I personally would not spend Illinibucks if I had to prepay for them. I really cannot think of a situation where I would really need to get ahead of the line. To me it seems like a waste of money to do that. If they were free that would be a different story. I would definitely use them wisely though.
If the price was to be too high I don't think people would buy them since not many people really need to get "ahead of the line." I would still expect some consumers for Illinibucks but not many since they would probably have a low demand for it. However, If the price was really low I think many people would buy them since they are a bit useful but not so useful to where they would be purchased if they were extremely expensive. I think a lot of people buying them would cause a lot of people to be mad since they would be moved back a little more from the top of the line. All in all I think Illinibucks seems like an idea that shouldn't be more than just that. It seems like a waste of money if you have to prepay for it, but I'm sure some people would buy them.
In the second part of your post, I think you misunderstood the price part. Take your bookstore example where you can get in early to buy the books with the Illinibucks. The price we're talking about here is how many Illinibucks you need to spend to get that priority at the bookstore. And if you used your Illinibucks that way, then maybe you wouldn't have enough to get priority on course registration.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, the Illinibucks scheme is a way to give some prioritization to people other than by first-come-first-served, which is the tried but not always true method.
Do note that such prioritization schemes exists elsewhere, such as in going through security at airports. There is something called TSA Pre, that gets you through security quicker. I don't travel that much these days, and flying out of Champaign the security part isn't too bad, but I've flown out of O'Hare a bit and Indy two. Going through security is a pain. It's the sort of thing where having the ability to do it quickly is appreciated by most travelers.
I agree with the uses you originally stated for the Illini Bucks. I too said that they would be well used for priority class registration, but I did not think of the book example. That was an excellent call on your part. I don't know how I didn't think of that considering the numerous times I have had to wait in order to get a specific book from the second shipment of books that came through the store.
ReplyDeleteWhen you say you wouldn't pay for the Illini Bucks, is that because you think the price would be too high. If the price for priority book purchases were say 1$, would you still not think about that purchase? I guess I feel like there are always opportunity costs and everybody has a certain price to change their original thought on the purchase.
I agree that Illinibucks would not be as attractive of a program for students if the Illinibucks had an actual monetary value, and the university required students to purchase the Illinibucks. This would also create a host of new potential issues with the system. This would essentially give priority, in many aspects of the university, to the wealthier students. This would certainly not be a good look for the University, and could potentially lead other legal issues.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete