[836] in UA Senate
Re: athena printing committee
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (willst)
Sun Oct 17 23:53:46 2010
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2010 23:53:42 -0400
From: willst <willst@MIT.EDU>
To: ua-senate@mit.edu
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTik8iFQgv1C4x6HQA3-mYqAkaMGbMHij3RnCNXuY@mail.gmail.com>
I disagree. Based on Michael Plasmier and Owen Derby's email CSL has
done a lot
of work on this.
Senators and probably others want to join a committee on printing. Write the
bill and we can ask Daniel Hawkins and Richard Dahan at Senate how best to
integrate them with what they've already done.
Quoting Allan Miramonti <allanm@MIT.EDU>:
> I feel okay with the creation of a separate committee for a couple reasons.
>
>
> This committee won't exist very long. It should just get in there, see that
> the new printing system is put in place with good student approval and be
> done.
>
> I've been given the impression CSL hasn't done too much this year (I could
> be wrong). I'd rather put people in place with some momentum so that the
> new printing system doesn't get setup without proper student input.
>
> I think we should forgo the whole stepping on people's toes thing and just
> make sure the right actions happen.
>
> -Al
>
> On Sun, Oct 17, 2010 at 11:28 PM, Geoffrey Thomas <geofft@mit.edu> wrote:
>
>> As a student who's been involved with working with a bunch of folks from
>> IS&T including Oliver Thomas on a lot of issues including printing, I have
>> one thing to say:
>>
>> What's with this "Thomas" business? His name's Oliver. You even called him
>> "Mr. Oliver Thomas" in the UA Update the other week:
>> http://tech.mit.edu/V130/N43/uaupdate.html
>> Unless you can pull off the kind of formal respect that the New York Times
>> can evoke with that sort of phrasing, it reeks of "Miss Frances' third-grade
>> class recently visited IS&T to see how printing works." You guys are
>> grown-ups now.
>>
>> Anyway he's a cool dude and I encourage you guys working with him.
>>
>> --
>> Geoffrey Thomas (no relation)
>> geofft@mit.edu
>>
>>
>> On Sun, 17 Oct 2010, Betsy Riley wrote:
>>
>> Okay. When Oliver Thomas came to speak at Senate, he talked about the
>>> Phase I projects that were completed over the summer but also spent a lot
>>> of time discussing potential changes to printing that will be explored
>>> this semester. These changes extended beyond the issues of Athena spaces
>>> and 24/7 study rooms, including multi-function printers, printers
>>> designated for certain jobs, and printing straight from sites like
>>> Stellar. Looking at the reports you sent me, many of these ideas have
>>> already been proposed, but Thomas said that IS&T wants to test them out
>>> and will therefore need lots of student feedback.
>>> Since printing is such an integral part of the MIT undergraduate
>>> education, and since this semester will demand a lot of coordination with
>>> IS&T to ensure a final printing system that is appealing to students, it
>>> seems prudent to form a new committee devoted exclusively to printing.
>>> Furthermore, since Vrajesh suggested that an ad hoc committee on printing
>>> be formed, I figured that no existing committee has the capacity to take
>>> on the issue of printing right now given that we need to resolve all
>>> printing issues by the end of the semester.
>>>
>>> Lastly, Thomas's enthusiasm for student input is something that we want
>>> to cultivate. Having a committee working exclusively with him, therefore,
>>> makes it more likely that we will maintain a positive relationship with
>>> him and establish a trend of exemplary UA work. I'm worried about the
>>> possibility of printing getting shafted if it's just added to CSL's list
>>> of goals, which would be a shame and embarrassing given that Thomas,
>>> unlike most administrators, is actually asking for UA input.
>>>
>>> Betsy
>>>
>>>
>>> On Oct 16, 2010, at 1:04 AM, Owen Derby wrote:
>>>
>>> tl;dr: The UA Committee for Student Life has been working on
>>> printing since last year and will continue to work on it this
>>> year. CSL would welcome any and all input from senate into
>>> how it should proceed.
>>>
>>> Betsy,
>>>
>>> I meant to bring this up at retreat, but I don't think I did.
>>> If you want to set goals and see progress on this issue, you
>>> would be better off tasking CSL with this than creating an ad
>>> hoc committee to do what CSL is already working on.
>>>
>>> Also, it might be a good idea to establish some sort of goals
>>> in this bill. What do you hope to achieve with this committee
>>> (regardless of who is running it)? This bill is not very
>>> clear on this front.
>>>
>>> - Owen
>>>
>>> On Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 12:43 AM, Michael E Plasmeier
>>> <theplaz@mit.edu> wrote:
>>> Hi Betsy and the UA Senate,
>>>
>>> I am the UA rep on the Institute's Athena and
>>> Printing Committee. I worked extensively on the
>>> printing issue along with Daniel Hawkins and
>>> Richard Dahan in CSL on this issue last year. We
>>> did a lot of work and thinking on this issue. We
>>> conducted a survey and talked for weeks about
>>> what the best options would be. We put together
>>> our suggestions into an 11 page report and
>>> PowerPoint presentation. Because we completed
>>> our work at the end of the year, without time for
>>> Senate approval, and because the Committee was on
>>> the same page with the UA, and decided to
>>> implement our printing suggestions this past
>>> summer anyway, we did not publish our report.
>>> Many of our recommendations are already
>>> complete.
>>>
>>> Outline of printing recommendations:
>>> -buy new printers - Complete
>>> -unify model for Athena and dorm printing support
>>> - Complete
>>> -Pharos printing system - last I heard the
>>> Institute was going to do this
>>> -2,000 page/semester quota to limit the top ~5%
>>> of printers, CopyTech course readers included -
>>> think they are going to do this, CopyTech part
>>> questionable
>>>
>>> The Institute Committee, which Oliver de facto
>>> leads, has not met this year. I've sent the
>>> committee an email asking if there were any open
>>> issues they wished to reconvene on. The
>>> remaining issue that is open under our charter is
>>> a reconfiguration of the Athena spaces. Hawkins,
>>> Richard, and I had proposed closing the disused
>>> clusters 38-370, 37-332, 4-166, 2-225, 2-032 and
>>> replace them with nearby quickstations with
>>> printers. In addition, MIT should move all of
>>> the book out of Barker 5th floor and lock up the
>>> books on Hayden 1st floor and open those spaces
>>> 24/7 with a bump in computers and group study
>>> rooms. Barker, Hayden, and 5th Floor Student
>>> Center would become integrated study
>>> neighborhoods with a mix of computers, individual
>>> study, and group study. The committee has not
>>> shown any momentum in moving forward with
>>> anything. What do you think is a better option?
>>> Status quo or what we proposed?
>>>
>>> In any case I think any work on this issue can be
>>> handled inside of CSL, as it has been. I extend
>>> an invitation to Betsy and whoever else wishes to
>>> join me on the issue to work with me inside of
>>> the existing framework. Also, as for moving
>>> forward with the Institute committee: if the
>>> consensus is that status quo is better, we can
>>> leave sleeping dragons lying, but if people
>>> actual prefer the 24/7 library space, I can push
>>> that issue if need be. I welcome feedback.
>>>
>>> -Michael Plasmeier
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Betsy Riley [mailto:rileyb@MIT.EDU]
>>> Sent: Friday, October 15, 2010 10:38 PM
>>> To: ua-senate@mit.edu
>>> Subject: athena printing committee
>>>
>>> Hello -
>>>
>>> As I said I would, I have written a bill to create an ad hoc
>>> committee to examine changes to Athena printing, provide a
>>> mechanism for student input about printing, and ensure that
>>> student ideas are implemented or at least appropriately
>>> considered. Let me know what you think, if you think anything
>>> should be changed, etc.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Betsy
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>
