Business, government, labor and student advocates announced the beginning of the nonpartisan statewide Coalition to Save CSU campaign at the close of the California State University Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday in Fresno.

Organizers at the Save Mart Center at Fresno State said they will appeal to the public to pressure Gov. Schwarzenegger and state legislators to preserve CSU funding without more budget cuts.

Schwarzenegger's proposed 9%, $239.6 million cut for the CSU system in 2004-05 may harm the 23-campus system beyond repair, they said.

The Governor's Office could not be reached to comment.

Professor Lillian Taiz, vice president of the California Faculty Association, told trustees that the university system already has suffered more than its share of budget cuts during California's fiscal troubles. The governor's additional proposed cuts would put the university's loss over two years at $541 million in state support, enough to finance California State University, Fresno, and two other CSU campuses.

"We are talking about the vitality of this institution to fulfill its mission," said Dr. Floyd Anscombe, a physician at CSU Northridge's student health center and a member of the Union of American Physicians.

CSU campuses react to curtailed funding by cutting services, he said: "The things that are going first are at the heart of what this university is about.

"... Didn't people used to call CSU the people's university? It shows how far we have gone. Nobody calls it that anymore. We've lost that focus."

Coalition leaders said they believe that CSU trustees support their effort. During a presentation to trustees, Taiz described "a chilling long-term trend. If we don't take a stand, we will lose the state's best asset: quality, affordable education."

She asked trustees to support the coalition's political effort, and board Chairwoman Debra Farar said she would be filling out a mailing-list card herself.

Coalition representatives will attempt to mobilize more than 2 million CSU alumni to contact their legislators. The effort is aimed at convincing voters that the CSU system, now serving 409,000 students and employing 44,000 faculty, has sustained all the cuts it can and still remain effective.

The calls for political support of the CSU system played in counterpoint to trustees' congratulations for President John Welty of Fresno State and for the campus' $113 million Save Mart Center, financed by private donations and bonds.

Trustees thanked Welty for what they called their most successful campus meeting.