Illinibucks

        The concept of ‘Illinibucks’ is an interesting one, because basically it looks at how students value time and the differences between those valuations. By permitting students to jump to the front of the lines of things very important to them, the university is allowing them to reveal how they value their time and what is most important to them. This, in turn, means that students will be comfortable with waiting for things that aren’t as important to them. By putting the power and choice in the students’ hands would greatly increase student happiness at no cost to the university.

        Once the concept of Illinibucks is established a few questions arise. First, how are the Illinibucks allocated, are they distributed every week or are they given out at the beginning of the semester? To answer this all one must do is look at the original purpose of Illinibucks: to provide ease and increased happiness to students. In order to do maximize students’ happiness, one would think students’ should have the most options, and therefore giving out a lump of Illinibucks at the beginning of the semester is a superior strategy. Another question that arises is pricing of Illinibucks. If the price is too low then there is an overabundance of Illinibucks and the point of Illinibucks is completely ruined because instead of students using them on things that are important to them they use them, they will be used flippantly. While if the price is too high, Illinibucks just will not be bought or used. Similarly to price, the quantity of Illinibucks distributed is also a big deal for similar reasons. If the quantity is too high frivolous use will ensue, while if the quantity is too low Illinibucks will become very valuable but potentially costly. At very high prices or low quantities there could potential for hoarding of Illinibucks to begin, or, at the very least, there is possible that students will be disincentivized to do things that involve Illinibucks because they don’t see it as being worth an Illinibuck. For these reasons the price and quantity of Illinibucks has to be just right or the entire idea behind them is ruined.

        When I think about how I would spend my Illinibucks, it becomes fairly clear why they are not a real thing. First, let me explain the two ways I see Illinibucks being useful: One, the convenience of skipping the line at Starbucks to get your coffee a couple minutes faster, versus two, the convenience of registering for classes early, without worrying about them being closed. One has the instant gratification and time from not waiting in line, the other is the practicality and ease of mind of being able to not worry about classes. In my experience, in all of my time on campus, the amount of time I have spent waiting in any one line is not enough to warrant the use of an Illinibuck. What I feel I would use my Illinibucks on would be class registration, and this is where I feel the problem comes in. I have a feeling many people on campus feel the same way as me as far as what would be the most efficient and useful way to use their Illinibucks. If this is the case then the entire purpose behind Illinibucks in this scenario is gone, because, like when I was talking about the pricing and quantity of Illinibucks, too many people use their Illinibucks on the same thing. Every student can’t be the first person to sign up for classes, and when students are asked to prioritize whether they want to wait in line a bit less or sign up for classes first, a majority will pick class registration and the whole Illinibuck system falls apart.