[1629] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
[Mit-talk] Re: Mandatory T passes?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Amanda V Wozniak)
Fri Oct 21 16:30:31 2005
To: surreal@alum.mit.edu
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Fri, 21 Oct 2005 13:33:09 EDT."
<9bde964c0510211033l1f3cdb12o2994400213e53326@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 14:02:26 -0400
From: Amanda V Wozniak <awozniak@mit.edu>
cc: ec-discuss@mit.edu
cc: mit-talk@mit.edu
Errors-To: mit-talk-bounces@mit.edu
surreal@alum.mit.edu wrote:
> On 10/21/05, Amanda V Wozniak <awozniak@mit.edu> wrote:
> >
> >
> > > I can see where a few people might get upset about having to pay
> > > an extra $10/month, but when you're already paying upwards of
> > > $43K...what'= > s another hundred?
> >
> > Along with the "Student Life" fee, meal plan costs (select dorms
> > only), and the (optional) phone plan and supplemental health
> > insurance, it's yet another instance of a mandatory or
> > near-mandatory fee that doesn't fall under general tuition. It is
> > an amazingly affordable deal for anyone who uses the T and not too
> > terrible a loss for those who don't T at least once a
> > week. However, it's another crack in the dike... what's next? An
> > affordable $15/month fee for hardwire ethernet in dorm rooms (with
> > the option of using the wireless network for free)? For students
> > on scholarship or financial aid (including graduate students on
> > stipends) every additional fee has to come out of their personal
> > funds and isn't typically accounted for in the "financial need"
> > column. When you're worki= > ng part-time for MIT Libraries to
> > afford your books, those fees add up.
> >
> > Why not re-allocate part of the Student Life fund to serve this
> > purpose rather than adding on an additional mandatory
> > participation > >tax? Or at the least, keep it elective like the
> > current subsidized > >T-pass program, although the motiviation
> > behind making it mandatory > >is likely to ensure that some
> > minimum amount of funds go toward > >sustaining the program at
> > $10/per pass.
> >
> > --woz
> >
>
> but the major difference between this and the proposed mandatory meal
> plan is that this is a great deal whereas the meal plan was priced
> such that you could have steak for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and
> still have some cash left over. (and we all know that aramark
> wouldn't be serving steak . . .)
>
> the other issue involved there was the deal that meant a lack of
> competition between meal providers, meaning there was no incentive for
> aramark to provide anything more than edible food. while the T-pass
> issue does eliminate some competition (travel by bike, car, taxi or
> shuttle), it's the only subway in town and it is far cheaper than all
> but one of those options.
>
> -m
Yo, not talking about the proposed mandatory meal plan, but the
existing meal plan in some of the west-campus dorms. Those, I think
are mandatory in at least once instance. All apologies if I'm
mistaken.
The point is not so much "how useful" these mandatory programs are,
but the fact that they really shaft students who can't necessarily
afford the additional mandatory cost, regardless of the proposed or
intended benefit. For instance, grad students effectively no longer
have a choice about paying for supplemental health insurance. Why, you
ask? Because the departments agreed to pay for health insurance in
addition to tuition for RAs and TAs at the cost of reducing the
stipends for all graduate students. If you decline the insurance, the
department is refunded the money, not you. It negatively impacts MEng
students who have insurance through their parents, but are otherwise
independent and financially self-sufficient. Admittedly, those
students are a small fraction of the population, as are PhD students
who have insurance through a gainfully employed spouse.
Similarly, the T is the only Ride around and this pass makes it a
cheap ride at that. But not all students use the T; some bike or walk,
even in inclement weather. I took the T about twice a month when I was
an undergrad -- everywhere else was reachable given time or the
Saferide. I was also one of those desperately poor undergrads who
generally couldn't afford dinner or a date, so there really was
nowhere worth T-ing to. I get the feeling most students are a bit
better off these days.
But, if we're talking about fees to improve the lives of some at the
potential cost of the rest -- why not roll it up in tuition so that
it's covered by the departments, grants and federal aid? Tuition was
recently increased by $1,200 (according to some Tech in late Spring)
-- where are those additional funds being allocated? Tuition's
increasing much faster than the rate of inflation and it's being
hiked as MIT increases its endowment and comes _out_ of a funding
crisis and before it repeals the majority of the budget
cut-backs. That money's not going to staff the Course VI labs
equipment desk past 6pm, and it's not going to replace the lab
technicians who used to repair your malfunctioning nerdkit. So really,
what's the story?
--woz
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