As Simpson students hit the couch for well-deserved channel surfing, some are accessing cable channels that their neighbor is denied simply due to luck of the draw.

“Some rooms seem to randomly get them, but I don’t know how,” said junior and resident assistant,” Wendy Cooper. “I personally get all four basic movie channels – HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, and Starz – in my living room but none in the bedroom. Maybe it’s because the cable company forgot to shut off the cable to the apartment from the previous year.”

Those fortunate individuals receiving more than basic cable channels for free are doing so by pure luck according to Laurie Deinberg-Hoppe, assistant director of residence life. All living units receive basic cable. However, any student can order movie channels by contracting the with cable company.

“I have heard rumors through the resident assistant that some individual rooms on campus receive different movie channels. This is probably a result of students who had ordered other cable channels and then moved and the cable company did not disconnect the connection,” added Deinberg-Hoppe.

Senior Matt Johnson sees the cable issue as non-intentional and purely

“It would be hard to believe that Simpson would treat some rooms differently than others intentionally,” said Johnson. “The school knows it wouldn’t be acting in its best interest to offer a selective program. I think you just probably have a few very lucky individuals who are bumming off the irresponsibility of the cable company to shut off the cable from last years’ students.”

Jason Luedtke of Information Services says there is no rhyme or reason to the inequity of cable channels on campus.

“There is no attempt to ‘screen’ the cable service in any way by the college,” said Luedtke.

The school has a bulk contract with MediaCom to provide and service the cable television signal. All rooms on campus have the exact ‘Expanded Basic’ channel line-up.

“No channels have been added or deleted from what MediaCom would offer any individual Indianola resident. Anyone receiving less than that most likely has their TV set up incorrectly. Anyone receiving more than that may have incorrectly installed or malfunctioning filters in their dorm or theme house which would mean a Mediacom service issue,” said Luedtke.