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Facing an influx of angry and desperate students who could not add classes or were in standing – room only classrooms, a coalition of faculty and students at Cal State Northridge organized a week-long faxing campaign called “Vent at the Tent”. The “Vent Tent” which was up on the first day of school until yesterday, collected messages from over a thousand students to be faxed to the offices of the Governor, various lawmakers, and the CSU Board of Trustees. In addition to written messages, students and faculty shared their testimonies on video as well. During the last budget battle, the California educational system suffered a $9 billion cut while the State prison system was cut by only $1.2 billion. As a result CSU students received a 32% fee hike, classes were cut, professors were ordered to take furlough days and, for the first time in CSU history, eligible students were denied enrollment to the University. According to one estimate, about 10,000 eligible students were not accepted for the new semester while admissions for the spring 2010 semester are already closed. The week-long “Vent at the Tent” on CSUN’s campus was organized by the California Faculty Association and Students for a Quality Education. Uprising intern and CSUN student Steve Gill spoke with several students and faculty and filed this exclusive report from the event: