Another victim of the failing economy, University Graphics closed its doors on Aug. 31. The center provided printing, binding and copying services to various departments on campus for over seventy years.Bob Wood, interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus Enterprises, and Ernie Murphrey, Associate Vice Chancellor for Financial Services, made the decision to close University Graphics due to declining revenues. Every month brought a loss of $40,000, and Wood says that the center was going to run out of money within the next few months.”You can’t lose $40,000 a month and still stay in business,” he said.According to Wood, a failing economy has resulted in fewer printing jobs across campus. “As our budgets have gone down, people have tightened up. Printing jobs are the one of the first things that always fall victim.”University Graphics received no state appropriated funds, meaning any income came directly from printing jobs they completed. Charles Leffler, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Business, approved Wood and Murphrey’s recommendation to close University Graphics. He says that increased use of computers and online publications have been hurting the printing business for the past 15 years. Local copy centers have been able to fill the role previously held by central printing services. ”With the steady change in the technology and options for printing, [University Graphics] has struggled through several downsizings to adjust and attempt to stay financially stable,” said Leffler. “This latest economic crisis, with the resulting printing business decrease, confirmed the direction for a deficit operation.”Future printing responsibilities will be taken over by the Copy Center, a subset of University Graphics, along with three other printing vendors not associated with the University. Wood says that besides a short adjustment period as jobs are transferred to new vendors, University administrators and professors will not be inconvenienced.Sara Cohen, a junior in food science, sees the closing of University Graphics as one of many signs of how the economy has affected N.C. State this year.”Almost all my teachers gave us a speech at the beginning of the school year about how budget cuts would be affecting our class,” said Cohen. “I’ve definitely noticed a change from freshman year.”Warwick Arden, Interim Provost, says that the administration is attempting to lessen the impact on students by diverting budget cuts towards administrative facilities rather than classes. For students like Cohen, this could help ensure they get the most out of their education at N.C. State.Unfortunately, this means that facilities like University Graphics must shoulder most of the burden of budget cuts, resulting in loss of jobs. To date, seven employees of University Graphics have become unemployed.”It’s a phased closing. That’s a very painful process for everyone,” said Wood.