[1644] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
[Mit-talk] Re: Mandatory T passes?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Robotica)
Fri Oct 21 16:45:51 2005
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 13:33:09 -0400
From: Robotica <androidqueen@gmail.com>
To: Amanda V Wozniak <awozniak@mit.edu>
In-Reply-To: <200510211727.j9LHRjEi005600@dodecahedron.mit.edu>
cc: "TIM@MIT" <supertim@mit.edu>
cc: ec-discuss@mit.edu
cc: mit-talk@mit.edu
Reply-To: surreal@alum.mit.edu
Errors-To: mit-talk-bounces@mit.edu
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
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 working
> 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
>
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