Campus cable service launched in apartments, townhouses, LRH
Al-Jazeera, ART Global dropped from channel lineup

By Tom Cronin

      The campus-run cable TV system that was activated in University Hall last fall is now available to students living in the campus apartments, townhouses and Lincoln Residence Hall.
      Campus TeleVideo, the provider of cable programming for UIS, activated the service in all campus residences last week, according to John Ringle, director of Housing and residential life. Students cannot opt out of the program because Housing does not have the capability to deactivate service to a particular room or unit, he said.
      A subsidiary of Lamont Digital Systems, Inc., Campus Televideo provides the programming from DIRECTV at an annual cost of $31,280, Ringle said. The monthly cost per resident is $18.
      Ringle said that some students have objected to the provision prohibiting them from opting out. This provision is a potential disadvantage for students who would not have otherwise chosen to receive cable service, he said, but Housing has no way of monitoring which students use cable and which ones do not with the system being active in every room.
      For students living in fully occupied four-bedroom apartments or townhouses, the $18 monthly rate is higher than the amount residents were paying for Classic Service with Insight Communications. The cost per unit for Insight’s service was $42.11, which amounted to $10.53 per resident in the four-bedroom units. For the same service, the cost per resident was $14.04 in three-bedroom units and $21.06, assuming the units were fully occupied.
      Ringle said that the higher cost for some residents is outweighed by the fact that roommate conflicts about splitting the cable bill will be eliminated. A $72 cable charge should appear as a separate line item on the UIS bills of Housing residents this semester, he said, but both cable and utility charges will be included in the overall Housing charge beginning in fall 2005.
      “This is kind of a bumps-in-the-road transition year,” Ringle said, “but from here on out, with everything in place for one charge and one hookup, I think it’ll be a sweet deal for people once they get used to it.”
      Ringle said that he has received few complaints, but those that he has received have been mostly about the channel selection, especially the omission of Bravo from the lineup. According to Ringle, Housing sent surveys to all residents last April and received between 80 and 90 responses. Most of the choices about the channel lineup were made based on the results of the survey. Ringle said that Bravo was not highly rated in the surveys.
      Among other stations, the lineup includes three channels of HBO, four channels of ESPN and Comcast SportsNet Chicago, which will air several Cubs games this season. Ringle said that the university is pursuing the addition of FOX Sports Midwest, which airs St. Louis Cardinals games.
      Also included in the lineup are 10 foreign-language stations. Six of these stations are associated with the foreign language programs at UIS: German, Russian, Chinese, French, Japanese and Spanish. Two of the remaining four stations, Zee Cinema and B4U, are targeted toward the campus’ South Asian population.
      The other two stations, Al-Jazeera and ART Global, were available for a short time last week, but the university stopped offering these stations on Jan. 6 because of concerns about Al-Jazeera, Ringle said.
      Al-Jazeera is a 24-hour news station based in Qatar that covers events from around the world, especially in areas of heavy conflict. The station, which was banned from reporting in Iraq last August, has been sharply criticized for showing graphic footage of dead soldiers and the beheading of American businessman Paul Johnson. It has also received criticism for airing videos of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
      “Concerns were expressed about possible negative reactions from the public potentially provoked by viewing random acts of violence and inhumanity associated with the ongoing conflict,” Ringle wrote Monday in an e-mail. “It was decided to reassess our original decision to broadcast Al-Jazeera (and hence ART Global, since they came as a package).”
      ART Global offers Arabic and multi-language programming consisting of entertainment, mini-series, drama, sports, music videos, talk shows and children’s educational programs.
      Ringle said last week that it made sense to provide Al-Jazeera – or possibly a different 24-hour Arab news station, such as Al-Arabiya – because the station presents information from the perspective of the Arab world, which figures significantly in world affairs. It was also Ringle’s understanding that if UIS were to provide Al-Jazeera to its students – which it did, but only briefly – it would have been the only campus in the nation to do so.
      Like Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya has been banned from reporting in Iraq and has been criticized for allegedly inciting violence by airing videos of bin Laden and Hussein. But unlike Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya did not air the video of Johnson’s beheading.
Ringle said that DIRECTV does not offer Al-Arabiya, but the university has expressed interest in adding it to the campus’ cable lineup if it becomes available.

UIS mourns ‘strong environmentalist’

By Stephanie Orr

      Robert “Bob” Raebig, environmental health and safety officer for the University of Illinois at Springfield, died the week of Dec. 6, 2004.
      

"Everyone knew Bob. He was well respected and well liked" said Cheryl Peck

Raebig was a member of the UIS community for 17 years. He received a bachelor’s degree in Biology in 1986 and a master’s degree in Environmental studies in 2001, both from UIS, according to university spokeswoman Cheryl Peck.
      “Everybody knew Bob. He was one of those people who’d been here a long time. He was well respected and well liked,” Peck said.
      Raebig was responsible for disposing of hazardous waste and facilitating training programs about environmental health and safety at UIS, according to Joe Eck, assistant director of planning, physical planning and operations.
      Raebig also helped to found Students Allied for a Greener Earth, a student organization on campus.
      In 1991 SAGE established a native prairie plot at UIS in an effort to restore the natural ecosystem. Raebig cared greatly for the project and gradually took over the maintenance of the site, located to the south of Shepherd House, on a voluntary basis.
“He was a very strong environmentalist,” said Eck.
      Raebig was selfless and had a big heart, according to Eck.
      “He’s a person that will be missed by the community.”
      A fund is being created to purchase a marker that will be placed near the native prairie plot in honor of Raebig. More information about the fund will be available in the future.

Roger Dehart: AST Success Story

By Sherrika Green

      University of Illinois at Springfield history major Roger Dehart describes his applied study term at the Illinois State Military Museum as “the best thing I’ve ever done.” Located on 1301 North MacArthur Boulevard at Camp Lincoln in Springfield the museum offers a wide variety of exhibits dedicated to preserving Illinois military history. Dehart's enthusiasm and dedication for history since grammar school made him a perfect candidate to research, organize, catalog and preserve some of the museum’s edged weapons collection including the 84th Infantry Division from World War II.
     

"What I like most about AST is that it offers a great chance for students to succeed.," Roger Dehart said. Dehart, a history smajor, had an internship with the Illinois State Military Museum

 Under AST’s broad curriculum guidelines, Dehart’s drive toward self-directed learning aided him in his learning experience. “Before my internship, I knew absolutely nothing about swords, knives or any edged weapon. Part of my objectives was to teach myself. To complete this task, I collected the museum’s files on edged weapons, gathered all the source material I could find including diagrams from books and learned the proper terminology for describing what I was looking at. I had to figure out if a blade was single edge or double edge. What is the curvature of the blade? Is it straight or is it slightly or extremely curved? Once the item was correctly identified, I learned how to perform preservation work. I was shown the proper technique for removing rust and polish residue from the weapons. In time, I was able to build an exhibit of the items I worked on. It turned out so good it was displayed in the museum’s main entrance.”
      Dehart’s hard work in completing his internship objectives and goals helped him to achieve in another area of personal development. “The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that it is all right to depend on others. I’m an independent person. I like to do everything by myself. But in building the exhibit, I found that it was too big to try and do everything. I had to use volunteers in order for it to succeed. In the end, I worked with many different people on a supervisory level and made some good friends.”
      In his last words, Dehart offers students introspection about the Applied Study program. “What I like most about AST is that it offers a great chance for students to succeed. I’ve gained a great love for museum work out of this experience. The people running the program are very helpful and supportive; they do not try to restrain their students learning in any way. If I hadn’t been part of the program, I may have not learned as much. I’m glad I was given the opportunity.”
      For more information about these and other paid and unpaid internship opportunities, stop by the AST office (SAB 50 A) or call for an appointment (206-6640). The AST office is open 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM Monday - Friday. Visit our web site for information about Applied Study Term. http://www.uis.edu/appliedstudy

Campus cable service launched in apartments, townhouses, LRH

UIS mourns ‘strong environmentalist’

Roger Dehart: AST Success Story