Broward Community College - Silver Sands Yearbook (Fort Lauderdale, FL)

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households lwhich include a couple of million peoplel. It is known fact that at least 10'X1 of all television sets in the United States are hooked up to some sort of cable system. The Manhattan cable system has expanded to the point to where it now utilizes 27 channels. How's that for variety! Plantation cable is permitted one wild card channel according to certain state regulations that have been laid down. This wild card channel is any outside channel that is within 150 miles of the receiving antenna, 1 -1 U 4,1 T . I Fx .sf cable TV a co op student leams the tricks of the trade. and in Plantation's case the wild card channel is a Ft. Pierce station. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of cable television is what the future will bring. No one is certain just what direction cable TV will take, but one thing seems certain and that is that most television eventually will be cable television. The Plantation system is one of a number of systems which will be testing a two-way cable. In other words not only will the subscriber be able to receive, but he will also be able to transmit back to the station such extra services as a burglar alarm system, the automatic reading of electric meters and the like will be offered to subscribers perhaps within five years. A device has already been invented which would work similar to the telephone. lt is a key-operated box with pushbuttons similar to a telephone. Imagine yourself or your wife at home watching a special program on TV, say a camera in a supermarket sweeping down every aisle, pointing out priced goods and specials. You can stop the camera at any time from your chair to survey shelves. You've decided on a loaf of bread, a dozen eggs, and a can of creamed asparagus. Now all you do is push up the correct code numbers on your buttons as they have been displayed on your screen and then sit back and wait for confirmation of your purchases. Sound futuristic? About as distant as, say, man on the moon ten years ago? Due to the success of communications satellites as a means of international transmission, the door seems to be ready to be swung open to a world of broadband communication via satellite and cable. ln fact, theoretically, it is possible to form a cable network sewing millions of people across the nation right now by use of earth satellites and microwave technology which involves transporting television signals over hundreds of miles distance. lVlan's future, culturally and educationally, seems destined to shaped to a certain degree by cable television. Communication is the key. Tune in. Turn on. Cable TV.

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Switch the channel, Harry. Yeah. . .yeah. . . naw. . . Try channel four . . .No, try another channel, Harry. lpausel Well, Harry . . .lpausel Whaddaya mean there are no other channels? lpausel Awright then Harry. What're ya waitin' for, a royal command? Turn it off! Sound vaguely familiar? Well all over the country communities are finding an alternate answer to the situation described above. That answer is cable television, which promises to be the next major step, after radio and television in man's progressive drive toward the technological ultimate in modern communication. Cable TV is a system lnot a networkl for bringing in outside television programs to communities where reception of a good number of channels is limited. Thus if an area is fortunate to have a cable TV franchise, then the number of available channels expands greatly. Every channel on the dial can be ultilized. At the same time, because the programming is transmitted by cable a good proportion of faulty television reception such as snow, ghosts, flutter and interference is eliminated, bringing in rich color and sharp, clear images. No household antenna is required, therefore removing the need for another bothersome, unsightly necessity of normal television viewing. South Florida's very first operating cablevision franchise was granted in Plantation on October 28, 1969 to the giant TelePrompTer Cable TV Corporation. Heading the operation is Thomas Crusan, who has temporarily been located in a shopping center on West Broward Blvd. for a little over a year. He eventually plans to build a studio, office and warehouse at the same location when the need for expansion becomes mandatory. lnitiating a cable TV system in any area is a massive undertaking. ln the case of Plantation, the franchise had to be bid for and the purchase went to the highest bidder, which was TelePrompTer. A huge map of Plantation, 50-1 scale lwhich is of tremendous sizel, was drawn up in pieces, especially locating underground obstructions which would effect the laying of cables. This process took months. An engineer then laid out the electronics for the cable system. ln the meantime, Mr. Crusan and company began to search for a centralized spot which would be prime location for an antenna site. However because of Plantation's westward movement in the growing stages, no good land was found, so an antenna was constructed on a tall building which was tall enough to suit cable's purposes. At present, cables have been laid east of the turnpike and north of Broward Blvd. Plans to lay cables from Peters Rd. to Sunrise Blvd. and from US 441 to University Drive lPlantation's boundariesl are set, with a December, 1972 deadline. Any household in Plantation may subscribe to cable TV for 34.95 a month for the first outlet. Installation involves the laying of cables right to your home and the installation of a small device on the back of your television set, free of charge, that in no way involves any optional expensive equipment. Plantation cable started installation customers on November lst, and in a matter of a few weeks installed cables for 30 subscribers with a backlog of another 40 or so. The channel used on these sets is cable channel eight. Because the cable system is on t ground floor, and because ca television is truly a lg mediu lcatering to subscribersl a good de of local origination has been planm for the citizens of Plantation. T initial offerings included Plantati High School football games and Mia , Floridians pro basketball games.No and then local sports highlights th have been planned are covered. F instance a tennis tournament at Jack Gleason's lnverrary Country Club wil Chris Evert and Frank Froehling versi Laurie Fleming and Gardnar Mullo was filmed and offered to a handfl of pioneer viewers. Also in the offi in terms of local origination Plantation city council meetings, sto teletype news, all of which would offered on cable channel thr Channel eight is the public servl channel, offering announcements city functions and other news 1 public interest as well as the spo offerings. Channel nine is a weath channel. Since cable television originated m than 20 years ago, most of i I market reports, Associated Pr 5 1 il l' T lllllllf lV 'lhe lllerllls l 4 l l l 1 llrealesl leelhall Receiver

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Student Radio Show Brings College to Communi The college and the community: the two have been brought closer this term and much of the credit goes to BCC '72, the weekly radio program produced by Program Manager Bob Whalen, also a BCC student. The sound of soft rock accounts for most of the 60 minutes air time on Sunday mornings, from 10:30 to 11:30, on WSHE-FM, 103.5. The format also includes campus news and interviews with students. And too, WSHE is the only FM station playing rock music in that time slot. According to Mrs. Katherine Spanton, head of the Fladio-TV Department and faculty adviser for the program, BCC '72 is actually a revitalized version of a radio program which Whalen's brother headed two years ago while a student at BCC. After approaching Mrs. Spanton with the idea, Bob then talked with Gene Milner, manager of WSHE, who donated the time. Bob Whalen, Program Manager of MGHE, prepare weekly broadcasts of BCC activities. 5. 5 . ner, 19:2 1 . -5-- fu J ' W? 1, A if . li f' i 5 , . X. f I 4,Yff,,-Y 1 I '4-tES,f+eA. .J-j.Z'P f , fl ai .f--' -. 'W ..,.-1 41 WSH Not only did BCC gain, but Miln also able to fulfill his quota of service programming. However, si is classified as public service station cannot advertise the pr in compliance with a FCC regul and Whalen was unable to get from the Student Activities lSABl to purchase space in Phoenix , the student newspa Whalen blamed it on pol bureaucracy , The SAB was convinced that BCC '72 consti a true student activity. Whalen has two Bob Ward, who The program is budget of S240 men, Earl Glen currently run appropriated b SAB to cover the purchase of r tapes, and miscellanious supplie Bob Whalen will continue as pr manager through Term ll, but th some question as to the future 0 production after he leaves BCC Spanton noted that not only do have the experience to produ show, but also the facilities to ta Both are a result of Bob's wo WAVS, AM sister station to W where he is a news announcer and some beat reporting. The programs is a way of jellin student body, which is esp difficult on a campus where students commute to and from cl concluded Mrs. Spanton, empha that our concern is in makin I E ll handle intervi students feel a part of the coll