Friday, April 21, 2006

don't print this

Now there's this: a page limit for printing on the school's printers. After you reach the limit you get charged five cents per page. The Dean says other schools charge students per page (I have no idea if that's true or not) but enough people here are abusing the system that they are forced to start charging after the page limit. I am in there printing a lot, but I'm usually printing only a few pages at a time so I don't think I'm one of the people who abuses the system. Actually I have no clue how many pages I print each semester. I'm sure I print hundreds of pages, but I doubt it addes up to 1,200. I guess I'll find out next semester.

The e-mail from the Dean contains a funny line about how she hopes this will improve printing services for all students. Well, if it means 12 people at a time don't have to cram into that tiny room on the first floor of the library to use the only three printers that work regularly while five other people wait outside the room because it's so crowded -- and inevitably one or two people are having problems with their laptop hookup to the printer -- then I guess it will improve printing services. Otherwise, I'm not sure how this is anything other than a cost-cutting measure. Maybe students will complain and we'll get the inevitable e-mail about how we should be thankful that they have this plan because otherwise, our already astronomical tuition would be even higher.

Anyway, here's the e-mail from the dean:

The first is that wireless printing will soon be available for all students. The service will begin within the next 10 days.

The second initiative addresses a concern that was brought to us by SBA leadership and other students last year. These students were concerned that a small number of students over-used printers and created serious delays for other users. We examined a number of responses to this concern. Most schools charge students a per page charge for student printing. Some charge for every page, while others institute the charge only after a student has reached a particular page limit. The purpose of the charge is primarily to deter over-use.

We elected to go with the second method and will implement the new policy next fall. We chose a very generous per page limit for each student of 1200 pages per student per semester. This number exceeds or equals the number of pages that 95 % of current students print in a given semester. The first 1200 pages are free. We will charge .05 per page for those pages that exceed the limit. (This charge may be adjusted if we find that the amount is inadequate to deter over-use.) Special allowances will be made for students whose print work is for a professor, for law review use, or for other organizational uses. We will spell out these exceptions in the fall.



Here’s how it would work. When you are near the print limit, you will receive a pop-up warning on your computer that tells you how many pages remain in your allotment. If you exceed the 1200 page limit, you will still be allowed to print, but the cost will show up on your school bill. Help Desk Operations personnel is authorized to modify a student’s print audit number when there is a computer malfunction that results in printing over the 1200 pages.

We hope that taken together, these two new initiatives will improve printing services for all students.


Please let me know if you have questions or comments about printing or about other matters that might improve student services.

13 Comments:

At 10:13 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

bitch bitch moan moan whine whine

 
At 1:43 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Who is this tool who keeps posting to your site? He/she is upset with your bitching and moaning, however, they still feel inclined to let you know that they don't like what they are reading. If the anonymous jerk who doesn't have the balls to identify himself, really is turned off by what he reads then fuck off. There is nothing worse than an annoying little prick that hides behind anonymity to belittle someone he doesn't even know. I would be willing to bet this anonymous poster is starved for attention and has nothing better to do than to post ridiculous comments to someone's blog in hopes that he will receive some attention.

 
At 2:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm on the computer committee. It's really not about cost-saving. It's about trying to deal with a small number of abusers who tie up the printers day after day printing hundreds of pages.

Some are printing cases for research for law firms; others print every case cited in the book (but do they read them? I'm dubious). It means that other people have long waits for their jobs, or the printers run out of paper, etc.

Our study showed that a very small % of the students use a wildly huge number of pages per year -- this is aimed only at them. If this works right, most students should never notice the difference.

 
At 2:15 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Maybe, while they're on the issue of printing, could IT or whoever is in charge of the printers fix that printer in 147?? Every time I have *ever* tried to print at that printer it hasn't worked. Then I find that there is a queue of like 50 print jobs ahead of mine that are also stopped. I print maybe 3 times a semester-- notes at exam time and a couple other random times. It would be nice if the few times I needed a printer it would work.

 
At 2:47 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

That is incredibly ironic of you to say then when you are posting anonymously yourself. Not to mention how stupid your logic is. Why would someone who wants attention post anonymously? I'm sure there are much better ways of getting attention. I can only speak for myself, but the reason why I don't like this whining about Miami is because I go to Miami and think it is a great school. It also reflects very poorly on our school (or rather the idiocy of our students) when someone is criticizing it for stupid reasons or because they have some grandiose expectation that a law school is suppose to land them permanent employment by the end of their second year. It obviously has done so for some, but it can't do it for everyone.

Also, just for your information, I did not post the "bitch, bitch, bitch..." comment above, but I did post two things in the previous thread. So it is not just one "annoying little prick" who is posting, but several.

 
At 3:18 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is my first time posting to your blog. I agree with these other people - you are whiny and annoying.

 
At 4:02 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

why does it matter if we post anonymously? "some guy" is an anonymous entity just like any of us. or maybe you want him to reveal his identity as well? not seeing the logic.

 
At 4:06 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

by my count, there are at least 4 "tool[s]" posting to the site with similar sentiments, along the lines of "suck it up."

 
At 4:07 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

This guy is an idiot (no surprise.) Do you really think I am any less anonymous if I make up a handle for myself, rather than post as anonymous?? I'm just too lazy to register for this lame site.

Maybe you can't find a job because you're stupid? Just a thought.

 
At 4:11 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

p.s. 5:02 and 5:06 were both by me, but 5:07 was not. "i'm just saying."

 
At 5:44 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

At my U. you have to buy a print card and then pay 10 cents a page ... no initital freebies. It's a pain in the neck because you have to constantly add money to the card and half the time the machine won't take your dollars...

There is also one computer lab where you don't have to pay to print, but you have to supply your own paper-- a cheaper solution, but who remembers to carry around printer paper?

 
At 10:58 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

T.I. - You've been around UM long enough to know that efficient solutions to problems have no place in this law school, especially when those efficient solutions lead to the best outcome for the students. It makes way to much sense to go talk to those students who print too much and tell them to stop. It couldn't be hard to figure out - the school has all of our MAC addresses on file. Bottom line is the school wanted to control costs. They would have had a lot more credibility had they left out the part about charging for printing being a way to improve student services.

 
At 11:38 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm one of the people who prints thousands of pages a semester. But I never print out cases in lieu of buying the book, nor do I ever print out anything for a job. It is all school-related. So how is this abuse?

 

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