There is no doubt that difficult times are upon us at The Daily Californian. A challenging economic climate and a declining market for print advertising have been compounded by rising costs for newsprint and transportation. These financial issues have forced us to make difficult decisions about our operation. Yet I am happy to report that our staff is strong, and our current group of managers and editors are well-suited for the challenges ahead.

As we projected our advertising revenue and operational expenses during our budgeting process for the current fiscal year, our financial challenges became clear. We began to pursue aggressive new forms of advertising revenue while evaluating any and all expenses. But for all our efforts, we realized that we had to take more drastic measures. While we have made decisions that impact the entire organization, two changes stand out: a cut in our publication calendar and staff reductions.

Beginning this fall we will be cutting Wednesday newspapers out of our publication schedule. While we will maintain full updated online content at dailycal.org, there is no denying that this change will be significant to our organization and to our community. Yet after extensive review of our financial situation, the Daily Cal leadership team and Operations Board have decided this step is necessary.

To counter the effects of the loss of our Wednesday edition, we will be aggressively promoting our Web site. Recently redesigned, dailycal.org is now comparable to national media outlets and its quality exceeds the Web sites of most other college newspapers. We are expanding our multimedia capabilities, including the launch of both editorial and advertising video. We are continuing to build our reputation as the premier source for breaking news online, and our online readership numbers have grown every month since the new site launch in March.

Unfortunately the production cut was not enough to bring us to a balanced budget. Therefore we are looking at innovative ways to bring our staff size down. While we pride ourselves on our role as the premier journalism training institution for undergraduates at UC Berkeley, we will no longer be able to be as all-welcoming as we have been in the past. The Daily Cal has infrastructure and insurance costs for every employee. Thankfully, we are able to reduce our staff size without layoffs of active employees, and instead reduce our numbers through natural attrition. By this fall, we aim to reduce our staff size by 25 percent in all departments. Of course, as the editorial team is the largest department, it will see the most cuts.

We will be asking all sections to lay out minimum work requirements and are asking employees at all levels of the organization to take on as many roles as possible, so we are able to operate with a smaller core group.

Our efforts have yielded a tentative short-term fix, and we are now turning our attention to the long term. We are approaching university officials about better enforcement of our campus contract and exploring ways by which the campus and Daily Cal might be able to further support each other. We are also working actively with the Education Foundation to begin building our endowment, which will be able to relieve some financial pressures in the years to come. Finally, we are engaging our staff and outside professionals in dialogue seeking innovation and creativity. We seek not only to maintain our award-winning caliber today, but to begin to shape the vision for the Daily Cal's enduring presence in the UC Berkeley tradition.

I welcome all questions and input from our alumni. It is evermore important that we maintain strong relations, and while you rely on us to maintain that excellence at the Daily Cal, we rely on you for your guidance and support in the months and years to come.