My first class today, Climatology, was in a different campus, so I went to it anyway. However, I forgot that the Agronomy carrera (department/major) that the class is part of is based in campus Andres Bello. There were a bunch of my other classmates there, though, and once the professor came we asked him if we could go (told him we would go, really) to the department meeting. Each department based on the campus in student-siege was going to discuss their objectives for the toma and vote whether to continue it or not.
Each student starts university in a certain carrera, unlike many schools in the US where you declare your major after a year or two of school. Because my "carrera" would be neuroscience, which isn't an option here, I'm taking classes in multiple departments. The climatology class I'm taking is in the department of Agronomy, so one of my classmates decided I'd be an agronomy student for the day.
We headed to la colina (the hill) where the campus is located and waited outside one of the gates for students to unlock it for us enter. Once inside the campus, we headed up the hill to where the classrooms are. We asked around where the agronomía meeting was and made it to the meeting before it really got started. We discovered that the representatives from the agronomy department are meeting with the rector of ULS [rector literally translates to chancellor, but it's best taken to mean the president/head of the school in this context].
The students all signed in when the meeting started. There was already list from a previous department meeting about the things the students would bring up in their meeting with the director tomorrow. A common complaint was inadequate facilities, especially because multiple new carreras are being added next year without the addition of facilities. This means more students despite the same amount of classrooms, so there will be less space in the already-crowded dining hall, less access to labs, etc. There was also some mention of the lack of wireless on campus.
Then started the discussion about whether the toma should continue or not. Some people thought that this takeover was completely unnecessary for objectives like more wireless - conversation with the administration under normal circumstances would be just as successful, they said. Some students were tired of strikes and protests - one said she just wanted to be able to go to class for a semester, uninterrupted. But others were of the opinion that there needed to be some form of pressure on the administration, and they couldn't think of a way that would achieve their objectives other than a toma because they weren't adequately represented in the administration. [A couple just wanted to have a toma because it was their first and it seemed like a cool experience.]
They took a vote after ample discussion, going down the list of attendance to tally each person's vote. The vote was a resounding no, with the count 32 - 9 (and 2 abstaining).
Ironically, I had a meeting with the director of my study abroad program so I had to leave soon after the vote.
The student-wide meeting was at 1pm, with a vote at 2pm, and overall the departments voted to continue the strike/takeover until Wednesday.
[update]
Para los hispanohablantes...
http://www.diariolaregion.cl/portal/estudiantes-bajan-la-toma-en-la-uls-pero-recintos-serian-entregados-manana-miercoles/
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