2008 Woodie Awards
Video related to this article is available below.Issue date: 2/12/08 Section: News
For some students, printing is on the house
UA seeks to provide at least a few free pages to all undergrads, but University questions feasibility
Helen Yoon
Whartonites no longer have to make their way to Van Pelt to print for eight cents per page.
Last December, Wharton computing labs lowered their price from 10 cents per page for black-and-white printing to meet the level charged at libraries and other locations on campus.
And some students are trying to make printing even cheaper.
College freshman and Undergraduate Assembly representative Leila Decker is currently working on a printing policy update for the Undergraduate Assembly that proposes creating and giving students a set amount of "printing dollars."
She pointed to a recent survey conducted by the UA which revealed that students spend an average of $8 per year on printing from external locations.
"[Printing] is a resource the University should help fund in some way," Decker said.
But a standardized printing plan for students might not be as close as some hope.
Because Information Technology at Penn is so decentralized, there is a discrepancy in printing prices and policies across different facilities. This situation arises because they all have different cost models and different ways of recovering their costs, Wharton Information Technology Director David Comroe said.
Computing support is shared by the 12 schools, Penn's business units and the Office of Information Systems and Computing. Therefore, each school sets its own policies and prices regarding printing.
The Engineering school offers five pages per day of free printing for its students at its labs and Nursing students have $25 dollars of in-school printing credit per year. Wharton students receive a one-time five dollar quota of printing credit for use in Huntsman Hall.
The College - where the majority of Penn undergraduates reside - is the only school that does not provide any sort of school-exclusive pre-paid printing privileges.
"The logistics for doing that at SAS are far more complicated," because College students do not have school-specific computer log-in accounts, College director for instructional technology John MacDermott said.
Last December, Wharton computing labs lowered their price from 10 cents per page for black-and-white printing to meet the level charged at libraries and other locations on campus.
And some students are trying to make printing even cheaper.
College freshman and Undergraduate Assembly representative Leila Decker is currently working on a printing policy update for the Undergraduate Assembly that proposes creating and giving students a set amount of "printing dollars."
She pointed to a recent survey conducted by the UA which revealed that students spend an average of $8 per year on printing from external locations.
"[Printing] is a resource the University should help fund in some way," Decker said.
But a standardized printing plan for students might not be as close as some hope.
Because Information Technology at Penn is so decentralized, there is a discrepancy in printing prices and policies across different facilities. This situation arises because they all have different cost models and different ways of recovering their costs, Wharton Information Technology Director David Comroe said.
Computing support is shared by the 12 schools, Penn's business units and the Office of Information Systems and Computing. Therefore, each school sets its own policies and prices regarding printing.
The Engineering school offers five pages per day of free printing for its students at its labs and Nursing students have $25 dollars of in-school printing credit per year. Wharton students receive a one-time five dollar quota of printing credit for use in Huntsman Hall.
The College - where the majority of Penn undergraduates reside - is the only school that does not provide any sort of school-exclusive pre-paid printing privileges.
"The logistics for doing that at SAS are far more complicated," because College students do not have school-specific computer log-in accounts, College director for instructional technology John MacDermott said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Mathias
posted 2/12/08 @ 11:59 AM EST
Free printing is a really bad idea. When I was an undergrad, my college decided to switch from 10 cents per page to free printing between my sophomore and junior years. (Continued…)
Engineer
posted 2/12/08 @ 12:11 PM EST
As usual, the DP got their facts wrong. Engineers get limited free printing at 5 pages per half hour, not 5 per day. It's oversights like this that cause one to question the validity of all the stories in this paper. (Continued…)
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