Editor:

As is the case for most of our country, Humboldt State University is experiencing ongoing financial pain. In our case, that has resulted in damage to our capacity to teach and engage in scholarship. It has been an extremely stressful time for my colleagues and me as we cast about to find ways to minimize the effects of the budget crisis.

I understand now better than I did during the Fall 2007 semester that clear, civil and two-way communication is essential in order to move ahead. But I made a mistake when I signed the no confidence petition directed at President Richmond last fall. This is the petition that appeared in the May 15, 2008 issue of the North Coast Journal. I had differences of opinion with President Richmond last fall, and some of those differences still exist. The petition and the way it was presented will only make effective communication more challenging. It came out just as all the HSU families were arriving for commencement, and embarrassed the entire campus.

Well, professors are supposed to be able to learn just like their students. I have — albeit painfully. Onward.

Dr. Frank Shaughnessy, Arcata