Hypothetical Illinibucks

                The topic for this week is that what would happen hypothetically if we hypothetically had Illinibucks that could move you to the front of lines. If there was such a thing there would be a number of uses, a few of which we may have mentioned in class. There is registration.  As a fortunate person who is able to partake in a job with the football program, I have received the advantage of being able to register early, with the athletes.  Though I have not always jumped at the opportunity right away, I usually get all of the classes I want.  If you could pay money to be moved before many others, there would certainly be students who partake in this activity. How would price affect this sort of action? I believe that the price would not matter for the most part and that kids would look at it as just another fee to get the class they want. It would be incredibly unfair to students who pay significant portions of dollars for all the services the University provides. I suspect that no matter what type of pricing is involved, the University of Illinois would have a sort of lawsuit or complaining that would negatively impact the school’s image.

                Another event or opportunity for the illinibucks would have to do with sports. People buy vouchers or sign up for orange crush, then they wait for the opportunity to be first to turn in their vouchers or be first in line at the assembly hall. If they could gain an edge and save themselves inconveniences and potentially hours of their time, you would have a number of eager participants.  I can see this actually being quite effective for organizations, like the orange crush, that are required to raise funds. Pricing as always would seem unfair to some people but this is separate from education (or at least that would be my argument).  This would cause the biggest supporters, the kids with too much money and the craziest of the fans to get a spot on the court or in block I. The rest would be stuck up in C section or along the opposing sideline. I do not believe this policy would have near the effect on football due to the fact that the seats simply are not that much better in comparison. On the other hand the orange crush may face certain issues. Their numbers may decrease because students don’t see the need to be a part of orange crush when they will end up in the upper deck with no real advantage.

                Let’s continue by going back to registration. But let’s take a look at it at a smaller level. What about jumping ahead of the line for individual classes? This has a very similar feel to our first example. This one has a twist that makes it a little more interesting. By dealing with individual classes it is not nearly as universal and is not simply adding a fee, there is an actual specific selection process. As long as everyone has an equal amount of illini bucks and it isn’t just one overall fee this would add an aspect that may teach students how to manage money better. In reality all this would most likely do is cause complete chaos in the system and make too many people angry.

                In my opinion hypothetical illinibucks are most likely meant for anger, complaining, and scandals. It does not matter what price they are. I have gotten the classes I desired often without use of the early registration and never have been deeply involved in the illini fanbase.