Printing Room

 Printout is an essential element at Michuhol Foreign Language High School. We asked students at Michuhol Foreign Language High School and they told us that they use about 10 or more printouts a day. Let's learn more about the situation at the school. English subjects are taught in original texts, so small English books are bound in A4 paper. For the life science performance assessment, the rubric is to submit a black-and-white, double-sided printed report, so the printing room is crowded on the morning of the submission date, and many students come to the printing room to print scripts for speaking performance assessment in subjects of English, major languages, etc. In addition, since students are not allowed to use electronic devices during the long study hall hours, which last until late at night, students often print out word books containing words in English and major languages to understand the context during study hall hours. When the study hall is ended, they walk to their dormitories, still clutching the scripts for tomorrow's presentation in their hands. The same thing happens in the dormitory: there is no access to electronic devices, so printed materials are essential. There are many examples of this, but probably the busiest day in the printing room for students is the day before the mock test. Students download and print last year's and previous years' papers to do well in the mock test or prepare for awkward questions. Judging by the amount of printed materials found in every aspect of the school's academic life, the printing room is indeed the most important space for students at Michuhol Foreign Language High School.

 

 It’s difficult for students to do printing at once because it is often broken. One example is when an error message appears and an authenticator code is requested. In this case, there is nothing students can do, so they must go to the administration office on the first floor and ask for help. But most of the students don’t have enough time to go and ask for help, so they try to fix the machine by themselves. There are also problems in here too because school does not provide appropriate explanation about the use of the printer. Another example is a paper jam. This can be also resolved by reading the manual and follow the step. However, there are not any instruction about how to figure out, so students are always confused and cannot print out things properly. 

 

 Another constant problem with the printing room is that paper seems to be running out all of the time. As many students frequent the printing room daily, a whole package of A4 sheets dwindles to zero in no time. To get refills, students must visit the teachers’ office or administration office and explain the situation to the teachers there, making a request for more paper. Such requests can only be made during lunchtime, and students who need to print something in a hurry after recess can do nothing if there is no remaining paper on the racks. This causes a “paper battle” between the different floors, in the words of a student who has watched this turn of events play out often enough. Students on the third-floor sneak paper from the fourth floor, students on the fourth-floor sneak paper from the fifth floor, and round goes the cycle.

 

 The other problem is that students don't often check the printer's manual. Each printer room has a manual on the wall that explains how to use the printer. While some students succeed in fixing their printers by checking the manual, many others are brought to their knees by printer errors. For instance, one of the most common problems is being incorrectly connected to the wrong printer, which can be easily fixed by checking the name of the printer in the manual and switching connections. Unfortunately, the name of the printer is often written in small print in the manual, and many students don't bother to check it. Thus, students fail to use the printer even though it is an easy problem to solve. It's a situation where the solution is right in front of you, but you can't find it.

 

 Finally, the absence of civic responsibility among students using the printers presents a significant issue. This problem becomes more pronounced when the printer room experiences high demand during critical performance assessments and examinations. Some students, despite the presence of fellow students waiting, opt to print extensive files, thereby increasing the waiting time and impeding the accessibility of the service for others. Another issue arises when students initiate a print job and then leave the printer unattended, returning long after it has been completed, only to discover that their printed materials are missing. In a similar vein, the lack of civic responsibility among certain students further contributes to the overall inconvenience experienced within the printer room.

 

 To solve the above problems, the first step is to assign a printer administrator. The printer administrator is the person who refills the printer when it runs out of paper or reports to the teacher if the printer is broken. Through this process, printer administrators can help ensure that other students are able to use the printer.

 

 In addition, to manage the printer room normally, we shouldn’t overlook the activities of student welfare department in charge of this situation. The student welfare department is the intended department which student council made a new, this department disposes of promises and parts associated with business such as air freshener, toilet paper holder or copying room, and this is also in charge of management of facility, students’ welfare. It is expected that there should be aggressive activities for notice writing and manager in printer room from students’ welfare department.

 

 Lastly, there should be a notice in the printer room, explaining specifically how to use the printer. Currently, many students don't know how to use a printer. So they struggle when the printer breaks down or has a problem, for example, the printer doesn't connect to the computer or has an error. However, many students don’t know where the relevant school department of the printer is and who the teacher in charge of the printer is when they need teachers’ help. So there should be a notice that is written down about the information of how to use the printer room and who the relevant teachers are.

 

 Many students have complained about the inconvenience of using the printer room. In the future, it is necessary to utilize solutions such as those suggested above, and we believe that an active student union is needed.

 

권서림 (1-1) | Staff Reporter

이유은 (1-1) | Staff Reporter

문대권 (1-5) | Staff Reporter

이나연 (1-6) | Staff Reporter

김예은 (2-5) | Staff Reporter

권나경 (2-6) | Staff Reporter

박세현 (2-7) | Staff Reporter

방은서 (2-7) | Staff Reporter

복가현 (2-7) | Staff Reporter

임나윤 (2-8) | Staff Reporter