The Winners Are...

As if engaged in some mass rite of spring, hundreds of freshmen each year compete in that venerable tradition, the "Run For The Houses." This year, statistics indicate, 70 per cent of them will wind up in the winner's circle.

Housing administrators have announced that 70 per cent of freshmen have been assigned to their first-choice Houses, while another 14 per cent received their second and third choice Houses.

Most freshmen put their favorite House first, and then used one of a number of popular strategies to avoid being placed in their least favorite Houses (read: Radcliffe Quadrangle), One such ploy was to put a so called "safe" House second or third--a phenomenon that apparently accounts for the over 50 per cent of freshmen who listed the traditionally less popular Mather House in one of the top three slots.

Quincy emerged the clear favorite of the Class of '81. Luckily for them, Quincy had the largest number of openings this year for rising sophomores--a total of 180.

The Run For The Houses has been considerably easier recently because the derby managers decided to adopt a "first-choice maximization" system two years ago.

Under that system, a computer assigns as many rooming groups as possible to their first choice houses, until that House fills up. It then does the same for remaining groups on the second and third rounds. Those still left are randomly assigned to Houses that still have vacancies for rising sophomores.

Now that the first big rite of spring is over, all the anthroplogists are eagerly awaiting the next festival, the "Choosing of the Concentration."

Random numbers, anyone?