The web circulates news on the student strike in Puerto Rico

Today on the net : The web circulates news on the student strike in Puerto Rico ; And France wonders how to best manage the giant aperitifs organized on Facebook.

WEB NEWS

By FRANCE 24

STUDENT STRIKE IN PUERTO RICO

Several thousand Puerto Rican students have been on strike since the 22^nd of April, and have been camping in the main campus of the public University of Puerto Rico. They are protesting budget cuts and the withdrawal of certain lessons. The combat has been widely relayed online.

Dozens of videos filmed during the many rallies organized by the students and their supporters have been pouring into sharing sites and demonstrate the extent of the mobilisation on the island.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j2FyTKn0Bg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuXBUJy1EvQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnlkXcWEG2w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LZzNutf0Pc

The strike has been going on for nearly a month. The authorities tried to put an end to it by deploying hundreds of police to the area around the university. The police were supposed to have been stopping people providing the strikers with fresh supplies, but as we see in these images, they had to contend with the citizens’ unfailing support for the students and several clashes with the demonstrators.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-6lrSK92V0&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNSek6Tof4E&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGAFUHqhYVU&feature=player_embedded

And the students are also using social networks to coordinate their actions and rally up support from their compatriots. The development of the situation can be followed on several Twitter threads.

http://twitter.com/search?q=%23paroupr

http://twitter.com/search?q=%23paroupr#search?q=%23huelgaUPR

http://twitter.com/search?q=%23radiohuelga

Bloggers who support the movement are covering all aspects of the strike, with many reports in particular, as well as analysis on what is at stake in these demonstrations.

http://rojogallito.blogspot.com/

http://poderyambiente.blogspot.com/

http://pureblood-queen.livejournal.com/119832.html

Finally, the web has also helped the movement go global. In this video, young people from Barcelona are offering their support to the Puerto Rican students, and a demonstration will take place in New York today, as a sign of solidarity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sez6Ib0che

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=117359108302766&ref=mf

FRANCE: FACEBOOK DRINKING PARTIES

Should the giant aperitifs organized on Facebook be banned? The debate has been revived after a young man died last week, after attending one of these “apéros géants”. 9

This type of event has been all the rage in France for the past few months. The events, where thousands of people meet up to drink alcohol, are organized by anonymous people on social networks. 5000 people met up in Rennes, 7000 in Brest, 10 000 in Montpellier, these gatherings are multiplying, each event hoping for more attendees than the last.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NdxXklkkeA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwORNpgzJVc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bxDa6yXsTM

But as this phenomenon grows, the health risks and the security problems are becoming more and more concerning. The authorities are approaching the problem and want these open air parties to be monitored. Over the past few days meanwhile, several of these parties have been forbidden.

So the giant aperitif planned in Paris, for the 23rd of May, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower has been put on standby. The event which could have brought together tens of thousands of people has been cancelled on Facebook, but new groups have been created to take over.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=287003932322

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=186382458348&v=wall&ref=search#!/group.php?gid=186382458348&v=wall&ref=search

The police force is using the web to warn net users of the dangers of such a gathering, which is also illegal.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Prefecture-de-Police/121386187886932

http://www.prefecturedepolice.interieur.gouv.fr/Actualites/Prevention/Rappel-aux-organisateurs-d-un-evenement-festif-dit-apero-geant-sur-le-Champ-de-Mars

And the town hall of Paris is also using the web for a prevention campaign. A video competition has been organized to raise awareness amongst young web users of the risks of alcohol abuse. Short films resembling horror movies show that drinking too much alcohol can turn an evening out into a nightmare.

http://www.thebinge-lefilm.com/

BUY VOLCANIC ASHES

The Icelandic website « nammi.is » had the idea of selling the ash from the Icelandic volcano that is causing panic in European airspace. A jar containing 160 grams of volcanic ash is now available for 3900 Krona, that’s about 24 euros. It’s a charitable initiative because all of the profits will be given to Iceland’s emergency services.

http://nammi.is/10-icelandic-volcano-ash-10-x-160-gr-p-2317.html

ANNECY FILM FESTIVAL

For the 5Oth anniversary of the Annecy Animation Film festival which will take place from the 7^th to the 12th June, web users are being asked to vote for the short film that best illustrates the theme of celebrations and anniversary. The festival has teamed up with YouTube for this project.

http://www.annecy.org/accueil

13/04/2013 - WEBNEWS

Preserving the memory of the world in the digital age

Before the Internet came along, the access one had to culture would largely depend on what one could afford, but then came dematerialization and the digitizing of books, artworks, film and music. France’s National Audio-visual Institute, for example, has already made 5 million hours of television and radio available to the public along with over 1,2 million photos.