HORNET’S NEST
Proctor Academy | February 28, 2024 | Vol. 9 | Issue 5
I Just Want to See My Friends
By Griffin StewartWhat happened to dorm visitation? This is the question everyone is asking - well, not everyone, primarily students are asking - but still, what happened to it? In previous years, dorm visitation was permitted every day of the week, but now, we only have the weekend. This led me to look in the Student Handbook and ask students their views on the situation.
To start the investigation, I first looked in the Student Handbook (formerly GreenBook). When skimming through the dense pages of rules and regulations, I stumbled upon my first lead. On page 26, under Boarding Students Expectations, it reads, “Dorm Residents may have guests during the following times: • Weekdays from 6:15 PM - 7:15 PM • Weekends: at the completion of afternoon activities until 10:25 PM on Saturday and from 11:00 AM- 7:15 PM on Sunday.” That led me to start thinking. Why have we not been following the rules written down in the handbook? We heard announcements about changes to dorm visitation this fall, but it seems that the current stated rules are heavily biased toward faculty and leave students in the dark.
When talking to dorm parents and faculty about their view of visitation, they say something similar to, “Other boarding schools don’t have weekday visitation.” I never thought I would see the day Proctor tried to become another school. I’ve known this school to lead the way for other schools by doing what other schools can’t and won’t do.
Why should we stop visitation? The administration announced in assembly this fall that this is an issue of liability that couldn’t be overlooked. But, cutting off dorm visitation is not getting drugs off campus or stopping kids from making stupid decisions. It’s stopping students from being social and creating a stronger sense of community. I came to Proctor because it wasn’t like other schools; if I wanted other schools, I would have gone to Holderness or New Hampton. I came here for the community, and it seems that is being taken away from us.
Seeking student’s perspectives, I sent a survey out to every student to find out information on the student’s mental health and opinions on visitation. From the survey and 93 responses, over 89% of students report their mental health has gone down in the winter, and even more because of the lack of visitation. We are told that no visitations allow for the dorms to become a better and more tightly-knit community, which it has in its defense. However, Proctor as a whole is a community. Students, teachers, and faculty are all one big community. Yet, having no dorm visitation has weakened the larger community. The lack of visitation keeps students from creating deeper, more meaningful bonds with each other. This past term alone, I haven’t been able to see some friends another dorms at all because there is no space to hang out. Students are tired and frustrated with no visitation. This new rule has created a deep resentment in students towards faculty and the people who made the rule. This is not how it should be and not how it has to be.
Here are three unnamed students’ thoughts on the matter from the survey.
“Not having visitation in the winter has definitely increased my depression and made me feel more lonely. There’s a difference between people who enjoy going out with friends and hanging out in big groups and then those
who thrive with only a friend or two, and those people like myself get anxious going to the Wise and stuff and would much rather be able to have dorm visitation. This new restriction on visitation has not helped the students but only the teachers, and it shows… These new restrictions don’t seem to come from a place of concern for the students cause if teachers really knew how to help, it wouldn’t come down to isolating those students that are more introverted. Instead, it seems to come from lack of teachers wanting to supervise, causing the students to suffer.”
“There is all this talk about having consistency around campus in regard to the rules and guidelines. Is it correct to say that … (having) visitation taken away is affecting us in a negative way? The answer is yes. We already have little time to spend with our friends, especially in our own personal spaces. I understand the concern about students doing stuff and disobeying the rules, but at the same time this is a COLLEGE PREP SCHOOL. There are no visitation rules in college and I think that if Proctor shows some openness to letting students learn how to manage their time by themselves and be responsible, I think that it could be beneficial to everyone. All in all, I think that it should be opened up to every night, but it [should] be the DORM PARENTS DECISION on if it is common room only or in room as well.”
“It’s truly terrible. Between classes, sports, and homework, my life is decently stressful, and adding on tight restrictions on something as simple as human interaction is very detrimental to students mental health. Although I understand that the risks of open visitation are not zero, the benefits of in person interactions far outweigh the possible risks. The fact that the issue of visitation hasn’t been solved is truly surprising to me, as I feel that every student has had a bad experience with it.”
To the deans, teachers, dorm parents, and even the board of trustees. Every stu-
dent is grateful for what you do for us. However, after pushing back dorm visitations, now is the time to fix what is wrong with our rules. We are tired of waiting for something as simple as having our dorms open to our friends. Bring back the community we are lacking from this decision. Students are not complaining to complain, there is a real problem on campus. Let’s bring back our motto: Learn to Live.
Don’t Have Sex, Here’s a Condom
By Pearce ShultzI’m sure all of you who have stayed in a room in the health center got up to use the restroom and noticed the three condoms on top of the toilet. Honestly, the first time I saw them my freshman year in 2020 I laughed to myself and thought, “Why are these here?” Most students feel as though the condoms in the health center pose a mixed signal as taking part in the act of sex on campus is a Major Violation. I spoke to Sue Norris, The Director of Health services to learn more.
Why do you carry/hand out condoms at the health center? “The thought of providing condoms for students started over 30 years ago. It was a student-driven ask. The student (who represented a group) expressed that students are going to have sex regardless of any “rules” and felt that it would be beneficial to make condoms available to help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted viruses and unintended pregnancies.”
How often do students come in and ask for condoms or take them from the bathroom? How many are used a year? “The Health Center keeps condoms stocked in all the bathrooms in our building. Students know that condoms are available in the bathrooms and do not need to ask the nurse on duty for a condom. We are unsure of the number of condoms taken yearly from the Health Center. The Wellness Team in Maxwell Savage also has condoms available.”
Do you report to Drew when a student comes in asking for condoms? “If a student requests to
speak with a nurse about contraception, that is a private conversation between the student and the nurse. No student is “reported” to Drew, any Administrator, or the student’s parents/guardians.”
Do parents have concerns about it? “We have never had a parent express concerns about the Health Center making condoms available to students.”
I also sent out a survey to students and faculty and asked if students know that there are condoms in the health center and if they support the health center providing condoms. Of the sixty responses, 95% said yes to both questions.
Student responses to the fourth question, “What do you think about the Health Center providing condoms even though having sex results in a Major Violation?” were numerous and varied. One wrote, “It’s like putting candy in front of a kid’s face and telling them they can’t have it.” Another observed, “Students are going to have sex no matter what the rules are. All that Proctor can do is make sure it’s safe.”
Many students were throwing shade on providing condoms when having sex is a Major Violation at Proctor, but a faculty member noted the legal aspect of this issue. “Only persons aged 16 and older can give legal consent to sexual contact with adults under New Hampshire law.” So, Proctor needs to have rules about sex with 14 & 15-year-olds enrolled at our school. At the end of the day, condoms aren’t candy in our faces, they’re protection in case students decide to take the risk.
AI: Cheating or Not?
Zack Cong
Confession: I’ve used ChatGPT for major writing assignments in my English class.
Let me explain. Tom Morgan’s Creative Non-Fiction class dedicated a semester to AI and ChatGPT, aiming to explore AI and its ability to
help students do their homework. It could help students produce essays and answer some STEM problems, but most of the time, it was inaccurate and low quality. It would take a long time and some familiarity with the essay’s subject to make it good. At that point, I just wanted to write the paper myself.
Due to time constraints, we couldn’t delve deep into AI during class hours. So, I took it upon myself to research and closely follow updates on AI and how it impacts the future of higher education. Two years ago, OpenAI released ChatGPT, an LLM (Large Language Model) based on accessing a massive amount of written documents. ChatGPT is capable of generating instant responses, from essay writing and book summarizing to solving complex math problems, and granted students access to a powerful new tool.
AI is already a part of the academic experience in many colleges and universities. Most institutions have integrated AI bots into their daily academic operations. In a post by Jane Nam, one of the authors of the academic website BestColleges, she shared a survey conducted by BestColleges in late 2023. The survey included 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students, revealing their views on AI in higher education. According to the results, 56% of college students admitted using AI for assignments or exams, 41% had not, and 4% wished not to answer.
Interestingly, professors are increasingly incorporating these tools into their curricula. Over half of the students (53%) reported coursework that required AI usage. Furthermore, nearly 79% of students have discussed AI’s application and ethical considerations in education with instructors.
However, college students are split about whether AI is cheating or not. When questioned about their perception of AI’s role in completing assignments or exams, 54% considered it cheating, 21% disagreed, and 25% remained neutral.
Surprisingly, colleges and universities are trying to integrate AI into their curriculum and daily life. To most people, it sounds and feels like cheating to let someone else do most of the work for you, but there are rules and guidelines that students need to follow. According to the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut, the potential usage of AI can include but is not limited to analyzing large quantities of data and using it for idea generation. However, students have to cite it as a source and cannot use it to generate answers to questions directly.
Sue Norris, the Tin Man on rightAI is in our future in college and the workplace, so what role does AI have at Proctor? Does it belong, or is it cheating?
As Assistant Director of Information Technology Services, Seth Currier points out that the issue isn’t about AI: “ Because it is so fast and instantly provides what I want to know when I want to know it, I’ve quickly started to rely on it for many questions. This makes it an excellent tool for both students and teachers. Yes, there is a concern about cheating, but cheating didn’t suddenly start with the advent of AI. Regardless, if students want to cheat, they will find a way to do so, whether online, using AI, or through traditional methods of copying answers. People tend to fear what is new: first, it was the internet, then electric cars, followed by self-driving cars, and now AI. There’s a tendency to instill fear about new technologies. However, it’s only a matter of time until we become accustomed to them.”
English teacher John Bouton expressed his thoughts on authenticity and the use of technology. “ I don’t mind if they use them to compliment, inform, or fill in that reading they’ve done. But I like them to own that they’re doing that because it’s unnerving when students offer some highly profound reading of a symbol in a novel. You realize they’re just borrowing or stealing somebody else’s idea, and passing it off as their own is frustrating.”
However, some teachers have different opinions on the usage of AI. History teacher Ben Bartoldus has already successfully integrated AI into his sophomore American History class. He noted, “After the fall term, I successfully integrated ChatGPT into one of the final assignments to break down the barrier of understanding. I have a problem when I create analytical questions or discussion questions that are very nuanced and a little too sophisticated for a sophomore. It is much like a college-level prompt. I’ve used ChatGPT to reconstruct the question to simplify it. I always use it to construct analytical questions, discussion questions, and essay prompts.”
Ben continued, “One thing I’ve allowed in my class is to ask ChatGPT to create an outline,” Ben said. “ If kids are in a position where they’re having a hard time organizing their thoughts and getting it all on paper, I’ve allowed them to plug in their research and ideas to ChatGPT to create an outline. Then, students can write the essay, use AI to check grammar mistakes, and clean things up for a solid paper.”
Students should be able to use generative AI tools such as ChatGPT in class for papers, homework, or assignments. But there should be regulations that go along with it. We can use it as a research site for some general background information. We can use it as a writing tutor, where students can put in the essay and then ask it to give some feedback rather than write the paper for us. Of course, just like using any other sources of infor-
mation, a student should also include a proper MLA citation for AI used in papers. We are still in the early stages of AI tools. Who knows what will come next? But it is time to embrace technological changes instead of running away.
The Secret of the Forest
By Isabella GuzmánProctor has 2,500 acres of land shared by students, teachers, and wildlife. What kind of creatures and plants do we share the land with? What kinds of creatures will be unveiled with the game cams?
I sat down with Lynne Barlett who teaches Conservation Ecology in the field house and asked her to give a little summary about conservation ecology, “Conservation ecology is a course that is … field-based, meaning the students and myself are out in the woods in the forest or walking around campus studying various parts of native tree species, native animal species, native plant species, and interviewing or talking with local people in the community.” Join Lynne’s class if you want to keep track of what animals reside in the woods.
I met with Alan McIntyre, Science Department Chair and Environmental Program Coordinator, and asked him about a game camera he used to have set up behind the hockey rink in 2018. “In the past when I had it up, I got this little picture here of two foxes doing a little mating dance, you know, running around, sniffing each other’s butts, you know, having fun and it’s great. And so, … we do have wildlife cameras placed periodically and I think the rule is, we’re supposed to put up a sign that says, you know, there’s a wildlife camera within 50 feet or 50 yards. That way people don’t go out in the woods and use the bathroom and get caught which we’ve had that happen for hikers. So yeah, we have wildlife cameras set up.”
Just like students walking to Pizza Chef, the woodland critters are all about food. Alan continued, “So the last camera I put up for conservation ecology was a dead deer that got hit by a car out here and wandered up to West End and died
and there were all these birds around it. And so I talked to facilities folks and we moved it. And then we put up a camera. The white-tailed dead deer got a ton of photos of vultures, turkey vultures, crows, and common ravens.
Four or five foxes would come by and feed off of it, an easy meal. They’re not big game hunters at all, but if they see an opportunity, we got it on film. It’s cool. We’ve seen lots of deer. We’ve seen a fisher also known as a fisher cat. It’s not a cat. It’s a type of weasel. I’ve seen a little weasel called an ermine, which is a short-tailed weasel. It turns when it’s colder out and the light is low, it changes its fur white to blend in with the snow. And so you can see this little white shadow leaping through the camera. You barely see it. It’s cool. I’ve had a lot of raccoons, porcupines, and red foxes.”
“We’ve had woodpeckers, pileated woodpeckers, the bigger woodpeckers. I had a game camera up near the ski hill area on a wood duck box. And we wanted to see who was going in it. So we saw owls, bluebirds, wood ducks, ganzers, and common ganzers. Some types of ducks have a jagged serrated bill for grabbing fish. See ‘em in the rivers all the time around here. Flying squirrels, gray squirrels, red squirrels, that kind of stuff.”
Who Wears Winter Best? Proctor Students or Teachers
By Tess GattiAt Proctor, both faculty and students have mastered how to dress for winter while staying true to their style. From ripped jeans and Ugg boots to cropped puffy jackets, everyone has a creative way to find their fit in the elements. Students consider subzero temperatures more of a suggestion, baring legs and wearing workout attire and simply running faster to get to class. Teachers take a more practical approach to the frozen tundra of Andover.
When you arrive in the classroom, your teacher
Two-legged critter Alan caught on camera From the Proctor Game Camera From the Proctor Game Camera
is fully bundled. Scarf, hat, waterproof boots, fur-lined jacket, and layers upon layers until you can barely see their face. Some may look like penguins, but others know how to dominate winter style. According to Jane Bartlett 25’, “Faculty dress pretty warm! They are always rocking some form of outdoor brand because they know how cold the winters get here. I believe Lynne Bartlett or Rosanna Eubank dresses the best for the classroom and the slopes. Lynne is ready to rock our 2500 acres of land in her Carhartt overalls and many layers of sweaters and Patagonia jackets. You can’t forget the Blundstones, too!!” Another must-have teacher accessory is warm tea in a huge thermos cup. On the other hand, students prefer ice-cold coffee in their bare hands while hustling to class.
For students, it is more goosebumps up your spine than feeling like you’re in a sauna: unzippered coats, sneakers instead of boots, and no fear of baring skin. Proctor students shrug at the elements and opt for comfort and ease. Of course, there are exceptions to laid-back winter wear; the varsity hockey teams take dressing up to the next level.
On game day, the hockey team goes all out, from suits to scally caps. A boys hockey goalie, Chris Dakers 25’ states, “At Proctor, we dress up for the entire day when we have a home game. Some players dress more casual, and others wear full suits. On days when the wind is blowing and it is really cold, it makes dressing up a bit of a force. To solve this, some may wear warm pea coats, or their Proctor hockey jacket over their button-downs. This usually solves the problem, although it will never be perfectly comfortable to dress up in the cold.”
“Personally, I enjoy dressing up for game days. It usually does take a little extra time to get dressed in the morning, although I feel that even with the extra hassle it is still worth it. When we look like a team and carry ourselves in a professional way, it … has a positive impact on the team in the rink.” Dressing for success is a team tradition widely spread throughout Proctor. Many members of the girls’ varsity hockey team also sport skirts on game day, choosing team spirit and frostbitten legs over warmth.
Both teachers and students have their own unique ways of staying on trend and still looking stylish in the subzero days of winter in Andover. Fortunately, spring is right around the corner and everyone will don an array of new fashion firsts.
No More MyProctor, Hello Canvas
By Matthew McLaurinProctor is moving on from our beloved myProctor and will begin using Canvas next fall. What even is Canvas?
I had the opportunity to interview Director of Information Technology Services James Cox and Assistant Director of IT Services Seth Currier for some insight into what the new school system software is, the motive behind the move, and more.
James clarified, “Canvas is an LMS, a Learning Management System. It’s similar to Blackbaud which we call myProctor, but has more features for teachers and students.”
So why would we move on from MyProctor? “Currently Proctor faculty are using multiple LMS’s, myProctor, Google Classroom, and Seesaw, mostly because myProctor does not have the features faculty are looking for.
Proctor needs a new LMS with features, like video assignment submission and embedded tools
that will allow faculty and students to stay in one LMS. This will hopefully simplify assignments and work for students and Learning Skills instructors who currently navigate between multiple systems to access or complete work.”
James continued, “Also, myProctor was designed for private boarding schools and though it has served us well for years the company, Blackbaud, that now owns the software has many other priorities. Their main business is Fundraising and Business software. In the years they have owned the myProctor software, we have seen some improvement, but they have not kept pace with many of the changes we have seen in other LMS solutions.”
I asked Seth what the difference between the two systems are. “MyProctor is mostly for private schools, while Canvas is widely used in colleges and some schools. Canvas lets students submit videos, helps teachers grade easier, and includes tools for teaching. It’s more likely students will use Canvas in further education.”
With the main focus of Proctor switching to Canvas is to make it easier for students and staff, James said the thing he and other faculty are really looking forward to is, a simplified, single LMS, where all material and assignments can be accessed. Seth added, “Also, [I’m] looking forward to using a platform that is modern and designed with students as the focus.”
As humans, I feel as if we resent change, and adapting to a new system brings negative and positive emotions. So I asked James what he has heard around the community regarding the move to Canvas. “Some faculty who have Seth in the theatre used Canvas in other schools or while doing graduate work are very excited. In fact, we have a group of faculty who will be leading the training and setup of Canvas for Proctor. Of course, anytime you introduce something new, especially with technology, there will be folks who are hesitant or less excited about the change.”
I think there is something to look forward to with this new move to Canvas next year. As times move forward, we as humans evolve. This applies to the Proctor community as well. Change can be hard, especially when you are used to a system like MyProctor for so long. But this new move is exciting, so we need to embrace it. Keep an open mind and look forward to exploring the new system.
Ben Biagiotti 24’. Tyler Gwatkin 24’, Finnegan Connor 24’, Kevin Delaney 25’ Lynne Bartlett at the torchlight parade Jane Bartlett, left, Hannah Krampl, right, at Casino Night