For a school whose annual fee increases continue to outstrip national inflation, one might assume that our facilities would be fairly high-quality. At the very least, one would think they'd be functional. Unfortunately, when it comes to Greenprint, apparently this is too much to ask. With inadequate numbers and locations of stations, an even scarcer supply of actually operational stations and a software system riddled with problems, Greenprint is wholly unreliable and deficient in meeting the needs of Dartmouth's student body.
Most inconvenient is the fact that not even every housing cluster has a Greenprint station, let alone every dorm building. Even having one in each academic building is an unrealized dream. With an endowment of $3.7 billion and a tuition increase of 3.8 percent this academic year, it seems puzzling that there has been little effort to increase access to Greenprint stations around campus. Students must consider when and where an assignment can be printed in order to have it ready in time. For many students, it would be most convenient to print something the morning it is needed, but because there are so few locations and such a high possibility of malfunction, it is often necessary to print the night before. At a school where nightly temperatures are already bitterly cold, it is pretty unpleasant to walk five or more minutes in the freezing dark to the nearest Greenprint. Chances are it will be broken and you'll have to play a game of Greenprint scavenger hunt, searching for that rare machine that is actually in working order. Perhaps the College could modestly reduce its significant expenditures on non-faculty employees and invest more in improving this essential service.
On that note, why do so many Greenprint stations always seem to be broken? Whether low on ink, missing paper, calibrated incorrectly or just plain busted, in my experience it is more likely to find one that is not working than one that is. Usually the machine fails to notify you of an issue until after you've tried to print, meaning that the system has already removed your item from the queue. That means searching for the nearest computer or pulling out your laptop and going through the steps to print it again. And of course, you now need to go find a station that works. I now automatically print items three times, so that when I inevitably try to get them from a broken machine, more copies of it will remain in my printing queue so I can try again somewhere else. So far this year I've visited the Hop Greenprint station five times. Guess how many times it has worked? Not once. When I've checked back hours later, it still has yet to be fixed. There should at least be some sort of system like LaundryView, which could show which printers are not working so we can save time, energy and extreme frustration.
Even when the hardware behind Greenprint is all in order, software problems can be just as common. I used to think I was the only person who had to reinstall Greenprint on my Mac every time I wanted to print something. I came to find out, however, that I am merely one of what seems to be a large contingent of the student population facing this issue. I have heard rumors that constantly keeping Greenprint open without ever closing the program can prevent this. And of course, I could always use the backup method of emailing a document to the Greenprint system. But these alternatives should not be necessary. The system should be capable of consistently performing its job correctly, a goal which seems unattainable despite the multiple software updates I have downloaded.
I dream of a day when I can wake up, have my printing request processed hassle-free from my laptop, and pick it up from the fully functioning Greenprint station located in my building. Until then, I will have to bear the frigid night walks to a working machine or just be that frantic girl pounding and cursing at a broken printer the morning her paper is due.
