UC Davis Information & Educational Technology

Bits & Bytes

Where You Gonna Go?

Published in the Aggie on October 28, 2004

You need to print an essay but your printer is out of ink. Where you gonna go? Computer room! You forgot about the online article you were supposed to read for your next class. Where you gonna go? Computer room! You just had an argument with your boss and need to visit the Student Jobs Web site (http://jobs.ucdavis.edu) to find a new job-right away. Where you gonna go? Computer room! If you thought computer rooms were just for students without computers, you were wrong, dead wrong! They are a great place to check your email, do Web research, print papers and lecture notes, hide from ugly, green monsters . the possibilities are endless!

So where can you find these rooms? Glad you asked. Check below for locations and check the CLM Web site (http://clm.ucdavis.edu) for hours:

  • Open Access Rooms (never scheduled for classes): 75 Hutchison, MU Station (room 177), and 15 Olson
  • PC Classrooms (open access when classes are not scheduled): 27 Olson, 163 Shields Library, 1131 Meyer, 73 Hutchison, and 93 Hutchison
  • Mac Classrooms (open access when classes are not scheduled): 1, 21, 241, and 247 Olson, 1102 Hart
  • Media Labs: 1101 Hart, 1154 Meyer (color printing now available for $1.50 per sheet!)

Avoid the Crowds

Many students visit computer rooms to finish assignments ten minutes before they're due (What? College students procrastinate?). Here are some tips for getting in and out before your next class starts:

  • Plan ahead: go to http://clm.ucdavis.edu/rooms/available to see which rooms have open seats and will be available later during the day, or add the "IET Computer Rooms" channel to your MyUCDavis web page (Click on "Customize this Page" and check the box next to the channel name). With a Web-enabled cell phone, you can check availability at http://clm.ucdavis.edu/wap.
  • Visit one of the lesser-used computer rooms. Meyer almost never has lines, and Hutchison alone has almost 100 PCs available for student use.
  • Go to a room that has Quick Access (stand-up) stations, such as 1101 Hart, 75 Hutchison, the MU Station, and 15 Olson (new stations have been added over the summer!).
  • Find out if any other computers are available to you based on your affiliation with a particular major or program. There are also unused computers at the LGBT Center, Cross-Cultural Center, and the dorm Learning Resource Centers (only available to students living in the dorms).

Printing

As a UC Davis student, you are allotted 100 free sheets of paper per quarter; after that, you will be charged 5 cents per sheet. To avoid going over the limit, condense multiple pages onto one (Computer Room Consultants can help with this), and make sure the printer is set to print double-sided. Using both of these features, a 40-slide PowerPoint presentation can be printed on 5 pages instead of 40! (Do be sure to use Print Preview to make sure your document looks OK this way before printing.) For more info about printing or to keep track of how many pages you've printed thus far in the quarter, see http://clm.ucdavis.edu/rooms/printing/.

Helpful Hints

  • Log out so no one else can print using your account!
  • Add the IET Computer Rooms channel to your MyUCDavis home page so you can quickly check available rooms, schedules, and pages you've printed.
  • Pick up a Student Computing Brochure from any computer room or the MU Info Desk and stick it in your notebook so you know which rooms are open late and on weekends.
  • If you're using the computer rooms late at night and need a ride home, call the UC Davis Escort Service at 752-1727. This free service will take you to any nearby residential area and conveniently operates every day of the year from 6 PM until midnight (1 AM during finals).

Have a great Halloween! And when those little green ghosts with evil grins start chasing you, remember: Where you gonna go..

This column is provided to you by the student writers of Information and Educational Technology. For questions and comments, please contact ietpubsjr@ucdavis.edu.

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