Standing, leaning and sitting in the noontime heat, hundreds of students waited in a long, winding line outside the campus bookstore at Bakersfield College Wednesday.

With only three people manning the registers and a phalanx of grouchy, hot students lingering outside, getting books was an arduous task, but those in line were lucky.

If you needed books, that meant you at least had a class.

That was more than some people could say as budget cuts became a harsh reality for thousands of BC students this week.

Emiko Bailey, 19, wants to be a gynecologist but with her biology and math classes all full she's rethinking the amount of time it will take to get an associate's degree and then move on to a four-year college.

"I'll be here a lot longer than I want to," Bailey said, adding that the cuts in available classes would mean she would be at BC for 21/2 years.

"Teachers are trying to add as many as 15 people to classes, but there's just not enough room for everybody, so they're turning people away," she said.

Bakersfield College officials say enrollment is up, but the number of classes available this fall is down.

The state budget crisis forced community colleges to make drastic cuts while still trying to offer the same services to the community.

BC's been no exception. Juan Gutierrez, a spokesman for the college, said the community college has 6 percent fewer classes compared with last fall, but is looking at an enrollment near 16,500 once students finish signing up. Most classes began Monday, but some have later starts.

This means long waiting lists to get into classes for those who didn't enroll early.

"There's not nearly as many courses and sections, I should say, and it's been tough," Gutierrez said.

Shae Lott, 19, and her stepmother Helen Lott, 29, are finding that out the hard way. Standing outside the bookstore, Shae Lott lamented that her stepmother got into the sociology class they both needed, but she didn't.

"They had to pull names so some didn't get picked," Shae Lott said. "Eleven people were trying to get in and they only pulled seven names."

Those who did get into classes like Ericka Holmes, 18, may find themselves jockeying for a place to sit.

In Holmes' psychology class, there are 45 students and only 30 seats.

Louie Garcia, 32, said there are 27 people waiting to get into a chemistry class he's in that already has 24 people.

While standing in the bookstore line, Garcia was frustrated with how the budget cuts have affected the campus.

"If it was just the prices going up, I wouldn't be too angry, but prices are going up and they're taking stuff away," he said.

Gutierrez said the beginning of the semester is going to be hectic as usual but with the added strain of fewer classes.

"It is harder for students to come in," Gutierrez said. "But the instructors have been great. They've allowed a few more students over their usual capacity. But obviously there's limits to that as well. It affects instruction."

Gutierrez said the college will look for classes that have fewer students and see if they can alleviate the more crowded courses, but this year everything seems to be filling up.

BC's loss is Taft College's gain. Enrollment is up at the school, where most classes also started Monday, and Vice President of Student Services Abel Nunez said they've benefited from the overcrowding at BC.

"We've increased our full-term students by probably 200 over this fall from last fall," he said.

Nunez said that while in the past they had to cancel classes because they didn't fill up, the school is flourishing. But students who want to head to Taft to find classes that have filled up at BC need to act fast.

"We're starting to get to the point where we don't have room, but if a student really wants to take some courses here they'll find some. It just may not be the ones that they want," Nunez said.