College Students To Rally To Protest Education Cuts In Prelude To "Occupy the Capitol"

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Student protesters at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have shut down most of the campus as part of statewide demonstrations against budget cuts to higher education.

Protest organizers say hundreds of students blocked entrances to campus during rainy weather Thursday morning and prevented vehicles from entering.

Campus officials say police briefly detained a motorist who tried to drive through a crowd of demonstrators, but no one appeared to be seriously injured.

School administrators had warned the campus this week about Thursday's protest. Many classes were canceled or rescheduled, and offices were not fully staffed.

College students at about 30 campuses across California are holding rallies, marches, teach-ins and walkouts to call on lawmakers to raise taxes on the wealthy and restore funding to higher education.