Opinion: One-Sided Printer Rage!

I came to Wilson last Spring after graduating from Rutgers in May 2013. I remember my campus tour guide raving about how the Harry R. Brooks Complex for Science, Mathematics and Technology was Gold LEED-certified. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. We discussed the Fulton Farm for Sustainability and how the farm supplied the dining hall with fresh produce.

I laughed when my guide said that some of the larger classes would complain about thirty students in a class. I had 400 students in my section for Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Organic Chemistry. There were usually three or four sections for the class.

Yes, you read that correctly: FOUR-HUNDRED students in just my section.

I had one professor tell us upfront that he only wrote letters of recommendation for the top ten percent of the entire class. I was impressed by all the accomplishments Wilson, a much smaller college, had under its belt considering that my alma mater’s New Brunswick campus spans three cities.

On the drive back home, I made my decision to pursue the Equine Journalism degree Wilson offered.

My first English class was Advanced Exposition taught by Dr. Woolley, which is a writing-intensive class. I headed into the computer lab in Warfield to print out an assignment to find that the printer was not working. So, I ran over to the Science Center and found a computer lab to print my paper.

I did not double check if the printer was set to print double-sided because at Rutgers all printers are automatically set to print double-sided to save paper. I had assumed that Wilson, an institution that prides itself on being environmentally conscious, would have the same settings. I was wrong.

I cursed the printer gods that day assuming that it was a glitch and ran to class. Funny thing was that the problem kept occurring until I realized that every printer on this campus has to be set to print double-sided. Even then, you have to pray to the printer gods, maybe add in a special dance, to get the printer to cooperate.

Setting all the printers on campus to print double-sided that are capable of doing so would be both a financial and environmentally-friendly move. Wilson will save money on paper and reduce paper consumption by changing the defaults. I am sure I am not the only one to deal with the printer struggle, and I certainly won’t be the last.

 

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