ASHLEY EVANS STAFF WRITER
A number of students are still complaining about delayed login times and complicated printing experiences in Vogel Library despite recent improvements made by ITS.
New fiber optic lines were installed in November, and servers have recently been moved to a new room with environmental controls to prevent overheating and improve power management. Yet even with the updates, several students said the library computers remain slow.
“I don’t even go to the library anymore,” Andrew Creary said. “I went out and bought a printer because it’s a lot easier to print in my room than wait 10 minutes for a simple paper to load there.”
Some library work-study students feel the same, like Emily DeLong who never uses the computers, because they are too slow. Other work study students, like Meghan Pedersen, watch students struggle as they attempt to log on and print.
“Students get mad at us. They think it’s our fault the computers are slow,” she said.
Director of ITS Gary Wipperman was not aware students thought library computers had become increasingly slow.
“The fiber should have improved that and the library staff has reported improvements,” Wipperman said.
Librarian Kimberly Babcock Mashek has seen a slight improvement.
“It’s hit and miss depending on times of the day,” she said. “I would say printing time is down from 15 minutes to 10.”
But students who need a quick print say 10 minutes is too long to wait.
“This is my third computer I’ve tried to log on to,” Steve Virelli said. “I got here at 10:10 and wanted to print off an assignment and do it before class. It is now 10:32.”
The computers run slower when many students login at the same time, systems librarian Alan Mask said. This is because a majority of the computer labs connect to a single server.
“Our sense is that while the login and load times can be slower than everyone would like, they are still very reliable,” Mask said.
While the library staff has noticed a change, some students still saidITS needs to do more.
“It seems ITS has forgotten a very important step in problem-solving, which is to follow up. I’m sure they are trying very hard, but I think they need to get it together and check on their work,” Allison Schulz said.