"We know it's easier if you know somebody in the Yard and can just spend the night there," Mauricette says.

According to some residents, the relative comfort of the rooms and the long corridors that resemble a hotel more than a Harvard entry way discourage socializing.

"Our rooms are incredible...and I feel little motivation to trek into the main campus," says Rob Lucier '96 of Carlise, Mass.

Even the much ballyhooed T-shirts have proved to be a disappointment to some. One resident, who requested anonymity, compares Nathans's attempt to dub Garden St. "29 G" to poultry giant Kentucky Fried Chicken's bid to remake itself as the hip-hop "KFC."

"In the beginning, I tried to say '29 G' but Garden Street is easier to say," says Zikherman. "Plus, the shirt is too big so I only sleep in it."

As for the nightlife, Garden Street is not a den of inequity by any stretch of the imagination. According to some residents, several first-year parties have been broken up by overzealous proctors as soon as the first soundwave escapes in to the hall.

One Garden St. party that got too loud resulted in a letter from Young to the resulted. In the letter from Young said Hathaway H. Green, director of community relations, had received a call from a Cambridge resident complaining of "loud noise coming from the building." (see related story, page 1.)

The letter, door-dropped last Tuesday, instructed residents "to behave in a more thoughtful and considerate manner in the future."

Some residents say they read Young's letter as a message to party elsewhere. And many say they are heeding that advice.

"I don't know if it's because there are neighbors living near here, but proctors are very strict," says Seth Weintrob '96, as he and his roommate prepared an afternoon snack of noodles on their stove. "But we're usually in the Yard at night anyway."

For all the talk, many Garden residents concede that their main complaint is the distance between their rooms and the Yard, indisputably the center of student life.

They talk constantly of "The Walk," a trek most make at least four times a day. According to an informal Crimson investigation, it takes six minutes and 866 steps to make the walk from 29 Garden St. to the Yard's North Gate. The walk would take even longer if you don't take the shortcut through the Cambridge Common.

Some Garden residents have already bought bicycles to avoid The Walk. A special shuttle runs between the dorm and the Union during the break-fast and dinner hours, but service has been erratic to this point, several residents say.

The Walk, however, is not all bad, say some residents.

"I really don't mind the walk at all," says Sara Saperstein '96 of Clayton, MO. "I really need to get exercise after all."