Charter fills after first round; Cap, Cottage draw high numbers

An even distribution of students among the sign-in clubs and a high number of Bickerees — especially to Cottage Club — have marked the advent of 2002 Bicker and sign-ins.

Celebrating a New England Patriots Superbowl victory and a successful sign-in process, members from the six sign-in clubs arrived at the doors of 335 sophomores last night to welcome them to Prospect Avenue.

Similar to last year, Charter Club led the sign-in numbers, accepting 94 students with 21 on the wait-list. Though Terrace Club filled up during the first round last year along with Charter, 87 students drew into Terrace this year, leaving a few spaces empty for second round. Cloister Inn and Colonial Club accepted 44 and 42 students, respectively, while Quandrangle club increased from a low 17 incoming members in 2001 to 28 this year. Campus Club welcomed 20 students, dropping from 27 last year.

"We're pleased with the fact that the numbers are evenly distributed," said Interclub Council Adviser Alice Teti '00. She attributed this even distribution to several factors.

The sign-in sheet itself was redesigned, and instructions were added to clarify the sign-in process. Also, instead of having students fill in blank spaces with their choices, all clubs were listed to highlight the gamut of choices available to students.

In addition, Teti, who heads the lottery process, sat at the sign-in table throughout the process this year. "I personally spoke to a decent amount of people signing in and emphasized the presence of all the other clubs students may have overlooked," she said.

In 2001, many sophomores filled in only a first choice, leaving 100 sophomores without an eating club. This year the trend was broken, as only six students who attempted to sign in failed to draw into a club.

A particularly high number of students bickering Cottage jumpstarted the day's festivities. A total of 168 students entered the crowd of water-balloon-pelting Cottage members yesterday afternoon. In close contention with the 180 bickerees reported to have shown up at Cap and Gown in 2001, Cottage led the pack of bicker clubs in popularity among sophomores and juniors, Teti said.

Tower opened its doors to 135 students yesterday, while 105 Bickerees — a smaller number than in past years — chose Ivy . Officers said, however, that they expect at least 15 more to participate in the coming sessions.

Ninety-five students came to Bicker at Tiger Inn. The number of Cap and Gown Bickerees was unavailable at press time.

According to Teti, the number of students who chose to bicker was "extremely high across the board this year." Teti continued, "Bicker club presidents worked really hard to let students know more about the process. They took proactive measures to remove a bit of the intimidating factor that traditionally goes along with Bickering."

Teti gave the example of the tea hosted by Cottage women earlier in the year to answer female questions about the Bicker process. Cottage club president Graves Tompkins elaborated on the club's success. "After putting in a lot of effort this year, we showed what we have to offer . . . that we are a club that is open to everyone, and our numbers indicate that."

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Bicker clubs will release their decisions Friday, and the second round for sign-in clubs will take place Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

As sophomores banged cow bells with new fellow sign-in members last night, and swarms of students stampeded to 'the Street,' the sign-in and Bicker process of 2002 kicked off to a smooth start. "I'm really pleased with how the process went today," said Teti. "I hope we have a safe week ahead."