Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor
This fall, on-campus residents will have access to a free movie streaming service. The company providing the service is called SWANK. Western has branded this service “ResLife Cinema.”
The Housing and Dining Committee decided not to renew their contract with MINET two years ago, and thus left Western with limited entertainment options. After a lengthy search for replacements, the committee chose SWANK.
Aside from offering a wide selection of shows and movies, SWANK places a strong emphasis on educational programming. Ryan Jennings, an analyst programmer for computing services, performed the setup for this new service.
“Our Resident Assistants (RAs) can now request and select nearly any film they wish to build a program around, for free,” said Jennings. SWANK provides discussion guides along with films to help staff start dialogues around important topics, such as identity, mental health, sexual violence and more. Residents can also take part in monthly polls which provide feedback about what kind of content they would like to see.
Madeleine Hannah, senior humanities major and a resident of Ackerman hall, commented that, “I think it’s really beneficial…not everybody has Netflix or Hulu, or ways to nicely stream things, so it’s good to have access to that.”
Sabrina Smith, junior ASL/English interpreting major, brought up another point.
“I think it’s cool because when me and my roommates want to have movie nights we can just put it on instead of using people’s Netflix, because most of them share with their families and parents and they’re like, ‘oh we can’t actually watch this, cause my parents might see it.’”
Western organizations can also create their own channels and upload content to the site. “Since the product is new to us we have yet to explore this option,” Jennings commented, “however it might be a nice to upload a replay of latest (Western) sporting event, or allow residents to develop their own custom content to share with others.”
All on-campus residents have access to this resource, and there is no account set-up required. ResLife Cinema can be accessed through the WOU portal. The link is located under the “My Programs” tab, and is titled “ResLife Cinema (SWANK).”
Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu
Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton
