As anyone who lives near the Cal campus can testify, the helicopters have been hovering overhead for most of today.

We reported first thing this morning on the police dispersing the students who were on a hunger strike, protesting Arizona’s immigration law. Following that, other protesters blockaded California Hall. By 5 p.m., all the doors to California Hall had been blocked.

According to Hunger4Justice, the university administration has agreed to meet the protesters provided the hunger strike ends by 7 p.m. this evening.

The protesters want Chancellor Robert Birgeneau to publicly denounce the Arizona law, make the UC campus a sanctuary for threatened immigrants, offer greater protections for undocumented students, and drop conduct charges against activists.

At about 5:30, protesters moved the focus of their activities from California Hall to the chancellor’s residence, University House, on the north side of campus off Hearst Avenue. About 200 protesters gathered at the house and chanted slogans. The chancellor is hosting a diversity dinner this evening.

Lance Knobel (Berkeleyside co-founder) has been a journalist for nearly 40 years. Much of his career was in business journalism. He was editor-in-chief of both Management Today, the leading business magazine...