I work at the computer lab in the science building. It's normally a relatively stress free job that is similar to a paid study hour with some minor social interaction. However, for the last few weeks, one phrase has been the bane of my existence. "Are the printers working today?" It takes a lot of practiced effort to keep from wringing my hands and banging my head against the desk at this point. In a given hour I am asked this question at least 20 times. It's slowly driving me crazy.
	I understand why I'm being asked, and frankly I'm fine with people who understand my situation in this entire mess. I'm one of you. My own home printer decided it does not love me anymore and went to the great network in the sky. When I come in to find that printers are down, it bothers me too. On any day I come in and get the report that printers are down I call support. I can hear the cringe in their voice as I tell them our problems, and receive the same piece of sage advice, "just wait it out."
	Well, frankly, it's tiring. This is a service many students are entirely dependent upon. There were already pains felt when we switched to the new system a hand full of years back. You can still hear countless students lamenting the old days when we get $10 worth of free prints. Understandably, we're paying for it one way or another: either out of student fees and on a pay-per-print basis. You won't hear me calling for a return of the $10 system, I just want things to work.
	It would be great if this was the end of it and I could keep my technology services complains to just printing. However, the printers have not been the only problem I'm getting complaints about this semester. Student email accounts seem to have gone through a bit of a flighty stage earlier in the semester. Students would complain about randomly being kicked out of the service or not being able to log in at all. Yet again, I'm one of you here, I had the same issue. While the problem seems to have subsided now, every time I log in to student email I twitch a little: will it start hating me again?
	Let's not forget the wonder and joy that is WebCT Vista. We've experienced everything from down time to a lack of utility functions from this board of reagents endorsed piece of cra....technology. Frankly, I have no idea why we even use it. Some of the functionality is convoluted, and there are better solutions. Take Moodle, a program we actually have set up on campus that a hand full of classes use. It's pretty intuitive, as well as endlessly customizeable since it's open source. The best part? It's free.
	With all this fun rolled into this technologically tumultuous semester opening, it's no wonder students might be a little agitated by these continued problems. Fielding countless cries of "what are they doing with my student technology fees?" are met with sympathy, yet does nothing to fix their problem. Many students worry that if the teacher  requests a printed version that this is their only option and will never swagger from this position. It is as if professors are some sort of unfeeling block between the student and their grade.
	I have two suggestions: to start off with, talk to your professor.  I find by and large teachers are understanding people and are willing to listen to serious problems. I know there may be an urge to take advantage of this situation and get yourself an extension on your deadline by milking it, but that's just going to make it harder for the rest of us that have serious problems. Secondly: find workarounds for your problems. If you can't print your homework, email a copy to your professor and explain the situation in class. Same goes for if WebCT is down. I also suggest never using your student email as a primary contact. There are a lot of free on line mail services that can be used instead. If all else fails, track down a Kinko's.  It's better than getting an F.
	I wish I could paint you a pretty picture of the future of campus technology full of rainbows and sunshine, but frankly these are the growing pains of a burgeoning campus. As we continue to grow, we are going to have new issues to face. In the meantime, we do what we can. We face an understaffed tech department trying to handle larger and larger problems. It's not as if they sit around and say "how can we inconvenience the students today?" So, maybe the support is right. So, maybe you should wait it out. But, no one says you have to wait quietly.