WESTWOOD—On November 17, about 30 tents went up in UCLA’s Wilson Plaza, a possible precursor to the Occupy movement making its way to Westwood.  After the tents went up, protesters then began their march down campus. Demonstrators at around 12:45 pm made their way to Powell Library towards Janss Steps.

According to UCLA, the protests come amid tuition increases in the University of California system stemming from ever shrinking state support.

The protests have brought together many groups across campus. Included with these groups are Occupy@UCLA, the student activist group UCLA Fights Back as well as the United Auto Workers union, representing graduate students in the UC system.

Powell Library. Photo courtesy of UCLA

In the Daily Bruin, it was reported that at around 2:30, the number of visible demonstrators had shrunk to approximately 100 people when organizers of the campus protest started a general assembly meeting. The meeting that took place talked about ways the word could be better spread around campus, and also some more effective ways to get the word out such as through the use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

The Occupy movement began in September of this year on Wall Street in New York City and has since spread to numerous cities such as Chicago, Portland, and Minneapolis among others. The movement has even spread to cities in the U.K., Italy and France.

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