All College residence hall clusters, with the exception of the Choates and the Fayerweathers, have been wired for cable television. It is currently undecided whether a cable signal will ever be provided for the wiring, according to Director of Residential Operations Woody Eckels.
The idea of installing cable television in the dormitories was considered several times in recent years. Administrators looked at the cable proposal seriously in the 1980s but discarded the idea because of the high price of rewiring the residence halls, Eckels said.
The turning point in this project was the campus-wide network project, begun last summer, that brought new data and telephone wires into every dormitory room. The wiring installed in the 1980s was no longer adequate to handle the heavier computer and telephone traffic.
"Cable was the logical thing to think about next," Eckels said.
While sending the bid out to companies to estimate the cost of rewiring the campus network, Eckels said he received permission to ask the companies for the cost of installing wiring that could carry the cable television signal.
The cost for installing the cable wiring for all the dormitories renovated last summer and this summer is $58,000.
Eckels said the Office of Residential Life had been rewiring dormitories since 1992, and the decision to allow wiring for cable was not made until after the Fayerweathers' and the Choates' rewiring was completed.
Eckels said it will cost $80,000 to install the cable wire into the remaining two residence hall clusters.
Although the wiring for cable is in place in the majority of dormitories, there is no broadcast signal to provide programming to the dorm rooms, he said.
Eckels said he is aware that some students have ripped the network boxes out of the wall in their rooms hoping to hook up their televisions to cable. He said that is an exercise in futility since no signal is provided.
The approval to wire the dorms for cable television was made with the knowledge that "the decision to turn on the signal may never happen," he said.
In order to investigate the possibility of providing a signal, Dean of the College Lee Pelton set up a cable television committee which has been meeting "biweekly and investigating options," Eckels said.
He added that the committee will present a report to Pelton of the options available to the College early Fall term.
One of the questions Eckels said the committee is addressing is when and how to solicit student opinion. A large meeting with members of the committee and interested students is in the preliminary planning stages, he said.
Eckels said "student input is a very important part of this and if we don't offer what students want then it wouldn't succeed."
"I hope that students will give us the time we need to make a good solid recommendations," he said.
Although the wiring is already in place in many dormitories, it will take a considerable amount of money to make the system functional.
Eckels said the installation costs incurred thus far are "just a drop in the bucket" compared to the final cost of the project. It will cost an additional $400,000 to $800,000 to install cable into each dormitory room. There will also be maintenance costs.
Another obstacle the committee faces is obtaining the funds to wire the remaining residence halls. "Getting the Choates and the Fayers wired is a tough thing right now. We now need to get permission," he said.
Eckels said no one on the committee was sure when cable service would be available to students if the recommendation is approved by Pelton.
"I don't think anyone of us sees this happening before fall of 1998," Eckels said. "There is a lot of work that needs to be done between now and then."
Michael Beahan, director of Instructional Services, which operates the current campus cable network, said the committee is examining how other schools operate their cable networks.
Beahan added that if Dartmouth offered cable service to the residence halls, the College would be able to add campus-specific programming. For instance, the College would have increased capabilities to re-broadcast public lectures.
Eckels said the Dartmouth Plan further complicates the installation of cable television in the residence halls. Because occupants of dormitory rooms change each term, billing could be complex.
Currently there is one television with cable per cluster. In addition to providing cable television to various dormitory lounges, Instructional Services has almost every classroom on campus hooked up to cable, Beahan said.
Eckels said Greek houses and off-campus houses have separate contracts with TCI - the Upper Valley's only cable provider -- which provide slightly different channels than the College.
Few students or faculty members know that cable is wired to all of the residence halls, Eckels said.
"It is a fairly exclusive group of faculty and administrators that knows this is going on," Eckels said.
Assistant Film Studies Professor Marc Williams, who is on the cable television committee, said one reason the topic has been kept quiet is because there is a stigma attached to it.
He said the first question faculty and administrators will ask is how installing cable will enhance the goals of a liberal arts institution.
Beahan said some people might fear installing cable "could isolate students," while those in favor of installing cable argue it could help build community.
Student reaction to the plans are mixed, while some students are strongly in favor of the idea, some have mixed emotion or think it is a bad idea.
Andrew Cernota '99 said he does not watch much television here and installing cable in individual dorm rooms "would not make much difference to me. I think it might just be a distraction," he said.
However, Dan Indelicato '99 said he though it would be great if cable was installed in individual dorm rooms. "Having a variety of channels actually helps students study because it gives them a break," he said.
