On Dec. 9, in efforts of inspiring the campus and bringing attention to effects of California's cuts to higher education, students carried out the boldest move by any student activists in 40 years. By occupying and barricading the SF State Business building, these 14 students caused all classes scheduled in the building to be cancelled, gained nationwide media recognition, and drew attention to what they consider a problem that cannot be solved using walk-outs or lobbying. Aaron Salazar, one of the 14 student occupants of the Business building, sat down with the [X]press to discuss his motivations, his feelings on the experience, and hopes for the future.

[X]press: Can you explain to us your motivations for occupying the Business building?

Aaron Salazar: Our motives were to inspire the campus. We wanted more students, faculty and staff to learn about the issues that we're facing, to learn about more specifics of the budget cuts. A lot of people didn't know about 40,000 students being shut out of the CSU system or even some people didn't know about fee increases that had gone on. We also wanted to have the recreation and wellness center process ceased. We wanted the re-hiring of union painters who were replaced by independent contractors. We also wanted budget transparency, as far as cuts to different departments. So those demands were part of our goal, along with inspiring the rest of the campus and bringing more people onto the resistance that has been going on for years. Also, to show that these are the kinds of things that are going to have success, it's not going to be petition writing, letter writing or lobbying. It's going to take direct action.

[X]: How do you feel about the support you had from outside the building?

AS: Oh my gosh. I can't express enough appreciation for that. It was surreal. It just totally transformed this campus and my perception of the campus. The support that we got gave us the courage to carry on and gave us the conviction to stand by our demands and our actions. I was in there, and I was watching people outside pass around a bullhorn and share each other's ideas about the budget crisis and about politics in America and throughout the world. It really choked me up, and I was on the verge of tears because people whom I've never met and never talked to felt the same way I did and completely agreed with the reasons for the occupation. It just created this pride in myself for campus activism and for the occupation.

[X]: What did you pass the time with while you were inside?

AS: First of all, we talked about how cool it was --what was going on, and we shared what other people had seen at different sides of the building. We were also in contact with people outside, so they were telling us about who was showing up, how people from Berkeley were coming, how people from Local 2 union had come out in support of us. So, a lot of it was reflecting on the support we had from outside. We also discussed labor history. We had a book called "Labor's Untold Story." We read about the 1938 GM strike in Flint, Mich. We read Henry David Thoreau, "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience." We slept because a lot of us had been up for more than 24 hours. I think one person had been up for around 72 hours. And then we got to know each other, too. I didn't know a few of the people very well, so it gave us a time to connect to each other on a deeper level just because of the environment that we were in. We had time to establish deep and meaningful friendships in that time. Myself, I sat down with a pen and a paper and wrote down my thoughts on the outside and the inside and where this fits into a larger struggle for working class people. Then, of course piling chairs against the doors and the hallways, pulling chairs out of classrooms, pulling tables out of classrooms, zip-tying all the chairs together. We did it once, and then we went back and kept revising some of the barricades because we wanted them to be as strong as possible. Then, of course addressing the crowd with bullhorns, listing our demands, posting them online, chanting, and just for the most part feeling the love. That's what we were doing inside, is really feeling the love, and it had a huge impact on us all. I've been thinking about it. The inside, it was like we were in a womb. We had transformed this building from something inanimate to something full of life, and emanating life from all sides. And we were at the center, and we were just feeling so much warmth coming through the walls and coming through the glass. For myself, it was like I was reaching deep into my psyche and finding spiritual awakening and new realms of thought, really. It was an amazing experience, and it changed my life forever.

[X]: What is your response to students who were unhappy about not being able to enter the building?

AS: It's completely understandable. It is finals week. People are stressed, but I would just ask them to look at the broader picture of 40,000 students who are being shut out of class --not just for one day but potentially for the rest of their lives. Think about the people who have had to drop out because they can't afford education anymore. And think about all the people who didn't go to class and stayed for the full 24 hours with us. They have finals too. They have things to study for too. They didn't just not go to class, but they didn't spend their time working on class work. They spent their time supporting the occupation and being a part of the resistance.

[X]: How did you feel when you heard campus police had surrounded the building?

AS: I was nervous. I had been asleep. I went to sleep around midnight, and things were quiet. Then I got woken up around three o' clock with "Police are in the Administration building. They've got riot gear on." So, I just got jittery, anxious. But it's like okay, now is the moment of truth --when our barricades are going to be tested, and all the things we've been working for are going to be challenged. It also woke us up really fast, you know, whipped us into shape. We were communicating with people outside about where the police were and where we should be. We made plans to all join arms, so I was thinking about that. I made sure everyone was accounted for that was inside, and I felt scared. I felt scared for the people outside because I was in Berkeley on the 20th of November, and I saw how police had interacted with those protesters --how they had hit people with batons and shot one person with a rubber bullet, so I was nervous. I was like "I love these people outside. I don't want them to get hurt, but then again I trust them --I trust their decision to stay, and they know what they're facing." So I wasn't too scared; I was concerned for them. We were pretty safe inside. We didn't expect the police to come in beating on us, but the people on the front lines were the most vulnerable. And that's what we saw. People did get whacked. People did get shoved. People did get thrown to the ground. People did get mishandled and abused, so it was nerve-racking.

[X]: What do you hope comes out of all this?

AS: Exactly what has been coming out. A new vigor has been aroused on campus. My hopes have been exceeded. I hoped that a few hundred people would come out. Over five hundred people came out. I hoped that our organizing would develop. Our organizing has developed beyond anything that I could've thought because after being inside, like I said earlier, I just reached new levels of consciousness. So the hopes that I had were replaced by this new perspective that I gained, and I really just hope that this gives the SF State community more confidence in their organizing and in their willingness to struggle. I hope that students, I mean, I know students were inspired. But I hope that the people who were inspired will inspire others who weren't there or who walked by but didn't stay. I can't really say I hope for too much, because it's all coming about and being realized. I hope that we win. I hope that the budget cuts are reversed and that funding for education is first on the priority list for California legislators, and I know it will be with the events that happened. It's given me total confidence that we can win --win more money for the working class, win more support, win more services, just win better lives for California and for the rest of the world.