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Boston Students Protest Spiraling Education Costs

BOSTON — About 200 Northeastern University students gathered on Wednesday to condemn what they called corporate control of government and the spiraling costs of their education.

The students came together as part of a nationwide student walk-out to support the Occupy Wall Street movements that have spread to cities around the country, including Boston. Many planned to go to Dewey Square to join the Occupy Boston protest, where nurses’ union members also were expected.

“We’re letting inequality build in this country and there’s not enough resistance,” said senior international affairs major Andrea Gordillo, of Sarasota, Fla.

“There are real bread and butter issues in this country like the future of Social Security and our parents’ retirement that aren’t being taken care of now, and we’re the ones who are going to be called on to fix that,” she said of her generation.

The students banged on drums made of water jugs and chanted slogans, including “Banks got bailed out, and we got sold out,” and “They say cut back, and we say fight back.”

One person held a sign that said, “It’s We the People, not We the Corporations.”  Another demonstrator carried a yellow “Don’t tread on me” flag with a coiled snake that has been re-popularized by the Tea Party movement.

James Griffin, a third-year student from North Andover, said the movement inspired him to get involved in a social cause for the first time.

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A New Track: Fostering Diversity and Equity in Athletics