by Dylan Ferguson--Morningside College has made changes in order to cater to students’ television entertainment needs. In May, it was announced that the college would be scaling back cable TV service in the residence halls to only cover lounges and common areas.
The changes will allow the college to re-invest in the wireless network for the whole campus. “When the project is complete, the network links that connect our buildings will have 10 times the capacity,” according to Executive Director of Information Services Mike Husmann.
For those students who wish to have cable TV in their room, they are not out of luck. The new campus cable provider, Long Lines, will allow residents to purchase a cable package for their individual room at a cost of $100 per semester. Those who wish to purchase the plan will notice several changes from the previous basic cable.
The most obvious one is that the new plan now is in High Definition, allowing higher quality video and audio. The new plan also contains several channels that were not included in the original. The highlight is a suite of HBO channels included for no additional cost.
Reactions to the changes have so far been mixed. Asked if she would be buying the new plan, sophomore Kelsey Toomey said, “I’m seriously considering it. The addition of HBO and the relative ease to watch shows makes it seem worth the expense.”
Others, like freshman Nathan Kitrell, think it’s not quite a worthy investment. Kitrell commented, “With services such as Netflix and Hulu being relatively inexpensive, plus with the service being available in the lounges, it just seems like an unnecessary expense.”
The new service provided by Long Lines is being rolled out to campus buildings, which will contain 80+ channels. This will include the addition of the Mass Communication Department’s MCTV in the near future. Long Lines is currently accepting applications for the service.
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