Cinemax & Showtime: Not This Year

Every year the Resident Student Association collects requests from students about channels they want to see added to HuskyCable. We work with Information Services to see if it is possible to add the channels that are requested, and to look at the costs associated with adding these channels. This year, two requests were made for premium channel packages. One request was Showtime, the other Cinemax. However, after talking with Information Services and residents, the Housing Services Committee voted in favor of a recommendation that neither channel package be added. Our reasoning was:

• The price to bring Showtime or Cinemax to HuskyCable exceeds the benefit of having the channel and its programming;
• HBO offers several channels worth of premium content; and
• RSA Cinema provides students with an additional set of movies each month.

Currently, we have have HBO as a premium channel package. Back in 2005 when HuskyCable was being created, the student feedback was that HBO was the top choice for a premium channel package. A three-year agreement was made, so next year it will be possible to consider swapping HBO for something else, which would not raise the cost of HuskyCable. The Housing Services Committee will be working to gather student input and feedback and make a recommendation for the 2009-2010 year. As a piece of background information, approximately one-third of the cost of HuskyCable is for HBO, and adding a second premium channel package would lead to at least a 30 percent price increase which would be passed onto residents through housing charges. From our outreach this year, it was clear that students did not see a premium channel package as being worth a 30 percent price increase in HuskyCable. Of course, next year students minds may change.

GrandMarc Presentation from General Council

Miss General Council tonight? Don't worry -- our presentation about the GrandMarc proposed for St. Boltoph Street is available here for viewing (PDF). Also, the full Draft Project Impact Report (DPIR) can be downloaded here (PDF). Please note that the DPIR report is over 120 MB in size and is more than 500 pages, so it may take a few minutes to download over a high-speed connection and several hours on dial-up.

Meeting About Parcel 18 Vendor Postponed

The meeting regarding the vendor at Parcel 18 has been postponed until next week. It will be July 16th at 6:00 PM in 435 Curry Student Center. We hope to see you there.

Toilet Bowl Lids

The toilet has been around since 2500 B.C., and yet advances continue to be made in toilets and toilet technologies. However, one piece of toilet technology is missing from several residence halls on campus: lids. As a result of toilet bowl lids being absent in several residence halls, the Resident Student Association was called to action to try to get lids added to toilets in residence halls missing the lids. We're working to see if the addition of lids to toilets can be done, and there are a number of reasons -- both of convenience and of more important concern -- why the addition will be good for students. One big reason is for sanitary purposes. When a toilet is flushed droplets of water become airborne if there is nothing to stop them from doing so. These droplets can contain bacteria, and a toilet bowl lid helps limit this spread. Another reason for adding lids to the toilet bowls is aesthetics and one student told the Housing Services Committee that he would enjoy the convenience of having space to put something while taking a shower. We'll keep you updated.

OS 10.5.4 & Norton Anti-Virus

If you live on campus and use ResNet, it is recommended that you install anti-virus software, and it is required that you maintain a virus-free computer. The University provides Symantec Anti-Virus for PCs and Norton Anti-Virus for Macs. However, the version of Norton Anti-Virus (version 10.1) that is available for Macs may not work with the latest version of OS X, 10.5.4, which is a recommended update from Apple fixing security issues, providing better stability, and adding more functionality, may not work after you install the 10.5.4. update.

The solution would be for Northeastern to provide Norton Anti-Virus 11. However, Information Services has indicated that, "as of now there is no planned update as there is no corporate version of 11 out yet." The reason a corporate version is needed is so that a license for the software can be granted to every user. The Housing Services Committee will be in contact with Information Services in trying to make the new version of Norton available as soon as it is available so that students with the latest OS X updates can have an Anti-Virus software that will work.

Meeting About Parcel 18 Vendor(s)

This week an important meeting is being held where a recommendation will be decided for the vendor(s) in the retail space in Parcel 18. Myself and other members of the Housing Services Committee will be there. The meeting is in 435 Curry Student Center at 6:00 PM, and I encourage anyone interested to attend.

RSA Cinema Schedule Online

The movie schedule for the month of July for RSA Cinema is now available. You can view it here. The movies this month are Vantage Point, 10,000 B.C., Definitely, Maybe, Rambo, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and Semi-Pro.