Tuition protests

BERKELEY, Calif., March 5 (UPI) -- University students across the United States demonstrated against projected education funding cuts and tuition hikes.

Protests were reported in Alabama, California, Illinois, Oregon, Texas, Washington and other locations around the country to mark what organizers called a "National Day of Action to Defend Public Education."

The biggest demonstration seemed to be centered on Oakland, Calif., and included students from the University of California-Berkeley but people of various ages participated. Thousands of people marched onto Interstate 880 in the evening rush hour, tying up traffic and the highway was closed for more than an hour. More than 150 people were arrested.

In Milwaukee, 15 people were detained after they were refused entry to a building where they wanted to present University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee leaders with petitions. There were reports of large pieces of ice being throw at police in the incident.

The scenes were reminiscent of the 1960s-era campus protests. But where those demonstrations were related to civil rights and the war in Vietnam and largely confined to college-aged people, the 2010 versions involved people of all ages protesting expected cuts in education funding and hefty increases in tuition, moves that would make a college education too expensive many.