LETTER: Printing Pains

Returning to Boston University from a three-month break, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect about the changes to our ResNet labs. Walking into Mugar Memorial Library for the first time, I pictured the standard scenario: a 30-minute wait in line to get onto a computer with a frustratingly buggy mouse, all the while feeling pressured to get off since other people may have more important things to do than browse Facebook. What immediately arrested my attention and dropped my jaw, however, was the total overhauls of the computing station, complete with new computers, spiffy dividers between workstations and ample desk space for all one’s studying needs. The whole area was quite pleasing to the eye, and we are certainly indebted to BU for their generous contribution to the student body.

Or not. Upon the realization that all this came at a cost, my gaping jaw closed faster than that of a man who just realized his ‘winning’ lottery ticket was a fake. Perhaps you remember what was taken away from us: the ‘luxury’ of a printing allocation and ResNet labs in dorms.’ ‘What’s the big deal?’ you may ask, ‘We lost some things but we gained something else!’ This sort of tactic is demagoguery 101. A demagogue gives you a bright shiny new spoon for your cereal while convincing you that you don’t need that tired old bowl anymore. Sure, your plastic spoon wasn’t that great, but combined with your bowl it made for a pretty nice combo (plus, you could have milk).

Let us also not forget the reason that was given for removing the printing allocations in the first place: the tough economy. Someone please tell me where the boatload of new computers, new workstations and new lighting comes in to all of this. Someone tell me why I, as a student who goes to a private university and pays over $37,000 in tuition, get only 100 pages to print per semester while my friend who goes to a public university and whose tuition is a mere $3,000 gets 125 pages per week. Someone tell me why I am paying for more and more each year, yet each year I am getting less and less.

What does the demagogue BU get out of all of this? Simple: money. A superficial, unneeded upgrade attracts more prospective students (and therefore more money) than does a functional resource that potential students won’t really see. What is given to the students is calculated entirely in terms of what the parents will see. I have a challenge for you: over the next year, notice how the appearance of campus declines as the semester progresses, up until parents’ weekend when it will suddenly flourish with new foliage. Notice how the dining hall food will start tasting a little bit more delicious, and the staff will seem to be friendlier than ever before.’ Notice how all of the things you were promised-things you or your parents paid for-are slowly withering away.