SAN JOSE -- Without taking a single step, thousands of California college and university students and faculty members "virtually" marched on Governor Schwarzenegger's office today to protest budget cuts.

Students from the University of California system joined with students from California State Universities and community colleges for a so-called "electronic march" in which the students faxed, phoned and e-mailed the Governor's office, urging the Governor to raise taxes instead of tuition.

San Jose State University engineering student Ehtisham Hassam said he pays his own tuition. "It's getting higher and higher," said Hassam. "I don't want to see it at $2000 or $2100 or $2200. Gets to be pretty difficult."

Tuition fees for the U-C and C-S-U systems have nearly doubled in the last six years. San Jose State Associate Professor Pat Don says he has seen lots of students drop out because they couldn't afford to go to school, "They go off to 'work' for a few years and then they try to come back. Very problematic for them. So this is something the Governor has got to take leadership on this thing and I know he can do it. Very few politicians who could do it, he could do it."

Governor Schwarzenegger has repeatedly said he does not support new taxes and does not believe they are way out of our California's current budget problems. Tonight, Aaron McLear, a spokesman for the Governor released a statement, "The Governor doesn't want to make these difficult cuts, which is why he's proposing budget reform so we're not in this situation again. He understands the importance of higher education, which is why he has increased funding 16% since he took office."

The Governor's last budget proposal cut $1.3 billion from the current $11 billion dollars slated for the state's higher education systems. Schwarzenegger's revised budget proposal is due next week.