After experiencing direct cuts to classes and programs, 150 students from Fresno City College marched on Sacramento to voice their frustrations to legislators.

The March in March event, a statewide protest against California’s budget cuts to education, took place on March 22, involving thousands of students and supporters.

FCC student Jonathan Howell, a senator for Inter-Club Council (ICC), attended the march. He told the Rampage that people who have the power to affect change should use it to help those who do not.

“We now live in a world where education and information can be free to all people,” Howell said in an e-mail interview after the march. “It is time for a change in our government, to reflect the changes of this, the 21st Century.”

At about 5 a.m., FCC students boarded three State Center Community College District charter buses to head to the state capitol building.

By 9 a.m., the three buses joined dozens of buses from all over the state at Raley Field in West Sacramento. The buses were filled with passionate, aggravated students from UC, CSU, and community college campuses from across the state.

Before leaving Raley Field, organizers gave marchers picket signs stating: “CA needs majority rule on revenue & budget.” A large group of students circled around to hear the frustration and motivations of their fellow students being voiced via megaphone.

By 10 a.m., the thousands of students began to march across the Tower Bridge, over the Sacramento River, and up the west steps of the capitol building, chanting “No more cuts,” and holding various signs making their message clear.

At 11 a.m., students and supporters listened to organizers speak, hearing motivation, praise and suggested solutions to the state’s funding problems.

The main solution proposed by organizers was the passing of Assembly Bill 656. According to the AB 656 fact sheet, the bill would create “The California Higher Education Fund that would be funded by a new 9.9 percent oil severance tax. This Fund would be administered by the California Higher Education Endowment Corporation (created by this bill) that would annually allocate the revenue to the three college systems based on the following formula: 60% to CSU, 30%, and community colleges, 10%.”

Among the speakers at the march, Student Senate for California Community Colleges President Reid Milburn urged that students, “Organize voter registration drives, letter-writing campaigns, phone calls to lawmakers and share their personal stories and publicly comment during budget hearings.”

Howell, the Inter Club Council senator, later told The Rampage that state and federal governments have been undermining the people for as long as he remembers. All people, he said, should have a chance at education and a better future.

“We are here at this rally today because we want a better future for ourselves, our brothers, our sisters, and our future children,” he said.

FCC physical education major Wendy Izquierdo attended the march and said that not all students come from the same background and that those who highly value their education do not have the same financial ability.

“If I had the chance to talk to the state’s legislators,” Izquierdo said, “I would tell them to put themselves in our shoes.”

Direct effects of California’s budget crisis will be felt by FCC students in the semesters to come. As reported in The Rampage, students may face an increase to $40 per unit as soon as this fall.

In addition, many FCC students this summer will find themselves competing for classes with students from Fresno State, who are being offered a limited summer schedule due to budget cuts on that campus.

These challenges potentially delay transfer and/or graduation plans for students. They also impact instructors who may lose chances to teach during summer or regular sessions, due to class sections being cut.

Howell said that he was hopeful the march would improve the situation but said that he didn’t feel there were enough students at the rally for the legislature to take them seriously.

“I do believe that this rally helped make students more aware of the issues that are going to be affecting them as a body,” Howell said. “I just wish we were more successful in pressuring the legislation for a change.”

Staff writers Gabriella Ramirez and Laura Solis contributed to this report.