[332] in UA Exec
Re: Dining and Student Engagement
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Paul Youchak)
Tue Apr 6 20:01:58 2010
Date: Tue, 06 Apr 2010 20:01:37 -0400
From: Paul Youchak <youchakp@MIT.EDU>
To: Paul Baranay <pbaranay@mit.edu>
CC: Adam Bockelie <bockelie@mit.edu>, ua-exec@mit.edu,
UA Senate <ua-senate@mit.edu>
In-Reply-To: <l2s71c951391004061638kdcca0fd7q8fdccfbc2daf02f5@mail.gmail.com>
Paul is right, there should be a rating system for the comments.
On to the meat of the email.
I would like to second Adam's comments. No matter what side you are on
in respect to the debate going on in this mailing list it is in your
best interest to submit your thoughts and questions on the idea bank. I
would also recommend talking to your dorm presidents and dining chairs
(and telling your friends to do so as well) if you are living in a
dining hall.
Todays editorial in the Tech should have been a pretty clear message
that they are tired of hearing complaints about the process and have
given us more than what, in their opinion, we deserved. We should try
to work to make sure the tools they have given us are utilized and give
valuable input. If the administrators see that their efforts helped to
provide valuable input, they may be willing to do so again and give more
next time as well.
On to some thoughts I had about the proposal. Let me know what you guys
think.
http://studentlife.mit.edu/house-dining-review/plan-outline
It seems that the three options are declining balance in nature, but I
assume this could change to a system similar to what we have now.
It seems unreasonable that we will eat 7 dinners a week and 7 breakfasts
a week and we shouldn't have to pay for meals we do not eat.
So my question is, could these be changed so that the facilities remain
open but not charge us meals every day the hall is open? Essentially,
what would the cost be if we paid for 5 dinners a week but had the hall
open 7? *This is probably more relevant for breakfast, but I use dinner
as example.
-There are operating costs which will be involved in running the halls
for all the meals. For instance right now it is around 11 dollars per
dinner if 7 dinners bought a week. If we only bought 5 dinners a week
it may increase to around 12.50 (number is a guess of course) a dinner
to cover the operating costs for the days we don't get food but in which
dining is still open. This would save a student around 15 dollars per
week. I think this gives a student more flexibility and should allow
the dining hall to still come out even. the hall could also close on
low demand periods, such as weekends for dinner.
I don't think there is enough support for people currently living in
dining halls to opt out of the dining plan. Once again, it should be
possible for them to pay a small operating cost but no food. This would
probably make living in the dining halls more expensive than other
location on campus, but as currently stands, they are already paying the
300 dollars anyways and rarely eat at the hall.
Those are my two concerns and questions.
Paul
Paul Baranay wrote:
> Surely I can't be the only one disturbed that the new version of the
> IdeaBank doesn't contain any way to "rank" or "thumbs up" or "thumbs
> down" the various suggestions...
>
> Sure, people can comment on an idea and give approval, but having
> actual STATISTICS on how many people support / don't support ideas
> would be awesome. (Kind of like the UA already did once, last
> semester...)
>
> - Paul
>
> On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 7:14 PM, Adam Bockelie <bockelie@mit.edu
> <mailto:bockelie@mit.edu>> wrote:
>
> For those of you who did have strong opinions...the idea bank is open
> and I don't see many of your ideas. Do what you want outside HDAG,
> but it doesn't make sense to not use an official input to the
> committee as well....
>
> [http://ideabank-housedining.mit.edu/ideas]
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 4:30 AM, Daniel Hawkins <hwkns@mit.edu
> <mailto:hwkns@mit.edu>> wrote:
> > I want to thank those of you who contributed to the discussion
> on this
> > tonight. I was surprised at how many senators just didn't
> care. You guys
> > were more vocal about the MIT EMS money last week than you were
> about
> > student engagement. Maybe you should consider joining Finboard
> instead of
> > Senate next time around.
> >
> > -hwkns
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 8:48 PM, Daniel Hawkins <hwkns@mit.edu
> <mailto:hwkns@mit.edu>> wrote:
> >>
> >> Attached is a bill, in case we want to pass it tonight.
> >>
> >> -hwkns
> >>
> >> On Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 4:53 PM, Daniel Hawkins <hwkns@mit.edu
> <mailto:hwkns@mit.edu>> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Hi Senate,
> >>>
> >>> A lot of you have e-mailed me and said something to the effect
> of, "I
> >>> agree, this is totally screwed up, but is there anything we
> can do at this
> >>> point?" Maybe there is. While Colombo just wants this to be
> over, I think
> >>> the higher level administration actually wants to get it
> right. If we give
> >>> them a plan that's doable, they may hold DSL to it.
> >>>
> >>> We need to brainstorm to see if there is a solution that can
> actually
> >>> incorporate student input AND reach a final decision by the
> second week of
> >>> May. I've outlined an idea below that might work, and I
> encourage you to
> >>> reply-all and tell me what you think about it, or come up with
> your own
> >>> idea.
> >>>
> >>> 1. Take minutes (not summaries, minutes) at HDAG meetings and
> make the
> >>> minutes public.
> >>> 2. Involve ALL undergrads. This change affects everyone, and
> everyone
> >>> has ideas. Make a public moira list for discussion, monitor
> the list
> >>> frequently, and respond to questions and concerns raised by
> students.
> >>> 3. Set up the Idea Bank NOW. Not by the end of the week, not
> as soon as
> >>> you can make it look as pretty as you want it to. Now.
> >>> 4. By April 16, publish a document that includes all
> positively-rated
> >>> ideas from the Idea Bank, with detailed comments on each idea
> explaining
> >>> whether you plan to implement it and why or why not.
> >>> 5. Add the detailed comments from #4 to the ideas in the Idea
> Bank to
> >>> which they apply, and let student input continue.
> >>> 6. By April 30, publish a document that includes all
> positively-rated
> >>> ideas from the Idea Bank, with detailed comments on each new
> idea explaining
> >>> whether you plan to implement it and why or why not, and with
> detailed
> >>> responses to any feedback on old ideas.
> >>> 7. By May 14, publish a document that outlines the new dining
> plan and
> >>> includes a summary of student input on each topic and the
> reasoning behind
> >>> the choice that was ultimately made.
> >>>
> >>> -hwkns
> >>
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Adam Bockelie
> 801.209.7233
> <bockelie@mit.edu <mailto:bockelie@mit.edu>>
>
> Massachusetts Institute of Technology
> Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
> Class of 2011
>
>
