New laser printers in ETSU’s computer labs will provide students with much neater looking papers.
“Now I don’t have to go to Kinko’s to get a copy that my professor finds acceptable,” student Brian Weaver said.
The Office of Information Technology recently replaced six dot-matrix printers with laser printers in the university’s main computer lab in the Culp Center.
A number of universities have been using laser printers for some time now, but Vince Thompson, OIT computer lab manager, said ETSU didn’t make the change earlier because of the cost. According to Thompson, it was a matter of price per page between the laser printers and the dot-matrix printers. Laser printing can cost several cents per page and with thousands of print jobs per day, the costs add up over time. Dot-matrix printing was less than a cent per page.
Over time the costs of laser printing lowered, especially as offices began to use it more widely, and OIT was tracking the cost periodically over the last few years. The cost of laser printing eventually came close enough in price to the dot-matrix printers to allow the upgrade.
A proposal was submitted to the state budget committee in February of last year that would allot funds from the Technology Access Fee that students pay every semester to the purchase of the new laser printers.
The cost to the students is relatively cheap, as the printers were purchased through a state contract. According to Kimberly Thompson, OIT computer lab technician, the cost of each printer in the Culp Center was $2,645, just over half the retail price, while the laser printer that will be placed in the Sam Wilson Hall lab is a smaller model and cost $1,329.
The old laser printer from the Culp Center lab will be placed in the Gilbreath Hall lab, and the Rogers-Stout Hall lab has already been equipped with a laser printer since it was opened last semester.
Student reaction to the laser printers has been positive. According to a survey the OIT did last fall, the majority of students that responded felt that adding laser printers should be a top priority. Lab manager Amanda Hickman said, “It makes our job a lot easier.”
The new laser printers do have a downside. Because of the speed and quality of the printers, the possibility of abuse is higher, Vince Thompson said. OIT has plans to install a card system on the printers in the near future to curb abuse of the printers.
According to Vince Thompson, if the system is adopted, each student would get an initial $100 per semester assigned an account on their ID card for printer use. Students who go beyond that may incur additional charges.
Each printer will have a wedge reader, similar to the wedge readers used for access to the dormitories and on vending machines. After the student has sent a document to the printers they will have to slide their card through the reader and the print queue will release their document to the printer.
Each page will cost a set amount and the total for the print job will be taken from the account. With the small cost of the pages the amount would most likely never max out, but if it does it must be replenished in the same manner ID Bucs are done.
Kimberly Thompson says that the initial $100 is equal to the Technology Access Fee. There will not be any extra cost to the students for this account, but there will be a charge to replenish the account.
Vince Thompson stresses, “This system would not be for profit, but just designed to curb abuse and equalize everyone’s value and use of the printers.

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