The Upper Valley celebrated spring and social activism with May Day festivities held on the Lebanon Green and hosted by Occupy Upper Valley on Tuesday, according to the organization's website. The event featured musical performances by Kerry Rose, The Fogey Mountain Boys and The Green Room and speeches by various members of the community. Environmentalist and author Gus Speth, representative of the Postal Worker's Union Patty Dewey and head of the Mascoma Valley Regional High School teacher's union Dave Shinnlinger all spoke at the gathering. Other events included a performance around the traditional maypole, cooperative games, face painting, a puppet show and a mass "breathe-in." Local living organizations set up booths that allow attendees to explore opportunities for social change in the community, and the event concluded with an Occupy General Assembly. Although Occupy Dartmouth members did not attend the Lebanon celebration, they commemorated May Day with a two-hour march around campus, reciting songs, chanting and reading poem, according to Occupy Dartmouth founder Nathan Gusdorf '12.
Frank Wu, chancellor and dean of the University of Cali-fornia Hastings College of the Law, decided to decrease the number of students accepted to the law school by 20 percent after determining that the number of law schools and students in the United States is too high, Inside Higher Education reported Tuesday. As a result of the change, several staff positions will be eliminated, although no faculty members will lose their jobs. Applications to law schools fell by approximately 7 percent at Hastings last year and by 15 percent across the country. Wu said that the legal education system follows an antiquated model with a long-established role as a "refuge for the bright liberal arts student" unsure what path to pursue following graduation, according to Inside Higher Ed. Wu said he believes that law schools either fail to fill the incoming class completely, creating a budget deficit, or accept students who should not be in law school. Hastings joins three other law schools that have announced their intention to decrease the size of incoming classes, Inside Higher Ed reported.