Arts & Sciences lab doesn’t need to be a headache
Since the University instituted printing fees in Olin Library on Oct. 20, students have sought out new places to do their printing. The Arts & Sciences Computing Center in Eads Hall, which continues to offer free printing for Arts & Sciences materials, has seen a dramatic increase in traffic.
The facility has been struggling to keep up with enormous demand for student printing. With only two printers in service for 55 total computers, of which 39 are PCs and 16 Macs, it has become increasingly difficult and laborious to print out materials, with printing wait times reaching 20-30 minutes. This problem becomes especially pronounced before the beginnings of classes, when a large volume of students print before leaving. Students are often faced with the choice of leaving without their documents or being late to class.
The administration should have foreseen the potential effects of printing fees on the ArtSci computer lab and gone about ways to improve its efficiency. The biggest problem is the backup of printing due to the large amount of people printing materials at the same time. The ratio of 27.5 computers per one printer is unacceptably high – we need more printers to accommodate the printing usage.
The University has been successful in decreasing excessive printing at Olin Library, lowering costs and paper usage; however, the $640 increase in printing costs at the Arts & Sciences lab compared to the same period last year has been enough to increase overall printer usage.
And the problem may still become worse. This semester, since students were aware of the impending printing fees, many printed out their semester’s worth of materials before the fees were installed. Next semester, however, there will not be a way to print out materials in Olin for free – in all likelihood, even more students will be printing in the ArtSci computer lab next semester, creating even longer lines and more of a headache for students.
The potential increase in printing costs to the University should not be a deterrent to installing additional printers. Printing in the ArtSci computer lab is limited to one copy of class-related materials, and this policy is enforced by lab staff. Because of this restriction, the addition of new printers would not interfere with the University’s goals of limiting wasteful printing and keeping printing costs reasonable.
With winter break looming on the horizon, the administration will have the perfect time to work towards improving the lab, installing more printers and creating a more efficient printing system in time for the spring semester.
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