The Empire State Building Dimension

Random is a building. As such, it has a number of floors. Random is also divided into two halves: the 282-side (located at 282 Mass Ave) and the 290-side (located at 290 Mass Ave). Conveniently, these two halves are directly adjacent. Further, on the 1st and 3rd floors, you can even get across, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.

Each half of the dorm has 4 floors, and they share a basement and a roofdeck. Each level of each half is considered a separate floor and each floor has its own name and distinct personality.

282 290
1st level 1-282 1-290
2nd level 2-282:Loop Floor 2-290:Suck Floor
3rd level 3-282:Clam Floor 3-290:BMF Floor
4th level 4-282:Bonfire Floor 4-290:Pecker Floor

1-290

All-male floor
This floor is smaller than the other floors, since a full half of it is taken by the apartment of our Housemaster, Nina. Further, a quarter of it is taken by our main lounge, with the front desk, a kitchen for study breaks, and the Holy Television.

1-282

All-male floor
The first floor is one of three all male floors in Random Hall. Famous for their coffee and Dunkin Donut study breaks, they are sometimes referred to as "Donut Floor." They are proud to house "The Youngest Student at MIT," and you may even be able to visit with him during Rush, if his busy schedule permits. They also have two truly wonderful tutors, Brian and Jen, living with them. One of the more tranquil floors in Random, (possibly because we have the most randomly arranged floor plan in the building,) Donut floor will have several openings this fall, so be sure to meet with them during R/O!

2-282:Loop Floor

All-female floor

2-290:Suck Floor

Co-ed floor
This floor isn't so named because of a plethora of vacuum cleaners, but because Dungeons and Dragons has secured a strong foothold on this floor and it never seems to stop. The nickname is a result of some vocal residents' dislike of the game and the ability of D&D to suck your time away.

This year, another definition will be added, as the LSC director, Refreshments director, one Refreshments subdirector, and one Projection subdirector live on Suck. Real World, anyone?

3-282:Clam Floor

All-male floor
Clam Floor is one of the more social floors, and with the television in its lounge all last year, Clam Floor was a major locus for activity. It was on Clam Floor that the Random Hall Interdependency diagram was created (a graph with nodes for residents and arcs to anyone they had ever dated). Clam Floor now boasts a manhole to nowhere, and also has the Clam Floor Physics Chalkboard. Clams are a wacky and crazy bunch, but are generally pretty cool people (Aidan's a Clam, which is why this section is so large).

Clam Floor and Pecker Floor have a long standing grudge, which occasionally flares up into a full waterfight that often comes, strangely enough, when work levels are at their highest.

3-290:BMF Floor

All-female floor
One of two all-female floors at Random, 3-290 is well known for their fresh-baked study breaks. It's a really friendly floor where there's always someone in the kitchen, either working or just gabbing away. We're a silly bunch, often breaking out into the Toys R Us theme song at 3AM. Stop by during rush! They'd love to meet ya!

4-282:Bonfire Floor

Co-ed floor

4-290:Pecker Floor

All-male floor
Pecker floor, whose name is inspired by the huge "WoodPecker Home Furnishing" sign hanging on the north side of the floor, is one of the more laid-back and friendly floors you'll find at Random. It is home to the famous Pecker floor soda fridge, which occasionally stocks other goodies as well, when everyone is feeling suitiably unhosed to make a soda run. The floor is currently home to a large TV and stereo, which is used for the always popular "Midnight Movie" on Saturday nights, as well as a lot of informal socializing.

Peckers and Clams don't get along too well. They occasionally have turf wars which result in a lot of people getting wet, and borders don't change much, since they don't have any common borders to fight over.

Roofdeck

The roofdeck is one of the most amazing parts of Random. One of the few legally accesible roofs at MIT, our roofdeck is equipped with a beautiful view of Cambridge, especially at sunset. People grow plants on the roofdeck, and over rush we show movies up there. Clam Floor had a BBQ and we played freeze tag (the deck is made of nice wood, but it's a bit hard on the knees when you dive between someone's legs to unfreeze them) and flew a kite high above Mass Ave.

Mostly the roofdeck is just a wonderful place to go and think. I've spent dozens of nights sitting up there, looking out over the lights of Cambridge, feeling the wind blow past me, looking up at the clouds and the stars and thinking about life. Even if you only spend five minutes at Random over rush, you must see the roofdeck, if just to know that it's a reason to visit your Randomite friends over the term...