The Tripod

Students will receive Comcast cable service on-campus for the 2008-2009 school year. Trinity College has signed a one-year contract with Comcast at the permission of the Student Government Association (SGA), despite the fact that the increase in cost for service is greater than expected or desired.

The SGA has given permission to the school to agree to a one-year contract with the provider, given that the SGA did not pay for more than an 11 percent increase. However, the new contract with Comcast has a 23 percent increase, from $9.08 per outlet to $11.25 per outlet. The school has 1,545 outlets, and the contract is valid for 12 months. The total cost will rise from $168,343.20 to $208,575.00, an increase of $40,231.80. The Student Activities Fund (SAF) will pay $186,860.95 to Comcast, which would be the rate with an 11 percent increase. The College has agreed to pay the remaining $21,715.05, though they have yet to determine where this money will come from.

"This is a victory for everybody that was made possible because of the close working relationship between the SGA and the Administration," said SGA President Andrew Pedro '08. Controversy brewed among the SGA Senate when determining if they should continue to pay for cable out of the SAF. The Senate passed a resolution agreeing to seek a one-year contract to be funded by the SAF. During that year, they hope to work with the administration in order to transfer the responsibility out of the funds set aside solely for student activities.

"We were very concerned that nearly one third of the [SAF] goes to pay for a service that should be, at the very least, partially funded by the school, so we need to reevaluate our current system," said Pedro. "In addition, members of the Administration believe that within a year there will likely be additional companies willing to compete for our business." Signing a one-year contract and spending a year weighing options was deemed the most practical and beneficial course of action.

"It is important to note that we're now beginning the negotiation process with the Administration to determine how cable will be funded for the 2009-2010 academic year and that [it] should be settled by next year's SGA in the fall of '08," Pedro said.

The SGA Senate made it clear that in the resolution seeking a one-year contract, they do not consider cable to be a student activity, and thus, should not be funded by the SAF. With this one-year contract in place, the SGA will be able to continue their working relationship with the school to plan for the future.

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