The news was announced on February 14th, when 72 students were called to “an important
meeting” in the LMC during lunch without knowing what the meeting was for. Ms. Kate McKenna
and Ms. Christine Doleman then shared their concerns: over the previous two months, a 6-digit
code that anyone could enter into Equitrac to print or photocopy at school was distributed among
students.
For two months, students have been stealing money from the Parent Teacher Student Association’s
(PTSA) Equitrac printing account. In the words of some, however, these actions were more than
justified.
Unknown to some who used it, the code actually unlocked the PTSA’s printing account, which then
allowed anyone to use PTSA’s credits for photocopying. When the PTSA was alerted to the issue,
the account’s debt already accumulated to 38,000RMB.
“This is theft,” Ms. Doleman said sternly, “It’s an integrity issue.”
The meeting revealed that the students called to attend were users of the account. Although a “quick run” of the Equitrac system only revealed 72 names, the school understands that there were probably many more who have used the code based on the amount of debt collected in only two months, according to Ms. Doleman.
However, students have also voiced their justifications for using the PTSA’s money.
The Echo spoke to students who used the account. Five cited cost-effectivity as their motivation
behind their actions, complaining that the school charges too much money from the students. They
believe that the tuition, which is already expensive, should include the cost of printing school
assignments. Printing with the PTSA’s card was, in one’s words, “a form of protest.”
However, printing a single black and white page in A4 only costs 0.12 Chinese Yuen, while colored
costs around 2.50RMB depending on the amount of images and text on the page.
One student frequently used the code before its deactivation as he lost his own ID card. The
remaining three claimed that technical difficulties with their laptop or printing account prompted
them to use the PTSA’s.
In a separate interview, Echo discovered that one student’s card could not print even though there
was money on the card. This individual visited the library to fix the problem on three separate
occasions, yet the account remains unable to print.
In response, Ms. Doleman said that these reasonings are invalid excuses. “There is a way to solve
these problems,” said Ms. Doleman. “Equitrac has notices around the school and around the library
for students to see, yet they still decided to take the easy road out.”
On another side of the argument, some question if there should be changes to the printing system, as
it failed to detect the issue early on. “The student body should take the majority of the blame—
that’s obvious,” said high-school junior Jacob Earley, “but I’m surprised that the school didn’t find
out about the issue until now. Were there no regulatory measures or alerts set up over our printing
accounts? If not, couldn’t the same thing could happen to a student?”
According to Ms. Doleman, there are financial reports linked to Equitrac accounts that are available
each month. The PTSA believed the December report to be a mistake and were only able to start
investigations since then.
However, Ms. Doleman believes that it is not the school’s responsibility to provide stricter measures.
“It is the students that are going into the real world,” she says “It’s up to them to recognize right
from wrong.”
The results of the students’ actions have been very inconvenient for the PTSA. After the
deactivation of their printing account, PTSA members must now go to the copy center and get
signed permission from the PTSA President every time they need to print.
The vice principals also announced at the meeting that the school has decided to repay half of the debt.
Meanwhile, JSAG, the PTSA, and the school agreed to place a donation box in the upperclassmen
lounge for a week, and students were encouraged to repay the amount of money they think they
used from the account. The Student Council would then collect the donations and decide on how
much money they can contribute. However, at the end of the week, only 693RMB was collected
from donations.
Some students have come forward to mention clubs and activities that have accumulated debts on
their own printing accounts. Although these accounts were their own, they were overused and, as a
result, also terminated.
“So some students have taken action,” said Ms. Doleman, “but I think that others were just
thoughtless. The action we are taking is to make those students think a little bit more about their
own integrity.”
Some students have reflected on their actions and learned from their mistakes. “Now that I think
about what I did, I do have regrets,” said junior Ye Rin Hur. “It wasn’t my money, but I used it
anyway.”
She continued, “I never thought about the fact that the PTSA raises money for us—the students. I
never even thought about how much they donate to events like Winter Formal and Prom. In a sense,
we were stealing from ourselves.”
However, it is unclear how many students learned from their mistakes. The school did not provide
any information as to whether or not they would begin to educate the students on ethics and
integrity. How will they address fundamental integrity issues that are not limited to stealing printing
money?
Neither has Equitrac announced any updates to the security of printing accounts. They have also not
updated students with any information to solve the technical difficulties that still exist—such as
computers that cannot print and cards that cannot connect to the system despite them containing
printing money. Although the issue involving PTSA’s code was resolved, the future of other printing
accounts remains uncertain.
Angela Ma
meeting” in the LMC during lunch without knowing what the meeting was for. Ms. Kate McKenna
and Ms. Christine Doleman then shared their concerns: over the previous two months, a 6-digit
code that anyone could enter into Equitrac to print or photocopy at school was distributed among
students.
 |
| The PSA posted above the printer in the upperclassmen lounge |
(PTSA) Equitrac printing account. In the words of some, however, these actions were more than
justified.
Unknown to some who used it, the code actually unlocked the PTSA’s printing account, which then
allowed anyone to use PTSA’s credits for photocopying. When the PTSA was alerted to the issue,
the account’s debt already accumulated to 38,000RMB.
“This is theft,” Ms. Doleman said sternly, “It’s an integrity issue.”
 |
| Previous PTSA code |
However, students have also voiced their justifications for using the PTSA’s money.
The Echo spoke to students who used the account. Five cited cost-effectivity as their motivation
behind their actions, complaining that the school charges too much money from the students. They
believe that the tuition, which is already expensive, should include the cost of printing school
assignments. Printing with the PTSA’s card was, in one’s words, “a form of protest.”
However, printing a single black and white page in A4 only costs 0.12 Chinese Yuen, while colored
costs around 2.50RMB depending on the amount of images and text on the page.
 |
| Equitrac printing window displaying the cost of a single black and white page in A4 |
remaining three claimed that technical difficulties with their laptop or printing account prompted
them to use the PTSA’s.
In a separate interview, Echo discovered that one student’s card could not print even though there
was money on the card. This individual visited the library to fix the problem on three separate
occasions, yet the account remains unable to print.
In response, Ms. Doleman said that these reasonings are invalid excuses. “There is a way to solve
these problems,” said Ms. Doleman. “Equitrac has notices around the school and around the library
for students to see, yet they still decided to take the easy road out.”
On another side of the argument, some question if there should be changes to the printing system, as
it failed to detect the issue early on. “The student body should take the majority of the blame—
that’s obvious,” said high-school junior Jacob Earley, “but I’m surprised that the school didn’t find
out about the issue until now. Were there no regulatory measures or alerts set up over our printing
accounts? If not, couldn’t the same thing could happen to a student?”
According to Ms. Doleman, there are financial reports linked to Equitrac accounts that are available
each month. The PTSA believed the December report to be a mistake and were only able to start
investigations since then.
However, Ms. Doleman believes that it is not the school’s responsibility to provide stricter measures.
“It is the students that are going into the real world,” she says “It’s up to them to recognize right
from wrong.”
The results of the students’ actions have been very inconvenient for the PTSA. After the
deactivation of their printing account, PTSA members must now go to the copy center and get
signed permission from the PTSA President every time they need to print.
The vice principals also announced at the meeting that the school has decided to repay half of the debt.
Meanwhile, JSAG, the PTSA, and the school agreed to place a donation box in the upperclassmen
lounge for a week, and students were encouraged to repay the amount of money they think they
used from the account. The Student Council would then collect the donations and decide on how
much money they can contribute. However, at the end of the week, only 693RMB was collected
from donations.
Some students have come forward to mention clubs and activities that have accumulated debts on
their own printing accounts. Although these accounts were their own, they were overused and, as a
result, also terminated.
“So some students have taken action,” said Ms. Doleman, “but I think that others were just
thoughtless. The action we are taking is to make those students think a little bit more about their
own integrity.”
Some students have reflected on their actions and learned from their mistakes. “Now that I think
about what I did, I do have regrets,” said junior Ye Rin Hur. “It wasn’t my money, but I used it
anyway.”
She continued, “I never thought about the fact that the PTSA raises money for us—the students. I
never even thought about how much they donate to events like Winter Formal and Prom. In a sense,
we were stealing from ourselves.”
However, it is unclear how many students learned from their mistakes. The school did not provide
any information as to whether or not they would begin to educate the students on ethics and
integrity. How will they address fundamental integrity issues that are not limited to stealing printing
money?
Neither has Equitrac announced any updates to the security of printing accounts. They have also not
updated students with any information to solve the technical difficulties that still exist—such as
computers that cannot print and cards that cannot connect to the system despite them containing
printing money. Although the issue involving PTSA’s code was resolved, the future of other printing
accounts remains uncertain.
Angela Ma
