Lottery system has to change
January 29, 2004
Simpson’s room selection process is entirely unjust, unbalancedand out of tune with the “Simpson experience.” According to theSimpson homepage, “The student development office strives to servestudents and the campus community through a ‘holistic’ studentapproach-which recognizes student needs in the areas ofintellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, career, and physicaldevelopment.” The Residence Life Department should make a note ofthat.
Instead of making lottery numbers completely random, studentsshould be rewarded for participation in extra-curricular activitiesor community service, high GPAs and club memberships-the kinds ofactivities that are necessary in a “holistic student approach.”
Students who are more active on campus should obviously berewarded in some way and campus housing is an obvious place tostart. Residence Life could devise a point system based on campusparticipation and factor that in to the existing lottery system.For example, students with GPAs of 3.0 or higher automaticallyqualify for better numbers. Athletes should qualify for highernumbers. Club officers should qualify for higher numbers.
Not only would this reward the deserving students, it wouldpromote the “Simpson experience.” Students would have extramotivation to participate in campus groups or strive for highergrades.
Students would actually play an active role in their roomselection instead of apathetically hoping for a good number.
It is absolutely ridiculous that Simpson still uses this asininelottery system for room selection.