Crash Course in Frustration at SDSU : Education: Students who can’t get courses they need cope. Some try to crash classes, some change majors, others withdraw.

In an attempt to cope with a reduction in classes caused by large budget cuts, many San Diego State University students are honing their course-crashing skills for the fall semester, while others have switched to less crowded majors or opted to withdraw from the school altogether.

“This is sheer lunacy,” said Guy Lombardo, a senior majoring in psychology and art, who lined up at the admissions and records office half an hour before it opened Thursday.

This year’s state budget crisis led to a 10% cut for almost all of the California State University campuses, resulting in fewer course offerings and faculty layoffs. More than 1,100 SDSU students failed to get a single class requested during advanced registration, and 14,617 more students were denied one or more classes.

The difficulty facing students before the Aug. 29 start of classes is the first concrete indication of the difficult year facing the largest of the CSU’s 20 campuses.

This semester is forecast to be one of the most crowded ever at the 35,000-student university, with 662 courses slashed, as many as 400 temporary faculty member layed off and 31 semi-retired faculty members let go.

The reaction from students, who last week began receiving notices in the mail as to how many courses they got, was mostly frustration with a substantial dose of anger.

“This school is a joke. I have just one class left to graduate this fall, and I didn’t get it,” said Eric Fryer, 25, who is majoring in health science and tried to get into an upper-division computer class.

“I’m going to write a letter to the professor and then the dean, and if that doesn’t work, I don’t know what I am going to do.”

What many students are going to try to do is crash the courses they need: essentially, attend the class until the professor gives up trying to get them out, or until they are kicked out.

“If you stay in there, and stick with it, and persist, usually they’ll let you in,” said Alicia Cramer, a graduate student. “It helps if you beg and plead.”

Andy Lee, a junior concentrating in psychology, a very popular major, didn’t get into any of the six classes for which he tried to register.

“I’m going to have to try to crash them all, but I probably won’t get all of them,” said Lee, who has been crashing courses since he was a freshman. However, this was the first time he has had to crash all of them.

“If you really need the class, you just keep going until they actually kick you out,” Lee said.

But other students have decided to leave SDSU altogether.

“I’m withdrawing and transferring to San Jose State University,” said Patricia Elson, a junior majoring in physical education, who signed up for six classes but received only one.

“This is just completely out of hand and ridiculous. If I were to stay here, at this rate I’d be here for another four years,” said Elson, who has been attending SDSU for the past five years.

“You can’t crash your entire course. People that actually make it through this system should be credited for their perseverance. The diploma should come with a plaque or trophy of some sort,” Elson said.

Other students are finding solace at a more local source: the fledgling Cal State San Marcos.

“I just came here (SDSU) to drop out of here,” said Estela Becerra, a senior who, after receiving only one of the eight courses she requested, enrolled at CSSM to continue work toward a degree in bilingual education.

“I was angry with the system, that’s why I left. Now, I’m happy,” Becerra said.

But even CSSM, which added about 100 courses this year and hired 24 new faculty members to accommodate a tripling of its student body, will not be able to handle most of the displaced SDSU students, President Bill Stacy said.

“We are making some efforts to accommodate a bigger enrollment in our little university, but there is a limit,” said Stacy, pointing out that the 1,162 SDSU students who did not receive any of the classes they asked for was equivalent to CSSM’s entire enrollment this year.

SDSU officials also are encouraging students to take lower-division courses at community colleges. But many of those schools are cutting the number of classes because of budget constraints and cannot absorb the SDSU students.

The limited number of courses at SDSU has left students who hold down jobs in a particularly tight bind.

“I’m limited in what I can choose because I work, and, if I don’t get in, I’m pretty well screwed,” said Mark Marty, a 28-year-old senior majoring in finance, who works full-time at a Kearny Mesa bank.

Students who are flexible enough have opted to change to less popular majors to get classes and at least get a degree in something.

“I couldn’t get any classes as a political science major last semester, so I changed to sociology,” said Melissa Larabee, a junior who got all six classes she requested this year.

The message from school administrators to students has been simple: stay calm.

“I’m telling them to try and stay calm, to approach it as a project, to go to each class that they wish to get and to have a list with them of what they want so they don’t panic when they are refused,” said Jan Genovese, a secretary in the psychology department, which has been inundated with frustrated students.

“Stay in the class, even if the class looks like it has three times the number that can fit, and they all do. Keep coming back. Get there early and get a seat, because sometimes the professor will ask everyone standing to please leave,” Genovese said.

“Have proof of your (class) rank, or if you have a desperate situation, bring proof,” because some professors will make exceptions, Genovese said.

She conceded, however, that “some professors have no sympathy.”

“It’s a complete and total zoo. I have been here for eight years and I have never, ever seen this before. The students almost have breakdowns,” said Genovese, who has counseled several tearful students over the phone.

“It’s really hectic here. Even in the psychology department, people don’t know how to handle a crisis.”