College students from all over California will join dissenting voices and common paths as they march from Raley Field to the State Capitol on Monday to protest against the recent hike in state university fees.

The increases, originally intended for community colleges, were switched to the UC and CSU systems when the state budget passed on Feb. 20.

The Students for Social Change, a group of Sacramento State students that meet weekly on campus, decided to team up with community colleges to raise awareness about the issue.

“We are taking this as an opportunity to stand in solidarity,” said David Gutierrez, junior history major and a member of the group.

Starting around December, Gutierrez and Ernest Chavez, a member of Students for Justice at De Anza Community College in Cupertino, began discussing the rally at the Capitol. The two met through a friend of Chavez’s who goes to Sac State. Both shot ideas back and forth on how to maximize the impact of the march, discussing different ways of making fliers and spreading the word about the event. Chavez wanted to get Sacramento groups involved in the march, which was originally intended for community colleges.

“It’s kind of like musical chairs,” Chavez said, “The Legislature picks on a different group each time.”

The Students for Social Justice decided to post as many fliers on campus and hand them out in the Library Quad as often as possible. Last Thursday, students wrote information about the march and the website, iwillmarch.com, on the glass of some of the main buildings on campus such as Mendocino and Sequoia halls. They also have a MySpace account, but prefer the oldest and most powerful form of communication, word-of-mouth.

A similar rally was organized in 2003, when around 13,000 students protested the increase in student tuition fees. The Legislature listened and reduced the cuts because of the strong voice from the student body.

“A lot of people are kind of skeptical about the effectiveness of the rally…” Chavez said, “It’s a direct exercise of democracy.”

Vanessa Mieleszko, sophomore history major and president of the group, expressed concerns for students who come from lower socioeconomic classes. She believes that, with cuts, these prospective students will not be able to afford an education in California’s public university system, which prides itself on providing quality education at a lower cost.

Mieleszko, Gutierrez and Eric Riggs, junior graphic design major and a member of the group, discussed how it’s not even the cost of education being affected, it’s the quality. The class sizes are growing, sections are being cut, and there are fewer faculty hires. The cuts come at a time when the school system is feeling the strain of providing quality education with lack of resources. Job placement in a weak economy is growing slimmer by the second, making intellectual stock the best to hold.

Mieleszko talked about how in some of her history classes, she can’t have study guides because the department can’t afford the paper to print them on. Other professors are taking on full-time faculty obligations, but still only being recognized and paid as part-time, more commonly known as adjunct professors.

People come and go from the group, which meets at 4:30 p.m. on Thursdays, but there is a core group of about 10 to 15 students who attend every week. Mieleszko feels that the young club has seen the number of attendees grow since it was founded in spring 2008.

The sponsored events range from showing documentaries to giving presentations, but most of the meetings are followed by discussions. Anyone who is interested can attend, and there are some people who come only to discussions involving certain subjects.

“We are fulfilling a need in our society on our campus,” said Mieleszko, “Having an organization talk about issues raises awareness. People learn more about it, and it gives them perspective.”

According to statistics released by the CSU system, from the 1997-98 year to the 2007-08 year, state university fees have increased $1,188. This excludes most costs that are seen on the final bill, which are usually health services fees, student body center fees, student body association fees, etc.

For more information about the march and Students for Social Change, follow these links: www.myspace.com/ssccsus and www.iwillmarch.com.

Anne Morrison can be reached at [email protected]