La UIS cerrada

New courses started last week(my final session...how did that happen?!!) and I did one of my favorite activities with my Conversation I class. I split the class up and have them create their own episode of a soap opera. These are always entertaining, as countless Latin telenovelas have given them ample inspiration for dramatic story lines and plot twists. For the first time, my class today decided to come up with their own characters rather than having me give them out.

One group came up with the usual love scandal/betrayal/drama at the altar that usually results when I dish out the role assignments, but the other came up with something entirely different. They acted out a drama surrounding the current situation at Bucaramanga's (and Santander's) best public university, Universidad Industrial de Santander.

UIS, because it is a public school, is frequently ground for student protests. The last semester, which should have ended in November (here first semester is February to June and second is usually September to November, depending on the school), finished up in March because protests had caused the university to close it's doors so frequently that they couldn't finish classes before Christmas and the 2 month long descanso between semesters. Because of this, this year's first semester started late to begin with.

Then, sometime last month, a copy of a phone call made from UIS' director was released. This call had him speaking with paramilitaries (right-wingers in the Colombian conflict) about murdering a student that had ties with the FARC (leftist rebels). This supposedly took place about three years ago, and nothing has come of it. The student is still alive and the director has been connected with no other paramilitary activities.

This incident, however, has caused outrage amongst students. They started protesting when the call was first released, causing classes to be intermittently canceled. Then there was a vote (which I'm told is really more like a voicing of opinion--the result doesn't actually influence anything) to see if the director should be replaced. Many students voted to replace him, but of course that was not actually done.

Since the vote, there have been several protests and the university has been open for class on and off. Of the four quarters that we were supposed to be completed by June, only one was actually finished. One of my roommates is a student at UIS and relied on a friend who lives right by the campus (we live pretty close too-maybe like 7 long blocks) and has a 6am class to call her each to day let her know if the gates were open or closed.

Then finally last week, the director decided that there was no way they could make up lost time so he canceled the semester (only been done once before in UIS' history, about 30 years ago.) This means there will be no classes until second semester starts in August and everyone must repeat the classes they were taking this semester. The worst part is students also loose the money they paid for this semester.

Again, because UIS is public, students pay according to their means. The university evaluates how much you deserve to pay based on how much money you have and if you came from a public or private high school. So the amount lost depends on who you are, but is still a large problem for quite a few people (imagine paying a full semester's tuition at a US university and then being told you weren't getting any education for it.)

And also since UIS is the best public school in Santander, people travel from all over the department and from others to go there. This means they also have rent/food expenses (unlike in the US, most university students go to a school in their hometown and still live with their families) attached with being at school. Many students have to decide whether to stay in Bucaramanga or go back to their hometowns until classes start again. My roommate is going home tomorrow (that will leave only 2 of us--there were 6 when I moved in!!) and probably won't return until August.

Currently about 20 students are engaged in a hunger strike protesting the closing of the university in a church downtown. I think they have been there for about four days and don't know how long they will last. I doubt it will cause the director to reopen the university, as students have left the city and abandoned the idea of continuing the classes they were taking this semester. And none of the protests thus far have gotten the protesting students anything they want...