By MEGAN SMITH

Staff Writer

Students can stop by the International Students Office in Tolliver Hall and check out 20 new international channels on its plasma screen television.

The channels were installed Jan. 27 and are available to all students.

Dan Erickson, director of the International Student Office, said this was something they had been dreaming of for years, and he is excited it is now in place.

"We did not have the flat-screen televisions put in for the Cartoon Network," Erickson said. "We wanted them for the students to have access to international programming."

Erickson said the ISO paid for the equipment, and the Union Board is scheduled to pay for the program subscription for at least one year.

"[The ISO] is grateful the Union Board recognizes that this money serves a large number of students, even if it is not a majority," Erickson said.

Erickson said the ISO wants to create and advertise something attractive to all students.

"We are trying to be creative and develop events that will continue to have an international influence on campus," Erickson said "[The ISO and the international students] want to use our energy to develop events that come from the international students and go out to the rest of the campus."

Erickson encourages all students to stop by and check out the different channels.

"We want to invite students to come by and watch an Egyptian soap opera, a Chinese game show, an African soccer match, news from Lebanon and movies from France," he said.

Erickson also said this new service could be beneficial to all students on campus.

"Students studying French can watch French movies and learn about the culture," Erickson said.

For the international students, this can be seen as a sign the university is aware of their needs.

"[International] students will recognize the university is recognizing them and trying to reach out to them," Erickson said.

The new channels will also allow the ISO to plan and have more events.

"We have had 250 Indian students in Tolliver watching Hindi movies," Erickson said. "Now in one week we can record up-to-date programming and re-broadcast it for our programs."

Ibrahim Kabi, a graduate student of math and a Ph.D. candidate, said he arrived at the ISO at 6:45 a.m. after the channels were installed, because he was so excited about the new additions.

"This is the greatest thing to come to Tech since I have been here," Kabi said.

Kabi, who is from Guinea, was able to watch his home country's soccer team play against Rwanda live on an Arabic television station.

"This is the first time in 10 years that I have been able to watch a live game," Kabe said.

Another student, Brosper Aideyan, a junior chemical engineering major, said he was excited to see his home country, Nigeria, play a soccer game last Saturday.

"All of my guys are going to be there," Aideyan said. "These seats are not enough for all of the people who are going to come and watch."

Aideyan said he missed the Nigerian game that aired last Wednesday because he did not know the ISO had just installed these channels. However, he was ready for Saturday's game.

The channels include 10 Arabic stations, including ones from the Middle East, Egypt, Lebanon and Qatar. Also available are five Indian channels, three Chinese, one French and one Italian station. Twenty Spanish channels will also be added soon.

Erickson said some of the most popular channels in those individual countries air not only news, but entertainment such as movies, music videos, soap operas and game shows as well.

Erickson said these stations are part of an educational package through the Dish Network, and the subscription is for one year. He also said everyone at the ISO is very excited about the possibilities of the new channels and what it means to all of the students.

"This is one more step in technology, and one more thing that shrinks the world," Erickson said. "It is a tool to pull people together."