Illinibucks - Time Value of Waiting
The concept of "Illinibucks" to be used to get ahead of the line would be interesting to see in a college setting like U of I. Since this is a university sponsored program, it would only be used for university-sponsored events. If the allocation was funded by a student fee in your "tuition & fees", kinda like the student health services fee for McKinley, I could see using Illinibucks as a discount service for local places (like 5% off Chipotle on Green) be a popular idea. But since this is a free service, it would only make sense for it to be for non-monetary services.
There plenty of places in the university where this service could be used. For University Housing residents, Illinibucks could be used to cut the line to swipe into the dining hall for when you're pressed for time in between classes. It could also be used to cut the line to get food at certain stations. In PAR, you often have to wait in line for 20 minutes in the stir fry line. In the Ike, certain stations have lines where you wait 15-20 minutes as well. In these situations, Illinibucks would be useful if you're in a hurry to go to an exam or a meeting and you need to eat.
Illinibucks can also be used in the case of laundry and communal showers in the university dorms. Often times, when you want to get your laundry done, you have to check the laundry room to see if there are any open washers or dryers and if not, you have to go back and check again. Similarly, if you want to take a shower, you have to check the bathroom to see if there are any open shower stalls. If there are, you have to run back to your room, get your things, and go back to the bathroom to claim your open stall. Instead, with Illinibucks, you could skip the wait and reserve your spot for it instead of going back and forth to keep checking.
If you're not a University Housing resident, other uses of Illinibucks could be in the ARC for certain machines or weights, and in the library when reserving books. A common issue in the ARC is waiting for the machine, weight, room, or court you want to be available. With Illinibucks, you could claim a machine or court or etc immediately for use or reserve for when you want convenient to your schedule. Another issue students may face is finding the books they need at the library. If its a textbook for a class, since textbooks are expensive, many students opt for checking them out in the library during exam/midterm season or for when they have projects or assignments. You could use Illinibucks to cut the line of people placing the book on hold. We could call this Illini Book Bucks in this situation.
Illinibucks would've certainly been useful for me when I lived in the dorms because there was so much time spent wasted on waiting in lines for food (often resulting in my being late for class), waiting to use the shower, or to do my laundry. Back when I used the dorms, I was an avid fan of going to late-night dinners at PAR and getting stir-fry or pasta because it was the closest thing to a fresh meal that the dining halls offer. Like I said before, my friends and I would wait for 20-30 minutes just to get food there. In my dorm, my hallway only had two shower stalls, and one of them didn't work properly. So all 24 girls who lived on my floor had to share a single shower stall and it was always a rush to find it empty and claim it right away, so I would certainly use Illinibucks for that. I also don't like to purchase textbooks because, aside from the obvious expense, I can never tell into a couple of weeks into the semester when I'll need it. Or if at all I need it, it's for exams or assignments and I'll probably only end up spending no more than seven days for the textbook. Because of this, it is really convenient to have the book available at the library because it is free of charge and I can give it back when I don't need it, and it's frustrating when the book I want is checked out and other people are on hold for it. So I would definitely use Illinibucks for that purpose.
If the administered price for a service were too low, the case for Illinibucks would be similar to the case of "Fast Passes" at theme parks where if everyone gets a pass to cut the line, the "fast" line isn't as fast as what you thought it would be when you paid for the fast pass. Thus, the need for Illinibucks would be obsolete when you can spend nothing to wait the same amount of time. If the administered price were too expensive, people would use their Illinibucks quite sparingly. Because they aren't using it often, they might forget about it and not use it at all.
If there were a way to increase your allocation of Illinibucks, either by actually purchasing more, or if it were GPA based (students with 3.7+ GPA get an extra __ number of bucks), or based on student involvement (students involved in leadership roles in organizations on campus get an extra __ number of bucks), then having high prices for Illinibuck services might create a division in Illinibuck-economic level/class among students. For example, smarter, more-involved, or richer students might see themselves as "elite" since they can increase their allocation while struggling students, poorer students, and students not interested in being involved might feel inferior. Since Illinibucks have the opportunity to make college life better and improve the quality of time spent, this could create even a greater division since time is money after all. Or in this case, time not spent waiting in line could be used to study to get better grades, work part-time jobs to earn more money, or be more involved on campus. This causes a "class system", or a new economic system within the society of a college campus, an Illinibucks economy. In this scenario where you can increase your allocation, higher prices encourages this "socio-economic" system in college. This obviously won't be the case if there wasn't a system to increase you allocation.
It's honestly an interesting concept to think about how much of your time you actually spend on waiting, and to figure out if that time spent waiting could be used to do something else more productive, how much is your time actually worth? What is the value you place on your time?
There plenty of places in the university where this service could be used. For University Housing residents, Illinibucks could be used to cut the line to swipe into the dining hall for when you're pressed for time in between classes. It could also be used to cut the line to get food at certain stations. In PAR, you often have to wait in line for 20 minutes in the stir fry line. In the Ike, certain stations have lines where you wait 15-20 minutes as well. In these situations, Illinibucks would be useful if you're in a hurry to go to an exam or a meeting and you need to eat.
Illinibucks can also be used in the case of laundry and communal showers in the university dorms. Often times, when you want to get your laundry done, you have to check the laundry room to see if there are any open washers or dryers and if not, you have to go back and check again. Similarly, if you want to take a shower, you have to check the bathroom to see if there are any open shower stalls. If there are, you have to run back to your room, get your things, and go back to the bathroom to claim your open stall. Instead, with Illinibucks, you could skip the wait and reserve your spot for it instead of going back and forth to keep checking.
If you're not a University Housing resident, other uses of Illinibucks could be in the ARC for certain machines or weights, and in the library when reserving books. A common issue in the ARC is waiting for the machine, weight, room, or court you want to be available. With Illinibucks, you could claim a machine or court or etc immediately for use or reserve for when you want convenient to your schedule. Another issue students may face is finding the books they need at the library. If its a textbook for a class, since textbooks are expensive, many students opt for checking them out in the library during exam/midterm season or for when they have projects or assignments. You could use Illinibucks to cut the line of people placing the book on hold. We could call this Illini Book Bucks in this situation.
Illinibucks would've certainly been useful for me when I lived in the dorms because there was so much time spent wasted on waiting in lines for food (often resulting in my being late for class), waiting to use the shower, or to do my laundry. Back when I used the dorms, I was an avid fan of going to late-night dinners at PAR and getting stir-fry or pasta because it was the closest thing to a fresh meal that the dining halls offer. Like I said before, my friends and I would wait for 20-30 minutes just to get food there. In my dorm, my hallway only had two shower stalls, and one of them didn't work properly. So all 24 girls who lived on my floor had to share a single shower stall and it was always a rush to find it empty and claim it right away, so I would certainly use Illinibucks for that. I also don't like to purchase textbooks because, aside from the obvious expense, I can never tell into a couple of weeks into the semester when I'll need it. Or if at all I need it, it's for exams or assignments and I'll probably only end up spending no more than seven days for the textbook. Because of this, it is really convenient to have the book available at the library because it is free of charge and I can give it back when I don't need it, and it's frustrating when the book I want is checked out and other people are on hold for it. So I would definitely use Illinibucks for that purpose.
If the administered price for a service were too low, the case for Illinibucks would be similar to the case of "Fast Passes" at theme parks where if everyone gets a pass to cut the line, the "fast" line isn't as fast as what you thought it would be when you paid for the fast pass. Thus, the need for Illinibucks would be obsolete when you can spend nothing to wait the same amount of time. If the administered price were too expensive, people would use their Illinibucks quite sparingly. Because they aren't using it often, they might forget about it and not use it at all.
If there were a way to increase your allocation of Illinibucks, either by actually purchasing more, or if it were GPA based (students with 3.7+ GPA get an extra __ number of bucks), or based on student involvement (students involved in leadership roles in organizations on campus get an extra __ number of bucks), then having high prices for Illinibuck services might create a division in Illinibuck-economic level/class among students. For example, smarter, more-involved, or richer students might see themselves as "elite" since they can increase their allocation while struggling students, poorer students, and students not interested in being involved might feel inferior. Since Illinibucks have the opportunity to make college life better and improve the quality of time spent, this could create even a greater division since time is money after all. Or in this case, time not spent waiting in line could be used to study to get better grades, work part-time jobs to earn more money, or be more involved on campus. This causes a "class system", or a new economic system within the society of a college campus, an Illinibucks economy. In this scenario where you can increase your allocation, higher prices encourages this "socio-economic" system in college. This obviously won't be the case if there wasn't a system to increase you allocation.
It's honestly an interesting concept to think about how much of your time you actually spend on waiting, and to figure out if that time spent waiting could be used to do something else more productive, how much is your time actually worth? What is the value you place on your time?
Your post was much more graphic this time. Some of the information about the dorms was new to me. I didn't quite understand the waiting in line for food part. Is the food made to order? I have vague recollection of cafeteria food when I was an undergrad. I agree that it wasn't always the freshest. (I remember Turkey Tetrazzini for the name of it, something that was one the menu once a week as a freshman but which I've never had since.) But I would think that you'd sometimes go the quick route, especially at breakfast or lunchtime, if you had a class soon after that. Was there an alternative or a quick meal, even if it wasn't as desirable eating?
ReplyDeleteThe story about the shower sounds pretty grim. I wonder if that is the situation in many of the dorms or if you were just unlucky that way. This is part of college that I have no recollection about whatsoever.
The textbook part that you discussed is strange to me, but textbook prices nowadays may have something to do with it. In our class neither book is very expensive and indeed, to the extent that used textbooks are okay, their prices will be more reasonable. So here I wonder if you hurt yourself academically by not having the book. Personally, I'd be reading the textbooks on my own to see if I could learn the stuff myself. That would make class more fun for me, as I think then I'd have a better sense of what the professor was getting at. I wonder why more students don't have that preference.
Finally, let me note that the Illinibucks concept doesn't make the lines go away. It just means that for a small number of them you don't have to wait. There you can go to front. Making the lines go away altogether is something we'll discuss in class on Tuesday, but it would require expanding supply to do so, and that can't be done for free.
There certainly was an alternative to the dining hall meals. In the Ikenberry Commons, there's another store called "57" which is similar to a small convenience store with soda, bars, snacks, and they had crinkle fries and pizza by the slices. My friends and I would go to 57 when we wanted a quick bite and I would go for a small meal as an alternative when I felt the dining hall would take too long. The fries were always a go-to meal because the pizza they had there was despicable. However, if Illinibucks were an option, I would be able to use it to cut the lines to avoid wait and have a better meal with more options.
DeleteThe story with the shower was pretty grim. My dorm that year also had no AC, which was tough during the heat waves in the beginning of the year. I had it luckier in some aspects and not so lucky in other aspects. Because I was on the ground floor, and since heat rises, my floor didn't get as hot as the other floors. On the other hand, the downside of being on the ground floor was that since it was smaller in the number of rooms it had, the bathroom was smaller too. Other floors had four shower stalls, but even with the greater amount of people, I imagine that was still better than the situation on my floor.
It's interesting you talk about how some students may not have that preference that you have. I always study better with a physical textbook in front of me, but if I can find a copy of it online, I do that because it's more portable to carry than to carry multiple books at once, it's usually cheaper, and I can "control F" what I'm trying to look for. Online copies are faster for me to use to study, and I think other students might agree with me. Of course, hard, physical copies will always be my first choice. I just prefer to wait a couple of weeks into the semester to see if I really need the book for the class or not.
I'm looking forward to hear Tuesday's discussion on getting rid of lines. I had an experience this weekend at the Illinites event that the Illini Union Board hosts where I stood in line for almost 2 hours for an attraction when I could've been participating in another attraction while I was waiting. In this situation, beepers like they give in restaurants while you're waiting for a table would've been so helpful.
I can totally relate about the laundry issue. There is only one laundry room in Scott, and that's where everyone one uses. We have four floors so I would estimate about 150 having to share only one laundry room where most of the machines are faulty. IllniBucks can be extremely useful for that because people have access to it. They can also do laundry any time without having to stay up or wake up at 2:00am with the hope that there is an empty washer. I was rarely lucky because often times the washers or dryers were taken, and I would have to wait for a while. Laundry almost took 2 hours because of the wait time.
ReplyDeleteReserving books is another popular factor that IlliniBucks might be useful for. Most students don't buy textbooks once they know they can check it out in the library to complete an assignment. However, it can be frustrating when you find out none of the books you need is available to check out especially if the deadline is fast approaching. Students would use IlliniBucks so that they have the books available for them. Another option is to allow students checkout books reserved for use in the library only. This can be useful when students do not want to spend hours in the library completing an assignment.
Study space is also an important thing IlliniBucks can be used on. Most times the libraries are always too rowdy which makes it hard for a group to work together in a big space. This special feature of IlliniBucks is something students would take full advantage of. Time is valuable. As a college student, having extra 15 or 20 minutes to take a nap or just calm your head can be refreshing. Hence, one way to achieve this is having the opportunity to move up the line as often as possible.
I completely agree with the uses that Illini Bucks could have. Skipping line at laundry or having priority when renting study rooms are the applications that would be most useful for me.
ReplyDeleteAs to the question of how a student could get allocated more Illini Bucks, I really think selling them would bring more harm than benefit. I agree with your argument that that would be unfair to the students who do not have extra money to buy those, while the ones who have too much money would probably not value it as much, for them Illini Bucks would be disposable, like "Oh, I signed up early for this class but I can just buy more Illini Bucks and sign up to 6 classes then drop."
I can not say this for sure, but we could figure it out by calculating the demand/supply for "IB" and seeing where the equilibrium falls and where Total Welfare is maximized. Again, this is something I always wondered: we use the demand and supply equations in class and it makes finding equilibrium price and quantity very easy but where does the equations come from? Who calculates them for us? No clue...