And Cabot has never been wanting for facilities. Of all the houses, rooming is consistently the best. No Dunster closet-doubles here. And no silly 2:30 a.m. fire alarms.

Beautiful duplexes fit for the Back Bay sport skylights and late night romantic views of downtown Boston. The JCR is bigger than some house dining halls, with a great grille that stays open an unheard-of seven nights a week.

Sure, Cabot has its problems, among them the perception of a poor social scene. But it's a great case study in how randomization can dramatically enhance a house community, and with any luck, this year's improvements will actually induce some hardy souls to put down Cabot as one of their housing choices--instead of just putting it down in jeering conversation.   --Ivan Oransky

Currier House

I suppose that if I'm trying to pick a time that best defines Currier House for me, I should talk about one of my 2:30 a.m. post-Crimson arrivals via the escort service--in the snow. Currierites, by definition, should probably qualify for some serious frequent-walker miles.

But instead, I'm going to describe a day when I never once left the cinderblock walls of my house. I didn't have to. And if you just have to exercise, all of Currier's open space is great for bicycle riding.

After breakfast I went to sit in our Fishbowl for a while, trying to delay studying for my exam the next day. The past Saturday night, a group of Currierites had, for some reason, moved a few things into the Fishbowl Like the Gilbert Lower Main furniture. And the Tuchman Living Room television. And every video game we own.

But the rest of my day turned out to be uneventful. I went upstairs and studied by myself for a while (in my roomy single), then with group of friends (from Currier--when you live far from the river, you find out who your true friends really are).

Hall bonding really can help your GPA. At about 9:30 p.m., we went to the first Currier exam period study break. We had cookies and milk, served in the Fishbowl.

As I chewed on my chocolate cookie, I looked around at the multitude of Currierites. I saw jocks talking with one of the house musicians. Tutors and pre-meds cheerfully maimed video game villains. Socialites exchanged complaints with devoted House Committee members.

I've tried to come up with a single unifying theme that characterized this day, in order to tell why it so defined Currier for me. It wasn't exciting. It wasn't sad. It wasn't joyful.

In fact, it was pretty--dare I say it--random.

But that's the way it is up here. And we love it that way.   --Marion B. Gammill

Dunster House

The annual goat roasts, the Dunster Feud game shows, the off-the-wall formals...while these House Committee events are all sufficiently fun and wacky, they don't define What Dunster House Means To Me.