Nicholls residents across campus are wondering why they must pay for cable while students at other schools do not. The truth is, they do.There is no such thing as free cable according to Diane Garvey, director of residence life. Cable in the residence halls is optional. The only cable the school pays for is in the lobbies of the residence halls. At other schools, the students’ cable is actually added into the housing cost. Here at Nicholls, each room is wired for cable, but according to Terry Dupre, director of purchasing, the student must contact the cable company directly and set it up with them.

“None of it’s free. It goes into the housing cost. We’re not trying to alienate or discriminate against those who can’t afford paying for cable,” Garvey said. “Adding it to the cost of living on campus might keep someone from being able to attend school. That’s why we haven’t done that at this point.”

The decision not to include cable with the cost of housing was made by students at Nicholls. The students that were surveyed did not want cable automatically added to their bill.

“There was a survey conducted 10 years ago,” Garvey said. “The student leaders at the time voted that the building should be wired for cable, but the actual cable service should be optional for each student because of the cost. It was a cost effective measure. Right now, there are no plans to change the set up as it is.”

What other schools are doing depends on how the buildings were contracted when they put up bids for the building. According to Garvey, Nicholls is looking in the direction of building new residence halls within the next five to 10 years, and adding the cost of cable along with the cost of housing is an option they are considering.

“What we are looking to do is survey the students again, probably in the fall, looking toward the construction of the new buildings. It depends on what students say. They might say, ‘No we don’t want the added cost,'” Garvey said. “To have cable service and Internet service and all those things in the rooms means that the cost of the room will go up. That was the big deterrent previously. We’re going to be looking towards how we can give our residents what they want.”

If anyone has any questions about residence life, contact Diane Garvey at 448-4564 or E-mail her at [email protected].