Spring has finally come to Aix.  Everything is blooming, and the sun is always shining.  It has been a beautiful week, and nearly the entire population of Aix has spent the majority of the day lounging around the parks.  The one cloud on the horizon is that the situation at the university has not improved, and in fact, may have worsened.

Monday, no class.  Tuesday, no class.  Wednesday, no class.  The reason for this can be seen in the picture at the right.  The students on strike have taken the chairs and tables from the classrooms and barricaded the doors and the halls.  This is a picture of the main hall in my university building.  The students in the picture are from my class.  It took us a while to decide what to do with our days, since we had planned on spending most of the time learning.  The sign says "The struggle is class against class."  (This meaning class as in upper class and lower class, not class as in under-water basket weaving.)  There are always students hanging around the barricades, making sure that no one tries to sneak through.  It's quite intimidating.  

Sarkozy is trying to make the French university system more competitive, which includes some major reforms that no one seems to like.  All the students who are trying to go to class, mainly the international students, are hoping for a quick resolution.

In the end, the question is who is the strike actually hurting?