Library official failed to look for printing fee alternatives

Dan Kampner Arizona Daily Wildcat ASUA President Tara Taylor voices her concerns regarding the university's decision to charge for the use of library printers to Carla Stoffle, the U of A Library Dean, left, as Cisco Aguilar, the Executive Vice President of ASUA looks on. Stoffle hosted an informational meeting with the ASUA board last night in the ASUA office.

During yesterday's meeting in the Associated Students' conference room, Executive Vice President Cisco Aguilar and several senators prodded Stoffle to say she was wrong not to ask student government's opinion before going ahead with the new fees, which include 7 cents per page for black-and-white Internet printing and $1 per color page.

"We should have consulted far earlier with student gov-ernment, and we admit that," Stoffle said. "We made some mistakes in the way we presented it and the consultation."

Sen. Ben Graff said he was grateful for Stoffle's admission.

"I appreciate you admitting that it was wrong to not consult the students first," Graff said.

But Stoffle steadfastly defended the library's need for printing charges, saying repeatedly the budget did not include funds to cover the costs.

"We had only $7,000 in the budget to pay for printing," Stoffle said. "This charge is the minimum we could charge to continue offering printing."

Before the meeting, Stoffle said continuing to let students print for free was not an option.

"This isn't something we can do or not do," she said. "We have to find funding."

Stoffle admitted that the fees drove her own daughter, a UA student, to the Family and Consumer Resources building's computer lab, which offers free printing.

The six senators in attendance - minus Sens. Ferdie Echiverri, Josue Lim—n, Mai Luc and Ty Trujillo - offered suggestions to Stoffle and her associate, Library Specialist Diane Delp, on how to possibly eliminate the printing fees.

Sen. Emily Dunn suggested corporate sponsorship to offset costs.

"We didn't consider that," Stoffle said. "Honestly, no, I never went out to see."

Senators also suggested a system to separate student users from community users, so that students would not be charged and outsiders would.

But Stoffle said the machines that scan CatCards and charge the fees cannot distinguish between student and visitor cards, and Dell said staffing the area with library employees would cost too much.

Stoffle also said when the university allotted her an additional $50,000, she used it to keep the library open around the clock instead of applying it to printing costs.

"I've tried really hard in the last seven years not to cry poor," she said. "I've cut 40 staff positions and the only real increase I've gotten is the $50,000 to keep the library open 24 hours."

No changes came out of yesterday's meeting, except that Stoffle said she would investigate some of ASUA's suggestions and return for a follow-up meeting.

Afterward, Aguilar, who previously stated he thinks the fee is another attempt to "nickel and dime" students, said he would like to see the Senate pass a resolution denouncing fees if no changes are made.

Aguilar also said he hoped library officials would take the suggestions seriously.

"I'm glad she realizes that as students, we are con-cerned about it," he said. "Hopefully, there will be some kind of resolution."