Nesson, who turned down the offer and who tried unsuccessfully to replace the Kielys this year says he doesn't remember meeting with an official search committee.

This year, the Adams House search committee--students included--questioned Nesson extensively at thier dinner meeting with him.

"The dinner went well. Fern thought I could have been more enthusiastic, but I thought I was pretty enthusiastic," Nesson says, adding that the questions at dinner aimed to determine "if we were authoritarian types or not, if we'd be eating there or not, if we were going to make the environment flower."

But according to Associate Dean for the House System Thomas A. Dingman '67, the committees are also charged with looking for that extra something that makes for a great master.

"The right person could do this job without being special," Dingman says.

By the same token, McAfee says there's another component to a master than just doing the job.

"You're going to have a dammed cold House is the master just follows the job description," he says. "You realize that it is that something 'more' that brings the House warmth."