Equipped with a microphone, Deeb Kitchen grabbed a cell phone to call state Sen. Steve Oelrich before leaving the makeshift stage in the middle of the Plaza of the Americas on Tuesday.
He held out the phone so Oelrich, R-Cross Creek, could hear about 500 audience members chant, "No more cuts."
Kitchen, co-president of the UF Graduate Assistants United, was joined by UF faculty, students and Gainesville residents in an effort to end cuts to higher education.
The midday rally, which lasted about an hour, offered opportunities to proactively oppose UF cuts and layoffs by signing petitions to be sent to state legislators and UF administrators.
Some students even toted banners with the phone numbers of university and state leaders, such as UF President Bernie Machen and House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, encouraging crowd members to call and communicate.
The event, which kicked off with music from the local band Raarfaction, brought out 15 speakers, including Student Body President-elect Jordan Johnson and John Biro, president of the UF chapter of the United Faculty of Florida.
Biro said students and faculty should encourage friends to voice their stance against UF layoffs and program cuts to public representatives.
Paul Ortiz, the UF history professor who hosted the rally, said he understands that, in the present economic crisis, everyone is hurting.
But education shouldn't be cut on any level, he said, in an interview after the event.
"Education cuts don't heal," Ortiz said.
He also said the recession makes educating college students even more important because they will help pull the U.S. out of its economic downturn.
Steve Holt, a UF political science senior who signed each petition, said Florida's education is also the key to rebuilding its own economy.
Cuts in state funding to education represent cuts to opportunities for future generations, he said.
Between 150 and 200 people signed each of the event's petitions, an effort led by Coalition Save Our Schools, according to Nina Martinez, a volunteer for the student-run organization.
One petition will be sent to representatives in Tallahassee, while the other is intended to circulate among President Machen, UF Provost Joe Glover and UF Board of Trustees members.
In an interview after the speech, Biro, the president of UF's United Faculty of Florida, said the problem goes beyond the state Legislature and involves UF's response to the proposed cuts.
He said he worries UF's administration will use the cuts to pursue its own agenda without consulting students and faculty.
"If Machen or Glover think that UF needs to shift its direction, let them say why and let the various constituents discuss it, and if a consensus emerges that it is a good idea, then it will be done," Biro said.
Alluding to the still uncertain nature of the cuts, Biro said he believes the Legislature will enact cuts that are less than those predicted by UF.
"UF wants those predictions to govern rather than the reality," he said.
But spokeswoman Janine Sikes insisted UF is fighting to limit budget cuts and said by April 16 she anticipates the budget reduction proposals from all colleges and administrative units will be posted on UF's budget Web site, budget.president.ufl.edu, to encourage discussion before decisions are made.
She said the biggest problem in planning for the cuts is the uncertainty surrounding the size of them.
"We just don't know what it's going to look like yet," she said.
