Sacramento State University students, faculty and staff rallied Wednesday to protest $66.3 million in proposed cuts to the CSU system budget.
California State University Chancellor Charles B. Reed said Monday that the CSU system plans to eliminate 10,000 admission spots for the 2009-10 school year to make way for the cuts.
Dozens of people staged a similar protest Wednesday outside the CSU headquarters in Los Angeles.
Sacramento organizers collected several hundred fax messages they plan to send to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in opposition to the cuts. And dozens of Sacramento State students and faculty posted stories about how the cuts will affect them on a "board of consequences" set up near the university library.
"We want the human touch," said Jason Conwell, who serves on the staff of the Sacramento State faculty association.
One of the stories was written by an engineering major who said cutbacks in class offerings mean he will graduate a year late.
Lila Jacobs, a professor in education leadership, said the protests against proposed budget cuts were unusual, because they brought together administrators and faculty.
"We don't always work in unity," said Jacobs, president of the Sacramento State chapter of the California Faculty Association.
In a statement released after the Sacramento rally, the Governor's Office pointed out that the state faces an $11.3 billion shortfall.
"We are mitigating the pain as much as possible by proposing a temporary tax increase and giving higher ed more discretion and flexibility in how they spend state resources," the statement reads. "We hope that will allow them to keep more money in the classroom."
Call The Bee's Walter Yost, (916) 608-7449.
