Daily Skiff

Technology Resources is helping the university go green by working to make double-sided printing the default setting in the Mary Couts Burnett Library's information commons.

Bryan Lucas, executive director of Technology Resources, said the idea of double-sided printing was initiated by students at the beginning of the semester.

Each semester, students are given 200 free pages for printing in the Pharos system in the computer lab, and charges will apply after the first 200 pages.

The Pharos printing system is the software that allows any authorized person on campus to print from the printers in the computer lab in the library.

June Koelker, dean of the library, said the default setting of duplex printing will be available to students as soon as Technology Resources finishes working on the charging mechanism used by the Pharos printing system so it can be configured to support default duplex printing.

She said at the same time students can still individually select duplex printing on the black-and-white printers.

Lucas said the cost of fixing the software to allow double-sided printing will be determined by the manufacturer of the printing system. He said it is undecided how many free pages students can print from the library, and the number will be evaluated once Technology Resources is able to make this change.

Technology Resources is trying to figure out if the software can handle default duplex printing for all users of the printers, Lucas said.

Koelker said default double-sided printing is a good idea and she would like to see it happen because it will bring more convenience to students.

However, the printing system still needs to be flexible because some students' projects need to be printed on one side of the paper for certain reasons.

Haley Murphy, a senior political science major, said she thinks the free printing limit of 200 free pages is a low number, which double-sided printing could help.

"I don't think professors will have problems with students printing their homework double-sided," Murphy said.

Jessica Yang, a freshman economics major, said she has already used about 100 free pages printing from the library, and one hundred more won't be enough for her school work. She said paying for college is already expensive and she doesn't want to spend more extra money on printing.

Lucas said it will certainly make sense of the TCU go green initiative if default duplex printing is eventually put in place.

"It is definitely a sustainability issue," he said.

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