Last year, Whitworth had to cut and adjust its budget, affecting the costs and performance of different Whitworth amenities. One area that was especially affected by the budget cuts was the cost of on-campus printing money per student.

The amount of money was changed from $25 to $12.50 worth of printing per semester. Students can use the money to print necessary documents such as homework or lecture notes.

This fact came as a surprise to most students. Many of the returning students were not aware the amount changed.

“We were not officially told,” sophomore Itunu Olonade said.

Most of the freshmen were not aware there is a printing budget at all.

“I found out there was a budget the first time I wanted to print,” freshman Jason Pinales said. “I had no idea before that.”

Senior biology major Seth Flanders is unsure what the ultimate reason is for the change in printing money.

“The $1.3 million deficit last year is a probable reason,” he said.

Senior Daniel Scheibe, on the other hand, took an ecological view.

“Schools want to stop using so much paper,” Scheibe said.

How this change affects the students varies among class standing and majors. In some classes, such as psychology or English, printing is done frequently and this new amount may be used quickly.

“As I am a senior in biology, I think it will be enough, but it would not have been enough other years and other majors and classes require a lot more printing than others,” Flanders said.

Other students, such as Olonade and Scheibe, print more often. Scheibe used all his printing money in a week, he said. Olonade prints 300 pages per semester and might have to pay for more printing, she said.

Students may have to adjust their printing habits in order adhere to the $12.50 spending limit. Olonade will print less than last year and will only print what is really important, she said. Others may not have that option.

“$20 would be better than $12.50,” Pinales said.

Not many options are available for college students since buying a printer or going to a printing service is expensive.

“It could be interesting to adapt, according to the major of each student,” Scheibe said.

Regardless of the changes made, having a printing budget at all is appreciated, Flanders and Pinales said.

Contact Elodie Potier-Roudil at [email protected]