How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
Last Thursday, WSN reported that NYU had eliminated its free on-campus printing areas and instituted a system that gives students a $50 print grant each semester, essentially the right to print 500 pages for free. Once a student has used up that amount, a charge of 10 cents per page will go into effect.
Now, it's always disappointing when a free service is ended, and we do sympathize with those students without personal printers who will have to pay out-of-pocket for pages upon pages of dense material. However, we feel this is a change that will do more good than harm in the long run.
It's no secret that times are tough, and NYU is not immune. And just as individuals and families have to increase their savings in difficult circumstances, so does NYU. In addition to the change in printing policy, which will supposedly save the university $200,000, NYU has ceased publication of the popular NYU Student's Guide, saving an estimated $80,000 in printing and distribution costs. Such cuts are understandably unpopular with students. But they are also absolutely necessary to bring the school's financial situation back to stability and prevent cuts to more essential university services.
In addition to the economic benefits of the cuts, the environmental benefits should be appreciated as well. NYU spokesman John Beckman told WSN that approximately one-third of the 18 million pages printed in print labs last year were thrown away as waste. In recent months, the university has made a tremendous show of its environmental initiatives in every aspect of campus life, from the renovation of the Gallatin School of Individualized Study to the elimination of bottled water in university dining halls. With the new printing policy, the university has shown an admirable commitment to its sustainability initiative and tackled a major source of waste.
In the meantime, if the prospect of paying for printing seems too odious for students to contemplate, may we suggest a little ingenuity and a spirit-of-the-blitz mentality? Use up your free 500 pages, then seek out alternate methods. Don't print something unless you absolutely need to, or find friends or roommates who have their own printer. You never know, it might be the start of a beautiful friendship.
