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Tensions Rise As Protests Expand In Boston

BOSTON (CBS/AP) -- Hundreds of students from area colleges joined the Occupy Wall Street movement Monday, with a march through downtown Boston.

The protesters gathered on Boston Common and marched past the Massachusetts Statehouse carrying signs reading "Apathy isn't working," and chanting slogans like: "Fund education, not corporations."

Francis Rick, a sophomore at Framingham State University, said many of her friends are deep in debt before they graduate, even while holding down part time jobs.

WBZ-TV's Christina Hager reports

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Lana Jones reports

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Other protesters said they're angry with an education industry they say mimics what they call the "irresponsible, unaccountable, and unethical financial practices" of Wall Street.

Late Monday afternoon, protesters gathered at the North Washington Street Bridge in Charlestown. Police guarded the bridge to keep protesters from crossing.

Protesters then expanded into an adjoining section of the Rose Kennedy Greenway. Boston Police have told the group to move back to their original space, Dewey Square. The group is refusing to move back.

Boston Police say the Greenway Conservancy recently invested over $150,000 in the area that was just occupied by protesters.

Boston Police distributed a flyer late Monday, reminding protesters that if they are asked to leave a certain area and refuse, they will be arrested.

The Occupy Wall Street movement, which began with a small knot of protesters in Manhattan's financial district, has grown steadily.

Similar protests have sprung up in other cities.

(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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