The monthly Chancellor’s Liaison, an opportunity for leaders of student groups to talk with Chancellor James Oblinger and other prominent University figures about current issues and concerns of the University, took place Wednesday afternoon in Talley Student Center.

The two main topics of discussion at Wednesday’s meeting were the budget crisis and the recent recommendations of the Campus Culture Task Force.

As far as the budget problems are concerned, the state of North Carolina retracted another percent from the University’s budget just Wednesday morning, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Business Charlie Leffler said.

However, this will not mean more scrambling to cut programs for the University. According to Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Tom Stafford,  “a retraction is money that we originally had in our budget that we cannot spend.”

And because more cuts were foreseen, Leffler said the University is already trying to cut seven percent of its budget, which was one more percent than N.C. had previously retracted.

“Today we have to give the full seven percent we budgeted out,” Leffler said.

Stafford also said the cuts apply to all sectors of the University, even if the money is not state-appropriated funds.

“We’re going to treat all departments the same no matter the source of money, even if it is money from dining or fee money,” Stafford said.

Everyone at the University needs to be prepared to make sacrifices because of the budget cuts, according to Stafford.

“We to look and stop doing things that we’re doing [that aren’t essential],” he said. “I’m not saying everything will be permanent, but we’re in a budget crisis folks.”

The Chancellor and Provost Larry Neilsen were not able to make the Chancellor’s Liaison because of a budget meeting at the N.C. legislature. But, despite their absences, Stafford said the group still had a productive discussion.

Maddie Spinks, a graduate student in English and vice president of the Student Centers Board of Directors, said the University is making progress in these tough times.

“What they’re doing is pretty good considering the economy. It’s just something we have to deal with, and I think it’s good that they’re reaching out for student input,” Spinks said.

The second main topic of discussion was the Campus Culture Task Force. The group reviewed the conclusions, what got shot down in the final meeting and other things.

One of the main proposals that got shot down in the final meeting was the possibility of a webcam which would broadcast a live feed from the Free Expression Tunnel all the time.

Student Body President Jay Dawkins said the committees thought this would hinder people from expressing themselves freely, an issue which Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion Jose Picart said was vital.

Picart said he didn’t think statements that poke fun at or express dislike for a topic should be a problem. The problem is when normal discussion escalates into distasteful hatespeech.

“We need to be able to discuss without having to go to fisticuffs and talk about each others’ mamas,” Picart said.

A major idea all University representatives are hoping to implement is a type of marketing campaign that will attempt to change the culture of the campus and help students feel responsible for what happens on campus. Dawkins proposed this be called “Our House” or “Our Tunnel.”

Stafford said there is not a direct timetable for when these recommendations will be implemented. He said the chancellor will look at them and will be able to put some into practice quickly, but others will take some time.

But in the end, most were happy with the proposals that got through and the proposals that didn’t. Spinks said she was happy with the idea of a marketing campaign.

“[Marketing] is a good idea, kind of to develop some ideas that represent the student body as a whole, as long as the students are involved in that,” Spinks said.

Stafford said while the recommendations could have probably been made better, he was still satisfied with the results.

“You could always probably find room for improvement, but overall I was very pleased,” Stafford said. “I supported all the recommendations that made it through and will go forward. The ones that we took out, I actually supported taking those out as well.”