[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/01/BAVK1I0G4T.DTL]
SACRAMENTO - -- They marched through the streets of the capital in high heels and short skirts, in business suits and ties - and on at least one set of crutches.
It was student protest unlike any other.
"What are you doing, Jerry Brown? Why are you trying to shut us down?" chanted hundreds of well-attired University of California students from campuses around the state, as mounted police and cops on bicycles kept pace.
Some 400 members of the UC Student Association converged on the capital Monday, not only to march and rally on the steps of the Capitol building, but also to lobby individual lawmakers and try to persuade them to oppose the $1.4 billion in cuts to higher education proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown to help close the state's $26.6 billion budget gap.
If that were too much to ask, and they knew it was, they hoped at least to stave off even deeper cuts by persuading lawmakers to support the Democratic governor's proposal to place $14 billion in tax extensions and increases on the June ballot.
Democrats control the state Assembly and Senate, but the tax measure requires two-thirds approval, or support from at least two Republicans in each body, and Republicans oppose putting taxes before the voters.
But students want the public vote because without the extensions and increases, budget cuts to UC alone would rise from $500 million to $1 billion next year.
Students urged on
Some Democratic lawmakers joined the students at a noon rally on the Capitol steps. Among them was Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, who won cheers when he urged the students to "knock on the door of every Assembly member and every senator - and finally, break down the governor's door - and you tell those individuals: No cuts! No fees! That is the bottom line!"
That's what the students did Monday morning, or tried to do. Mainly, the students met with staff members instead of lawmakers, who tended to be unavailable.
Four UC Riverside students dropped by the office of their assemblyman, Brian Nestande, R-Palm Desert (Riverside County), vice chairman of the Higher Education Committee. Nestande's aide, Tiffany Vichi, met with them briefly.
They described the impact of years of budget cuts.
"Thousands of students are trying to take English 1C, but they're giving priority to seniors," lamented sophomore Kevin Gomez.
Tuition increases of 32 percent this year, and an additional 8 percent for next fall, especially hurt middle-class students who don't qualify for financial aid, senior Denesa Moore told Vichi.
"I've had to consider dropping out of school many times," Moore said, as Vichi took notes.
"We're kind of asking for you and your office to try and find another way to cut the budget," Moore said politely.
"I can't say what position the assemblyman will take," Vichi said. "But I'm really impressed with you."
Making their case
Another group from UC Riverside had the job of persuading Senate Republican Leader Bob Dutton of Rancho Cucamonga (San Bernardino County) to support putting the tax measures before voters.
Four students were given 15 minutes to make their case to Dutton's press secretary, Larry Venus.
Sophomore Adriana Cruz put it bluntly: "Will Sen. Dutton put the tax extension measure on the ballot?"
In response, Venus discussed earlier failed tax measures. He talked about the need for pension reform. And he told them that state employees cost the state money by cashing in on unused vacation days.
When the students convened later to discuss the meeting, they were unsure if Dutton favored the tax extension measure or not.
A quick phone call put all doubt to rest.
"I did not say that," Dutton's spokesman clarified.
But regardless of the outcome, students said lobbying the lawmakers was worth it.
"We can't complain if we don't show them we have a voice," said UC Berkeley freshman Samantha Strimling as she marched around the Capitol with hundreds of chanting students.
Strimling had broken her left foot two weeks ago and was using crutches to keep up with the other protesters. To hear her tell it, the broken bone was the least of her problems.
"If you're going to march for anything," she said, "this is it."
Student demonstrators, many of them dressed up for the occasion, march down 13th Street toward the state Capitol in Sacramento. Photo: Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle
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