Amid the shortage of classes and overcrowded classrooms, Governor Jerry Brown has proposed to cut some $400 million in community college funding. Collectively, $1.4 billion would be cut from California’s higher education budget.

With the state deficit hovering around $25.4 billion for the 2011- 12 fiscal year, California’s college students are going to take the brunt of the proposed budget cuts. San Mateo Community College District is expecting an $8 million cut.

Last year, community college, UC and CSU students all over the state protested these fiscal cutbacks. The increasing cuts in the state’s higher education budget rallied college students to organize themselves and oppose it. This year, Governor Brown’s proposed budget cuts will undoubtedly trigger a repeat of last year’s student furor.

A student organization, Skyline Against the Cuts, is starting to organize and recruit volunteers to oppose these proposed budget cuts. Club members Michael Madden and Black Student Union President Floyd Pitt have started to inform students about the drastic cuts and their effect on community colleges throughout the state.

The effect of the previous year’s budget cuts has manifested itself in the form of limited classes and student services, large class sizes, and shorter library hours. The proposed budget cuts will exacerbate these problems. Additionally, tuition would be raised from $26 to $36 per unit.

Madden said that students need to reject the idea that they are powerless to voice their opinion. “In all seriousness,” he said,”the size of the cuts could . . . end public services.”

Skyline Against the Cuts is currently facing some difficulties. According to Madden and Pitt, the lack of faculty support, organizational red tape and lack of student interest are making organizing hard. Furthermore, the more experienced organizers from last year left Skyline.

According to Pitt, students need to be informed about “the travesty of the budget cuts.”

Skyline Against the Cuts is going to have a teach-in on March 2 in rooms 2604 and 2606. Professors Masao Suzuki and George Wright are going to inform students about the effects these budget cuts will have to California’s community college students.

Madden said, “Students ought to stop begging but rather demand (these services).”