to KGO . At the University of California Davis , police held back student protesters who had threatened to shut down nearby Interstate 80 , CNN affiliate KCRA in Sacramento reported . Police fired rubber bullets into the ground in an effort to deter students , who made it as far as an I-80 exit ramp just south of campus . At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee , at least 15 people were arrested in demonstrations Thursday , according to CNN affiliate WTMJ . A University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee vice chancellor allowed a protester to drop off pamphlets in the chancellor 's office , then called campus police when dozens of protesters tried to enter the building , according to WTMJ . University police called the Milwaukee Police Department for backup , and officers spent an hour rounding up protesters . Students yelled `` Let her go ! '' and `` What did he do ? '' as Milwaukee police led students into their black and white vans . Across the country , students told of having to work second jobs and make lifestyle adjustments in the face of dramatic tuition hikes . `` I work at two jobs , go to
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A California movement protesting $ 1 billion in budget cuts to the state 's university system appeared to have burgeoned into a nationwide demonstration on Thursday . Students and professors in dozens of states were challenging administrators and state lawmakers over budget cuts and tuition increases that they say are reducing students ' class options and increasing their expenses . Some of the demonstrations turned chaotic . In Oakland , California , police arrested 160 protesters who shut down a major freeway , according to city police spokeswoman April McFarland . The Oakland protesters had left a march from the University of California , Berkeley to Oakland City Hall and wound up on the Interstate 980/880 interchange , CNN San Francisco affiliate KGO reported . KCRA : Protesters threaten to block interstate McFarland said the protesters brought Thursday evening rush hour traffic to a halt for an hour and 45 minutes . One man is in critical condition after he tried to elude arrest by jumping off the freeway onto a tree , KGO reported . He fell from the tree onto the street below , a roughly 22 foot drop from the interchange , according