2. The Rawlsian plan. So named by my suitemate who transferred from the Quad and feels that no one, under the "veil of ignorance," would choose to live there. Random or not, he argues, the system is at base unjust if it makes some people live unfairly disadvantaged for three years.

One such answer is the Sophomore Quad: all first-years in and around the Yard, all sophomores in and around the Quad. This would require some renovation/construction to fit everyone. This system would make housing over the lifetime of the Harvard student more equitable, at a rather great cost--it would cut down on interaction between sophomores, juniors and seniors. Another drawback is denying the rights of those who (however strangely) like to live in the Quad; but we do kick people out of the Yard after a year, so the were policy would fly with these folk too.

3. The Brown plan. Maybe the best thing to do is to throw in the towel when it comes to the Houses and adopt a plan like Brown's upperclass student housing: beyond the first year, all the College's housing is in one big lottery. Students would pick rooming groups and then compare all the factors, from size to distance from the Yard to view, and chose year-by-year what is best given their lottery pick. Houses will not have an equal distribution of sophomores, juniors and seniors, but the best housing will be more judiciously distributed, students will have more varied experiences and the system will encourage more College community, if not community within the individual Houses. The end of attachment to a certain House community isn't much of a loss; with randomization, overall College community seems the only viable option anyway.

There is no easy answer, but we must come to see the House system is dead and it is time to move on. Bigger changes than eight-person blocking groups are necessary in order to bring community back to the Houses with more than random luck.

Adam I. Arenson '00-'01 is a history and literature concentrator in Lowell House. His column appears on alternate Mondays.