To Quad or not to Quad--that was the question.

Days of anticipation, speculation and turmoil finally came to an abrupt close, as first-year housing assignments were distributed yesterday morning.

For some, the occasion brought squeals of delight. For others, the morning confirmed their worst fears.

While many first-years dealt with their disappointment through vocal outbursts, others took a more visual approach. "Hug me, I got Mathered," read one sign in Stoughton Hall.

In the aftermath of the momentous hour, first-years were left to question why they had received such a delightful--or disastrous--destiny.

According to Greg G. Lau '99, a late-night seance ritual with his blockmates may have saved a fate in the Quad.

"We sat around a candle and prayed to the housing gods," Lau says. "We were rewarded with a river house...I'm definitely down with Dunster."

Others, such as Jeff S. Gleason '99, were not able to harness such powers.

"We planned to go to the Quad for a Sunday brunch and exorcise all the Quad demons from ourselves," Gleason says.

Gleason and his blockmates, however, ended up having brunch in one of the river houses--to their dismay they were assigned to Pforzheimer House.

"We didn't use the rituals properly so it worked against us," Gleason says. "Mike's mom didn't send him the tea leaves."

While some students took the supernatural path, other first-years tried to do what they could to circumvent the system.

"Two people in my blocking group tried to get medical excuses that were kind of shady, but they didn't go through," says Sarah W. Houghteling '99.

And when the preparations were over, many first-years could hardly wait for the fateful housing notice. A sizable contingent of students even stayed up all night, lying in wait for the harbingers of housing.

Six couriers from the housing office hand-delivered the computer printouts sealed in envelopes between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m.