Protests stop IU classes in France

Coming out of a Paris metro exit last Tuesday, IU junior Brandi Angrick began to hear loud yelling and chanting. When Angrick, who is studying abroad in France, turned around, she saw a large crowd of people coming down the street. Partially out of fear or just the mob mentality, Angrick ran from the commotion until she reached the safety of her apartment.\nFollowing Tuesday's nationwide riots in France -- a protest that has been growing from a \nseries of smaller ones in the past few weeks -- millions of French citizens took to the streets in outrage of a controversial new labor law. \nAs a result of the public disruptions, Angrick and many other IU students studying abroad in the country have experienced near misses with the protesters and extended class closings. \n"I am enrolled in a class at the Sorbonne, but I have not been able to go to class for three weeks now because everything has been closed," said junior Katie Stutesman in an e-mail. "Also, some metro stations and lines have been closed or stopped during the mass protests, so it makes it a little bit more difficult to get across the city."\nAccording to The Associated Press, the protesters are \nrevolting against new labor reform legislation that would remove job security clauses that protect citizens less than 26 years old from easily being fired. President Jacques Chirac signed the law on Sunday in order to help reduce the country's high unemployment numbers and reform its policies to conform more to international standards, including the United States. \nSince the law most directly affects young people, French students have been the main source of the resistance, as they have organized mass riots and have been joined by many teachers to go on strike, closing many universities. \nJunior Kirsten Blodgett, who is studying at the Université de Provence in Aix-en-Provence, said she hasn't been able to go to class for more than five weeks because her school is completely barricaded with chairs and tables. \n"We have had to implement supplementary courses and also have been told that we may have to prolong our stay here," Blodgett said by e-mail. \nAssociate Director of Overseas Study Susan Carty said there are 36 IU students currently studying in France, and the protests have affected the programs in different ways. She said that several programs have seen no disruptions at all, while others have been without classes for weeks. \nCarty added that for those students who have had their classes cancelled, the local programs are trying to make sure the students keep up with their work by encouraging them to stay up to date with readings and assignments or by sending teachers to work exclusively with them. For programs that offer direct IU credit, Carty said, they have promised to work with the students to make the necessary preparations to earn full credit.\n"We've been guaranteed by the program that we will receive the credits we've expected by the end of the semester," said junior Steve Harris, who hasn't been able to attend class in more than a month, in an e-mail. "But at this point, it seems like the semester is a lost cause." \nIn addition to a March 27 U.S. State Department security alert to Americans in France, Carty said IU has been in constant contact with the students, warning them to avoid any place where the protests may occur. \n"These are scheduled protests, so we can be very specific (in our warnings)," Carty said. "We always encourage caution. They could turn violent without any warning."\nJunior Jessica Elkins, who is studying with the Academic Program in Aix-en-Provence, said she has not yet witnessed any violence during the protests but has seen many of the marches.\n"I've been to a protest that took place in front of the town hall," Elkins wrote in an e-mail. "The students had thrown eggs and spray painted parts of the town hall, they were banging on pots and pans and chanting about how the (new labor law) was a bad idea."\nElkins said that she feels the protesters are overreacting to the new labor law, and the legislation will probably, in the end, reduce unemployment in the country, helping to bring France to the economic level of many other countries. \nHarris said he agrees with Elkins' assessment.\n"I feel that many of the protesters are overreacting," he said. "Many of the protesters are socialists or communists, (who are) notorious in France for protesting and striking against virtually every significant move by the French government."\nMany of the IU students studying abroad also noted that while they support the protester's democratic right to demonstrate publicly, they also feel that closing the schools just hurts everyone. \n"Being a foreigner, I know that I need to go to school in order to get credits," Elkins said. "And since I haven't had school in six weeks, I'm getting a little nervous that my parent's money is being wasted for the semester"