More than a quarter of the freshman class failed to pick up their lottery applications by the scheduled March 4 deadline, forcing Colvin to track the missing Yardlings down and give them their forms.

One of the 432 delinquent freshmen, Christopher J. Fox '90, said at the time, "One way or another it'll get done." And get done it did. Two weeks later, all 495 freshman blocking groups turned in their house choice forms on time.

Meanwhile, Yardlings experienced confusion and crises as they became the second class to receiver their lottery numbers and tried to figure out what houses to live in.

Although Colvin said this year's freshmen were much calmer than the Class of 1989, many freshmen still tried to cheat the lottery game and changed their first choices in an attempt to find houses that would have space for them.

"It was a pretty bad scene the whole time. This system seems to yield itself to a lot of worrying," said Undergraduate Council member Jeff A. Cooper '90, who observed the running of the computer program.

Playing the Numbers

An unscientific Crimson poll conducted before lottery numbers were distributed on March 12 found that more than a third of the freshman class said they would change their first-choice houses if they received a number in the 300s.

Accordingly, a second poll taken after house choice forms were submitted found that more than 50 percent of the frosh with numbers larger than 250 did not list their favorite houses as their first choices.

Although Winthrop and Quincy led the pack in that first survey, garnering 16 percent of the vote each, the second poll found that Leverett had catapulted to the lead with 17 percent of the vote.

Not all of those who changed their first choices had bad Numbers. Although Wendel C. Ocasio '90 and his roommate had planned to list Cabot House as their first choice, they reconsidered their plans on learning that their group was number one on the list.

"The fact that we were number on made us choose the house we really wanted to live in," said Ocasio, who ultimately selected Quincy House.

And not everyone who had a bad number changed their choice. Claire M. Valente '90, who received lottery number 495, said she still listed her rooming group's first choice of Dunster House.

Those who did try to play the lottery game depended on Crimson surveys, word of mouth and sometimes their own hard work.

One rooming groups polled classmates as they submitted their house choice forms at University Hall on March 16.

"We did it more for curiosity than anything else," said amateur pollster Heather S. Cross '90. But their survey of between 150 and 200 freshmen did help them pick a house, Cross said. "We saw from the survey alone that there were too many people putting down Dunster for us to get in," said Cross, who had number 338. She said she and her roommates finally listed Adams as their first-choice house.