The Skyline Against Cuts is es­sentially a group of people who have come together in order to mobilize against the budget cuts being not only threatened, but actualized by California.

“Skyline Against Cuts is specifi­cally to organize against the budget cuts,” said Skyline staff member Michael D. Hoffman.

“The most important thing is building a mass movement for the future,” continued Skyline econom­ics professor Masao Suzuki.

The meeting was attended by a mixture of students and staff, adding up to about 15 people. The round-table discussion spanned subjects like the upcoming election, a run through of the different proposi­tion, and the upcoming conference in S.F. State.

The time spent speaking about the election was spent mostly dis­cussing the importance of student participation and interest.

“This election, more than any other, is going to be pivotal,” said Ashley J. Smith, a skyline student in attendance.

During this section of the meet­ing, the most prominent subject was the choosing of a candidate who had the best in mind as far as budget cuts was concerned.

“The question,” said Suzuki, “is which candidate will help build the mass movement.”

Hoffman, however, believes that, for this particular election, it is not who will do the most good for California schools, but who will do the least bad.

“Until we have some form of organized alternative,” said Hoff­man, “it will always be a vote for the lesser evil.”

After the election portion, the meeting veered into the neighboring subject of the propositions being put up to a vote. Hoffman comman­deered the discussion not only on what the propositions actually were, but also on the effect they would have to the group’s cause.

Proposition 25, in particular, was of interest to the group.

The proposition would effective­ly eliminate the 2/3 majority necessary in order to pass a budget, instead making it so only a “simple majority” is needed.

According to cainitia­tives2010.org, the proposi­tion also makes it so that if the Legislature does not pass a budget by its due date, legislators are required to forfeit their salaries and liv­ing expense allowance.

There was a bit of dis­cussion time allotted to this particular proposition, with most of the room in agree­ment with its passing.

“A 2/3 vote means that a minority can keep the budget from being finalized,” said Hoffman.

The meeting then turned to talks of the Oct. 30 conference happening at San Francisco State University.

The students and staff present ex­pressed the hope that students from Skyline would rally at S.F. State the way they did with the march on Sacramento last year.

Suzuki expressed that even though the conference would be regarding budget cuts for state schools, it was still important to show solidarity.

“The statewide movement is try­ing to connect all sectors together,” Hoffman agreed. “Instead of orga­nizing separately, and getting money from the state separately, we’re trying to come together to get more resources for public education.”

The attendees of the meeting hope that Skyline students show their support at the conference on Saturday.

Raymond Cotella, a student who did not attend the meeting last Wednesday, said that he, too, hoped student interest would be piqued.

“We have to show a united front so that the state knows this is an is­sue we care about,” said Cotella.