Last Supper

This is my last dinner as a grad student. A super quesadilla from Ocean View Terrace for $5.50. I ate this in the IRPS computer lab while reading some instructions on "printing onto these printers from your computer" that were taped onto the wall.

People order different things at the "Mexican food" line at Ocean View Terrace this year. It was an interesting experiment in determining the demand elasticity among UCSD students. Until this year, the burrito, priced at $4.50, was considered to be the best bang for your buck in the dorms.

Nothing else could fill you up for $4.50 like an Ocean View Terrace burrito could. In fact, it was more than filling for the average student. Its less popular sibling, the super quesadilla, could be had for the same price, but was not nearly as filling.

Before, I envisioned myself enjoying a $4.50 burrito for my last meal at UCSD. I ate many burritos during my time here, and they were not bad. But as the above photo shows, this was clearly not how my dining experience at UCSD ended.

So what happened between the 2007 and 2008 academic years? Commodity prices went up. And then the burrito price suddenly jumped up from $4.50 to $6.50, a 44.4% price increase. You had one less option to fill yourself up for under $5.00.

At this point the UCSD student could make a choice. Either fork out two extra dollars and take the damage for the burrito, or look for cheaper options.

The UCSD student's eyes will then travel down the menu to find the second item listed: the super quesadilla. At a bargain price of $5.50, the prospect of having something less filling as a burrito for a smaller price suddnenly seemed to make sense.

Until this year, most students would line up at the Mexican food booth for the burrito. We are all poor, and thus need the most bang for our buck. It was the logical thing to do.

Strangely enough, the $6.50 burrito has become a luxury good, and students demand less of it; economists would say that the UCSD student's demand for the $6.50 burrito is quite elastic.

Today my last day of class as a student. I will graduate in a few weeks, and then cross off items on my to do list before I depart in March. I may learn to play more Bach pieces on the piano or learn to hit a fast tennis serve. I will not, however, eat a $6.50 Ocean View Terrace burrito, unless someone buys me one.