IF THIS was an ITC lab, this page would cost you ten cents to print. Originally the pay-to-print plan seemed necessary to save us from the ever-looming budget crisis. Once these things arrive they rarely leave, but there are several key points to this scheme that must be looked over carefully. ITC no longer runs these stations; the job of administering the printer network is up to U.Va. Printing and Copying Services. Unfortunately it has become apparent that pay-to-print is no longer simply a means to pay for printing, but instead is self-perpetuating, with the funds being used to buy new equipment and even the equipment used to charge the students.
Many of us have been in similar situations: Late for class and needing to print out that last worksheet but not having the ability to pay for it. A single page would do, but for someone who does not have Cavalier Advantage, this is impossible. On the other hand, some classes assign so much material that needs to be printed out, that at ten cents a page, things can get rather expensive.
The first critical flaw with this system lies with the pricing structure. Fortunately for us, the customers, the actual cost per page for most laser printers is a known fact and published by both the manufacturers and various magazines. In a roundup of business-class laser printers in PC Magazine last April, the reported cost per page was between 0.9 cents and 1.3 cents. While it is rational to assume that some of the older printers in the ITC labs cost more to operate, it is clear that it does not cost a full ten cents to print out a page of text.
The situation becomes even more ridiculous when printing out color pages. The reported average cost of printing color pages on a recent roundup in PC Magazine was between 8.5 cents and 9.5 cents. Once again, since the ITC printers are older, they will cost a little more to operate, but this does not come close to explaining the 60 cents per page charged to users of these printers.
According to Scott Keeney, Director of U.Va. Printing and Copying, "We did an extensive study of our costs both anticipated and known and other institutions and their experience with such programs." Keeney asserts that the actual costs are very close to what is charged to the students: "All of this is based on volume; we add up the cost to set this up and then divide that total by the number of pages printed."
This argument is fundamentally flawed as a large portion of the costs of the pay-to-print program only exist because the program itself exists.The purchase of servers, software, card readers, etc., is not a direct cost associated with printing out a page and should be funded by the University and not taken out of our pockets in ten cent increments.
A very serious look needs to be taken at the actual costs of printing a page, and the fees need to be reevaluated. The fee for a student to print out a page needs to be as close as possible to the actual cost that the University incurs to print that page. It is irrational to think that this system should pay for new lab equipment or staff; if additional resources are needed for ITC, they need to be funded through the proper channels, not through a "tax" on printing.
Furthermore, it would be simply a good policy to allow students a small number of pages for free. A large number of students do not print out huge volumes, and having an allotment of even 25 pages per semester would solve a lot of the "urgently need to print" problems. Considering this service used to be free, this is not a lot to ask.
This sort of plan to generate revenue in higher education represents an alarming trend of hiding the costs of education. While tuition increases are always unpopular, they are a much more straightforward method of ensuring that various necessary components of the University are adequately funded. Few people take the time to add up the little costs that are imposed on the students. In reality, it is these little costs which tend to add up to the greatest amount of financial stress. Organizations such as Printing and Copying Services exist to provide for the students, not to take the student's money needlessly.
(Daniel Bagley is a Cavalier Daily associate editor. He can be reached at dbagley@cavalierdaily.com.)
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