Tara McGuire is controlling what you see. Well, if you live in the dorms, anyway.

McGuire (senior-psychology), the West Halls Residence Association president, is also in charge of picking the movies played on PSView, the on-campus movie channel.

At almost any time of day, you can turn on Channel 72 in your dorm room and see McGuire's work.

You might think a job as important as choosing the films thousands of students watch daily might merit a group decision. But mostly, the choice of what gets played on Channel 72 is McGuire's alone.

"[Film distributor Swank Motion Pictures] sends me a list every month with movies that deal with the different holidays and themes for the month," McGuire said. "So this month, we have movies for Martin Luther King Day, movies for black history month, and for Valentine's Day, a French film called Intimate Strangers."

McGuire doesn't just make stabs in the dark when picking the films she shows on Channel 72; it requires a lot of research.

"I go through the movies, mostly on IMDB [the Internet Movie Database]," McGuire said. "I look at ratings other people have given the movies, how much they like them, reviews and what the movie's about."

However, she's not oblivious to the fact that her personal opinion plays into the movie selections.

"Probably a lot," she said of how much her own taste shows up on PSView. "I try not to, but it's hard when you're picking movies because everyone's taste is really different."

McGuire, who chooses 14 films per month to be shown on the channel, has attempted to diversify this year's selections. "This year I've tried to incorporate more foreign films, because we do have a large part of campus from other countries," McGuire said. "And I've tried to get a lot of independent films, too."

Sean McGinley (senior-hotel and restaurant management), a former resident of East Halls, fondly remembers his experience with the campus movie channel as a freshman.

"I would usually be the first one back, but my roommate, always the partier, would come home at ten 'til 3 every morning," McGinley said of his freshman weekends. "He'd come back, get some water, maybe use the restroom and then get back in the room just in time to watch the 3 a.m. movie on Channel 72."

McGuire added that she makes herself very open to constructive criticism.

"There's an e-mail address that plays on the station, and people e-mail me and tell me when they don't like stuff," she said. "That's mostly what I get, when people are mad about something I do."

It's not all complaints, however.

"I do get people who give me suggestions for films," McGuire said.

Jil Chevalier (senior-political science and secondary education) is the Association of Resident Hall Students Cinemas Chair, in charge of choosing the movies that play in the HUB-Robeson Center on weekends.

Chevalier, too, said she has extremely little student input in her choices.

"Other than the fact that I'm a student, there's not really any," Chevalier said of student involvement in the film selection. "But I try to pick the movies that will attract the most people."

McGuire also said she enjoys choosing the movies but wishes she had more time to see the outcome of her work.

"I don't spend much time in my room," McGuire said, "so I don't actually ever get to see the movies I put on."