The truck system is a system of paying workers that was widespread in England during the 18th and 19th century. In this system, workers did not receive standard money, but instead a currency that could only be used at a store owned by that particular factory. This system allowed for the factory owner to inflate the prices of his goods as much as he desired.
For example, if a worker was supposed to be paid the equivalent of three shillings a week in a separate currency, three shillings in that separate currency might buy much less at the factory store than it could buy the worker in the real world.
Personally, I can't help but see an obvious connection between this system and Colorado College's meal plan and forced on-campus housing.
The meal plan works as follows: every semester, a student living on campus at Colorado College must convert at least 2,334 dollars of real-world currency into Tiger Bucks. Through this system, the College administration is able to inflate prices any amount that they wish. From personal experience, I find that products sold at campus stores are roughly twice the price of the same products sold in a real-world scenario. Because the school has created a closed system, there is no competition, which allows the school to have a monopoly on their own products.
Along with this, the forced on-campus housing functions in a very similar way. Since a student here has no option but to live on campus for at least three years, the school can, once again, inflate the price of living by as much as they want.
The way in which the school punishes students who receive disciplinary probation also demonstrates the school's obvious desire to force students to give even more money to the college than they already do. Instead of forcing students to move off campus, which seems like the proper solution for a community member who is acting in a way that the school disapproves of and may make other students uncomfortable, the school actually gives the student a worse time slot for housing. This makes it harder for the student to move farther away from the community that they may be "negatively affecting."
Beyond the blatant unfairness of this system, this system has also caused unwanted health issues for me. I'm someone who greatly prefers to make his own food in a particular way, rather than constantly ordering food from a small variety of places.
As a result, I eat less food than I normally would, and usually live around 10 pounds under my normal, healthy weight. As for not being able to move off campus, this causes me much stress, nervousness, and paranoia. I am a person who highly values privacy, and being forced to live in an area where I am surrounded by other students, RA's, and an RLC is very damaging to my psyche.
We as a community need to stamp out this current system and introduce one where students have freedom, instead of the school having complete control over our lives.
Sheetal Tadiparty
Flickr Creative Commons
