An additional 30 cable channels will be available in the dorms by Mar. 1, seven months earlier than Student Government [SG] had anticipated.
“This is going to make everything better for the students,” Mike Johnston, SG president, said. “We managed to have this in much sooner than we had planned.”
Patricia Whitely, vice-president for Student Affairs, made the announcement at the SG meeting on Wednesday afternoon, adding that HBO will not be available until Sept. 1, the original date that had been set for the incorporation of the additional channels.
All others will be available by the new date. As the Miami Hurricane reported earlier this month, the new channels will include Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, The History Channel, MTV2 and ESPN, among others.
“Its about time that the university caught up with the times,” said former student Chris D’Elia. “I wish we would have had that when I was at the dorms; I could have watched The Sopranos.”
Junior Melissa Perez, who lived in Mahoney Residential College two semesters ago, says that she would have loved to have access to additional cable channels while she lived on campus.
“Maybe, because people have been so starved for those channels for so long, students will start lagging off on their work,” she said. “They will all be watching too much TV.”
Caller ID in the dorms will also be available in the residential halls as part of the successful SG effort. A specific date for its incorporation has not been set.
Johnston explained that the cost of these amenities will be covered by a three-and-a-half percent increase in dorm room rent for double rooms and a four percent increase for single rooms.
“The small percent increase in the dorm room rent is well worth it and I think students will agree with me on that!” Johnston said.
Johnston also added that not all the rent increase would go into covering just the costs of the cable channels and Caller ID.
This increase will also cover the increased costs of property ownership, insurance, utility and electricity, as well as other related expenditures.
Johnston is delighted that SG, in conjunction with UM administration, was able to make the increased cable and Caller ID available to residents.
“I’m really excited; I promised theses things to the students and we were able to achieve our goals,” Johnston said. “It was our goal to make the University like a second home for our students.”
Andrea Alegria can be contacted at neaalegria@aol.com.