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By Linda Pottier and Mike Bryan

Monitoring the printing in computer lab D has been effective in reducing inappropriate and unnecessary printing, as the Information Technology staff hoped.

"It has helped tremendously, " said Michelle Story, laboratory instructor.

At the start of this semester, when D lab reopened following renovation, printers had been moved, making them accessible only to the lab personnel. Lab assistants now place the print outs on a table where student pick them up.

The decision to keep students away from the printers was made "to eliminate excessive, frivolous and inappropriate printing," Story said.

Before the move, when the printers were available at the end of a row of computers, Story said a number of documents were printed and just left there. Now almost all printouts are being claimed.

"All semester the only real example of frivolous printing not picked up was someone who printed all the lyrics from Brittany Spear's album," she said.

Only one incident of "inappropriate" printing has occurred this semester, Story said, and that led to a student's computer account being taken away temporarily.

The problem, which may have been caused by a computer virus, involved multiple copies of a document that included "inappropriate language," she said. A lab assistant saw the documents and notified Story. By that time the student had shut down the computer and walked away.

Computer Services personnel were able to locate the student, whose computer account was disabled, in accordance with the college's computer policy. After an investigation, the account was reinstated since the problem may have been the result of a virus.

Story said the problem could have been resolved immediately if the student had notified the staff.

"Just shutting down the computer, walking away and doing nothing, gives you reason to think it might have been intentional," she said.

Story stressed that she and the lab assistants are there to help students, and she cited problems in printing Web site material as one area where the staff has been helpful.

Printing from Web sites is an ongoing problem, she said, because some students click "print" without realizing they're printing a lot of pages.

"They (students) just come right up and say 'Oh, my gosh, I didn't need all that.'"

Monitoring the printing has allowed the lab staff to cancel some large print commands and to teach students how to print just what they need.

"Educating the students about Internet printing and other common problems has not only been beneficial to the students, but also rewarding to our staff," Story said. "I just thought of it (monitoring) as preventative maintenance.