A FATE WORSE THAN THE QUAD?

Unlike most blocking groups who engaged in rituals by the River, the four residents of Stoughton North celebrated by playing a round of dorm golf—a tradition they started at the beginning of the year. The four first-years played this game by starting on the top floor of the dorm and working their way down until landing a golf ball into a hole set up in a first-floor bedroom.

Earlier this month, the four males expected to be playing this round with four other blockmates.

“Going into the day of blocking, we thought we would have eight, but now we have four,” said Charlton T. Volpe ’07.

Volpe is the lone Californian among his three blockmates who all hail from the East Coast: Matthew R. Conroy ’07, Matthew R. Lynch ’07 and George T. O’Brien ’07.

Among the blockmates, there was a consensus that being placed in Dunster House was worse than being Quaded.

“Dunster will burn down to the ground before we get into it,” said Lynch. “It’s far and it sucks,” concurs Conroy.

Each, however, had his own favorite House. Volpe said he likes Quincy because it brings back fond memories of his first amorous encounter with his girlfriend and it “has nice rooms.”

Conroy looked to the Quad and said his dream House is Pforzheimer because he wants 24-hour access to its “Simpsons” arcade game.

In explaining his housing choices, Lynch said his grandmother worked in Eliot and Winthrop Houses and he also favored their architecture.

TOAST OF THE HOUSES

In Thayer, another blocking group contemplated its housing fates. Daniel A. Koh ’07 said that his blocking group had been thinking about the process all year, although it didn’t finalize its decision until a month before the deadline.

“When you’re in a dorm like Thayer, eight is a small number—you can never have all the people you want in the blocking group,” Koh said.

In an effort to increase the diversity of the Houses, Lewis reduced blocking groups from 16 to eight in spring 2000.

Koh’s eight-member blocking group also consists of John F. Voith ’07, Clinton M. Siegfried ’07, Jason M. Degnan-Rojeski ’07, David A. Sanford ’07, Andrew B. Casey ’07, Robert M. Yribarren ’07 and Erich V. Scheller ’07.