Ali Jackson | Losing out in the housing lottery

I'm not going to lie - I hate living on campus.

Don't get me wrong. I love my roommates; I love my apartment. But when it comes down to it, for me, the costs outweigh the benefits. Swiping your card, waiting for the elevators, signing people in after 2 a.m. (which I obviously never do), braving the wind tunnel - it's all one big hassle and I can't wait to be rid of it.

But not everyone feels that way.

College sophomore Alaina Williams has lived in Harrison College House - High Rise South, for those of you who can't bother to keep up with the constant name changes - for the past year and plans to stay there for the rest of her Penn career

"I don't want to go through the trouble of finding off-campus housing," she said. Also, she plans to study abroad next fall and was nervous about subletting. "I looked into it, but I couldn't really find any good ones," she lamented. "They were far away and I didn't want to live by myself. Plus, being on campus puts you closer to class."

So, she decided to stay in Harrison.

But, unbeknownst to Williams, Harrison College House changed their in-house lottery system this year. Previously, residents were awarded one point per consecutive semester in Harrison.

This system gave seniority, and hence better room choice, to students who had lived there the longest. Sounds perfect, right?

Now Harrison gives extra weight to freshmen living there. For each semester lived in Harrison as a freshman, students receive two points. This means that first-year Harrison residents can rack up four points in a year, the same amount awarded to juniors in twice that time.

Harrison College House Dean Frank Pellicone, who was behind this policy, said that Harrison is "prioritizing students who lived here freshmen year." He attributed this to the fact that Harrison is now the "premier high rise for the freshman experience" and they want to encourage students to continue living there.

"Our freshmen have been the students who are the most involved in the house," he said. "We want to reward that."

Harrison also awards extra points to students who participate in other house activities.

While this does help ensure that students invested in the house can continue to live there, not everyone has the time to devote to house activities, regardless of how much they love their dorm.

And upperclassmen are losing out.

Williams criticized the new policy.

"It's horrible," she said. "I understand that they give more points to freshmen because it's harder to live in the high rises your first year. But it just means that they're always going to be elevated over the rest of us."

Williams cited her friend who lived in Harrison last year, as a freshman, and had five points going into the lottery. "Even if I live here for the rest of my time at Penn, I'll only be able to get six points total," she said.

Williams and her roommate wanted to apply for a two-bedroom double. "They told us there was no chance we'd get it and that we should apply for something else," she said. "So we signed up for a one-bedroom double. She's going to live in the living room."

To think that there will be juniors and seniors living in a common room while sophomores kick back in spacious singles is ridiculous. I mean, I already hate the people in the four-bedroom quad across the hall from me, and they're older than me.

Pellicone estimates "78 percent of students who applied are very happy with their rooms - they got one of their top-three choices."

But when you think about the choices available, top three is pretty awful for rising seniors who have lived in Harrison since sophomore year. If you're a foursome, top three means the difference between a four-bedroom quad and two one-bedroom doubles.

What's even more ludicrous is that, for the most part, freshmen living in Harrison just happened upon this amazing set-up. Let's face it - how many of them actually applied to live there over the Quad? Most of the freshmen I know in the high rises hate it. On the other hand, upperclassmen have chosen to live in Harrison year after year. They should be rewarded for that.

Or maybe they want upperclassmen out because we know that high-rise windows can withstand, ahem, intense pressure. After all, Harrison residents are likely out for blood after Rodin College House showed them up last year. You never know what they might try. If you need me, I'll be at my window.

Ali Jackson is a Wharton and College sophomore from Cardiff, Calif. Her e-mail address is jackson@dailypennsylvanian.com. A Little Person-Ali-ty appears on Mondays.

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