Printers no longer free in Library computer lab

Beach Club Cards required of students wishing to use computer lab printers

Students can no longer use the printers in the Cal State Long Beach University Library computer lab for free.

The cost to use the printers in the basement of the library is now five cents and 20 cents per page for the Dot Matrix and Lazer printer respectivley. Students wanting to use this service must obtain a Beach Club Card from the Customer Service Desk on the second floor of the University Bookstore.

The card acts like a debit card and requires a $10 minimum downpayment before the card can be used. This payment can be made with cash or check.

Henry DuBois, Acting Associate Director of the Library said, "Last Year the printers were on their last leg and beyond practical repair."

The Library Computer Lab was getting "many complaints" about illegible letters on their documents. "This was unexceptable for students," said DuBois.

Last semester the Library Computer Lab housed 26 IBM and 12-13 Macintosh printers available for student use, said Mig Gomez, manager of the Library Computer Lab. There are now nine new Dot Matrix printers and one lazer printer that can be accessed only by lab personnel.

The printers were purchased from the University Bookstore on a cost recovery basis. Dubois said, "students will absorb the costs."

The Library was spending $17,000 a year for paper. This does not include other expenses like ribbons and maintenance which were needed to keep the printers operating properly said DuBois.

These costs were previosly being paid for by a division of Academic Affairs and the Library's operating budget. Because of budget cuts, there was not enogh money said DuBois.

The Academic Computing Lab located in LA5 has been using this same system of paying for printouts with the Beach Club Card for a year and a half.

Chris Ramirez, Customer Service Manager at the bookstore said that the minimum to open an account with the Beach Club Card used to be $50. The amount was changed to $10 when the Academic Computing Lab adopted the system.

"There are a lot of positives for the card," said Ramirez. Once the initial account is set up, the card can be used toward purchases at the Bookstore as well as the University Food Services on campus.

"We have had quite an influx of students getting the card," said Ramirez. Over 1,000 accounts for the Beach Club Card have been opened since the new Library Computer Lab system was instituted.

DuBois said that the amount of students using the lab has not declined because they must pay for printing. "On the contrary," He said, "Because the quality is better, the students can depend on the computers."

Chris Rim, Asian Studies Senior, said, "If we are paying our tuition and it keeps increasing each year, we should be able to use the computers and print out free."

Rim said he was angry when he found out he had to pay for the printouts and buy a Beach Club Card. "I was ready to print and cramming for time," he said, "there was a long line at the Bookstore so I had to skip class."

Diem Nguyen, CSULB junior, said, "It's more convenient if you have no cash." She also said the system would be even more convieient if students could open a Beach Club Card account from the Library Computer Lab.