SAN BERNARDINO - Cal State San Bernardino faculty and students gathered Friday to express opposition to proposed Cal State funding cuts, saying California's economy will worsen if the governor's budget is adopted.

About 200 people met at the campus's Student Events Center to oppose $240 million in proposed cuts to the Cal State system this fall.

The Coalition to Save the CSU organized the event in response to proposed state budget cuts. Coalition members opposed this week's pact between Gov. Schwarzenegger and leaders of the University of California and Cal State University systems, including Cal State Chancellor Charles Reed.

The agreement calls for modest funding increases in coming years in exchange for cuts and higher student fees next year.

"We believe the state can do better," said Susan Meisenhelder of the California Faculty Association. "We also believe it's not a done deal."

Speakers asked the audience to call the governor's offices and voice their concerns about the impact of cuts.

Schwarzenegger defended his higher education budget plan earlier this week.

"This brings families the stability that they need to plan for their kids' college years," the governor said in a news conference Tuesday.

Officials attending Friday's forum included Assemblyman John Longville, D-San Bernardino; Riverside City Council Member Dom Betro; San Bernardino City Council Member Susan Lien Longville; and San Bernardino City Unified School District Superintendent Arturo Delgado.

University officials contend that cuts were unavoidable.

"We believe we made the best deal for the CSU students that we could given the fiscal situation this year," said Cal State spokeswoman Colleen Bentley-Adler. "I mean, no one's getting increases ... We're taking a cut now for the promise of a better future."

Cal State San Bernardino President Al Karnig, who also spoke Friday, said he shares the coalition's concerns on how cuts will affect the system.

The governor's plan still calls for a 14 percent fee increase for undergraduates this fall and limits new enrollment by 5 percent.

Cal State San Bernardino will see enrollment drop from 17,000 to 16,000 students in response to the budget crisis.

"I think the access issue is even more important than the fee issue," Karnig said. "The first step is to make sure that the deep cuts don't get any deeper."

Students said they were concerned about rising fees and proposed cuts to financial aid.

Cari Torres, a sophomore at the San Bernardino campus, said that she received notice that she will lose a state grant this fall.

She is worried about having to get a job and taking out loans.

"I'm not going to have as much time to do well in school as I'm doing now," said Torres, who plans to major in nursing.

Torres, 20, said the forum inspired her to write to the governor.

"It gave me that push that, 'OK, I've really got to do something now,' " she said.

Roberto Soria, a junior at Cal State San Bernardino, said he is worried about losing programs that help low-income students attend college.

Soria, 20, said he grew up in Coachella in a neighborhood of largely migrant-farmworker families of Mexican descent.

"This is a good school for students who had academic and economic disadvantages," said Soria, a history major. "It's a hope to get out of the poverty."