Tile Wall - STUDENT COMPUTER COMMENTS

Submitted: September 29th, 2000.

The following is a listing of computer related comments from both the undergraduates and graduate students (compiled between 9/27/2000 and 9/28/2000).  All students were given the opportunity to comment. This is an unedited listing and therefore certain comments may be inaccurate.  The technically oriented items are not included here- they will be forwarded to Ashe directly.  Fortunately, many of the problems have already been addressed in the last few days, or are in the process of being taken care of.

Most of the comments deal with general concerns related to the "quality of computer life" issues and basic frustrations felt around the school. This list is not meant to be negative.  Rather, we hope that it will help you to understand our perspective.  We would appreciate it if these concerns were addressed as soon as possible, either in the form of a school wide e-mail or handout.

Thank-you for your consideration.

1- We should have at least one HIGH QUALITY COLOR PLOTTER which is capable of printing large files without crashing. It should be a priority of the school for all lab computers and plotters to be fully operational, with all the software loaded and working.

2- No Maya?! Many people in my studio were looking forward to using the program. Personally, I made sure that my computer has enough RAM to carry this specific program. I have some background in Alias, and I was always told that Maya's the next step up.

3 - we need of a laser machine and also a CD BURNER in the computer lab.

4 - 9 - we should have the laser printer as well as the Epson printer. How about a PORTABLE PROJECTOR UNIT for the school that plugs into the laptop for presenting animations/presentations.

5 - Now that am I am asked to pay a user fee... I fully expect everything to work and view that the school has a responsibility to respond in a manner reflective of the fact that I am a paying user... that is not to simply say we're doing our best... I rely on these machines and they should work... NO ONE WOULD ACCEPT THESE CONDITIONS IN THEIR OFFICE and we shouldn't accept them here

6 - If I were to administer the computer systems at my office the way the school runs the lab here- I would go out of business very quickly. The Dean should look at schools such as Columbia, or even UVA (which operates on a state school budget!). I have never seen a school so technologically backwards and disorganized. On paper it sounded much better. This is Princeton- not only should we be organized, but we should be on the cutting-edge.

7 - also I am thinking it would be a good idea to have sign out sheets for computer software manuals etc. I can never seem to allocate the formz Manuals, Photoshop books etc.......

8- We NEED a printer (8.5 x 11) in comp room. they took last year's away, but according to Ashe, it is in the basement, unused.

9 - ? It's taken way too long to get hooked up to the network, and to get the software installed. The NETWORK FEES are something that should either be a part of tuition or at least mentioned in the schools' literature somewhere (the combined cost of mandatory computer and lab access fees is a shockingly high hidden cost of this program).

10 - Really frightening: We cannot operate with only 25 licenses each for Form Z and for AutoCAD! The implication of having a mandatory computer requirement is that the students are expected to do studio work on the computer. I think the school should plan for at least 75% of the students to be using the software, and it must be accessible at any time.

11 - FEE!! this is crazy, i completely forgot about it, we are paying $26'000 bucks for education and after still need fee for datajack, fee for computer, fee for Form Z, fee to open the door of the school, fee for cigarette holder, and so on. i dont know if this an articulate point but maybe you can make something out of it.

12 - why are the MAYA licenses running out?

13 - We need to pay a lab fee in the architecture department if we want to connect a personal computer to the network. Wouldn't it be possible for us to connect for free? Most of us already have a dormnet account and are paying our dormnet fee; paying an additional $100 to be able to connect from the building seems a bit steep to me....

14 - currently there is only one license for 3d studio viz. meaning only one person can use the program at a time. i am in schuldenfrei's computer class this semester where the syllabus includes several weeks of intensive 3d studio work and assignments. our class has 15 people which seems to be too many for just one license, not to mention the other students who use 3d studio that are not in the course.

15 - My main complaint is the timing of the hook-up. They could have begun to charge us, enable the jacks, and begin setting up network coordination stuff weeks before we arrived, so that we could be up and running sooner. Also, the lack of information as to how we go about hooking up has been frustrating,. Our profs should be aware that our computer access is very limited right now, and should not assume that we can jump right on -- somehow the administration should get this across. And finally, since we bought all this VERY expensive machinery, they should make sure we'll have access to the software (which we were promised we'd have access to) - they need to purchase more copies of the basic programs like Form-Z, or at least continue to offer us copies for a fee as they did in the past.

16 - lack of functional Adobe Photoshop application on all of the lab computers -lack of a laser printer or the non-functional printer (203)

17 - We need a regular HP 4si type printer for printing everyday 8.5x11 and 11x17 things. We really also need an HP1055c plotter, but hey.

18 - here is my meager list:

a. get the epson working b. get the laser jet up c. get all the plotters and printers networked on all machines - no point if we have to install the drivers on every log on d. get photoshop on the scanner machine (apparently not enough memory to launch it currently) e. sort out what softwear is old/what new and put it on the network - make sure that at least the lab machines have one version - so as to minimise conversion problems

19 - how about the lack of the facility's ability to interface conveniently with Macs. Given that macs are industry standard for web design graphic design animation design information design, and even occasionally architectural design. one well-maintained mac with active links to the plotter, that's all I ask. and also some Apple stock, maybe 80 shares?

20 - Tomorrow's my second presentation of the semester, yet I'm not even hooked up to the network. The glitches are just starting to be worked out. Wouldn't it have been nice to have all of this out of the way before classes began?

21 - We'll need more keys to FormZ. My computer class alone, which will be using FormZ primarily, consists of 25 people. A friend of mine looked into getting her own copy through the school but was informed that she has to consult the FormZ people directly.Considering that no one gets much sleep in our studio, this extra running around gets particularly annoying. I'm worried that my project partner is going to collapse from superfluous stress.

22 - MAYA!! after all that time effort and also adveritsing they do about it to disconnect us from it is unbelievable..

23 - Why are we building a new slide library when everyone is now doing their presentations using POWERPOINT? We should buy a portable projection system… Also- if some of us do not even print in the lab then why should we have to pay a $100 lab fee? If I am going to pay for something it should at least function …

24 - I assume someone else will gripe about the laser printer, so Ill save my gripes for the software! It has come to many people's attention that no animation software suites are being made available to the students this year on an individual desktop basis. This includes MAYA, LIGHTWAVE, AND 3D STUDIO MAX. Of course this is ridiculous, why would we have computers on our desks if we are ultimately forced to use the software in the lab. And those who think FormZ has an adequate animator need to be schooled on why that too is ridiculous. Personally, I want a copy of Lightwave on my computer (and I'm pretty sure Kevin plans to teach it again so others will want it too). Others have also said they want to use Maya (especially after devoting so much time last year learning it). Kudos to providing us with Form free of charge though. The scanning software in the library is sub-par... they should install photoshop.

25 - I wanted to just reiterate something that was mentioned at the last faculty/student rep. meeting concerning the computer lab. We are all concerned that the printing facilities are slowly being removed. In the past, we had to provide our own paper for the 8.5X11 b/w printer which was inconvenient, however not having the printer at all is more of an inconvenience. in a school which promoted scholarly thinking and writing, it is a shame that we have no facilities by which to print these works. In addition, the school needlessly spends money on color ink and paper when many times plots that are sent through the color plotter are grayscale and would be far better served by a single b/w plotter. The b/w plotters such as the calcomp solus bring better image quality in faster times. This is a great resource for test plots and grayscale finish plots that would maximize time and money.

26 - and as a suggestion, Ash should maybe set up a quick, how to do list, like installing programs, transferring files in the network neighborhood.

27 - Laser Printer... not only for text which is a significant part of our Academic work, but also for web research, smaller image printing (Efficiently), etc... Cluster computers are not easily accessible during the evening and on weekends.

28 - Consistent software application... AutoCAD does not function on all machines, I was unable to install the educational version of sap2000 on my own and it should be on all the machines.

29 - High end software... I understand the MAYA is no longer supported... I recall seeing this software listed in the school prospectus. I can't learn/use software that is not available.

30 - - to have Photoshop on every machine in the lab. to be able to print Photoshop documents from every machine that has Photoshop.

31 - THE LASER CUTTER IS AMAZING. Why is it so far away from studio?

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UPDATED> 21 Feb 2001 15:19 archex@princeton.edu SOA