Cal State Fullerton ghost town is its own lesson

The busload of future college students from Whittier High School who took a field trip Wednesday to Cal State Fullerton got less -- and more -- than they were expecting.

They didn't get a feel for student life on campus because there was hardly any.

But they did receive an unexpected lesson on the state's budget crisis, thanks to a three-day faculty furlough and the cancellation of most classes -- part of a broad plan of cuts and student fee increases to stem the university's $36.7-million shortfall.

"We lost five school days because of furloughs, so they're aware that their education is being cut back," said Chris Weitzel, a Whittier teacher who accompanied the students. "Today, they're learning that it's affecting all levels of public education."

You could have landed a small airplane on the tranquil, tree-lined walkways of the Fullerton campus. The notoriously packed Nutwood parking garage was nearly empty. And the usually bustling campus bookstore was as quiet as a monastery.

For students, the Tuesday-through-Thursday furlough left them with plenty of time to fill.

Outside the bookstore, members of Associated Students Inc., the student government, registered voters and operated a "vent tent" where passersby were invited to sit before a video camera and tell lawmakers how cuts in higher education funding are affecting them.

Others wrote their stories on a whiteboard and stood to have their photos taken with it. The materials will be used in ASI's lobbying efforts in Sacramento.

"What we can do as students is have our voices heard," said Andrew Lopez, 21, a communications and advertising major and ASI representative. "We're telling lawmakers that they need to make higher education a priority. Go out there and find the money. This is where the next generation of . . . leaders . . . is being educated."

Claudia Pinedo, 19, a sophomore nursing major, held the whiteboard with her message: "Now my parents will have to work double shifts to be able to afford my education."

She hurried away to a student study group that was going to tackle amino acids, the subject of Chapter 19 in her chemistry book.

"On Monday, the chemistry teacher told us that we're going to have to learn a whole chapter on our own" because of the furlough, Pinedo said. "I could tell he felt bad. He felt frustrated."