Student protests at University of California (UC) campuses against the sharp tuition increases continue as university officials threaten police intervention.

Dissident students carried on their demonstrations in Santa Cruz on Saturday after talks with university administrators over the planned tuition hikes failed.

"Negotiations have come to a halt," said Evan Williams, a graduate student acting as the spokesman for the protesters, on Saturday evening, according to San Jose Mercury News newspaper.

About 70 students remain inside the school's Kerr Hall, while around 300 others surrounded the building.

There was a fear among the protesters of a possible police intervention, Williams said.

Earlier on Friday, Executive Vice Chancellor David Kliger warned UC Santa Cruz students that they would face "law enforcement and campus sanctions" if they failed to abandon the administration building.

Forty-one protesters were arrested at UC Berkeley on Friday night. Another 52 students were arrested at UC Davis the night before.

The protests swept the Golden State earlier this week on the heels of an announcement by the board of regents that it had voted to surge tuitions by 32 percent.

The planned hike in tuitions is taking place as the California universities are mulling over doing something about their empty coffers.

It is reported that by next fall tuition at UC campuses could cost more than 10,000 dollars annually.

RB/MB