Before the SocComm movie channel began it was difficult for students, underclassman especially, to be able to sit down with group of friends and watch a movie. Even with the numerous cable channels the residence halls are already equipped with, it was still difficult at times to find anything worth watching. Also, prior to this channel a student needed a VCR in order to watch a movie and with the closest video store, Starship Video, being over a mile away it was impractical for students without cars to rent movies. Another obstacle is that in order to obtain a video rental card the student must have a major credit card, which is something that not all students have. Not to mention the fact that renting movies can get to be rather expensive for students on a fixed budget.
Some people may argue that this channel will cause the student body to become "couch potatoes." We disagree with this statement. If the student body was going to become the mindless vegetables that our colleagues claim, it would have happened with the installation of cable into the residence halls. The cable was installed to help keep the student body informed of what was going on in the world. This is because prior to the installation of cable only the students living in the Ellsworth/Fuller apartment complex and Founders Hall, where external antennas were available for students to plug into, could receive more than one or two channels. The movies which are aired on this channel are aired more than once during the month. Therefore, the students can find a convenient time to watch the movie they have selcted. This leaves ample time to attend all of the other events on campus such as the coffehouse and pub shows. The attendance at these events will not decline because of the installation of the movie channel. In fact, if SocComm decides to use the off hours or in-between movie periods to run ads for upcoming events, we believe attendance at them will actually increase.
Many people will probably contend that students will begin to neglect their studies and merely watch movies. Once again, if this was going to happen it would have happened with the installation of cable television. Since students are going to watch television anyway why not give them something enjoyable to watch rather than channel surfing for hours. Homework is often done in front of the television therefore the lack of channel surfing will actually help the student concentrate because there is no longer a need to switch the station every half hour or so.
This station is also providing many series of movies (ie. Indiana Jones and Alien). How often do you have the chance to sit down and watch a whole series of your favorite movies in one night? Without the movie channel, renting all the movies in one night would become expensive.
This movie channel will provide an easily accessible means by which people can gather with their friends and have a good time. We see many nights of friends gathered in each others rooms watching movies on channel 12, popping popcorn, and having some good old fashioned fun. Congratulations SocComm!! The innovativeness you have shown illustrates your dedication to the WPI student and for that, we commend you.