At Midterm, a College Determines That 300 of Its Students

question 14

Multiple Choice

At midterm, a college determines that 300 of its students are at risk for suspension this semester. Its tutoring center argues that, with a series of targeted emails encouraging students to come in for help, it can promise to certainly save 100 of those students from suspension. However, an external firm approaches the college with an offer to start a new program, with a 1/3 chance of preventing all 300 students from being suspended (and a 2/3 chance of saving none of these students) . Under which circumstances is the college most likely to hire the external firm?

• A) the tutoring center and the external firm emphasize the number of students to be "saved" in their presentations
• B) the tutoring center and the external firm emphasize the number of students who will be suspended under each of their programs
• C) the tutoring center emphasizes the potential number of students to be suspended, while the external firm emphasizes the potential number of students saved from suspension
• D) both the tutoring center and the external firm place equal emphasis on the students to be "saved" and the students who will be suspended under each approach

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Definitions:

Software Program

A set of instructions and data that tell a computer how to perform specific tasks or operations.

Public Safety

Efforts and services provided by the state or communities to ensure the protection and well-being of the public, including policing, firefighting, and emergency medical services.

Private Market

A sector of the economy where transactions occur between private entities without significant government intervention, dealing in goods, services, and financial assets.

Rival in Consumption

A property of a good whereby one person's use of the good reduces the ability of another person to use the same good.