I would like to respond to Michael Miller's column concerning the sophomore housing lottery. After working for two years in the housing office and playing a role in housing all years of students, I think the view he presented is slightly skewed.

First of all, I'm glad someone has brought light to the housing lottery. In working in the office, "lottery season" can be quite the headache. Some may say that is because the system is complicated and to those who think that I ask - what else would you do?

In the previous article, it stated that the underlying flaw is simply that it is due to disciplinary points. The junior/senior lottery is based heavily on credit hour,\ and also on merit.

There is no possible way to denote this system to the sophomore class due to the fact that the university assigns your first semester of credit hours. It would be the university dictating not only classes, but who lived where their sophomore year since it is based on credit hour - it's a catch-22 that isn't an effective placement tool.

External factors were also addressed in the previous article that sometimes write-ups are "out of [the student's] control" or they were "in the wrong place at the wrong time" because they are actually "good kids." Yes, there are different standards on every floor, but unless times have changed since I was a freshman, I believe these are to be posted in a spot so that any visitor is aware of such community standards.

Think about each floor being a different relative's house: they all have their preferences and rules, and as a visitor you abide by those. This is the same idea behind each floor being a community and setting their own standards. As a guest, it is your responsibility to be aware of such standards. More and more we as students must be aware of our behavior, whether it is in representing an organization or just ourselves. Simply be aware of your actions, and you'll be fine!

Finally, I'd like to address the point of considering GPA and involvement on campus in the lottery. Year after year [I get the classic call from a parent- "my daughter has a 3.9 and why is she STUCK in Marycrest?"

First and foremost, let's consider GPA. An engineering major, a business major, a premed major and an education major may all have the same GPAs; however, there is no "right" way to compare GPAs due to the fact that the classes taken have varying levels of difficulty and they're in different colleges. Who's to say "Oh well, engineering is harder than education" or vice versa. While it may be your personal opinion, everyone's differs. Which office on campus would you like to denote that some other major is "harder" than your very own? Certainly not Residence Life.

Second, you're never "stuck" where you live. Seniors who had to live in Stuart or Founders who may have thought the world was over when they received their assignment learned to love it and found their best friends in college there. There is no being "stuck" at UD because it eventually all works out. It's your mindset that gets you "stuck" - not the university's policies; that mindset is clearly unnecessary and negative.

While it may be a great idea as well to add some sort of service hours to placing sophomores, think of it logistically. How would you track the hours? Who would do that? Do you really think the university would hire someone to do just that? And what if that got messed up - then how would you correct it?

In closing, by having the sophomore year lottery based solely on discipline points, it may seem unfair. Yet, every UD student has had to face the same lottery in the past years - this is not a new system.

And if anyone is so concerned with being "stuck" in Marycrest or Marianist then it's in their own hands to be on good behavior knowing the standards the university has set.

The housing office comes under scrutiny every year and obviously, I have a biased opinion, but I think instead of saying "this system stinks, you people stink" we need to start saying THANK YOU to the office that puts a roof over our head from year to year and are more than willing to help you along the way to understand the process.

The efforts and time it takes to allow the lottery to be effective should not be overlooked simply because people did not get placed where they wanted - there are only so many beds in each hall. Be smart in choosing your groups, know your actions and your friends' actions, and you will be fine.

Residence Life is always open to taking questions about the lottery. Feel free to call them at 229-3317. There is never a bad question, and - speaking from experience - EVERYONE in that office is more than willing to help a student - any day, any time. The ball's in your court.