A protest against tuition hikes becomes a generational phenomenon in Britain
IN LONDON The first sign that something is awry inside the venerable halls of University College London is a fresh red scrawl on the side of the regal entrance that simply reads, "Join the fight."
Inside, Ellen Evans, a 20-year-old English major, was doing just that, standing among sleeping bags and clothes strewn on the floor of an "occupied" auditorium. Along with tens of thousands of other British students who have undergone a political awakening in recent months, she has cast aside a life of carefree pub crawls to join what many here are calling the most widespread university demonstrations here since the Vietnam War....
"A lot of students feel this overwhelming sense of disillusionment," said Sylvia Ellis, associate professor of history at Northumbria University. "This is the first time that many of them have come face to face with the fact that politicians will let them down."
Now, the student opposition - including building occupations at Cambridge, Manchester University, Birmingham University and scores of others - has generated the seven-month-old coalition's most serious political challenge. The Liberal Democrats are bitterly split, with one block set to vote against the measure. In an olive branch to students, the government agreed Wednesday to offer more flexible student loan terms....
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Inside, Ellen Evans, a 20-year-old English major, was doing just that, standing among sleeping bags and clothes strewn on the floor of an "occupied" auditorium. Along with tens of thousands of other British students who have undergone a political awakening in recent months, she has cast aside a life of carefree pub crawls to join what many here are calling the most widespread university demonstrations here since the Vietnam War....
"A lot of students feel this overwhelming sense of disillusionment," said Sylvia Ellis, associate professor of history at Northumbria University. "This is the first time that many of them have come face to face with the fact that politicians will let them down."
Now, the student opposition - including building occupations at Cambridge, Manchester University, Birmingham University and scores of others - has generated the seven-month-old coalition's most serious political challenge. The Liberal Democrats are bitterly split, with one block set to vote against the measure. In an olive branch to students, the government agreed Wednesday to offer more flexible student loan terms....