[tibbon]

Interestingly enough, many students there currently are all about 'keeping tradition' and are very adverse against change. There's an uproar currently over potentially required purchase of dining hall plans. In the not too distant past, they had such as well from what I understand, but now students want to keep things as they were.

[Thunder_Child]

As a current MIT undergraduate, I would say that this isn't the whole story. The reason that people are in an uproar about the new dining hall plan is not that we dislike change. It is because the new plan will cost incoming students an additional $3,000 per semester (students already enrolled will only have to pay $2,500). Also, our administration was dishonest in drawing up these plans (releasing them for student input during finals week, blatantly ignoring the input we are currently providing).

EDIT: well, maybe not blatantly ignoring our current input, but the concessions that they are making are too little too late in my opinion

[tibbon]

Yea, you're right. It isn't just about the action, but the way the administration isn't listening. It's probably a poor example of the way I've seen students want to keep traditions.

I've often heard, "Oh, the (parties|hacks|accomplishments|steer roast) was better years ago, and now all the incoming students don't do it the same anymore". There's a weird looking back on things, and today is never as good as yesterday to some students. I hope that this is due to a missampling on my part in talking to people, because that's a really depressing view of the institution

[andreyf]

Is it just me, or would one expect the dining hall system to be open to use for anyone who is a student (and their facebook friends)?