Josh Fields/Arizona Daily Wildcat Senior library specialist Pat Montoya runs through the checkout procedures while pre-nursing junior Eun Jung Chang reads a flier about the laptop loan program. Beginning today, the UA Main Library will allow students to check out a laptop for four hours with a CatCard.

Students, faculty can borrow free for up to 4 hours

Students can now borrow laptops free for up to four hours as part of a student government $20,000 laptop-loan program that starts today.

Current UA students and faculty members who find themselves unable to afford a computer or are in need of one on campus in the most dire of situations now have the chance to borrow a laptop.

The laptop-loan program is designed to provide accessible technology to all UA community members on campus, said Rhonda Tubbs, the Associated Students of the University of Arizona senator who spearheaded the effort.

"It's so important to succeed in today's world, and a technology-based campus can really set someone in the right direction," said Tubbs, a finance senior.

Tubbs said eventually she hopes to increase the scope of the project to allow students to borrow laptops for an entire year, modeling efforts by UCLA and other Pacific 10 Conference institutions.

The program's 15 laptops were purchased for $400 each, half the retail price because of deals offered by computer companies Apple and Gateway, who both sponsored the program, Tubbs said.

It's so important to succeed in today's world, and a technolog -based campus can really set someone in the right direction. - Rhonda Tubbs, ASUA senator

The laptop-loan project cost a total of $20,000, half of which was bestowed through one family's $10,000 anonymous donation to the American Foundation, which partnered with Tubbs to make the project come to life.

The remaining $10,000 was matched by the UA Main Library's trust fund, said Dan Lee, interim team leader for undergraduate services for the Manuel T. Pacheco Integrated Learning Center.

"It was our decision to match (the donation) in hopes of expanding competing possibilities and allowing portability and easier access for student use in their classes," Lee said. "Gateway has been a great service provider on campus and their support with this project has been outstanding."

Tubbs said ASUA spent a total of around $30 to promote the project, and the rest of the funding for the project came through donations.

"I'm glad we were able to get the community involved on this project," Tubbs said.

A $15 late fee will be charged to a student's Bursar's Account for every 30 minutes past the four-hour time allotment. Damaged, lost or stolen property may result in criminal charges, though much of the wear and tear will be covered by the Apple and Gateway company warranties, Tubbs said.

While the library won't always be able to monitor what students do on the computers, Tubbs said students must sign a waiver form to help ensure the laptop's return and to hinder any suspicious or inappropriate activity.

"We're going to monitor to the best of our abilities," Tubbs said. "But there's only so much we can do before getting into privacy issues."

Students around campus said the program will help people who spend more time in a computer lab waiting for a computer than working on one.

"I think this project can be helpful because often times I'm waiting or fighting for a computer down in the ILC," said Brian Elisco, a physiology senior. "Knowing I can have a computer at any time now is helpful when something last-minute comes up."

Elisco said theft would be the only concern for the project, but the positives of such a project outweigh any negatives that may come about.

Students interested in obtaining a laptop can present their CatCard at the front desk of the UA Main Library or the ILC.

Each computer will be equipped with most of the same programs as those in the library as well as wireless Internet, Tubbs said.