Thievery

I was doing this math problem today, and my mind was wandering a bit from the argument. An astounding fact suddenly occurred to me, which prompted this email to the Office of Undergraduate Student Housing and Dining.

Dear Housing and Dining Services,

In the midst of my spring break pontification, a remarkable fact occurred to me. Undergraduate 1st years pay $1,546 per quarter for board, regardless of their residence. Yet, those who eat in Bartlett receive only 900 dining points and $110 flex dollars per quarter. Given that 1 dining point is equivalent to $1, the actual value of this meal plan is a mere $1010. Even assuming that every item purchased with flex dollars receives the maximal discount of 10%, the total value of this plan is no more that $1022.23.

As a resident of Burton-Judson Courts, I had never realized this peculiarity. Where does this remaining $523.77 go? My first guess was cross-subsidization for students at other dining halls, but this seems improbable given their comparatively lavish endowment of flex dollars. I daresay, you have me stumped.

Sincerely,

Adam Anderson
adamanderson@uchicago.edu

We shall see how they justify this remarkable discrepancy.