CSUSM campus life gearing up for growth, North County Times
With the first on-campus housing at Cal State San Marcos opening as classes get underway Sept. 2, many people at this 14-year-old university are laying the groundwork for student life to open up as well.

CSUN feels budget pinch, Los Angeles Daily News
The start today of the fall semester at California State University, Northridge, brings with it another year of record-breaking enrollment, coupled with higher fees and the worst budget crisis the university has faced in a decade.

A First-Class Welcome at New College, Los Angeles Times
Cal State Channel Islands greets its inaugural crew of freshmen in what promises to be a year of change and growth.

CSUMB Makes a Splash, Monterey Herald
New pool debuts for education, recreation.

San Francisco State University: The real world, U.S. News & World Report
Many of San Francisco State's nearly 21,000 undergrads have never taken college for granted. A full 93 percent of the university's students live off campus; for many, their classes are a commute away from a deluge of real-world responsibilities that includes raising kids, supporting parents, and working overtime.

Tailgating for a Cause, San Jose Mercury-News
Spirited events before SJSU Game Promote Literacy, Black Colleges.

Students, locals make the annual adjustment, Chico Enterprise-Record
With classrooms filling up this morning just like the town has in the past week, it's easy to tell school is in session.

CSUF students get free ride out of parking pinch, Orange County Register
Shuttle offered from remote lots as construction limits campus spaces.

New face for frats, San Jose Mercury-News
These fraternity brothers at the University of California-Berkeley wear Greek letters with a Sanskrit design, have no plans to share a house and say they won't serve alcohol at any of their gatherings.

Waivers of tuition scrutinized, Sacramento Bee
Between 13,000 and 15,000 students out of nearly 3 million at California's public colleges go to school for free as a way for the state to honor their parents.

Bond funds pay for projects, Long Beach Press-Telegram
It may sound like a contradiction: At the same time cash-strapped school districts are grappling with budget cuts from Sacramento, many are taking on some of their most ambitious construction projects.

Orange schools seek public support, Orange County Register
If voters approve $200 million in upgrades, district would be eligible for state money.

Students return to two-year schools facing higher fees, North County Times
Students at North County's community colleges return to campus Monday facing higher fees but with assurances that they will still be getting California's best bargain in higher education.

College district may pay for PR with bond funds, Los Angeles Daily News
The cash-strapped Los Angeles Community College District may use revenue from two construction bond measures to pay $400,000 a year to outside public relations consultants to guide its marketing campaign.

Rio Hondo trustees speak out against Prop. 54, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
President says initiative would hurt scholarships.

Colleges rushing to squash e-mail bug, Oakland Tribune
SFSU's 20 technicians have blocked as many as 75,000 correspondences in one day.

At Elite Prep School, Parents Do the Math, Wall St. Journal
In discussing his pay as headmaster of the elite St. Paul's prep school, Bishop Craig Anderson is fond of invoking a biblical maxim: Of those to whom much is given, much is expected.

State College Cuts Make Graduating a Struggle, New York Times
At many public universities, grappling with record budget cuts and enrollments at the same time, the classroom is no longer being spared.

Harvard Radical, New York Times Magazine
President Lawrence Summers wants Harvard to regard itself as a single sovereign entity rather than as an archipelago of loosely affiliated institutions.

Debate Over Meningitis Vaccines, Wall St. Journal
Starting this fall, incoming students at many colleges face a new health requirement: They have to say whether they've been vaccinated against a dangerous form of meningitis.

Public universities' fee jumps provide hard lessons, Contra Costa Times/AP
The crowd filling out applications at a campus job fair last week was just one sign of the times as Kansas and other public universities raise tuition this fall by percentages that often hit the double digits.

60 percent of Americans polled say teachers are underpaid, Contra Costa Times/AP
Most Americans think teachers aren't paid enough, and support for school voucher programs is in decline, said a survey released last week.

Daniel Weintraub: Suddenly, everybody's got a budget, Sacramento Bee
A review of the six candidates with the most support in recent polls shows each has suggested budget plans in varying levels of detail.

Opinion: Why a Public College Wants to Send In-State Tuition Soaring, Chronicle of Higher Education
The proposal that Miami University, in Ohio, made this month to raise the level of its in-state tuition ($7,600) to the level of its out-of-state tuition ($16,300) has prompted both plaudits and cries of anguish from people throughout higher education.

Dan Walters: Recall spectacle covers up the larger issues at stake in state, Sacramento Bee
There are larger meanings in what's happening in California, but they are being lost in the media feeding frenzy over movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger's bid to succeed Gov. Gray Davis.

Dan Walters: Despite Davis' words, state's lights could still go out again, Sacramento Bee
There is a legitimate debate over what Davis could have done earlier in the crisis -- but independent experts fault him for not moving more decisively on authorizing long-term supply contracts before prices spiked dangerously high.

Opinion: Prop. 54 to make all equal in state, Los Angeles Daily News
On Oct. 7, voters have the chance to terminate not only the career of Gov. Gray Davis, but also California's dishonorable and racially polarizing habit of classifying, characterizing and dividing her citizens.

Opinion: Pity the Winner, New York Times
Gray Davis, the Democratic governor of California, may well become only the second governor in the nation's history to be recalled, but the election that removes him may well be a lose-lose-lose proposition for the state's Republican Party.

Opinion: Bustamante's budget -- tough something, San Francisco Chronicle
Republicans scoff at Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante's mixed-message -- vote against the recall, but in case it passes, vote for me. I don't see the problem.

Simon bows out of race, Sacramento Bee
Unable to generate the attention or support that helped him nearly upset Gov. Gray Davis last November, Republican Bill Simon dropped out of the recall race Saturday in an effort to winnow the field of GOP candidates.

California bond sale troubled, Sacramento Bee
California's dismal finances, coupled with the turmoil surrounding the recall election, will complicate efforts to sell $18 billion worth of bonds needed to keep the state financially afloat, state Treasurer Phil Angelides said Friday.

Davis' payroll cut sits uneasily with unions, San Diego Union-Tribune
Organized labor opposes recall, watches warily.

Racial Data Measure May Be a Wild Card in Election, Los Angeles Times
Few candidates have weighed in on Prop. 54, though Davis has voiced opposition. Analysts are divided on how it will affect the recall vote. (At CSU Dominguez Hills press conference)

NOTE: For additional political coverage, visit the Rough & Tumble website.

CSU Newsline
Here's the latest news from the CSU's 23 campuses.

CSU Leader
For breaking news and upcoming events, subscribe to CSU Leader, the weekly e-news publication of the CSU.