Behrend students weigh in on printing changes
Many students have noticed the printing changes on campus this semester and question why all of a sudden there is a change. The number one reason is to encourage responsible printing and be more environmentally friendly.
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Penn State Behrend has decided to start charging students for sheets when printing after the first 250. If students print double sided, that means 500 sheets total. After the free pages, there will be a five cent charge per page.Students who use a higher amount of sheets will need to purchase additional sheets at a normal cost. It is important to note that printing was never FREE and even the cost of ink for personal printers is expensive.
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Besides being environmentally aware, there were other factors that lead to this change. Some include the requests from student leadership and technology groups to help with printing waste, the amounts of paper wasted near printers and in recycling bins, student’s leaving work at printers, and the need for statistics for abuse of printing.
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Last year, Penn State Behrend students printed two million sheets of paper which equals 500 trees, 11,200 gallons of oil and 90 yards of landfill space. Last semester, around 70 percent of students printed less than 250 pages. Penn State believes this number should not be a problem for the majority of students on campus this year.
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Most students do not agree and are not fond of the changes this year.
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Ben Lowery, a sophomore finance major says that it adds something else students have to worry about when coming to school. He states, “I’m really disappointed that students don’t have free printing anymore. I am part of the Lion Ambassadors and we give tours to prospective students and telling the students and the parents they don’t have to worry about the cost of printing is a huge sell to people.” He also mentioned that the change may cause financial issues for some students in the future. He states, “In the long run, it’s another thing a college student has to worry about. The vast majority of us are all on a budget, so losing the free printing accessibility has hindered our academic options.”
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Penn State has stated that they made a decision that would accommodate most student’s printing needs and to help students rethink about what they are printing.
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Karina Cuadrado, a junior computer engineering student, discusses how professors should be aware of these changes and make changes of their own. She says, “If they’re going to charge then they should tell professors to bring printouts of their slides instead of posting them on Canvas and expecting us to print and take notes on them.”
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Behrend also set the number to a comparable level to other colleges. For example, most colleges have little or no free printing compared to the 250 sheets Penn State Behrend is giving students. They also have higher printing charges compared to the five cents Behrend charges.
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Behrend hopes this Pay for Print Initiative will be a way to help faculty, staff and students consider paper waste and reduce their use of paper.