The Office of Residential Life released housing lottery numbers to students Wednesday under an altered system intended to increase the privacy of the allocated positions. Few students expressed dismay at the new system, while the typical barrage of satisfied students with useful numbers and disgruntled students who were not so successful ensued.
Last year, ResLife provided all lottery numbers on one web site. This year, rankings were presented individually to each student on the Student Services web page. Students had to log in with an ID and password to see their rank.
Most students, like freshman Christina Bernadotte, said the system made sense and operated smoothly. "There isn't any reason for anyone to need to see other people's numbers," Bernadotte said.
One complaint that some students registered, however, was the added difficulty of finding out the numbers of students you intend to live with next year.
Generally, though, students were satisfied with the process. "I didn't like my number very much," Freshman Suzi Ascoli said. "But I didn't have any problems with getting my number. The system works fine."
Students will select their dorm rooms for next year from April 2-11 in Hodgdon Hall. They found out how promising - or, like Ascoli, unlucky - that process will be earlier this week. Rising sophomores and freshmen are guaranteed housing, while rising juniors and seniors are not.
The ResLife office came under fire recently for not following through on its plan to publish the numbers early so as to lessen the burden on rising juniors who are denied housing. The extra month ResLife originally expected would have offered these students more time to scour the saturated local housing market for apartments after seeing their lottery position.
"I feel bad for the sophomores," freshman Marco Enriquez said. "[ResLife] should have adhered to their schedule better."
Rising juniors and seniors are under added stress with housing costs increasing every year. Upperclassmen say they've had to deal with rent increases of up to 50 percent throughout the past few years.
"Finding a house in Medford for less than $600 is almost impossible," sophomore Mike Krafft said. "Anything you find for less than $600 is dingy and far from school, and all the houses on College Ave. are $700 or more and are generally full already.
"If you don't find a house before your first semester exams, you're not in a very good spot," he said.
