In addition to the existing high-speed Internet connections, the college will add campuswide access to approximately 40 channels of commercial cable television, access to foreign language broadcasts and satellite videoconferencing. These additional resources are being provided to students at no additional charge.
"In 1995, Hamilton was one of the first colleges to provide high-speed Internet access for each student in his or her residence hall room," Tobin said. "This decision is a natural extension of our commitment to provide students and faculty members with the information resources they need and expect."
Tobin said the commercial cable television and access to TV-5, a foreign language cable channel, will be available by the start of second semester classes in January, perhaps sooner. Expanded foreign language programming and satellite videoconferencing require the purchase and installation of specialized equipment, so those resources are not expected to be fully operational until next summer.
Falls Earth Station of Madison, N.Y., is providing Hamilton with the complete range of cable services.
Included among the commercial cable television offerings are the ABC, NBC, FOX, PAX and UPN stations in Utica, and the ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and WB affiliates in Syracuse. Additional offerings include: A&E, BET, Cartoon Network, CNBC, CNN, Comedy Central, Court TV, Discovery Channel, C-SPAN, C-SPAN2, E! Entertainment, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, Headline News, History Channel, Learning Channel, Lifetime, MSG, MSNBC, MTV, MTV-2, Nickelodeon, TBS, techtv, TNT, USA, VH-1 and the Weather Channel. A campuswide television bulletin board to advertise campus events, similar to those in use at hotels, is also part of the package.
The new information resources will be available in all residence hall rooms and all academic buildings.
