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Campus: CSU Stanislaus -- January 23, 2002
CSU Stanislaus Prepares To Provide Cable Channel Access
California State University, Stanislaus will soon be operating a government
and public education access channel in cooperation with a local cable
television company, Charter Communications.
A $150,000 grant from Charter to the City of Turlock will enable CSU Stanislaus
to provide access to the channel in a special studio where production
equipment is available to produce programming on the cable station. The
University is also making plans to start transmitting some of its instructional
television courses on the channel by the fall 2002 semester.
Local access programs can be carried on Charter's Channel 2, via the CSU
Stanislaus campus where a fully equipped studio recording facility is
expected to be available by this summer. The funding was provided by Charter
as part of its franchise agreement with the city to provide cable television
access service in the area.
"This is really exciting to see that the city and the university
have come together on this with the help of Charter Communications,"
said Dr. Norm Wagner, CSU Stanislaus Director of Mediated and Distance
Learning. "The future for this program and the possibilities for
expanding it to other areas of the university's six-county area look very
bright."
In May 2000, the Turlock City Council approved an agreement to make CSU
Stanislaus an access channel site, using the $150,000 contribution from
Charter to upgrade facilities at the university to make the studio facilities
available. Education and government groups will be able to reserve the
studio by paying a charge to cover costs, according to Wagner.
"We're glad to have this working relationship with CSU Stanislaus,"
said Warren Mitchell, General Manager of Charter in Turlock. "The
City of Turlock has helped make it possible and we appreciate that this
is becoming a thriving partnership."
The CSU Stanislaus instructional television system, in operation since
1981, televises live upper-division baccalaureate and graduate courses
on a closed-circuit channel system to classrooms sites Stockton, Tracy,
Merced, and Sonora. |