The most militant student occupation of recent months ended this woek after 400 students had occupied the Central Examiback up demands for a students" union building. They now intend to "continue The Student Representative Council op posed the occupation, and actually formed a squad of strong arm stewards, including members of the local Communist Party. that fought to stop students occupying the building.
Once inside the students formed a Committee of Defence to organise the security of the bullbing against the polar and the University's security foron. The occupetion was a model of self-organisation. Daily mass mentines wore called some times attended by over 1,000 students, ano the central committee o tne occupa tion was elected on a daily basis. When the University administration threatened to expel all those occupying a pledge of collective responsibility was signed by 2,000 people.
Most important was the support the oc eupation received, despite the opposition of the Students Representative Council and the initial opposition of the local Communist Party. At last week's rally on students grants in London, following • speech by an Oxford IMG member, 10,000 students voted that the NUS Executive should give total support to occupation, and the Oxford Trade Union movement went several speckers 10 address the occupation. This support on sured that any attempts at victimisation Students at Leeds were threatened with police dogs after they occupied a Council ante-room at Leeds Civil Hall lest Thur sday. They had marched, 300 strang. from Leeds Polysechnic, as pert of a campaign for adequate teaching and resThe struggle started with a three week occupation of the administrative buildings at the college, which ended on Friday 2 November after they had wrung a number of concessions from the Local Authority. Thi meis qin was a promise thet 7.500 square feet of space would be made available for reaching at once, However the students" demand was for 80,000 square feet, the Government's norm for a Polly the site of Leeds, and the students are well aware that the Local Authority's offer will not be sufficient to meet the rapid expansion o numbers of students over the next lew years.
The Local Authority also agreed to the selling up of a working party to discusi the problems. But as soon as the occupation ended they used this agreement as an excuse to call off a previously agreed meeting with the Student Union, claiming that the points they were to discuss could now be dealt with by the working party. It was in response to this that the students decided on a two hour taken occupation of the Civic Hail, which anded after they obtained commitment that the working party would meet at 9.30 a.m. on Wadnesday 14 November the Tory vote to less than 50% of Coverage of the royal wedding was Bandon and Billeriory Standan/ Recorder,
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The recent by-elections have shown ....AND LEEDS