BERKELEY - Cal students can expect reduced library hours this year as well as shaggier grass as the university cuts back on administrative and maintenance staff to cope with budget reductions.

Invoking images of "dark clouds that hover on the horizon," UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl spoke Wednesday of how the state budget crisis is affecting this campus of 32,900 students.

Berkeley did its best not to cut into student instruction, he said, although a few senior classes with low enrollment will be eliminated or collapsed into other courses.

What is truly worrisome, he said, is the possibility the 10-campus UC system may have to restrict enrollment and break its 43-year-old promise outlined in the state's master plan for higher education to admit all eligible applicants.

"I think it would be tragic to the young people of California," he said. "We've developed a work force that is as well-educated as any and developed an industry based on that (promise)."

As Berdahl spoke, thousands of returning students and freshmen explored campus and began bringing Sproul Plaza back to life in anticipation of classes starting Monday. An estimated 3,640 freshmen are expected to register this fall.

While the budget cuts have generated a lot of bleak news, Berdahl happily noted that this year students aren't facing the harsh housing market they have in years past. The university deserves some credit, he said, for its stepped-up effort to build new housing. Other construction projects are also ongoing like the multi-million dollar replacement of Stanley Hall.

He outlined how the campus has tried to protect students from the budget crisis. It shielded, for instance, financial aid, admissions and the registrar's office. But it did lay off 70 staff members and froze another 130 vacant positions. This means students will likely find longer lines at the health center, and it may be harder to get help from a tutor, he said.

Although the university experienced a 20 percent cut in state funding to its budget for research -- a huge part of its mission -- that won't have a drastic impact, Berdahl said. The state provides just $25 million, less than 10 percent of Cal's total research budget.

The university's overall budget is $1.35 billion. It saw its state operating budget cut by $24.5 million or 4.2 percent to $576 million. It would have been worse had the university system not raised fees, said Berkeley spokeswoman Marie Felde. Since last December, fees have increased 40 percent.

The university's outreach programs in low-income schools also experienced cuts. Their goal is to diversify Berkeley's student body in the aftermath of Proposition 209, which ended race-based affirmative action at the university. Although the Legislative Analyst's Office has questioned the effectiveness of outreach, Berdahl said the cuts could hurt the campus' ability to recruit a diverse student body.

"That will probably have a longer term effect on those inner-city schools where we've had close relationships," he said. "But we're working very hard to try and continue those under some different arrangement (such as using federal funding)."

The incoming freshmen class is roughly 44 percent Asian, 30 percent white, 11 percent Chicano-Latino, 4 percent African-American, 0.5 percent American Indian and 1 percent other. Eight percent declined to state their ethnicity.

Berdahl also explained how the university is working to stop students from sharing copyrighted materials on the Internet. Students who want a free Internet connection must attend an orientation session this year called "Cal Connect" and learn the legal ramifications of illegally downloading music.

"We've hit that hard: That's an illegal activity and we do not condone it," Berdahl said.