Lotteries Drive Students to Extremes

To win a coveted place in a lotteried Core course, students often go to great lengths.

Take Vandana L. Madhavan '98, whose roommate, Kristy L. Garcia '98, was too sick to go to Literature and Arts B-33: "Frank Lloyd Wright and Modern Architecture" yesterday morning. After taking Garcia to University Health Services, Madhavan went to Sanders Theatre to fill out a lottery form for her roommate.

Such desperate measures were the mark of a shopping week which combined few Core offerings with crowded classes and students struggling to fulfill requirements.

Although only three Core courses--Literature and Arts B-51: "First Nights: Five Performance Premieres" and Science B-29: "Human Behavioral Biology," in addition to "Frank Lloyd Wright"--were selectively lotteried, the process continued to cause uncertainty as students scrambled to find backup classes for their first choice Core class.

Core Program officials, however, said this semester will not set new records in terms of lotteries or course offerings.

"It's certainly not an unusual year for large numbers of lotteries," said Susan W. Lewis, director of the Core Program.

Once a course has been moved to the largest available room, Lewis said, enrollment is determined by firecode restrictions and the number of teaching fellows hired.

In "Frank Lloyd Wright," which the Core Program moved from the Sackler Museum auditorium to Sanders Theatre after more than 1000 students came to the course's first meeting, 490 out of 519 students were granted places in the lottery last night.

"Human Behavioral Biology"--popularly known among students as "Sex"--did not have the option of moving to Sanders, the largest auditorium on campus, which seats over 1200.

Because Sanders doesn't have the "technical capabilities" to accomodate the course, Science B-29 meets in Science Center B, Lewis said.

"First Nights" has similar restraints on enrollment; because of its musical component, the course must meet in Paine Hall, which only seats 440. The class was lotteried last night.

Students involved in the Literature and Arts lotteries were hopeful last night.

"I think I have an okay chance," said Peter A. Kellogg '99, who entered the lotteries for both "First Nights" and "Frank Lloyd Wright."

Kellogg, who was lotteried out of Science B-29 last year, said he thought the overcrowded lotteried classes were the result of a lack of Core choices.

"I think they should definitely offer more Cores," he said. "They should get rid of Cores that don't have many people in them and replace them with interesting Cores."

As for students who are lotteried out of a course, Lewis advised them to keep trying. Because students who win places in a lottery often decide not to take the class, spots often open up afterward, she said.

"In some Literature and Arts Cores, over 100 places often aren't used," she said.

For this reason, she said, students who plan not to use their lottery slot should contact the head TF for the course.

According to Elisabeth Swain '63, associate director of the Core Program, the organization of Shopping Week makes it difficult for professors to hire the correct number of teaching fellows and for administrators to place classes in rooms of the correct size.

"It's hard for us to project which classes will be 160 students and which will be 200," Swain said.

But Lewis said that despite the obvious organizational problems shopping week presents, the institution is valuable.

"One of the real strengths of Harvard is shopping," she said. "But there's an uncertainty that's hard on everybody--professors, teaching fellows, undergraduates.

Kellogg, who was lotteried out of Science B-29 last year, said he thought the overcrowded lotteried classes were the result of a lack of Core choices.

"I think they should definitely offer more Cores," he said. "They should get rid of Cores that don't have many people in them and replace them with interesting Cores."

As for students who are lotteried out of a course, Lewis advised them to keep trying. Because students who win places in a lottery often decide not to take the class, spots often open up afterward, she said.

"In some Literature and Arts Cores, over 100 places often aren't used," she said.

For this reason, she said, students who plan not to use their lottery slot should contact the head TF for the course.

According to Elisabeth Swain '63, associate director of the Core Program, the organization of Shopping Week makes it difficult for professors to hire the correct number of teaching fellows and for administrators to place classes in rooms of the correct size.

"It's hard for us to project which classes will be 160 students and which will be 200," Swain said.

But Lewis said that despite the obvious organizational problems shopping week presents, the institution is valuable.

"One of the real strengths of Harvard is shopping," she said. "But there's an uncertainty that's hard on everybody--professors, teaching fellows, undergraduates.