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Limit put on free printouts on
campus By Chrissy Braden Beginning this semester, students will have to monitor the number of pages they print out from campus printers. A charge of 8 cents will be added to their send-home bills after they reach the new 200-page limit. The new policy applies to TCU’s 33 computer labs, including the Mary Couts Burnett Library, Student Center Reading Room and all department labs. Students who are conscientious of their printing should never have a cost, said David Edmondson, assistant provost for information services. “Rather than charge an overall technology fee to everyone, this policy allows us to just charge those who are overprinting,” Edmondson said. ID cards will be programed to keep track of the number of copies a student makes. Software will display how many complimentary copies remain on that account or will show the total charge for copies exceeding 200 before the student prints. The policy affects computer labs where students are required to print for class. Those copies are included in the total number of complimentary pages. “Students worried about the number of pages professors require them to print out can ask them to use discretion,” Edmondson said. Many students see disadvantages and advantages to the new policy. “I think it may be a good idea because some people print out what I would call trash,” said Purity Githembe, an educational administration graduate student. “But then sometimes people have serious work to do and 200 pages really isn’t a lot.” James Lutz, assistant university librarian for administrative services, said the number of pages printed from library computers increased from 107,887 copies from June to October 1999 to 134,570 copies from June to October 2000, an increase of 20 percent. “We were seeing a lot of waste,” Lutz said. “People were printing things out and leaving them behind and printing out legal documents and Shakespeare plays instead of buying copies.” Maintenance for printers and paper in each department comes from that department’s budget. The 8-cent fee for additional printouts after the limit will go directly to the department from which the copies were made. Edmondson said charges from printing would be used to increase maintenance on printers. “Our commitment is to replace each printer in the computer labs every three years,” Edmondson said.Lutz said the charge may not be as beneficial as some TCU officials are expecting because it will only cover costs of printing and maintenance. “I don’t see where we will ever gain a profit,” Lutz said. TCU modeled the policy after a similar one found at the University of Kentucky, which has benefited from similar policies. “Copies used to be free, but then we saw people abuse that,” said Chip Carter, assistant director of auxiliary services at Kentucky. Carter said there have been huge savings to the departments since the policy was enacted. “It comes down to changing user behavior,” Lutz said. “We can put up signs and ask people to be nice and only print what they need, but some people will still abuse it. Those students will pay extra, but for most students, it will still be free.” Chrissy Braden
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