Posts Tagged ‘ occupy columbus ’

Mic Check! Ohio State Takes Occupy Protest Tactic

November 25, 2011
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Mic Check! Ohio State Takes Occupy Protest Tactic

Ohio State student activists took a page out of the Occupy playbook when they “mic checked” a panel discussion on shale drilling hosted by the the Subsurface Energy Research Center (SERC) at the Ohio Union on November 18th. The panel, which was made up of several industry experts, a state official and an environmental advocate, was intended to provide information on the oil and gas industry’s new, and extensive, horizontal hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) initiatives in Ohio. Approximately 10 minutes into the event, over thirty-five students from OSU and around the state interrupted state geologist Larry Wickstrom to deliver a message of their own to an audience of students, faculty, and industry professionals. Here is what they had to say (transcript below):   Around the nation, activists are hijacking public forums to spread their message.  The mic check tactic grew out...

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Occupy Columbus: Hope Despite Growing Pains, A Look to the Future, Part 4

November 3, 2011
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Occupy Columbus: Hope Despite Growing Pains, A Look to the Future, Part 4

I would argue that the problems Occupy Columbus faces are a combination of the factors discussed above. People are still getting used to participating in direct democracy. The city of Columbus has its own issues that make the consensus model especially frustrating and slow.Part of the problem is that the decision-making model of the movement was imported to an area where few people had experience working within such an activist framework. It has also suffered from subversive actions by particular members who have made engagement in direct action difficult. Despite the slow pace of the consensus process, there has been progress, towards more orderly meetings and more effective organized actions. But what have we learned from Occupy Columbus so far?

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Occupy Columbus, Part 3: Verticals v. Horizontals

October 28, 2011
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Occupy Columbus, Part 3: Verticals v. Horizontals

In the first post, I highlighted the fact that the movement has entered a new stage in its short history. Many people are curious as to why the group has not staged major actions yet, and are wondering why more people aren’t getting involved. The troubles with the consensus model are a contributing factor. Worsening the effectiveness of the consensus is the intergroup struggle between ‘verticals’ and ‘horizontals’. 

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Occupy Columbus, Part 2: What the 99% Have to Say

October 22, 2011
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Occupy Columbus, Part 2: What the 99% Have to Say

In addition to functioning as a note-taker for the General Assembly held at 2pm on that Saturday, Oct. 15 I formally interviewed five people, and spoke with countless others throughout the day. I’d like to note before getting into the topic directly that not everyone I spoke with was comfortable with being quoted directly or having their names used in print, so I have a limited set of people who I can quote and reference. Subsequently, their voices are disproportionately represented here. In the future, I hope to expand and broaden my coverage to more voices.

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Occupy Columbus, Part 1: Catching up with What’s Going Down

October 20, 2011
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Occupy Columbus, Part 1: Catching up with What’s Going Down

Occupy Columbus is a local manifestation of the now global phenomena of the occupation movement. Begun by those brave protestors at Tahrir Square in Cairo, carried onward by citizens of other nations during the Arab spring, and continued by Israeli youth through the summer, this style of protest has now spread across America. While the events in NYC are highly publicized, those here in Columbus have been slow to get broader media coverage. Attention to the Occupy Columbus movement has been increasing, however, but traditional media outlets have not tried to understand the movement so much as to report ‘the facts’. This series of articles will seek to fill in some of the gaps left by the local news outlets.

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