[816] in UA Senate
Radical idea on dining: Choosing a dorm based on dining maximizes
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Michael E Plasmeier)
Fri Oct 15 23:57:14 2010
Resent-From: ua-senate@MIT.EDU
From: Michael E Plasmeier <theplaz@MIT.EDU>
To: Andy Wu <andywu@mit.edu>, Vrajesh Y Modi <vrajesh@mit.edu>,
"Samantha G
Wyman" <swyman@mit.edu>,
"Nils Molina (nilsmolina@gmail.com)"
<nilsmolina@gmail.com>,
ua-exec <ua-exec@mit.edu>,
"baker-forum@mit.edu"
<baker-forum@mit.edu>,
Tom Gearty <tgearty@mit.edu>, cfs <cfs@mit.edu>,
ua-senate <ua-senate@mit.edu>
Date: Fri, 15 Oct 2010 23:57:05 -0400
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So why do all of the 4 dorms need to offer breakfast? Let's say 30% of the=
students want breakfast. That's pretty much one dorm's worth. Why not mo=
ve all those students to one dorm????? The only flaw in this is the UA rhe=
toric that students should not choose dorm based on culture or dining - but=
I think that they already do. I chose Baker because it has a dining hall.=
People in EC chose EC because it did not have dining. I think that is p=
erfectly fine - it is an essential part of the choice of where you want to =
live - it's an essential part of the culture of the dorm. So why don't we =
just let people shuffle around to what they want. I think that people woul=
d be far happier if they were able to explicitly choose which dining plan t=
hey want.
The Housing Office should put out a mandatory choice of what option people =
want - like they do with the freshmen survey. Responses would be mandatory=
and binding (see below):
* I want to live in a Breakfast, lunch and, dinner dorm at $5,000/y=
ear
* I want to live in a Breakfast and Dinner dorm $3,800/year
* I want to live in a Dinner dorm $1,800/year
* I want to live in a cook for self dorm $0/year.
Then HDAG would look at the results. If ~300 people chose option one, then=
one dorm with ~300 beds would become the B,L,D dorm. (At that dorm, the s=
elected meals would be mandatory.) The students would help select which bu=
ilding that would be, taking into account the size of people that chose tha=
t option, and where a disproportionate share of the votes for that option c=
ame from. (Perhaps restrict the choice of buildings to only affect the 4 d=
orms with house dining now. Perhaps exempt McCormick, idk. But in making t=
he choice of what to offer where aim to affect the minimum number of people=
. Actually that last option sounds best. Just calculate how many people w=
ould have to move based on what you offer where, and maximize that. EC, sa=
y, almost everyone would want to continue to self cook, so making EC self c=
ook would minimize moves.) They would then do this for each level of servi=
ce, starting up new house dining or shutting down house dining halls even, =
if need be. Whatever makes the least people move.
Then once HDAG decides which dorm offers which service, there would be a fo=
rm of the readjustment lotto. You could only choose the dorms in the categ=
ory you picked (in order to make the initial choice important; or maybe thi=
s is unnecessary, you can choose any dorm [in which case it is the normal r=
eadjustment lotto]), plus maybe (I have not thought this through) your curr=
ent dorm, by which you would be accepting whatever service they offer. The=
re would be no guarantee they could move you in, but since the housing offi=
ce knew approx. how many student wanted each option there would be approx. =
the right number of beds under each option.
It is good for the housing office because they know very well how many peop=
le demand each option, so they can vary the number of beds in each option t=
o demand. And then the students can choose which actual dorm to live in am=
ong the ones which offer what you want.
Students would be for the most part happy because they got the service they=
wanted. They may have to move around, but at least they would be very lik=
ely to have the dining service they want. Culture at the new dorms would r=
eadjust and might become stronger, because almost everyone there wanted tha=
t meal plan. Cultures would also become more distinct because there would =
be more variation between the dorms. And its all based on the assumption t=
hat dorm culture depends on dining. And since we would target minimizing s=
tudents who move, determining what service goes where is a mathematical pro=
blem, hopefully devoid of arguments of survey and representation bias.
Thoughts? Please forward. Permission to republish granted.
-Michael Plasmeier
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nk=3Dpurple><div class=3DWordSection1><p class=3DMsoNormal>So why do all of=
the 4 dorms need to offer breakfast? Let’s say 30% of the stud=
ents want breakfast. That’s pretty much one dorm’s worth.=
Why not move all those students to one dorm????? The only flaw=
in this is the UA rhetoric that students should not choose dorm based on c=
ulture or dining – but I think that they already do. I chose Ba=
ker because it has a dining hall. People in EC chose EC because=
it did not have dining. I think that is perfectly fine – it is=
an essential part of the choice of where you want to live – it’=
;s an essential part of the culture of the dorm. So why don’t w=
e just let people shuffle around to what they want. I think that peop=
le would be far happier if they were able to explicitly choose which dining=
plan they want. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p=
></p><p class=3DMsoNormal>The Housing Office should put out a mandatory cho=
ice of what option people want – like they do with the freshmen surve=
y. Responses would be mandatory and binding (see below):<o:p></o:p></=
p><p class=3DMsoListParagraph style=3D'text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level=
1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style=3D'font-family:Symbol'><span style=
=3D'mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style=3D'font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>&=
nbsp; </span></span></span><![end=
if]>I want to live in a Breakfast, lunch and, dinner dorm at $5,000/year<o:=
p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoListParagraph style=3D'text-indent:-.25in;mso-lis=
t:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style=3D'font-family:Symbol'><=
span style=3D'mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style=3D'font:7.0pt "Times New=
Roman"'> </span></span></s=
pan><![endif]>I want to live in a Breakfast and Dinner dorm $3,800/year<o:p=
></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoListParagraph style=3D'text-indent:-.25in;mso-list=
:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style=3D'font-family:Symbol'><s=
pan style=3D'mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style=3D'font:7.0pt "Times New =
Roman"'> </span></span></sp=
an><![endif]>I want to live in a Dinner dorm $1,800/year<o:p></o:p></p><p c=
lass=3DMsoListParagraph style=3D'text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1=
'><![if !supportLists]><span style=3D'font-family:Symbol'><span style=3D'ms=
o-list:Ignore'>·<span style=3D'font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> &=
nbsp; </span></span></span><![endif]>I =
want to live in a cook for self dorm $0/year.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=
=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=3DMsoNormal>Then HDAG would look=
at the results. If ~300 people chose option one, then one dorm with =
~300 beds would become the B,L,D dorm. (At that dorm, the selected me=
als would be mandatory.) The students would help select which buildin=
g that would be, taking into account the size of people that chose that opt=
ion, and <b>where a disproportionate share of the votes for that option cam=
e from</b>. (Perhaps restrict the choice of buildings to only affect =
the 4 dorms with house dining now. Perhaps exempt McCormick, idk. But=
in making the choice of what to offer where aim to affect the minimum numb=
er of people. Actually that last option sounds best. Just calcu=
late how many people would have to move based on what you offer where, and =
maximize that. EC, say, almost everyone would want to continue to sel=
f cook, so making EC self cook would minimize moves.) They would then=
do this for each level of service, starting up new house dining or shuttin=
g down house dining halls even, if need be. Whatever makes the least =
people move. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o=
:p></p><p class=3DMsoNormal>Then once HDAG decides which dorm offers which =
service, there would be a form of the readjustment lotto. You could o=
nly choose the dorms in the category you picked (in order to make the initi=
al choice important; or maybe this is unnecessary, you can choose any dorm =
[in which case it is the normal readjustment lotto]), plus maybe (I have no=
t thought this through) your current dorm, by which you would be accepting =
whatever service they offer. There would be no guarantee they could m=
ove you in, but since the housing office knew approx. how many student want=
ed each option there would be approx. the right number of beds under each o=
ption. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p cl=
ass=3DMsoNormal>It is good for the housing office because they know very we=
ll how many people demand each option, <b>so they can vary the number of be=
ds in each option to demand</b>. And then the students can choose whi=
ch actual dorm to live in among the ones which offer what you want.<o:p></o=
:p></p><p class=3DMsoNormal>Students would be for the most part happy becau=
se they got the service they wanted. They may have to move around, bu=
t at least they would be very likely to have the dining service they want.&=
nbsp; Culture at the new dorms would readjust and might become stronger, be=
cause almost everyone there wanted that meal plan. Cultures would als=
o become more distinct because there would be <b>more variation between the=
dorms</b>. And its all based on the assumption that dorm culture dep=
ends on dining. And since we would target minimizing students who mov=
e, determining what service goes where is a mathematical problem, hopefully=
devoid of arguments of survey and representation bias.<o:p></o:p></p><p cl=
ass=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=3DMsoNormal>Thoughts? P=
lease forward. Permission to republish granted.<o:p></o:p></p><p clas=
s=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=3DMsoNormal>-Michael Plasmeier<=
o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>=
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