SDSU Budget Crisis

Your (Aug. 13) editorial took President Day to task for first sending layoff notices to faculty members, then postponing those notices for the fall semester. Essentially, it questioned why layoffs were sent--a fair question. Part of the answer is in your (July 4) editorial, where you said: “The crisis at San Diego State is the harbinger of a general crisis in a higher education establishment forced to think the unthinkable about tenure.”

The answer to your most recent editorial is to note that no one in mid-May had any idea of how this budget crisis would play out--either in terms of cut-level, or in terms of timing. That being the case, prudent management indicated President Day should: define the worst case credible; work to make it better; have fallback options; and, if people are to be affected, notify them immediately. That’s what he did. Hindsight is always perfect.

JERRY DRESSEL, President, Alumni and Associates, San Diego State University