Of the names they proposed to the House committee, "Walker, [after James Walker, a former Harvard president] looks like a favorite right now, because it would be the only House named like a street that would be on that street," Mulqueeny says.
"It seemed to be the best thing we could do for South House without costing it a mint," he says, adding that the House would only have to pay for new letterheads and change of address with the post office, as "South House" appears nowhere on the dormitories themselves.
Mulqueeny believes that South House has been viewed as a second-rate House for long enough, and that a new name will boost its image. "We're not a leftover pot anymore. We're different people and we have to start now to keep from feeling like second-rate people," he states.
Although Mulqueeny says his River-bound friends have promised to visit him at South, he is not sure how much faith to put in their pledges. In the meantime, he feels there are plenty of nice people living at South House
Amidst the masses of rising sophomores shifting residences and changing lifestyles, there are a few currently living at the Quad who are content to stay right where they are.
"I know a lot of people who were put here against their will this year, and they ended up liking it O.K.," Elame D. Papafrangos '80 says. After considering a move to the River, Papafrangos and her roommate decided to remain in North House next year. "We were sitting here, trying to list good things about the River, and we'd keep rooting for North House," she explains. "There was just something about the Quad that was our own. Everybody seemed to be going to the River but the Quad had something special," she says.
Adrienne Booth '80, who will remain in South House next year, says she visited almost every River House before the lottery. "The more I saw the River, the more I liked the Quad," she says.
Both Papafrangos and Booth prefer the rooming arrangements in the Quad Houses to those at the Yard and River. "Corridor life is really great. It's much better than entries," Papafrangos feels. "When you live in entries, you have to make a conscious effort to visit other people. On a corridor, you just wander down the hall into someone's room. It's much closer, like a family," she adds.
Booth says she likes the idea of having a single, adding that four or five friends can select rooms on the same floor but still retain their privacy.
Andrea C. Eisenberg '80 of Currier House says her "first and only priority" is having her own room again. "The River Houses all seem beautiful, but as I couldn't get my own room, none of them appealed to me," she explains.
These three students agree that the Quad's distance from Harvard Yard, a factor often regarded as Radcliffe's greatest disadvantage, is actually an advantage for several reasons.
Booth says the distance allows her "to get away from classes at the end of the day." Eisenberg says she likes to go to the Yard when she is "in the mood for a party," adding that she still enjoys coming home to "a place where I can close the door and have a room of my own."
Returning to the Quad for lunch can be inconvenient but Eisenberg says it can be an advantage. She frequently eats lunch at River Houses, meets different people there, and prevents the feeling of isolation some Quad residents complain of.
Jay S. Duker '80 and Harry I. Pass '80, currently roommates in North House, wanted to move to Kirkland House, but were reassigned to North House. They regard themselves and other freshmen who will remain at Radcliffe as the "dinosaurs of the Quad."
"Our kind is becoming extinct. There's not going to be anyone else stuck up here for four years," he says.
The Quad is a nice place to spend freshman year, Duker thinks, but he wanted the chance to experience life in a River House. "It's a pain in the ass to walk to sports from here," he laments, referring to the paucity of athletic facilities near Radcliffe. But Duker and Pass have accepted their fate. Duker says they had anticipated leaving the Quad but, "now, as we face living here for the rest of our collegiate careers, we're getting more involved in the House. Harry talked to Ann Spence [assistant dean of the College] to get basketball courts built here."
Duker says he will miss the "atmosphere" of a River House but heard his roommates might set up a cardboard fireplace in their living room to compensate.
The rising sophomores who will live in the Radcliffe Houses next year, whether by choice or by assignment, are hopeful that life there will be as good, if not better, than life at the River Houses. By discovering the advantages of the Quad and trying to solve its problems, they are determined to make the most of what could otherwise be a woeful situation. Maybe that dreaded spring lottery does not make or break life at Harvard after all.