2008 Woodie Awards
Housing lottery system should be reorganized
Stacey Metzger
Issue date: 4/16/04 Section: Viewpoint
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Imagine the whole sophomore class stuffed into the lobby of Laska. It's one of the first hot, sunny days at the end of April, but it doesn't matter. There are many people angry and some are so upset that they are close to tears. The unlucky ones are stuck there for at least four hours. This would be the process of the housing lottery. Some say it's the easiest way to lose a friend.
The situation can be remedied though. The lack of technology used in this process is astonishing. The housing lottery is in need of a makeover and we, as students, need to take action to change it. The lottery needs to become computerized in order to make the process easier and less of a hassle.
The lottery at Assumption is systematically the worst of any college of which I have heard. I have had one very bad experience myself where a relationship between my friends was damaged. I was heading into my junior year and we were planning on trying to get into North or South. This idea seemed plausible even though we knew we were not sure we would get in. There were a good number of juniors living in North and South our freshman and sophomore years so our group, as well as many others, decided to go for it. We realized, as the time got closer for the actual lottery, that a majority of the senior class seemed to be going for North and South. This was when we become aware that we needed to drop someone in order to get into Wachusett.
After we talked about to whom we would give the bad news, we had to let her know. This put a lot of stress on the friendships involved. It took weeks before everything got worked out, and we all still felt horrible about the incident. This happened because we recognize that if one is made to reshuffle on lottery night, it can be even more disastrous because you have to drop to the end of the line and regroup. We were trying to escape the drama made by that situation and still ended up with a small crisis.
Assumption needs to take a stand and move into the modern world of a computerized housing lottery. Most other schools use a computer accessible program that lets students tap into it and complete the task themselves. These programs are designed to be easier, with less time and less stress involved.
The situation can be remedied though. The lack of technology used in this process is astonishing. The housing lottery is in need of a makeover and we, as students, need to take action to change it. The lottery needs to become computerized in order to make the process easier and less of a hassle.
The lottery at Assumption is systematically the worst of any college of which I have heard. I have had one very bad experience myself where a relationship between my friends was damaged. I was heading into my junior year and we were planning on trying to get into North or South. This idea seemed plausible even though we knew we were not sure we would get in. There were a good number of juniors living in North and South our freshman and sophomore years so our group, as well as many others, decided to go for it. We realized, as the time got closer for the actual lottery, that a majority of the senior class seemed to be going for North and South. This was when we become aware that we needed to drop someone in order to get into Wachusett.
After we talked about to whom we would give the bad news, we had to let her know. This put a lot of stress on the friendships involved. It took weeks before everything got worked out, and we all still felt horrible about the incident. This happened because we recognize that if one is made to reshuffle on lottery night, it can be even more disastrous because you have to drop to the end of the line and regroup. We were trying to escape the drama made by that situation and still ended up with a small crisis.
Assumption needs to take a stand and move into the modern world of a computerized housing lottery. Most other schools use a computer accessible program that lets students tap into it and complete the task themselves. These programs are designed to be easier, with less time and less stress involved.