(12-12) 19:15 PST BERKELEY -- Eight people were in custody Saturday after a crowd of angry protesters broke windows and threw burning torches at UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau's campus residence in protest of fee hikes and budget cuts, authorities said.
As many as 75 people - some of them carrying torches - surrounded the mansion, known as University House, on the north side of campus off Hearst Avenue at about 11:15 p.m. Friday, police said.
The crowd, including a man taken into custody in a university protest a day earlier, chanted, "No justice, no peace," and began smashing planters, windows and lights. Several hurled their torches at the building, said campus spokesman Dan Mogulof.
Birgeneau was sleeping at the time and was awakened by his wife, Mary Catherine, Mogulof said. They were frightened, but unharmed, he said.
"These are criminals, not activists," Birgeneau said in a statement issued Saturday morning. "The attack at our home was extraordinarily frightening and violent. My wife and I genuinely feared for our lives."
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger condemned the attack Saturday as a form of terrorism.
![](http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2009/12/12/ba-University_Cu_0500951962.jpg)
As many as 75 people - some of them carrying torches - surrounded the mansion, known as University House, on the north side of campus off Hearst Avenue at about 11:15 p.m. Friday, police said.
The crowd, including a man taken into custody in a university protest a day earlier, chanted, "No justice, no peace," and began smashing planters, windows and lights. Several hurled their torches at the building, said campus spokesman Dan Mogulof.
Birgeneau was sleeping at the time and was awakened by his wife, Mary Catherine, Mogulof said. They were frightened, but unharmed, he said.
"These are criminals, not activists," Birgeneau said in a statement issued Saturday morning. "The attack at our home was extraordinarily frightening and violent. My wife and I genuinely feared for our lives."
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger condemned the attack Saturday as a form of terrorism.
![](http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2009/12/12/ba-University_Cu_0500951962.jpg)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...type=printable
32-percent undergraduate tuition hike instituted by the California Board of Regents
While forcing its 180,000 employees to take unpaid days off and cutting $813 million from its budget, the UC Board of Regents last month quietly approved increases in pay and benefits for 28 executive positions.
At its July 15 meeting in San Franciso, the board OK'd more than $500,000 in additional compensation to executives from various campuses.
The board also approved the creation of two executive positions at UCSF.
UC officials have said that the increases are needed to keep salaries competitive with other universities'.
Sound familiar?
32-percent undergraduate tuition hike instituted by the California Board of Regents
While forcing its 180,000 employees to take unpaid days off and cutting $813 million from its budget, the UC Board of Regents last month quietly approved increases in pay and benefits for 28 executive positions.
At its July 15 meeting in San Franciso, the board OK'd more than $500,000 in additional compensation to executives from various campuses.
The board also approved the creation of two executive positions at UCSF.
UC officials have said that the increases are needed to keep salaries competitive with other universities'.
Sound familiar?
Comment