LETTER: University must limit its own paper use along with students'
Editor’s note: To send a letter to the editor, e-mail voices@cm-life.com.
It has recently come to my attention that CMU is somewhat hypocritical about how “green” they really are going. For this school year, CMU has emphasized the importance of recycling by placing countless recycling receptacles all over campus, as well has giving students a limit to how much they can print, and having water-conserving toilets in the bathrooms. But CMU’s recent decision to print thousands of copies of the student directory concerns me.
Now perhaps I’m biased because, as a “deskie” in the Towers, I had to sort the mail the day the directories came, and placed one in each mailbox for every room (there are 582 rooms in the Towers). But I know I’m not alone when I say that printing these “creeper” books was a stupid decision. Why print hard copies of the student directory, and not more hard copies of the student bulletin instead?
I bet most students would agree that the bulletin is far more useful to have a hard copy of than a student directory. But since both are available online, is printing either one really necessary? I have to ask where CMU priorities are when it comes to paper usage, especially when they find it vital to print a book that students usually toss anyway.
If there is a legitimate reason for printing all these books, please, let me know why.
If you’re going to limit how much paper students can use, should you consider giving a paper limit to yourself?
Dan Kuhlman
Grand Ledge sophomore
