By Chris Cunningham
The Scene staff
Students must now log in with their Forest Park ID and password to use campus computers, a district-wide change implemented by St. Louis Community College earlier this month.
In addition, students can print up to 20 pages free in the library or computer lab. That service previously cost 15 cents for black-and-white pages and 50 cents for color in the library.
Reference Librarian Neil E. Das said the new login system is working well.
“Students need to be more careful with logging off, which is not ideal,” he said. “But since they have gotten free printing, it is a huge plus.”
The change resulted from computer-security problems detected by the college’s information technology managers, according to June Williams, senior manager of Library and Instructional Resources.
A situation this summer involved people “participating in inappropriate activities,” she said. “There are a lot of incidents that have happened over the last year or so.”
General studies student Greg Thirdkill, 19, said he doesn’t like the login requirement.
“It takes too much time if you want to check something and then have to remember to log off,” he said.
Biology major Terel Tipton, 18, worries that the new system will decrease privacy.
“I wonder if they are trying to monitor who is getting on what,” he said.
Tipton may have a point.
According to Das, the login requirement reflects a growing emphasis in the information technology field on knowing who is doing what.
He acknowledges the trade-off between privacy and security with the new system, but he feels that it is a positive change overall.
“With computers that aren’t monitored, there is more freedom for people to do stuff outside the law or outside of campus computing rules,” he said.
Nursing major Crystal Davis, 45, is indifferent about the login issue.
“When I saw the change, it didn’t bother me,” she said. “All I have to do is log on and log off.”
Das said the only problem with the new system so far has been students not logging off computers.
“When you log in, you are using your information,” he said. “It is very important you log out.”
Das initially worried that students would waste paper with their new printing privileges because, “people can go a little crazy when things are free,” but this hasn’t been an issue.
The general public can access Forest Park computers near the library’s circulation desk if they present a state-issued ID card. People are given temporary logins and are limited to one hour of use per day with no printing capabilities.