Sounds like a pretty cool place -- one that served a purpose. And to a less extreme extent, as a goody-two-shoes who opted for a dorm with a somewhat countercultural (artsy/gay, when that was still at least a bit edgy) reputation, I can sympathize.
It also sounds like MIT admin might need a refresher on causation vs. correlation: if the dorm housing some of its most vulnerable students has a lower graduation rate (or a higher drug-use rate), is that really a surprise? Will the same students actually do better if dispersed around the campus (especially a campus where people get to choose a dorm their first year)? Sounds like they're going to find out. I hope they've actually acknowledged their hypothesis and designed a way to test it.
Sounds like a pretty cool place -- one that served a purpose. And to a less extreme extent, as a goody-two-shoes who opted for a dorm with a somewhat countercultural (artsy/gay, when that was still at least a bit edgy) reputation, I can sympathize.
ReplyDeleteIt also sounds like MIT admin might need a refresher on causation vs. correlation: if the dorm housing some of its most vulnerable students has a lower graduation rate (or a higher drug-use rate), is that really a surprise? Will the same students actually do better if dispersed around the campus (especially a campus where people get to choose a dorm their first year)? Sounds like they're going to find out. I hope they've actually acknowledged their hypothesis and designed a way to test it.