Opinion: Putting housing lottery numbers to good use
by Jacqueline Hendries
Forum | 2/25/03
Posted online at 4:44 AM EST on 2/25/03
The numbers are out and the scheming is underway; everyone and their brother is trying to figure out how to get decent housing. The whispers are flying everywhere. "When did Ziv go last year?" "Do you think 1103 is good enough for a 10-person Ridgewood?" And, of course, there is the battle cry of the unlucky and desperate: "What number did you get?"
It's the peculiar curse of the Brandeis lottery system that this process is almost as harrowing for the people with excellent numbers as it is for the ones who aren't so lucky. Sure, you know you won't be living in a cardboard box outside of Usdan, but that doesn't make you any less stressed. All of a sudden, everyone's your friend. That hot guy from your USEM who didn't seem to know you existed last semester now wants to share a Rosenthal with you and his six closest friends. People you haven't spoken with since freshman year suddenly reappear, asking which Mod you're going for and whether you need another person.
What's a person in possession of a decent number to do?
Well, if you're Daniel Silverman '05, you start interviewing for roommates. With number 1131 (hence the Web site, http://1131.agblog.com), he figures that he has a good enough number to be pulling people in with him. And, like everyone in that position, he's just looking for some people he can live with.
Unlike other people in that position, though, he's using an application process to figure out who those people are. This involves rating potential roomies on the basis of neatness (50 percent), easygoing-ness (20 percent) and, among other things, their gadgets (5 percent). The most "qualified" applicants will be assembled into the best suite 1131 can get. It almost sounds like BTV65's first attempt at a reality series, a la "The Bachelor" (though I think a parody of "Joe Millionaire" would be more entertaining: "There's something I have to tell you ... I don't really have 1001. Will you still room with me in a shack on Dartmouth Street?"). But, I, for one, think he has the right idea.
It's the peculiar curse of the Brandeis lottery system that this process is almost as harrowing for the people with excellent numbers as it is for the ones who aren't so lucky. Sure, you know you won't be living in a cardboard box outside of Usdan, but that doesn't make you any less stressed. All of a sudden, everyone's your friend. That hot guy from your USEM who didn't seem to know you existed last semester now wants to share a Rosenthal with you and his six closest friends. People you haven't spoken with since freshman year suddenly reappear, asking which Mod you're going for and whether you need another person.
What's a person in possession of a decent number to do?
Well, if you're Daniel Silverman '05, you start interviewing for roommates. With number 1131 (hence the Web site, http://1131.agblog.com), he figures that he has a good enough number to be pulling people in with him. And, like everyone in that position, he's just looking for some people he can live with.
Unlike other people in that position, though, he's using an application process to figure out who those people are. This involves rating potential roomies on the basis of neatness (50 percent), easygoing-ness (20 percent) and, among other things, their gadgets (5 percent). The most "qualified" applicants will be assembled into the best suite 1131 can get. It almost sounds like BTV65's first attempt at a reality series, a la "The Bachelor" (though I think a parody of "Joe Millionaire" would be more entertaining: "There's something I have to tell you ... I don't really have 1001. Will you still room with me in a shack on Dartmouth Street?"). But, I, for one, think he has the right idea.
