SGA discusses printing, OINK at weekly meeting

During its Oct. 3 meeting, the Student Government Association (SGA) discussed ways to decrease waiting time for students who need to print few pages, yet find themselves waiting for long periods of time to use the printer as other students release large printing jobs.

One of the proposed solutions was adding an extra printer to a couple of the printing stations. These printers would be either specially designated for jobs that are less than seven pages or specially designated for large print jobs. However, as the majority of print jobs are more than seven pages in length, the former option is more feasible.

Unfortunately, it is still uncertain how this small-printer job designation would be enforced. The current software at the printing stations is unable to discern the difference between the size of printing jobs and cap the number of pages at a certain limit. Most likely, students would have to be trusted to abide by an honor system.

Another solution to long waits could involve leasing more efficient printers. The College currently not does own most of the printers on campus. Instead, the majority of printers are leased from companies. Once the leases are up on the current printers, the college may choose to lease more efficient printing models, rather than leasing additional printers.

“Additional printers would have a negative effect on our carbon footprint,” said sophomore senator Tara Hughes ’13. “Having a printer that could print more pages per minute would be a solution not so that smaller print jobs would have to go to a different printer, but so that it doesn’t matter if you have a 50-page print job because it’d be done in two minutes rather than five minutes with some of the current printers we have now.”

Of course, the cost of maintenance for these new printers would have to be taken into account. Over time, use will take its toll, printers will get slower and paper jams will start to occur. Maintenance of more efficient models may come at a higher price. Still, the more efficient printers remain a probable solution to the problem.

“Hopefully, what will come from this is some type of change in how printing is done, or some type of plan for the future, so that once the leases are up on the printers we can reorganize the way it’s done on campus,” said Hughes.

Until then, Hughes encourages students to use already existing options to decrease printing station waiting lines. Last semester, for example, go/papercut was introduced, allowing students to submit printing jobs from their laptops.

“A lot of people didn’t know about it right when it came out, and a lot of the freshmen don’t know about that,” said Hughes. “One of the most important things in making sure that people know more efficient ways to use the printers we already have is to involve the [First Year Counselors] in educating the freshmen … about how to use it.”

The SGA would also like updated information on another issue concerning printing on campus — the effect of the recently instated printing fees. In the spring of 2010, printing quotas were established with the hope that it would reduce costs and awareness about the financial and environmental repercussions of needless printing. The decision was met with controversy by many students who argued printing costs should already be included in tuition. The SGA hopes Library and Information Services will further look into the success of this plan, and if there has been a decrease in needless printing, how significant that decrease has been.

The SGA also continued to discuss one of last year’s main issues: Outdoor Introductions for New Kids (OINK). In the past, not all students have been able to participate in this outdoor orientation due to limited program funds.  This year, the SGA contributed $47,000 to OINK 2010 in an attempt to make it more inclusive. This is the first time part of the SGA budget has been used to support the program.

Making the event more inclusive for all students may not only involve monetary support, but also considering the event’s time. Currently, the outdoor orientation occurs during the first weekend after classes start. Since this is the first weekend all of the upperclassmen have returned to campus, and students are still adjusting to their new schedules, some first-years may be reluctant to participate in the program. As a result, the SGA is considering running the program during first-year orientation in an attempt to encourage more students to take advantage of the opportunity.