Many of the dorm's residents say the FDOappears to have taken what they wrote on theirhousing forms into account, grouping them withstudents who had similar habits and levels ofsociability. Many of them circled a sociabilitylevel of 4 or 5-with 5 being the most social-ontheir housing forms.

In the summer before first-years arrive, theFDO requires students to complete housingapplications in which they are asked to describetheir ideal roommate. They also indicate personalhabits, such as their preferred level of neatness,the hours they keep and their favorite types ofmusic.

Nathans emphasizes that Harvard housing is"still done 'by hand' by the three assistantdeans" as opposed to a computer sorting systemused at other colleges, in order to try to createthe best possible living situations. But shewrites that Harvard "is committed to ensuringthat students experience in our dormitories and inthe Houses as well as within the classroom thechallenges of living and working with individualswhose back grounds, interests, values, and beliefsdiffer form their own."

But many of the Pennypacker athletes say theyenjoy living without such "challenges." They saythey like the company of others who come hometired at night after a hard day of practice andwho keep up with sports scores and watch games.

"I think it's pretty cool. Coming in I alreadyknew some guys," says varsity football player EricM.C. Lahaie '02, who lives on the first floor ofPennypacker with a varsity soccer player, avarsity water polo player and a rower.

"I wanted at least one roommate to be anathlete so I could have someone to relate to,"Lahaie says.

Others say ensuring roommate compatibilityshould only go so far and say they wish wereexperiencing more of the diversity of Harvard.

"I love it, but I also feel like I am missingout sometimes," says Carrie M. McGraw '02, who wasrecruited for track and field, and lives with twocoxswains for first-year crew. "I said I didn'twant to be necessarily paired up with otherathletes."

Nathans acknowledges that the FDO, in itsattempts to give appropriate consideration tostudent preferences, "often...find[s] that we havebrought together more students of similarbackgrounds, interests, or even ethnicities thanwe aspire to do.

"We deeply regret such situations, and whenthey occur, we work hard to diversify students'experience and acquaintances in other ways," shewrites.

But the students and prefects say the housingsituation in Pennypacker has been a success.

"I don't think it's a problem at all," saysMarianne E. McPherson '01, a Pennypackerfourth-floor prefect. The distribution "doesn'tseem random, but I do think it's working. They'rea great group."

Students and prefects say the group as a wholereflects the racial diversity of the College, evenif many of the minority students are groupedtogether.

Laura. I. Martinez '02, from Puerto Rico, livesin a suite on the fourth floor of Pennypacker withtwo international students, both from Asia, and anAsian-American student.

"We account for all of the diversity on thisfloor." Martinez says. "I'm fine with it."