After years of anticipation, students unpacking their televisions in the Fall term will be able to plug into their room's cable outlets and watch any one of 50 channels of cable programming.
The College announced Friday that most of the residential system will have access to all channels -- including such major networks as BET, CNN, ESPN, Fox and MTV -- starting Fall term of 2000.
In the Summer term, 25 channels will be available in an intermediate stage of cable access.
"We are pleased to be able to offer these expanded cable TV services in undergraduate residence rooms," Dean of the College James Larimore said. "We feel it is important for Dartmouth undergraduates to have access to a variety of news, educational and entertainment programming as part of their academic and residential experience at Dartmouth."
The announcement that the College reached an agreement with cable provider Adelphia Cable Communications comes after many months of delays attributed to the Student Life Initiative and funding setbacks.
Campus Cable TV Committee member Matt Benedetto '00 said he was surprised by the announcement because of his fears that the cable issue had gotten lost among debate about the Student Life Initiative.
"I was pleased with the announcement," he said. "It's going to be wonderful for the campus next fall."
Benedetto has been working on bringing cable access to the campus since the summer of 1997. Since the fall of that year, the administration has had the responsibility of negotiating with cable providers and financing the deal.
"The feeling of isolation from the pulse of the real world will be alleviated," Benedetto said, referring to the news networks that will be available to the campus.
Other benefits that he listed include improved social entertainment, the educational experience of television pop culture and disarming potential conflicts in the lounges. The first step of the plan for residence halls to receive full cable was initiated last term when room access started with 12 channels of programming.
The next phase begins in the Summer term when 25 channels will be available in undergraduate rooms while construction of a new electronic control center in the Baker-Berry library is underway.
When this center and further improvements to the cable network infrastructure is complete, the campus system will be ready to transmit at least 50 channels to all residence halls.
