Associated Students of Skyline College (ASSC) President Tanya Johnson and 61 other community college student presidents from across the state gathered in Sacramento last month to write a letter to the governor-elect demanding that he avoid slashing funding for education.The letter was written at the California Community College Student Affair Association (CCCSAA) conference headed by Phil Sanders of American River College and Skip Fotch associate dean of student activities of City College of San Francisco. It states that the community college system is expecting the newly elected governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to make the right decisions–in funds for the 108 community colleges that host almost three million students.In the letter, the student leaders asked to meet with Schwarzenegger to address the concerns that students have for the future of community colleges as to whether they will remain affordable and classes will remain stable and intact.The letter also reinforced the actions taken last March when roughly 10,000 students showed up at the state’s capital in protest objecting to the funding cuts made to the community colleges. They warned Schwarzenegger if any more cuts are made to community colleges, the associated students would organize another protest in March 2004.”This letter was a way to tell the newly elected governor that we took some big cuts last year and that we made a statement when we protested on March 17 to show our disapproval,” Johnson said. “We’ll do it again…if he makes it necessary.” According to Johnson, the driving force behind the letter was the associated president at Foothill College. He wrote a letter to Schwarzenegger conveying that community colleges should not be affected any more-that they have suffered enough.Seven presidents were appointed to draft the letter with the thoughts and concerns presented by Johnson and the other presidents during a two-hour “round table” discussion.Johnson said that all of the presidents signed the letter with one pen, which was sent to the newly elected governor. She also said that because of this letter, they have formed a Yahoo group to keep in touch with one another and to update each other on any word from Schwarzenegger.