Students occupy Colosseum and the Pisa tower in protest

[Eldritch]

Italian students have occupied the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Rome's Colosseum to protest education cuts and university reforms being considered by parliament.

Italian news agency ANSA says some 2,000 students marched Thursday in the northern university town of Pisa, forming a human chain around its famous tower to prevent tourists from entering. Several students climbed inside the landmark as tourists snapped photos of the protest.

In Rome, students brandished banners reading "No profits off our future" as they marched around the Colosseum.

Thursday was the second day of protests against the reforms, which eliminate some areas of study and force schools that are running at deficit to close.

In Milan, police clashed briefly with students to keep them from entering the subway.

Link.

[Foxy]

Indeed this is what I have been disputing about with San Galgano for days. I am a student myself and I am againts this reform, becouse it only cuts founds from the universities instead of cuttuing them in the field where people really speculate, like the wages of our politicians that are nothing but scandalous.
On the contrary they are cutting money from a sector that we need becouse many universities in Italy have very bad infrastructures, old equipments and also our studies plan are often old-fashioned. We have not a seminary system but only frontal lessons. In my universities we have little rooms, equipments often don't work and laboraoties, especially for languages, are often impracticable.
And I don't want to hear the usual story that Southern Italian universities don't work, becouse the faculty of medicine of Chieti is very good and serious (people I know who entered it left lyceums with excellent scores, they were not admitted by reccomandations, mafia, ecc.ecc.) and the faculty of engeneering in l'Aquila is better and even harder than the faculty of Bologna. Indeed many people studing in L'Aquila moved later to Bologna becouse it was easier to get the degree.
But if they cut us money the problem will be for everyone, from North to South.
I think 2 things must not be touched at all: hospitals and schools. Health system and school system must remain public, everyone must have the same opportunities.

I liked the way Italian school system was unutil now. I made a lyceum where in the same classroom there were sons of nobles and sons of farmers, something that you son't see in the USA. In Italy who goes to the private school is perceived as a failed becouse public schools are far more difficult than private schools, where you just need to pay to be promoted.
Our government wants only to privatize and cut money. More than 90% of aid grants will be cut if this reform will pass.

Lucky for now it has already been rejected twice by the Parliament. I am also glad to see that my collegues in Rome and Pisa (but not only, today protests happened also in L'Aquila) are protesting.
I am less glad to hear that 30 students have been filed in Tuscany, if I am not wrong, for clashes with the police.

[Foxy]

Today students have protested in Rome, Pisa, Messina, L'Aquila, Venice, Turin, where people have occupied the sybol-places of the various cities (the Colosseum, Pisa Tower, The Dom of Messina, the Faculty of Science, Medicine and Literature of L'Aquila and Saint Marco). Other cities have protested in the last days.

http://tg24.sky.it/tg24/politica/201...na_stampa.html

In the third report images of the protests.

[San Galgano]

No, you disputed with me cause you are a demagogue, and probably you have to focus also about your real politic inclination.

All this mess was caused by a left wing student movement which haven't understood a flying fuck about this reform.

We agree that our politicians earn too much, even if this is a well known and overabused symphony, but the Universities in Italy have been driven by few people who only wanted to drain funds to create useless courses, keep on favoriting nepotism, and put whoever they wanted.


Now it's time to stop it and use better the resources that are already too much but bad used.
If you and the commies who are creating problems to workers in Pisa don't want to understand this is not my problem.

Sulla questione dei baroni, il ministro afferma di introdurre con la riforma "criteri di merito nell'assegnazione delle cattedre, evitando le parentopoli e i rettori a vita". Il titolare dell'Istruzione sottolinea poi come la crisi rappresenti "un'opportunità". "Chi oggi grida "risorse-risorse-risorse" senza fare i conti con la realtà - sottolinea -, ci condanna al declino".

Ora perfavore lasciami fuori dal tuo isterismo quotidiano.

[San Galgano]

L'hai fatto il compitino di sputare sull'Italia oggi?
Ma brava...hai visto come sono veloci a ringraziarti a differenza di quando scrivi qualcosa di positivo sull'Italia?

Povero pane...

[Foxy]

No, you disputed with me cause you are a demagogue, and probably you have to focus also about your real politic inclination.

All this mess was caused by a left wing student movement which haven't understood a flying fuck about this reform.

We agree that our politicians earn too much, even if this is a well known and overabused symphony, but the Universities in Italy have been driven by few people who only wanted to drain funds to create useless courses, keep on favoriting nepotism, and put whoever they wanted.


Now it's time to stop it and use better the resources that are already too much but bad used.
If you and the commies who are creating problems to workers in Pisa don't want to understand this is not my problem.

If we speak of reduce the curses, I agree.
If we speak of diminish the years of rectorship, I agree.
If we speak of improve the controls on tests, I agree.

If we speak of cut funds, I disagree.
If we speak of cut aid grants, I disagree.

Current government is not fascist. I am not able to define it, but fascism puts the State and the Fatherland over all, not the North over the South. And during Mussolini's time the school was improved and was far harder than today. I dunno whose the fault of this worsening. Probably 20 years of DC didn't help, but the last 20 years were even worse.
But it is not all fault of Berlusconi, I agree. It's also the massive culture which is worsening, from TV to fashion. Not only in Italy anyway.

[Eldritch]

I'm not familiar with the particularities of the situation in Italy, but generally speaking I would say that no matter how tight money is, education should be one of the very last thihgs to go. And if (I say if) this really is just about profiteering, then the ones responsible are leeching off the future of their own country.

But violent and destructive hooliganism isn't a legit form of protest.

[San Galgano]

I'm not familiar with the particularities of the situation in Italy, but generally speaking I would say that no matter how tight money is, education should be one of the very last thihgs to go. And if (I say if) this really is just about profiteering, then the ones responsible are leeching off the future of their own country.

But violent and destructive hooliganism isn't a legit form of protest.

Universities in Italy have all the money they want, it's only the way they use it that is wrong and the reform wants to correct this.
All these student movements are only a direct attack to this governemnt cause it is crossing a transitory time and easily to attack.
If you see the students they all go around with Kefya and Che Guevara and the left wing politicians are all close to them.

If left wing would be at the govern they would make the same reform, but now it's time for them to attack massively the governemt in charge.

[Foxy]

I'm not familiar with the particularities of the situation in Italy, but generally speaking I would say that no matter how tight money is, education should be one of the very last thihgs to go. And if (I say if) this really is just about profiteering, then the ones responsible are leeching off the future of their own country.

But violent and destructive hooliganism isn't a legit form of protest.

I have heard in the radio the protests were not violent. They have protested in symbolic places not to damage them, but becouse they rapresent our culture. In most cases, anyway, protests were made in front of universities.
For the rest I agree with you, universities should be the last thing to be touched and from what I know universities have not all this money, especially if we speak of scientific (but not only) research.

[antonio]

Universities in Italy have all the money they want, it's only the way they use it that is wrong and the reform wants to correct this.

Agree. Upper education is one of the most favoured sectors in Western Europe for decades, with results not always clear: for example I bet many of those vandals are plain jerks who better would be substituing inmigrants on low-grade jobs, anycase that end is probably just a matter of time when they faced the useless and redundance of their grades for the society so generously subsidized their education.