Dozens of Occupy demonstrators arrested

Dozens of people have been arrested during Occupy demonstrations at the University of California's Berkeley campus as authorities twice clashed with protesters trying to set up encampments.

The clashes were the latest friction as authorities in cities around the US try to determine how to deal with the anti-Wall Street protesters who have been camping out since mid-September.

Television news footage from outside the university's main administration building showed officers pulling people from the steps and nudging others with batons as the crowd chanted: "We are the 99%" and "Stop beating students".

Thirty-two people were arrested on suspicion of resisting and delaying police officers and failing to disperse, UC Berkeley police Lieutenant Alex Yao said.

In Burlington, Vermont, a 35-year-old man died after shooting himself in an Occupy encampment.

People who knew him said he was a military veteran. Occupy Vermont leader Emily Reynolds said he "clearly needed more help than we were capable of giving him".

Burlington had threatened to evict the protesters because the park is closed overnight, but city officials made special accommodation for the protesters. About two dozen tents remain.

In Berkeley, the officers eventually formed a perimeter around the steps of the building. As the evening wore on, the crowd swelled as protesters debated whether to stay overnight.

The university reported earlier that an administrator had told the protesters they could stay around the clock for a week, but only if they did not pitch tents or use stoves or other items that would suggest people were sleeping there.

The protesters voted not to comply with the demand and to go ahead with setting up a tent site they dubbed "Occupy Cal" to protest against financial policies they blame for causing deep cuts in higher education spending.

Earlier in the day, campus police assisted by local deputies dismantled a small encampment students had set up near Sproul Hall despite official warnings that such encampments would not be allowed.

University officials said seven people - six students and one faculty member - were arrested during that clash on charges of resisting and delaying police officers in the performance of their duties and/or failure to disperse.

One of the seven was also charged with striking an officer.

The move to create a campus off-shoot of the Occupy Wall Street camps around the country came after hundreds of students, teachers and Berkeley residents rallied on campus before marching peacefully to a Bank of America branch.

At one point, vice chancellor for student affairs Harry Le Grande came out to negotiate, telling camp participants they could stay but only with certain conditions, such as not sleeping at the site or using sound amplifiers.

"The university supports the efforts of any group to speak out freely, but everyone is expected to follow campus policies, the law, and respect the rights of others to go to class, to teach, to do their work," campus spokeswoman Janet Gilmore said.