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Background: For the past 5 years, university funds have been cut badly, with plans to cut them even more so. (So that they'll be 37% of what they were in 2004).
I was in a protest rally outside the Ministry of Finance, camera in tow.

A

"No Education - No government"
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The mike is for a very popular news/search website called Walla.
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"Cutting back on education:
Bad doctors
Bad engineers
Bad teachers
Stupid citizens"
(Israel has a very knowledge heavy culture).
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A-2

"גלצ" - Galey Tzahal (state/IDF radio - lots of popular music run by and for the soldiers. One of the largest radio stations in the country).

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Cops.
A-4

Head of the senior staff.
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Head of the senior academic staff.
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A-5

"The Ministry of Finance Wants stupid citizens".

a quickr pickr post

There seem to be student protests everywhere these days. Over here in Germany they are demonstrating against a lack of funding as well.

Thanas wrote:There seem to be student protests everywhere these days. Over here in Germany they are demonstrating against a lack of funding as well.

I'll end up green with envy for asking about this, but what are the new lowered rated there now? Here the classes are around 3-4 times their old sizes, hours have been cut, midterms removed, tests and assignments take around 2-3 weeks to be graded (And are done so sparingly), Teacher's Assistants are fired and their classes made huge, etc'.

And to keep this from being barreled - what do you think of the pics I uploaded? (I have a few more focusing on the size of the crowd, but they weren't very interesting).
Want any of the Hebrew translated? . ("The Ministry of Finance wants stupid citizens" "Even Newton went to class with less than 200 students", etc')

The Grim Squeaker wrote:

Thanas wrote:There seem to be student protests everywhere these days. Over here in Germany they are demonstrating against a lack of funding as well.

I'll end up green with envy for asking about this, but what are the new lowered rated there now? Here the classes are around 3-4 times their old sizes, hours have been cut, midterms removed, tests and assignments take around 2-3 weeks to be graded (And are done so sparingly), Teacher's Assistants are fired and their classes made huge, etc'.

Well, in history, we have some classes the size of 80 (designed for 25 students max), but those are generally the easy topics everyone chases after. With more heavier subjects (say, political philosophy of the 16th century) and more strict lecturers the class size can be down to 20. But it is a huge problem for those well-known areas everyone chases after or the mandatory classes. Those are filled up to 200% of their allotted resources.

And to keep this from being barreled

Nah. We are having an actually productive discussion here.

- what do you think of the pics I uploaded? (I have a few more focusing on the size of the crowd, but they weren't very interesting).

I think you should put up some of those. At the moment it looks like a very small protest, probably no more than a few dozen people.

Want any of the Hebrew translated? . ("The Ministry of Finance wants stupid citizens" "Even Newton went to class with less than 200 students", etc')

Why not?

Thanas wrote:

The Grim Squeaker wrote:

Thanas wrote:There seem to be student protests everywhere these days. Over here in Germany they are demonstrating against a lack of funding as well.

I'll end up green with envy for asking about this, but what are the new lowered rated there now? Here the classes are around 3-4 times their old sizes, hours have been cut, midterms removed, tests and assignments take around 2-3 weeks to be graded (And are done so sparingly), Teacher's Assistants are fired and their classes made huge, etc'.

Well, in history, we have some classes the size of 80 (designed for 25 students max), but those are generally the easy topics everyone chases after. With more heavier subjects (say, political philosophy of the 16th century) and more strict lecturers the class size can be down to 20. But it is a huge problem for those well-known areas everyone chases after or the mandatory classes. Those are filled up to 200% of their allotted resources.

Sounds like you used to have comparable class sizes to the old numbers here. Here it's more like 300-400% larger in many cases. (and with many courses being cut or crammed together).
An important aspect of study is getting early enough to class to have somewhere to sit. (I'm not exaggerating, you try going through 2 hours of Useful mat hfor physicists without having a comfortable hand rest for writing on).

And to keep this from being barreled

Nah. We are having an actually productive discussion here.

Yes, (and an interesting one too) but it's OP . (

- what do you think of the pics I uploaded? (I have a few more focusing on the size of the crowd, but they weren't very interesting).

I think you should put up some of those. At the moment it looks like a very small protest, probably no more than a few dozen people.

There were about 150-200 people. Not that many, but it was a school day.
Previous years had a lot of strikes, (one lasting over 2 weeks instead of the semester), but this year the cuts are just so bad that the students can't do so - the pressure is too bad.

Want any of the Hebrew translated? . ("The Ministry of Finance wants stupid citizens" "Even Newton went to class with less than 200 students", etc')

Why not?

What, you want ti all translated? Tchhh, I should be getting paid for this .

The Grim Squeaker wrote:Yes, (and an interesting one too) but it's OP . (

It is not, however, a series of silly one-liners, so it stays here.

If I were you, I would have offered the whole lot of photos to a student newspaper or local paper right away. Papers are always hungry for content, and while you probably would not have been paid (at least not in the US; most papers can't afford stringers any more) you would have been credited.

It's too late now, of course. But these are good journalistic photos anyway. PJ seems to suit you better than art photography does.

Simplicius wrote:

The Grim Squeaker wrote:Yes, (and an interesting one too) but it's OP . (

It is not, however, a series of silly one-liners, so it stays here.

If I were you, I would have offered the whole lot of photos to a student newspaper or local paper right away. Papers are always hungry for content, and while you probably would not have been paid (at least not in the US; most papers can't afford stringers any more) you would have been credited.

I left straight from the protest to classes until midnight and left for the south the next morning - not much time.
The creator of the student newspaper is a friend of mine, but he uses a photocopier, photos are currently irrelevant. I am transferring the pics to the student union, something faster would have been better, but again - I had neither the time nor the resources at hand.

It's too late now, of course. But these are good journalistic photos anyway. PJ seems to suit you better than art photography does.

Yup, alass. Thanks .