When fair does not fare so well
Residence allocation at Rhodes is determined by how early you pay your Minimum Initial Payment (MIP). A source within the SRC recently told me that the system works in the following manner:
There is a list of residences, those closest to campus being the ones at the top of the list and those furthest (i.e the hill) appearing right at the bottom of the list.
Students are then allocated residences using the list as well as the list of MIP made. What this means is that the student who paid first (unless they request otherwise) gets the ‘top of the list residence,’ also the residence closest to campus resources. While the student who pays last lands up on the hill, far from the labs, library and lecture halls.
What is unfortunate about this system is that more often than not, the student most likely to pay first is also the one with the car and the laptop; the one who can actually afford to live on the hill (pun intended).
The fact that he/she struggled to gather plus minus R21 000 together, leads me to believe that it is most likely that the student who pays last has neither a personal computer nor a car. That he, in fact is the one who, unless they request otherwise, needs to be placed closest to university resources.
Perhaps Rhodes should take this in to consideration. Money does not always have to be the deciding factor. Fare does not always make fair.
There is a list of residences, those closest to campus being the ones at the top of the list and those furthest (i.e the hill) appearing right at the bottom of the list.
Students are then allocated residences using the list as well as the list of MIP made. What this means is that the student who paid first (unless they request otherwise) gets the ‘top of the list residence,’ also the residence closest to campus resources. While the student who pays last lands up on the hill, far from the labs, library and lecture halls.
What is unfortunate about this system is that more often than not, the student most likely to pay first is also the one with the car and the laptop; the one who can actually afford to live on the hill (pun intended).
The fact that he/she struggled to gather plus minus R21 000 together, leads me to believe that it is most likely that the student who pays last has neither a personal computer nor a car. That he, in fact is the one who, unless they request otherwise, needs to be placed closest to university resources.
Perhaps Rhodes should take this in to consideration. Money does not always have to be the deciding factor. Fare does not always make fair.
