Universities in the CSU system have been asked to make an additional $66 million in mid-semester cuts to their programs, and at least one department at SF State is saying “no way.”

The Department of Anthropology has refused to make the proposed cuts called for by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s latest budget revision, using class time to discuss the reductions that could catastrophically limit class availability and tarnish the program’s credibility in the academic community, said department chair Doug Bailey.

“We have to draw the line,” said Bailey. Students, faculty and staff from all branches of education must “push back against the system” to keep these cuts from happening, he said.

And many students decided to push back in a big way. Nearly 400 students gathered in the quad shortly after noon Wednesday to protest proposed cuts after anthropology majors hatched the idea of a sit-in last week.

Coupled with the $31 million expected to be given back to the state by CSU administration, cuts to the country’s largest four-year university system could grow beyond $400 million, according to a CSU press release and public affairs communication specialist at the CSU, Teresa Ruiz.

The proposed $97 million cut would eliminate the money shielded from budget cuts last semester and put the university system $310 million below its operating costs, according to the California Faculty Association, student activists and university instructional staff.

“The colleges have had to make cuts continuously for a number of years. We kept classes for the last area to be cut. It is important for you to know that most of the colleges have no other area left to cut,” said Joel Kassiola, dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences who supports students’ efforts to fight back.

There is another casualty in the struggle over funding, says anthropology chair Bailey: lecturers.

“Lecturers are getting the worst part of the deal,” Bailey said, explaining that aside from students, they are the most vulnerable in a time of cutbacks and likely to lose their jobs before contracted faculty.

Many students are concerned about the quality of their education as well as the loss of favorite teachers.

“It’s not me. It’s not anthropology. We think it’s ridiculous. It’s going to affect everyone’s access to higher education,” said senior Shwan Zandi, an anthropology major who emerged as an organizer for the sit-in.

At their monthly meeting last week, teachers in the anthropology department decided to table their original agenda to spend their time discussing the impending cuts. There, the faculty and lecturers realized the “people not being consulted about this [were] the students,” and decided to bring the subject into the classroom, Bailey said.

Once students found out about the proposed cuts, plans for a sit-in quickly followed.

About 22 students initially showed up, a near even mix of anthropology and other majors, in Room 270 of the Science building to discuss the budget situation.

“If this room goes over its capacity, we’ll have to go outside,” prefaced anthropology Chair Bailey, as people continued to trickle in. Soon, participation surpassed the 70-person limit of the room.

The group soon swelled to close to 300 people in Cesar Chavez Plaza, said SF State Chief of Police Kirk Gaston.

Kinesiology is only offered at CSUs, said newly transferred junior Gary Stockdale. “I have no other choice but to go to a CSU for my education. For the past five years I’ve been going to junior college, working three jobs to get here. And who is going to tell me that I have to work more, that I have to work harder,” he paused a moment as his voice broke, “for something that I deserve? Who has the right to do that to me?”

If the cheers that met Stockdale’s speech are any indication, he is not alone in his struggle. Another speaker, 19-year old sophomore Alexandra Martin, asked everyone in the crowd to raise their hand if they had to take out a loan to come to SF State. Over half raised their hands. Even more raised their hands when she asked how many would have to take out loans if the fees are increased.

Protest organizers had letters of support available to be signed and then sent to Gov. Schwarzenegger’s office. Students could also sign up for their e-mail list. Interested students can also participate through the Facebook group “United Against CSU Budget Cuts!”

With no official title, the group of activists that have formed around the recent budget drama echo the kind of anti-cut activism seen throughout the CSU last semester, several participants said.

“SF State by far was the most organized campus [last semester]. If that didn’t happen, we wouldn’t have that 97 million,” said Larry Salomon, a current lecturer in ethnic studies who loosely advised one of the activist groups, the New Front Coalition, but “we never really got out of this crisis.”

Last semester’s events included a 300 strong, university and CSU-funded trip to rally in Sacramento and a walk-out to City Hall, involving groups such as Alliance for the CSU, the NFC, Fight the Fees and others who converged to express opposition to the budget reduction expected to pass through the state legislature.

Yet without the visible presence of the coalition that emerged over the budget issue this semester, many were left wondering who would remain to address the continuing budget crisis. Both the California Faculty Association and CSU administration have called for the same kind of activism that they said influenced the state budget last semester. Both credit that activism as instrumental in winning back the $97 million now likely to be reclaimed by the state.

“Student activism, by nature, is difficult,” Salomon said, citing the busy lives of students that make coordination a challenge.

All of the money is still allocated to the CSU but has been set aside pending a special session of the state legislature that will decide its fate, said public affairs communication specialist at the CSU, Teresa Ruiz.

In the meantime, the new group, beginning as a product of concerned anthropology students and attracting hundreds of others to its Wednesday rally, is still organizing but intends to continue its efforts to protest the budget, according to participant and group organizer, Madeline Peyton, 23.

“I’m glad that people are taking what we did last semester and running with it,” said Alex Mejia, 24-year-old former activist in the Fight the Fees group and participant in many of the rallies held last semester.

This isn’t the first time SF State and the CSU have faced a major budget crisis, and it may not be the last said SF State CFA chapter president, Ramon Castellblanch.

The California legislature will vote on the revised state budget in January, and the embattled state economy indicates that it may be even less favorable to the CSU, Castellblanch said.

“I don’t think anybody was prepared for this crisis,” he said. “It was quite a shock.”

In Wednesday’s University Budget Committee meeting, President Robert A. Corrigan echoed concerns that this current budget crisis was growing and required immediate action.

“The longer [the state legislature] delays in taking action, the bigger this problem will become,” he said.