Residential Living housing lottery decides fate of on-campus residents

For 715 students and their roommates, it all came down to a single number. The results of Residential Living's Grand Arena lottery were published yesterday, and students across campus eagerly approached their mailboxes to find out their fate. Some were very happy -- they drew low numbers and will most likely be able to live in any room they choose. Others were not so happy -- they drew high numbers and may not get any choice at all. Wharton sophomore and Undergraduate Assembly member Dan Debicella could not have hoped for any better luck. He drew lucky number one. "This is the first thing [in my life] I could really attribute to pure random luck," he said last night. "I have never won the lottery or anything, so this is quite a pleasant surprise." Debicella said he did not know of his fortune until he was called by The Daily Pennsylvanian. "I didn't have a chance to check my mailbox," he said. "I'm shocked by this." He added that it is "mildly ironic" that he won, especially because he may end up in an off-campus apartment. If he stays on campus, he said, he will choose a single room in the high rises. But for those who feel flustered about their lottery number, consider the misfortune of College freshman Dean Amr and Wharton freshman Jason Levine. They drew the last two numbers in the lottery -- 714 and 715, respectively. Levine said last night he was unaware that he had received the lowest number possible. "Great," he said in disgust. "At least I know now." Levine said he had hoped for a single-person room, preferably in the high rises. Amr, who was also looking for a single, said disappointment was his first reaction. "I wasn't too happy to say the least," he said. "At this point there is not a lot of option? I won't be able to get a single, which is clear from the rankings." Amr said he thought of getting a double room with a friend, but the friend also had bad luck -- he drew number 704. "We'll probably end up living off campus," he said. But Associate Director for Occupancy Administration Ellie Rupsis said students should not be worried about their lottery numbers. "We have been able to accommodate everyone who has wanted to live on campus," she said last night. "While it may look bad, I wouldn't be discouraged." Rupsis added that students with poor drawings still have another option -- to go on a waiting list for rooms which open up over the summer. "As they become available we contact you and offer you the room," she said. "If there's a specific type [of room desired] there's a good chance it would turn up over the summer. "We've also had people with high numbers go on the waiting list and get some of the best rooms on campus," she added. Rupsis said the toughest rooms to acquire are two-bedroom doubles with kitchens and four-bedroom quads, because there are "fewer of those in the system altogether." College freshman Seb Askenazy, who drew number 711, said the most aggravating part of the lottery is that there is nothing at all he can do to help himself. "I was pretty ticked off, but you look for somebody to blame [and] you realize there's no other way they could have done it," he said. "You have to suck it in and deal with it." And, Askenazy added, "the prices are kind of high anyway," so even "if you get a bad deal you still have to pay a lot of money." College sophomore Thuy Vu was awarded number two in the lottery, and College junior Anthony Tsao received number three. Both were unavailable for comment last night.