition has demanded that Carnesale issue a statement of noncompliance in defiance of Proposition 209, radically reform current admissions policies, establish outreach centers in educationally disadvantaged areas of Los Angeles County, and publicly state his opposition to Proposition 209."

The Los Angeles Times reports that Carnesale said in a statement "that the university values diversity but that it must abide by the law, and Proposition 209 is the law."

More than 100 police in riot gear were present during the occupation. They confined the students for eight hours in a room, using handcuffs before releasing them.  
 
 
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