University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow had an unorthodox start to his annual all-university address.

"My parents told me not to use the 'f' word in polite conversations and certainly not at events like this," said Gow. "That word is furloughs."

The faculty and staff who listened Wednesday from the bleachers of the newly constructed Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex understand just how nasty that "f" word can be: They, like other state employees, must take 16 furlough days over two years.

"This is not something I take lightly, but we'll work through it together and hope it doesn't happen again," said Gow.

Gow kept with the theme throughout his address, highlighting several other "f words" that have challenged the university, such as flu (H1N1 preparations) and finances.

He advised faculty and staff with flu symptoms to stay home, and talked about the emergency response team planning for a potential outbreak.

With $9.1 million stripped from its budget for the next two years, UW-L has had to make some hard choices, such as cutting baseball and men's tennis, Gow said. He praised the coaches and others involved in bringing the two sports back for a year through fundraising.

UW-L can look forward to two new facilities on campus in two years and the addition of 47 new faculty and 10 new staff this year through the Growth, Quality and Access plan, said Gow.

UW-L's future will continue to be promising, he said, as the university continues to get four applications for every space, retains nearly 90 percent of students and this year has the highest enrollment in 20 years.

He concluded by recalling his morning run around the new track in the thick fog.

"If you think about it, some of these challenges are like fog - they are not here forever," said Gow.

What will pull the university through, he said, is having faith in the mission of the university - and friends.

"Let's be good colleagues and good friends and let's celebrate the 100th birthday of this fine old university and go into the new year energized to do great things," said Gow.