know your ho-co

It is in your best interest to get in good with a House Committee--because they have lots of money to spend. And their job is to spend it on you. House Committee representatives report standard purchases: air hockey and foosball tables, seasonal hiking and skiing trips, sophomore orientation activities, big-screen TVs, Grille kitchens, weight room and athletic equipment and film screenings.

Former treasurer of the Kirkland House Committee Sam Yagan '99, admits that allocation of HoCo funds are "based on the whim of the people present at any particular meeting." Inevitably, committees favor certain investments: Kirkland's HoCo subsidizes the Boat Club; Cabot's Weight Room "Czar" Marty Thiry '00, requested $3,000 to refurbish the weight room, and Lowell's HoCo succeeded in extending dining hall hours. Apportioning is also made in the name of the zany and the philanthropic, from Leverett HoCo's $200 kazoo purchase for their Winter Carnival to Kirkland House's support of a dining hall employee whose house had burned down.

Grand social events often serve as the pinnacles of House revelry. Every house has its fete, but factioned representatives widely differ on what degree of exclusivity will best foster House camaraderie. Yagan remembers when his own HoCo considered it best to reach beyond Harvard's circle to have a good time. They considered busing in peers from a nearby all-women's college to host a party for the two schools (motion denied by the female contingency at the meeting). Other Houses think locally and host multi-House events; Leverett, Dunster and Lowell join in an annual Tri-House Formal. And then there are those committees that would keep their resident blood pure by taking pains to restrict attendance to House members. Leverett HoCo treasurer Matthew T. Feng '01 bitterly recalls when word leaked of their upcoming Taco Bell study break, "Miscellaneous athletes with athletic appetites and teammates in tote" arrived to devour many of the 800 tacos. Although Feng remembers that "lots of tacos did mean lots of love," he confides to FM that Leverett's next Taco Bell study break may be an invitation-only "black-tie burrito bash;" hopefully the attire would deter eaters from using their tee-shirts as doggy bags and scooping food on the way back to their own Houses. It seems he'd prefer love from Leverites.