The cost of freedom
As a state university, CMU is obligated to offer certain services to its students.
Adequate professors, dining and residence halls and a wide range of classes fall into that category.
Free and unregulated printing, however, is not one of those services.
CMU spends about $80,000 on printing, between just two of its computer labs on campus.
In one year, the university spent $28,000 for paper and toner at Grawn computer lab, and $52,000 at Woldt lab.
There is no reason CMU should be spending so much money, which probably is a fraction of the total cost.
The problem isn’t that CMU doesn’t have regulations about printing. Information Technology officials and lab assistants aren’t enforcing them.
IT officials know this.
Why it matters
IT officials should better enforce printing restrictions
According to the Office of Information Technology’s Web site, “Color printouts can only be done with employee assistance and are limited to 3 pages maximum. Regular black and white printouts are supposed to be limited in length to 20 pages. (Since customers do this without employee intervention, it is difficult to enforce. IT does post signs asking users to limit the size of their jobs to 20 pages.)”
The burden also falls on students.
It is both disrespectful and inconsiderate for students to hog the printers in these public computer labs.
Students’ abuse of the printing policy, and IT’s lack of enforcement both are ridiculous.
It’s costing the university money that could be well spent in other places, such as updating technology on campus, replacing older computers or making more spots on campus wireless.
Both sides have to step up and fix the problem.
