And because of the shorter amount of timestudents have to pick classes, both professors andstudents agree that lotteries--if they are goingto be held--should be announced at the verybeginning of a class.

"An absolute requirement would be that [alottery] is announced ahead of time," says AndreiSmrekar, head section leader for "Modern Art." The"Modern Art" class, popularly known as Spots andDots, has always held a lottery.

"I think it's true that students need some kindof warning," says Boone, who announced that hewould hold a lottery during his first lecture.

Some professors say, however, that they neveranticipated they would need a lottery until it wastoo late.

Rosenfield, for one, says he was expectingabout 50 students, but did not realize that alottery would be necessary until after the secondlecture, which was attended by about 200 students.

"We tried to handle it in the most rational andobjective way we could," he says.

Once a professor decides to have a lottery,there is the equally confusing issue of how todecide who gets in. Professors each have differentrationales--some give preference to juniors andseniors because the class will not be offeredagain in the next two years, others let freshmenand concentrators take the course.

Most professors, however, agree with Boone, whosays that there is always a loss when a lotteryhas to be held. "Every student represents such anopportunity, to establish a threshold is aproblem," he says