Disappointment and frustration were the only feelings that came to mind when registering for classes this year.

Dec. 1, the first day I could begin enrolling, remained the chaotic race and hunt for available classes it has been every year. As fourth-year students, we generally (and understandably) have high expectations that we can get into the classes we need to graduate. In prior semesters, those classes seemed to fill up days before we ever had the chance to enroll. This semester, we won’t even have the “opportunity” to be waitlisted for many of these classes – as they are not being offered. I realize this university is not the only one taking a financial hit. Student sit-ins, Occupy protests, numerous letters and phone calls later, it still seems students of higher education are at the forefront of these budget cuts. While students continue to languish, the question one asks is, “‘Who is there, with influence to affect real change, to stand up and defend our education?’ Certainly not the CSU Board of Trustees. Recently, Trustee Herbert Carter attempted to justify a $100,000 salary increase. That increase alone could pay for 15 years of undergraduate college education at CSUS.

The lack of quality education in public colleges will certainly have a trickle-down effect. When a prospective employer sees a student from a California State University, the stigma will likely be that the students are less capable. They will be that we have not been prepared or provided with the same number of classes or same quality of resources as other students. They will likely consider that we have been instructed by overwhelmed part-time faculty in a department that has diminished greatly as a whole. All of this equates to a hindrance of our career prospects after college.

Slightly over 54 percent of journalism classes offered in the University Catalog are being taught this semester. Moreover, several of those classes are not even taught by faculty members; they are internships or “related work experience.” I am not saying internships are not useful, I currently have one myself; but I am saying they provide the experience and not the academia. My point is, a multitude of interesting and important information will be missed out on because Sacramento State continues to offer a major that it does not have the resources to fund.

As electives are shaved off the curriculum, I cannot feel confident in the level of education I am receiving as a journalism student at this university. Registering for classes, I realized how unfair it was to continually ask low-income students to pay more for less. Undoubtedly, it is unfair to sell students an education in a subject that the CSU system can no longer follow through on. Barring scheduling overlaps, closed classes, long waitlists and classes simply not being offered, we are forced to maintain hope that those classes will be available next semester.

I hope this letter does not fall upon closed ears and minds. I also hope it provides a voice for thousands of other frustrated students and maybe even render some attention from the suits in Sacramento Hall.

Anna Sanchez, senior journalism major