Defying a city ordinance against intersection windshield washers, a group of university researchers on Wednesday armed themselves with squeegees to stage a protest against proposed university funding cuts.
Dressed in white coats and ties, a dozen or so researchers took up position at a busy city intersection and rather than ask for payment for their labors, handed out information leaflets which bannered the slogan: ''Let's clean the dirt off and get a clear look: hurting universities hurts everyone''.
Some of the participants also had signs around their necks on which was written: ''Researchers in search of a future''.
According to one of the protest organizers, proposed university reforms from Italy's center-right government ''do not reform anything, all they do is penalize the most capable. What we want to see is a reform based on merit and a distribution of funding which rewards quality''.
The protest lasted about an hour.
