Fuzzy math?

I rarely agree with Lou Esparza's columns, but I was downright disturbed to read the column "Ten cents none the richer" (11/12/02). Ignore, for a moment, that Mr. Esparza blithely ignores the vast majority of the actual printing costs (toner, library staff, electricity, the printers themselves). Mr. Esparza multiplied 9.4 cents by 5 million pages and came up with $47 million. Does anyone else see a problem with this? (Hint: $470,000.)

The sad part is that I actually agree with Mr. Esparza _ not that Tufts is mired in some sort of wide-ranging conspiracy to milk every student for all they're worth, but that charging for printing is a ridiculous idea. Unfortunately, in his typical style, Mr. Esparza has presented an argument so utterly faulty as to actually hinder his cause.

Colin Teubener-Rhodes

LA '03