Lottery Needs Changing

To the Editors of the Crimson:

I was alarmed at the change in the recent freshman housing choice surveys. The March 12th article points out that many frosh based their choice on the "difficulty of getting into a house." It is apparent that the new system encourages freshmen to put even more of a premium on this old criterion.

The common element of the old and new systems that creates this problem is the "maximization of first choice" principle. Once lottery numbers are assigned, the Freshman Dean's Office runs through the list of first choices granting each rooming group its first choice contingent on its availability. Then, it goes through the same process with the second and third choice list. In this system, there is an incentive to outguess the competition. A person could increase his chances of success by putting down a less desirable house. This strategic behavior defeats the purpose of house selection. Freshmen are supposed to make their selections on the merits of a house alone.

I propose a new system. Unlike the present system, frosh would be required to rank all houses in order of preference. Then, similar to how it was done under the old system, a lottery would assign numbers secretly to each rooming group. Then, the FDO would grant each group's wishes according to its lottery number and preference list. The rooming group that received number one would receive their top choice. The rest of the rooming groups in order would then get their top choice contingent on its availability. Freshmen would then be notified of the results.

This house selection process offers two advantages over the old and new system. First, it would reduce the anxiety and tension felt in the Yard during house selection time. Second, houses would be selected by frosh on merit alone. Erick Kaardal '88