This morning at 9:30 a.m., rising seniors Emily Rosenberg and Claire Blakey, both CC ’09, will experience the moment that all Columbia undergraduates dream of: taking the first pick in the housing lottery.

Room selection, that annual tradition, kicks off today and along with it a week of number crunching and friendship drama in John Jay Lounge. One thing is certain: within the fortnight, every non-senior Columbian will have selected accommodations for next year. Some questions remain, however—chief among them, the impact that the recent renovations of Ruggles will have on the order that suites are selected.

One group of rising seniors is not leaving things to chance. The collection of six, who apparently received a low lottery number, sent an anonymous e-mail to all of the seniors ahead of them offering financial incentives to trade spots.

“Due to special circumstances among our friends, we are extremely eager to obtain an EC suite,” they wrote, adding, “Obviously, we know that there would be no reason for you to help us out, but we were hoping that with monetary compensation some of you would consider a swap.”

No word yet on whether they found a seller.

The more fortunate, Rosenberg and Blakey—proud holders of number 36, the highest priority 30-point group— won’t actually get to savor their moment in John Joy Lounge. They are both abroad and relying on a proxy, which Rosenberg said makes even this best case scenario “nerve-wracking.”

But they are unlikely to get much sympathy from Andrew Siegler, CC ‘11, who along with fellow first-year Alexander Chun received the dubious distinction of the second-worst lottery position, with a number of 2970 and a point value of 10. Siegler conceded that the circumstances make their appointment time all but meaningless. At this point, he said, he is just hoping that karma will work in his favor in future years.

jacob.schneider@columbiaspectator.com