HDMI input on Contour box?

My TV has only one HDMI input which my Contour box is connected to. My last cable box had an HDMI input so that I could use my video player. All of it was mounted on a shelf that is hard to access. Why is the HDMI input disabled on the Contour box? Any plans to reactivate it? I am a student and I cannot view the graphics that I need to view without a separate device. Every other box I know of has HDMI throughput. Why would Cox have a "dummy" input port that cannot be utilized? Is there another model cable box that allows thorughput the way every other device does?

Thanks