Upon entering Anderson Center, students are often greeted with large banners advertising events. They can stop by the newspaper stand near the elevators and pick up something to read. However, even with these products being ever-present in Anderson, the building claims that it is “paperless.”

“We were going around campus recently to hang up posters advertising our Marketplace of Ideas club,” junior Bashir Imady said. “When we went to Anderson, they stamped our posters, told us to get copies made at Piper Express, and then specifically told us that we weren’t able to hang up posters in Anderson. They said that they were paperless, so our posters couldn’t be hung up.”

Many students are unaware of this policy.

“I had no idea that they were considered paperless,” junior Dan Ziebarth said. “I don’t understand how they can consider themselves paperless even. There’s those huge banners and all the Starbucks products all over Anderson. I mean, I guess I don’t see any posters hanging up, but I don’t see how that gives them the ability to call themselves paperless.”

Even the Hamline website does not advertise Anderson as being paperless; however the alumni website Hamline Everywhere lists Anderson’s many sustainable features as including, “solar panels, high performance glass and lighting, a green roof and recycled materials.” There seem to be virtually no mentions of the paperless policy anywhere.

First-year and Oracle reporter Kat McCullum recounted her experience of putting the Oracle’s J-term magazine around campus. “We put some of the J-term magazines out on the tables in the forum area,” McCullum said. “We were then informed that, because Anderson is a paperless building, we were not allowed to do that, and that all Oracles had to be placed in the red rack near the elevators. An employee then went around and was going to throw them all out, but I politely asked for them back. I like the idea of Anderson being paperless, but I feel like the student newspaper being on the tables isn’t just wasteful paper, it serves a purpose.”

Anderson front desk workers juniors Julia Buffalini and Alya O’Connor were able to give a few extra clarifications to the policy and the reasons behind it.

“Rather than have advertisements and posters hung around Anderson, we use the monitors to convey important messages,” Buffalini said. “It adds to the sustainability in Anderson.”

“Along with that, it keeps the area more organized,” O’Connor added. “We don’t want the building to appear cluttered, because pretty much every student comes through Anderson at some point. The lack of excess paper aids Anderson in appearing more organized and presentable.”

Due to a general lack of publicity and awareness of the situation, however, students struggle to understand the full purpose and extent of the policy.

“I think it’s more of a point that they’re able to control the paper in Anderson,” junior Anaid Plascencia said. “They are able to control and moderate the banners and the newspapers and all that kind of stuff. Through doing this, they can make sure that there isn’t unnecessary paper usage in Anderson. They’re able to ensure that all the paper being used in Anderson has a purpose and isn’t going to be going to waste. It still kind of confuses me though.”

Ziebarth attributed a lot of the confusion to the lack of information on the paperless policy in Anderson.

“It’s a nice effort for them to try out other ways of sustainability,” Ziebarth said, “but there’s just not enough publicity about it for any of it to really make sense, especially when I walk in and still see paper all over the place. I’d just like for it to be made more public and understandable.”