Recently in jurisprudence Category

More than 10,000 students have been placed on waiting lists for admission into UC campuses, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Here's more:

Of the 82,056 California applicants to UC, 71.6% were offered freshman entrance to at least one of UC's nine undergraduate campuses. That was down from 72.5% last year and 75.4% the year before, reflecting in part cutbacks in enrollment due to state budget reductions, the figures show.

Applicants to UCLA and UC Berkeley once again had the hardest time. UCLA accepted only 21% of in-state applicants, compared to 21.4% last year, and UC Berkeley admitted 24.5%, down from 29.5% last year. The next toughest were UC San Diego, 36.8%; UC Santa Barbara, 41.7%; UC Davis, 44.5%; UC Irvine 45.4%; UC Santa Cruz, 64.9%; UC Riverside, 77.4%; and UC Merced, 78%.

And in other college news: Two women were arrested at San Francisco State University after a failed attempt to take over the university's Cesar Chavez Student Center. The women, who are not students, were among a group of 19 people who tried to break into the campus building about 4 a.m, a university spokeswoman said.

The protest was in response to fines that were leveled as part of misconduct charges against 11 students involved in a two-day protest in December in which activists barricaded themselves inside the business school to protest fee hikes, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Charges have been dropped against eight protesters, including a Peninsula High School graduate, arrested outside the campus home of a University of California chancellor in December.

Rolling Hills Estates resident and 2006 Peninsula High School graduate Laura Thatcher was arrested late Friday, Dec. 11 along with UC Berkeley students Zachary Bowin, 21, and Angela Miller, 20; UC Davis student Julia Litman-Cleper, 20; City University of New York graduate student Carwil James, 34; Fullerton resident John Friesen, 25; Oakland resident David Morse, 41; and San Francisco resident Donnell Allen, 41.

Thatcher, 21, is an art student at UC Davis.

The group was taken into custody after university police responded to an incident at the home of UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau over the weekend of Dec. 11.

About 40 to 70 protesters, voicing objections to UC budget cuts and student fee increases, threw lighted torches at police cars and the chancellor's residence on the north side of the Berkeley campus. Police said windows, lights and planters were damaged in the incident.

No fire or injuries were reported.

The eight protestors was charged with rioting, threatening an education official, attempted burglary, attempted arson of an occupied building, felony vandalism and assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer. The group was held for four days at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. Bail was set at $132,500.

Initially, charges against the protesters were delayed, after a Alameda County superior court judge told a packed court room on Tuesday, Dec. 15 prosecutors needed more time to investigate the incident.

Charges were dropped later that day.

A 2006 graduate of Palos Verdes Peninsula High School has been arrested for her involvement in a protest on the campus at the University of California, Berkeley.

Laura Thatcher, 21, was taken into custody after police responded to an incident at the home of UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau over the weekend.

About 40 to 70 protesters, voicing objections to UC budget cuts and student fee increases, threw lighted torches at police cars and the chancellor's residence on the north side of campus. Police said windows, lights and planters were damaged in the incident.

No fire or injuries were reported.

Thatcher, a resident of Rolling Hills Estates and an undergraduate art student at the University California, Davis, was taken into custody late Friday with seven others. The group was charged with rioting, threatening an education official, attempted burglary, attempted arson of an occupied building, felony vandalism and assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.

When reached by phone, her mother declined comment on the incident.

Thatcher is being held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, Calif, and her bail has been set at $132,500.

Although the eight protesters were originally scheduled to appear in court today, their arraignments have been delayed while the Alameda County District Attorney's Office continues to review evidence, according to news reports.

Birgeneua was asleep at the time of the incident and his wife called police.

"These are criminals, not activists," Birgeneua said in a statement. "The attack on our home was extraordinarily frightening and violent. My wife and I genuinely feared for our lives."

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called the incident an act of terrorism.

"California will not tolerate any type of terrorism against any leaders, including educators," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "The attack on Chancellor Birgeneua's home is a criminal act and those who participated will be prosecuted under the fullest extent of the law."

For months, students from UC and California State University schools have protested student fee increases and program cuts.

Earlier Friday, more than 60 students were arrested for trespassing after a four-day occupation of a classroom building on the UC Berkeley campus.

According to news reports, Thatcher was arrested in mid-November along with dozens of other protesters after refusing to leave an academic building at UC Davis.

A UC Davis spokesperson said university officials have not yet decided if Thatcher and another UC Davis student arrested after the incident, Julia Litman-Cleper, would be able to continue their studies at the school.

About 65 protesters have been arrested today at UC Berkeley, the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting.

Some of demonstrators were identified as students, but police reported that 24 of those arrested had no affiliation with the school. Nevertheless, the group said they were advocating against student fee increases and budget cuts.

Earlier this week, police arrested 30 protesters at San Francisco State University after the group took over the Business building on campus.

From City News Service:

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - An Inglewood school board member pleaded not guilty today to a felony charge alleging she embezzled more than $7,500 from the Inglewood Unified School District.

Trina Williams, 49, is charged with one count of misappropriation of public funds.

An audit submitted by the Los Angeles County Office of Education to the District Attorney's Office in July alleged Williams overcharged the district for training and travel expenses between June 13, 2007 and Sept. 28, 2008, according to the District Attorney's Office.

She was arrested Nov. 10 by investigators from the District Attorney's Bureau of Investigation and is free on bail.

Williams is due back at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse on Jan. 14 when a date is scheduled to be set to determine whether there is enough evidence for her to stand trial.

If convicted, she faces a maximum four-year state prison term, according to the District Attorney's Office.