For Brittney Chamberlin, a sophomore visual communication major, a simple computer project for her art class led her on a hunt for the elusive color printer on campus.

Other students seeking to print art projects or other assignments in color may face some problems.

There are no free color printers available to all students, said Elizabeth Leake, associate director of Information Technology Services.

“There are no public labs on campus which feature color printing for all students,” Leake said. “Any color printers that do exist are restricted for use by subsets of students, not all students.”

According to the NIU School of Art’s Web site, more then 800 undergraduate students are enrolled in the College of Visual and Performing Arts with an estimated additional 130 graduate students.

While there is an available printer for art students in the Neptune North basement. It has proved to be the source of many inconveniences for the students seeking to use them, said Jose Ruiz-Santana, a sophomore art history major.

“The laser printer in Neptune is always out of ink, and a lab attendant should be there on the weekends,” Ruiz-Santana said. “You can’t print anything on the weekends.”

Chamberlin, who was unable to find a printer, ended up going to Office Max, 2350 Sycamore Road.

“I didn’t find a color printer on campus because I wasn’t willing to go on a wild goose chase for one,” Chamberlin said.

She agreed with Ruiz-Santana that attendants need to be added to computer labs so projects can be completed over the weekend.

“It was just a pain because homework obviously doesn’t stop on the weekends,” Chamberlin said. “It’s one of the busiest times for students, and there are no attendants on duty in the labs.”

Adrian Tio, the director of the School of Art, said art students may soon find color printing to be a much easier task.

“We have talked to the university about getting color printers added to the media labs,” Tio said. “They’ve been interested in doing this, the only thing though is that color printing is very expensive, more expensive than the lab fees cover.”

Until the planned printers are added to the multimedia lab located on the third floor of the Jack Arends Visual Art Building, Leake suggested students in need of color copies can contact Document Services.

“ITS provides color printing and copying in the human resources building at the west edge of campus,” Leake said.