Survey sparks interest in cable television

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“House of Cards” unveiled its new season on Netflix last month, and a significant herd of college students migrated to their laptops, logged into their (or their friend’s) account, and binge-watched the new episodes of the political drama series.

The timing of the season’s arrival could not be more relevant to New College. A survey gauging interest for cable installation in dorms recently ensued tense debate on whether, given the presence of Internet content and other problems that need fixing on campus, cable would really be worth the financial investment for students.

The issue of having cable installed in individual dorms has long been contested at New College, with students previously rejecting funding for the project in favor of other amenities like added furniture. There are currently two principal places to watch cable television on campus – in Hamilton “Ham” Center and in the old mail room.

The content of the questionnaire was broad, ranging from questions about how good of an idea this sounded to respondents, to how much money students would consider paying per semester for personal cable access.

Campus Life Coordinator Norman Cole, who sent out the survey, said,

“We are looking at ways to make the halls more conducive to the needs of today’s student body,” and dubbed this particular survey as a way to “test the waters” on opinions

toward cable television in dorms.

While some students expressed reluctant enthusiasm to the idea, many expressed greater interest in the priority going toward added furniture in dorms, attention to a worsening mold problem and the completion of Pei dorm renovations.

Second-year Ariel Heiman, an avid television watcher, expressed conflicting attitudes.

“I think it’s silly to say that we wouldn’t want cable in our rooms if there were no costs,” she explained. “But, to have to pay for it when so much is available online feels kind of unnecessary.”

 

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