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Discussion of [Illinibucks]

Illinibucks can be applied to a bunch of activities on campus. Since U of I has a large campus with tens of thousands of people in total, demand is always more than supply and waiting in lines is so common. At the beginning of each semester, the lines in the bookstore are always too long; since the Starbucks on Green street closed during this summer, the lines in the Starbucks in the bookstore and Union become way longer than usual; football games and concerts in State Farm Center are always crowded, and it’s difficult to buy tickets sometimes; register for classes is a big thing to every student, and to successfully register all the classes one would like to can be hard, or “impossible”.

I would like to spend my Illinibucks on registering classes as dearly as possible, since the quantity supply of econ courses are relatively insufficient compared to the quantity demand (the number of econ students). When I registered for courses this semester in March or April, I failed to select my ideal courses. All of them ran out so quickly even before I got the chance to register with a junior standing. Not to mention students with even lower class standings or with an econ minor would have fewer opportunities to select courses they would like to take in the first place.

 When it comes to setting up a price for the Illinibucks, issues start to emerge. First of all, who should get the Illinibucks? How much of Illibucks can a person own? Should there be a maximum amount a person owns? Who should be in charge of the management of the Illinibucks system? If everyone has Illinibucks and allocate them into the same activity, who should be the at the highest priority out of everyone being the priority? 

 Also, setting the price of Illinibucks can be a hard process. If the price is too low, everyone can afford to buy countless amount of Illinibucks, resulting in inflation. The Illinibucks won’t be valuable anymore. If the price is too high, the Illinibucks is going to be affordable to no one, or only a few people, which creates the unfairness. Not everyone is in an ideal financial situation. A lot of students have student loans, rely on scholarships, have to work dozens of hours per week to pay their tuition. The Illinibucks is supposed to create convenience for students to save their time. If Illinibucks is too expensive that only wealthy students or wealthy families are welcome, and if it is not friendly to the majority of students, it loses its purpose of existence.

Comments

  1. Professor ArvanOctober 6, 2019 at 2:00 PM

    You wrote "Since U of I has a large campus with tens of thousands of people in total, demand is always more than supply and waiting in lines is so common." That is not quite right. There are peak demand times when demand outstrips supply, they are not 7x24. The lines at Starbucks, for example, are sometimes quite long, but other times you can get your order in right away.

    I haven't been to a football game in several years, but the team hasn't been that good for a while, so I suspect you can get tickets for a game pretty easily. I'll take your word for it about concerts at the State Farm Center.

    So, as it turns out on the Econ registering, something else is going on, as it seems that most courses have availability now. Because there are some students who only first arrive on campus near the start of the semester, and they have junior standing, many of the Econ courses were limited in their capacity when you registered last spring. Seats were held back and only released a week before the semester started. It may be that they held back too many seats, so you couldn't get the courses you wanted.

    I wonder if you have your ideal courses now. I did a quick look at the 400-level courses in Econ and most seem to have openings now. Or did you stay with the courses you had on the first day of the semester and not engage in the add-drop process that so many other students engage in?

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    Replies
    1. Alice RivlinOctober 6, 2019 at 5:03 PM

      I don't watch football at all because, as an international student, football is not big in my country. I had not known any rules nor the game before I came to study in the US. So I apologize for the inaccurate speculation about football games and ticket selling here on campus.

      Indeed, most demand on campus are not 7/24, and Illinibucks can bring convenience to students. However, in my opinion, when all students can applicate such advantage for the same event at the same time, it equals to no one has a priority.

      I am happy with my schedule now, and this is a fun seminar course that teaches economics in a more interacting way. This class is about applying economics concepts into real, organizational situations. The opening-seat status of courses now does not mean anything, since after the first or second week of the semester, students are no longer allowed to add new full-semester (16-weeks) courses.

      Best!
      Thank you!

      Delete
  2. AnonymousOctober 8, 2019 at 9:21 PM

    I think you brought up some great points. I know that whenever I want Starbucks, there is always a big line. I think that at peak hours right when most classes are done and students are getting ready to study, the lines are always long. However, I am not sure if Illini Bucks would solve this problem. Yes, some people would get to the line first, yet during peak hours, I think the demand exceeds the supply by a very large amount. Other coffee shops, such as Espresso Royale, also have a long line at this time.

    With courses, I agree. It is difficult to get the schedule you want. However, I think it is important to note that if everyone could, they would try to get the best schedule possible. Most students see similar times as ideals: the 8 ams never fill up because it is not ideal for most students. It would be interesting to see if most students would be satisfied with Illini Bucks.

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