UCI Housing Network and Cable TV Issues

Since the meeting with the Palo Verde Housing director, Gerald Parham (see the history) did not provide any satisfactory result, I sent a letter to Bill Zeller, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Housing.
The UCI Housing website does not show any postal office address, nor does it list any names of the housing management personnel. A couple of searches on the UCI website and the UCI Phone Directory provided me with the housing address:

University of California, Irvine
500 Housing Administrative Services
Irvine, CA 92697-3250

This is the letter I sent:

UCI Housing Administrative Services
Attn. William J. Zeller
500 Housing Administrative Services
Irvine, CA 92697-3250

Re: Cable service in Palo Verde

Dear Mr. Zeller,

With this letter, I express my extreme dissatisfaction with UCI Housingâ??s handling of the upcoming changes in cable service.

During the last couple of months, the housing administration apparently did not find it necessary to inform the students about the upcoming changes. Only through the grapevine did it became known to a number of students that there would be a change in cable service. Inquiries at the Palo Verde Housing office by several students, including repeated inquiries by me personally as late as early June, resulted in the repeated statement that Cox would be the provider, and we would be able to continue to receive Cox Premium services if we so desire.

Unfortunately, all these promises turned out to be false.
The change in cable service was announced in a few sentences in the latest Palo Verde Housing newsletter. Besides the announcement that Cox would not be the cable provider, no further information was given. There was no channel lineup, no information about premium channels, nothing. This is not acceptable. As a renter, I expect to be informed about such wide-ranging changes in a timely manner!

Further inquiries with the director of Palo Verde Housing resulted in more disturbing news. Not only is the channel lineup the worst lineup I have ever seen and excludes a great number of popular channels; even more important, UCI housing deprives us of choice in selecting a cable provider. This is not acceptable. Choice is the American way. By depriving us of the ability to select a cable provider of our choice, UCI housing acts in a way that I have only seen in socialist societies!
The only theoretical choice provided would be signing up with a satellite provider on my own. However, for many people in UCI housing, including myself, this is only a theoretical choice and realizing this choice does not seem possible.
UCI housing has a satellite dish policy; however, this policy makes it impossible for many people, including myself, to use a satellite dish: due to the location of the satellites, the dish has to point southward. This excludes all renters of apartments facing north from ever using a satellite dish in their apartments. The only alternative, putting the dish on a south-facing wall or roof, is prohibited by the satellite dish policy.
In short, UCI Housing deprives me of choice and of quality of life. This is not acceptable.
Iâ??d appreciate an investigation of the UCI Housing Administration into the handling of the cable switchover; and I strongly urge you to allow choice by either making the UCI cable service non-mandatory or relaxing the dish policy.

Regards,

Joachim Feise
PhD Student Information and Computer Sciences

I waited and waited and waited for an anwer...
After about 3 weeks, on August 9, I sent an email to Mr. Zeller:

Dear Mr. Zeller,

On July 19th, I sent you a letter expressing my extreme dissatisfaction with UCI Housing's handling of the changes in cable service.
I am dismayed that I have not received an answer to my letter yet. Nor have I received any other communication from UCI Housing.
I think UCI Housing should take communication from the renters seriously and not ignore it.

Regards,
-Joachim Feise
PhD Student, Information and Computer Sciences

On the same day, I got an answer from Mr. Zeller:

Joachim - I apologize for not responding to your letter. I originally gathered some information and have not been able to find the time to craft a response to you. Perhaps it would be best for us to meet, and I will include our technology director as well. I'll have Esther Bagley [his administrative assistant] contact you to arrange a meeting.

Bill Zeller

A meeting was scheduled for August 16.