Uniprint system decreases printer use
John Dougherty
Issue date: 2/8/05 Section: News
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The current highest single use for this semester was a student who printed out 905 pages in January; this same student had previously printed out about 1,100 pages.
The system doesn't allow Technology Services to see what the students are printing, only how much is printed. Information on specific students is not recorded until they swipe their card.
"I'm only interested in what they're printing if there's abuse," Podles said. "Students hear about this and say, 'Big Brother's watching us.' No, we're protecting the innocent."
"I know that somewhere in there it says how many pages I'm printing," said Turro as she used the printer.
Podles said that many students have been printing more because more teachers are putting course information online.
This has led to a decrease in toner and paper use, meaning that the printers in the labs are available more often. It has also served as a form of what Podles calls "pre-recycling" because less paper is wasted in the labs.
"It saves a lot of paper, especially when the printers get jammed," said sophomore Megan McGlynn.
Podles said that previously, paper was so overused that an entire box of wasted paper could be collected in the labs every day.
Turro said that the new system is more inconvenient than anything else and has not decreased her printer use.
"When they start charging me, then I'll stop [printing]," she said.
"Somebody's paying the piper, and ultimately it's the students, whether through increased tuition or other costs," he said.
Podles said that because the computer labs are easily accessible, sometimes it wasn't just students who were printing.
"We offer free printing to students, but also pretty much to the world ... now you need a valid ID card to print," he said.
During the first week of school, printers in the residence halls were out of order. Some of the problems were related to the Uniprint system, but the majority was due to problems within the computers themselves.
They have since been fixed, and Technology Services doesn't expect there to be any more problems.
The system doesn't allow Technology Services to see what the students are printing, only how much is printed. Information on specific students is not recorded until they swipe their card.
"I'm only interested in what they're printing if there's abuse," Podles said. "Students hear about this and say, 'Big Brother's watching us.' No, we're protecting the innocent."
"I know that somewhere in there it says how many pages I'm printing," said Turro as she used the printer.
Podles said that many students have been printing more because more teachers are putting course information online.
This has led to a decrease in toner and paper use, meaning that the printers in the labs are available more often. It has also served as a form of what Podles calls "pre-recycling" because less paper is wasted in the labs.
"It saves a lot of paper, especially when the printers get jammed," said sophomore Megan McGlynn.
Podles said that previously, paper was so overused that an entire box of wasted paper could be collected in the labs every day.
Turro said that the new system is more inconvenient than anything else and has not decreased her printer use.
"When they start charging me, then I'll stop [printing]," she said.
"Somebody's paying the piper, and ultimately it's the students, whether through increased tuition or other costs," he said.
Podles said that because the computer labs are easily accessible, sometimes it wasn't just students who were printing.
"We offer free printing to students, but also pretty much to the world ... now you need a valid ID card to print," he said.
During the first week of school, printers in the residence halls were out of order. Some of the problems were related to the Uniprint system, but the majority was due to problems within the computers themselves.
They have since been fixed, and Technology Services doesn't expect there to be any more problems.