Taking advantage of some extra patience on the part of administrators who came under heavy criticism for the pepper-spraying of demonstrators in November, student protesters on the UC Davis campus have seized control of a vacant campus building and are sporadically blocking access to an on-campus bank.
Two days into the Occupy movement takeover of a single-story cottage that formerly served as the Cross Cultural Center, the administration hasn't officially told the students they can't be in the building. The lights and heat remain on as the university examines its options.
"We're monitoring it. We are going to make decisions based on the best interest of the university. Nobody wants a repeat of what happened in November," said Claudia Morain, a spokeswoman for the university.
Campus police pepper-sprayed a number of students during a Nov. 18 standoff as officers sought to clear a tent encampment from the university quad. The university was widely vilified after videos of the spraying posted on the Internet were viewed millions of times.
That incident and protest-related problems at other UC campuses prompted a systemwide review of policies concerning protests at all University of California campuses.
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