Dorm TV options have expanded

Want to tune in to news any time of the day or night? Or find out if it's raining in Reno? Or catch the latest Biography on Arts & Entertainment?

Students returning to the River Campus this fall will be able to do just that, in their own rooms. Three levels of cable service are now available in residence dorms, from basic service accessible by just plugging in a cable-ready television set to movie channels available by subscription.

Each room and each suite now boasts one cable connection, and each floor lounge is wired to provide the basic level of service.

In addition, most classrooms and meeting rooms have been wired for cable, allowing professors to use live cable broadcasts during class. Several buildings on the south side of campus, such as Administration, Hutchison, and Harkness, will be connected at a later date.

The classroom cable connections support two-way transmission, so that in the future special material can be broadcast, or a lecture or presentation can be recorded, from a central location.

"Our first goal here was to get the cable infrastructure in place," said Robert Rouzer, director of Wilson Commons and student activities. "There are tons of things we can branch into once we have cable in place."

Information on cable packages and subscribing was mailed to students earlier in this summer, with details on available channels and costs. Information also will be available during orientation programs. Students will subscribe directly with Magnavision Corp., a cable service provider that is on other campuses like Manhattanville College, Seton Hall and Fordham University.

The basic package that is available to students at no additional cost consists of the five local broadcast channels--WROC 8 (CBS), WHEC 10 (NBC), WOKR 13 (ABC), WXXI 21 (PBS), and WUHF 31 (Fox)--and the following services: Arts & Entertainment, History Channel, CSpan 1, CSpan 2, CNBC, MSNBC, QVC, Home Shopping Network, Bloomberg Information Television, Court TV, Knowledge Television, The Learning Channel, The Discovery Channel, The Weather Channel, Spanish language Univision, CNN, CNN Headline News, CNNfn (financial news), CNNsi (sports), and a channel devoted to foreign language programming.

The basic package, dubbed the "Educational Package," also provides for a campus information channel and six campus channels. The additional campus channels, Rouzer explained, are in development, adding that possibilities include channels dedicated to sports, work and careers, or films and videos for classes.

The basic service also will be available on television sets in lounges. In addition, 13 television sets will be added to the Computing Library and Resources Center (CLARC).

"If a professor assigns students to watch a program on, for example, The Learning Channel, then students who don't have TVs or live off-campus will be able to watch it somewhere," Rouzer noted.

Students can choose to subscribe to additional cable service. An "Entertainment Package," costing $16.88 per month, will provide entertainment and sports channels to residence hall rooms. The package includes Animal Planet, Bravo, Cartoon Network, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick@Nite TV Land, Madison Square Garden, ESPN, ESPN2, BET, WGN-Chicago, TBS, TNT, USA Network, Sci-Fi Channel, Comedy Central, E! Entertainment Television, and VH-1.

The "Premium Package" consists of three movie channels--Home Box Office, Showtime, and The Movie Channel--each costing $12.95 per month. Students who take the additional paid packages will receive a monthly bill directly from Magnavision.

"We're encouraging students to sign up early," said Rouzer. "This is our first semester with cable service and, depending on demand, we want to be prepared to meet any additional equipment needs."