For two hours Tuesday night, UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi and other campus officials took the stage in a town hall meeting - fielding questions and listening to the concerns of students - in a mostly full Freeborn Hall, which holds nearly 1,200 audience members.

It was another in series of efforts in the past two days to address the outrage that has arisen on the normally peaceful campus, and nationwide, after a videotaped incident Friday in which campus police doused nonviolent protestors with pepper spray.

Katehi went first to the podium and delivered a brief speech. She called the use of pepper spray, seen in viral videos on the Internet, "appalling." She said she had ordered that tents belonging to Occupy UC Davis protestors be removed Friday but had instructed Police Chief Annette Spicuzza, who has been placed on leave, that "violence should be avoided at all costs."

"It was the absolute last thing I ever wanted to happen," Katehi told the audience.

Her remarks were met with polite applause.

Afterward, speakers - most of whom did not identify themselves - lined up at two microphones in the audience.

Many expressed anger.

One woman delivered a box she said contained 80,000 signatures demanding Katehi's resignation. Others questioned the necessity for campus officers to be armed and asked to see their policies regarding use of force.

A minority of students offered support for Katehi and even, in once case, for the police officers involved.

There were hecklers, but other audience members told them to be quiet.

The night's biggest round of applause was saved for the last audience member to speak - a soft-spoken computer science major named Jason Hsu, who said he wasn't normally inclined toward politics or public speaking.

He said he had been on campus for three years but had never seen Katehi, acting Police Chief Matt Carmichael or any of the three vice chancellors who joined them on stage.

"Too much bureaucracy," he said. "I know you have meetings. Bureaucrats have meetings all the time.

"Have your meetings at the CoHo," he said, referring to the campus Coffee House, where many students hang out.

Katehi, who spent time earlier in the day talking to those who had pitched their tents on campus, said several times during the meeting that she had realized she needed to be more connected with those she serves.

"I need, as chancellor, to spend a lot more time with the students," she said.

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