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Forum
New printing policy credit
causes concerns, but works
of inevitable because our
m J ennifer S itton ____________
much money on the war
Staff Reporter
When students returned
to school on Monday, Sept.
27, most were shocked to
find an e-mail in their inbox
explaining a new program
put into place in order to
restrict printing activity by
giving each student a printing
the privilege of unrestricted
printer access, but is that
really a good enough reason
to take away those privileges
from the entire student body,
most of whom are respectful
in how they use the school
printers?
Most of us have reasonable,
legitimate reasons for printing
Francesca Varela and Tess Reid, sophomores, retrieve their homework
from the printer in the library. The recently instituted printer credit
program keeps track of how many printouts students and staff
use*
Photo by Hannah Zaayer
balance. Most of the initial
e-mails had little information
except the individual student's
printer credits balance and the
announcement that each page
printed to a black and white
printer was worth one credit,
while each page printed to a
r I lu p rin te r c o u n te d as fiv e
c^ p its.
Most students reacted to
the new restriction the same
way I did; fear, dismay and
frustration. My first thought
was, what am I going to do
if I run out of credits? Will
the computer simply block
me from printing anything
else for the rest of the year?
I was initially outraged that
the school was putting these
outlandish restrictions on our
academic needs. Part of being
a student in 2008 is using
computers and printing out
assignments! I understand
there are students who
abuse and take for granted
the amount of pages we do.
Some teachers put all of their
homework and notes online,
leaving their students to
individually print out some
15 pages of notes every few
weeks. When you really think
about it, we will still print
the same amount of pages
whether we print them at
home or at school because
we don't have any other
choice; we either print out our
homework or we get a zero.
Even though the basis
for the new printer policy
may seem frustrating, that is
because we didn't have nearly
enough information. All we
knew was that we had a
printer balance and how many
credits each printer counted
as. As it turns out, the printer
balance program is mainly
meant to raise awareness
in the school. It isn't a way
of keeping tabs on students
and staff. The policy was
instigated in order to try to be
the best "green" school we can
be. The issue isn't restriction,
its sustainability. The printer
balance policy is simply an
alternative to the No Print
Wednesdays.
At the end of each month,
students and staff alike will
receive an e-mail to tell them
what their printing balance
is. Everyone started with 200
printer credits and as large
as that number sounds, they
disappear fast. The e-mail is
meant to get people thinking
of ways to eliminate the
amount of pages they print
each month.
Another worry students
have is what will happen to
them once they run out of
credits? Angie Hammond,
Information Technology
Coordinator, has the ability
to reset the printing balance
of anyone who has run out of
credits, as long as they have
legitimate reasons for using
the printer as much as they
did.
"Friday I asked economics
students to create graphs,
compare them, and identify
trends and correlations. They
chastised me for asking them
to print the graphs and do
their comparisons in the
room. 'We can sit next to each
other in the computer lab and
compare graphs on screen,'
they said. 'Don't you know
this ups our print count!'
They were right, and I learned
something. This is having an
impact on all of us, staff and
students," Todd Jones, social
studies teacher, said.
You see, it isn't really
possible to judge the
new printing policy until
you've been given all of the
information. As exasperating
as this policy seems, once
you look at all the facts, it
isn't really all that bad. Who
knows, if worst comes to
worst you can always have
your balance reset.
"I think it sucks. It's kind
country is spending so
that our economy cannot
possibly benefit."
—Ailish Duff,
freshman
iV**v%* W
"It's affecting
everybody. It will affect
future education costs
such as college and
community college if it's
not fixed."
—Kevin Tremaine,
sophomore
What are your feel
ings on the current
economic situation ?
"I'm worried about my
future such as paying
for college and I hope
that we can have people
that are not Bush or like
Bush controlling our
econom y and the future
of mankind."
— M onet Meyer,
junior
Break stereotypes: prove them wrong
u T amra S chelot ____________
Staff Reporter
From cheerleaders and
football players to stoners
and gamers, West Linn has
them all. When meeting new
people, the question, "Where
are you from?" usually
always pops up and the
reply is usually accompanied
with a comment like, "Oh,
are you rich?"
The assumption that
being from West Linn
means you are wealthy is
obnoxious and for many of
us, undeserved. How have
we gotten this reputation of
being snotty, rich people?
Well... in some cases it is
true, but there are some
amazing students, staff
and families in West Linn
vyho do not deserve to
■^■^jPtesociated with this
stereotype— and some of
them are very wealthy.
WLHS has students who
have traveled the world,
saved lives and helped out
an incredible amount. These
are the people that have
made a huge difference in
this school and community.
We need to change this
misperception my fellow
students. Let people who
don’t live in our area see the
good things that we do. Like
our Save Darfur Campaign
last year, the formation of
GATA and so many other
things we have done.
Most recently there was an
Invisible Children video
shown, thanks to the Schools
for Schools club here. These
amazing students are really
delving deep into a worthy
cause and taking a stand
against the deplorable
conditions for children in
Uganda. They are inspiring
others to help. Standing up
against an immense injustice
takes guts, strong minds and
big hearts.
Don’t think we don't pass
judgement here too, we all
know the nicknames for our
surrounding cities. Part of
breaking our stereotype is
to cut everyone else some
slack. Take a look around.
We're all human. Why
should we think we are
better than anyone else?
Let's adapt a new, positive
way of looking at others.
Let's show our best. Let's be
thankful for what we have.
Let's strive to be radical, to
be a change in the world
and to make a positive
difference.
"I'm really glad I'm
going into the medical
field, not the business
field."
— Eric Binswanger,
senior
Photos by
Avery Breyne-Cartwright and Mary Wood