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As student groups and faculty in California gear up for nation-wide protests against the high cost of public education on March 4, a new student group, UC Movement for Efficient Privatization (UCMeP) is using satire to bring attention to the impact of rising tuition and fees at state universities.

The five month old group gets its name from the claim of student protestors that the high cost of tuition is privatizing California's public education system. UCMeP group members, who are mostly graduate students, make fun of UC administrators by sarcastically embracing the idea of converting the California public universities into private schools.

"We take them to the logical extreme to show how ridiculous they can be. It's another tactic for protest," said UCMeP's Chief Artistic Officer, Brandon Woolf, 26, in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle.

On its blog, ucmep.wordpress.com, the group outlines their goals: "An enduring faith in the maxim 'time is money' has led UCMeP to undertake a number of innovative projects since Fall 2009 to ensure the swift and efficient privatization of the University of California."

Last week, UCMeP organized the Student Counter Activist Brigade, (SCAB), creating a mock instructional video for crossing picket lines without resorting to the use of police batons. The group suggested a variety of tactics, including using a Trojan horse or possibly Moses to divide the sea of protestors.

One of the group's most popular events was held Jan. 29 when UCMeP honored Dan Mogulof, spokesman for UC Berkeley administrators, with its own honor Top Outstanding Oratorical Leader (TOOL) of the Year. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, guests could only attend by invitation, and the event was standing room only.

Mogulof attended the event, but declined the award.

"We have to be open to opportunities for interaction—both conventional and unconventional." Mogulof said, when asked by the Chronicle about his reasons for attending the event.

UC Theater Professor Catherine Cole said that UCMeP's tactics are an effective way to get important information across without making either side too defensive.

"The danger in a protest situation is that it breaks down to just two sides that stop listening to each other," Cole said. "UCMeP can shift the tenor of the discourse. They make both sides laugh," said Cole to the Chronicle.

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