Printers from hell

Graphic by @spooky_soda.

How to ensure printing an assignment doesn’t hold up your day

Assignment deadlines are the worst, but not only for the obvious reasons. Writing the assignment is one task, but the hassle of having to use Concordia’s printing stations after all of that hard work makes due dates so much more stressful. This is how my day usually goes when I have papers to print and submit:

The bus arrives 15 minutes late, it’s pouring rain, and the printer is out of ink. There’s now all of 10 minutes to get it done and get to class. But hey! Ten minutes to print a mere two pages is plenty of time, right? Think again.

“I never rely on the printers,” said Stephanie Ricci, a second-year journalism student at Concordia. “I just print at home and avoid the risk.” This is a nice alternative, and you can spend about $40 on a half-decent printer at the Concordia Bookstore and most other tech stores. But for those of us who haven’t invested in this, what choice do we have?

“If you’re counting on printing here, just make sure you come really early,” said Catherine Hansen, a student at Concordia. Aiming to arrive at least 30 minutes before your lecture starts is essential. Here’s why: the nearest two printers will likely have four people in line waiting to use them; the other three printers either have paper jams, are out of ink, or both. There’s always that one person who randomly pushes all the buttons and takes forever. There’s also the chance that there will be an  issue sending your file through the server.

“I tried printing here a few times and the printers were always out of order,” said Camille Perrin-Ridgway, a journalism student at Concordia. This is another possible outcome when trying to print on campus. When this happens, you honestly have no choice but to go find another printing station.

If, somehow, everything goes smoothly up until you have to swipe your student ID card, you’ll realize you haven’t loaded money on to it. Oh, you also don’t have any cash on you. Realistically, you must account for all of the above.

On the Loyola campus, there are printing stations on all floors of the Vanier Library. You can also print through the bookstores on both campuses, and in the LB building on the Sir George Williams campus, there are printing stations on the second to fifth floors.

All this to say, never assume printing at Concordia will be easy. Like, ever.

Feature graphic by @spooky_soda.

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