Next fall USM students will be charged five cents per page when printing items from computer labs or libraries.
The new fee has already been budgeted, said Judy Ryan, executive assistant to the President.
“The plan is to begin to do that (charge for printing) in the fall semester,” Ryan said.
Students can use their USM card or a printing card to pre-purchase printouts, which will no longer be limited to 60 pages per printout.
The idea was suggested by academic supporters, software supporters, lab and library technicians who think it would be beneficial to the university.
However, many students feel paying the fee does not make sense.
“I don’t think we should be charged for printing,” said Rachael Stearns, a junior majoring in social work. “Isn’t it included in our fees already?”
According to the Student Billing office, every USM student pays a technology fee of $6 per credit hour per semester. A lot of students already assume that fee covers the cost of printing.
“I have not used the lab once this year and I still pay a technology fee. Now, if I do need the computer lab for something, I probably won’t go there!” said Maria Vasqueza, undeclared freshman.
What the technology fee does cover is network servers, scanners, Internet access, software licenses, subscriptions to research databases, computer hardware and maintenance, according to the Computer Labs and Libraries FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) pamphlet.
“This is stupid,” said Beth Dwyer, a junior psychology major, “Is the University really losing that much money from something as simple as paper?”
According to Merton Nickerson, director of University Computing Technologies, “There is a considerable waste of scarce resources in the labs, and something needs to be done about it.”
Nickerson said this new fee is solely for the rising printing costs and the price of paper and ink.
Kevin Colwell and Derek Lovely, both undeclared freshman, are opposed to the new fee. They both feel that it is a waste and that nobody will want to pay five cents for a piece of paper.
Students who use the computer labs have voiced anger with the way the university has proposed the new fee.
“In the Portland computer lab, every time you go to print something, a box pops up asking if you would agree to pay for a print next fall. If you click yes to the survey, they will print your paper, if you click no, then the computer will put your printout in the trash barrel,” said Tonya Collins, an undeclared freshman.
“It is an unfair survey,” Collins said, “anyone who disagrees doesn’t get his or her homework printed out! So obviously everyone says yes to it, making it look like we all want to pay for our printing.”
Nickerson said that the survey is simply a foreshadowing so people will be aware of the cost of printing next fall semester.
The University wanted to cut down on paper waste. By charging for printing, the printers wouldn’t be abused, Nickerson said.
“I understand that people may be wasting the resources, but most students don’t want to use their cash on paper and ink. We already spend enough money here!” said Toni Burns, an undeclared sophomore.
According to Nickerson, “It is not unfair at all. People who already have computers have to pay for printers, ink, and paper, while those who don’t have computers don’t have to pay for those things, so they may as well pay a little.”
In response to the reasoning behind the fee Kelly Gagnon, a sophomore in criminology said, “Maybe they should just raise the technology fee a little bit so financial aid can help those who need help financially and have to go to the lab because they don’t have a computer of their own, rather then making us pay out of our pockets.”
As stated in the FAQ pamphlet, other universities charge a printing fee.
The pamphlet also offers the following tip: Students should remember to log out of their stations when they’re done so other people can’t print out from their account.
Staff writer Jaclyn Pitcairn can be reached at [email protected]