"That officer card holds you to a certain standard , a type of behavior," Drummond says. "I could never turn my head if I knew students were drinking in the dorm, I could never walk by John Harvard['s statue] if students were peeing on it."

"I love my students," she adds, "but they could never be my 'friends.'"

While proctors stress their responsibility is greater than that of RAs and that their age lends them more respect and authority, they are quick to point out they are not a Harvard University Police Department annex. And the Freshman Dean's Office (FDO), which is in charge of the selection, training and administration of the proctor program, also tells proctors to respect the privacy of students.

"What we're told is that you don't want to be a parent and you don't want to be a friend, but if you can find some middle ground, that would be ideal," says Roland Davis, who is entering his first term as a proctor.

"I hate to use the phrase big-brother, big-sister-it's cheesy-but you can be a resource," he adds.

Where proctors choose to draw the line between privacy and policy is a matter of personality, with some proctors choosing to intervene at different levels.

"When students are in their rooms, not disturbing other people, not creating a disturbance, what goes on behind closed doors should remain behind closed doors," says Karen E.Avery'88, assistant dean of Harvard College, who was a proctor for four years at the turn of the decade.

Deciding when to tell a student to turn down the music and when to let the band play on is just a call that has to be made. "A proctor just wants to make sure that there's harmony," says fifth-year Proctor Ted D. Miller.

Occasionally, proctors bend the rules to the breaking point as they attempt to relate to their proctees.

Consider proctor Joel Derfner '95, who was removed from his post before the end of last year for attending a party at which underage students were drinking alcohol. Though Derfner admits he sometimes took liberties with the rules, he says he did so out of a broader concern for the relationships he had with his students.

"It's true that I was sometimes lenient and looked the other way, and my students knew that, " he says. "The reason was that there were more important things to focus on: were they happy, were they enjoying their classes, etc. , and if they weren't, what could we do to make them happy.

"If I had focussed on the rules, I think my students might have felt less comfortable coming to me, " he adds.

Proctors agree they have greater responsibility, but that responsibility doesn't automatically translate into a perfect, rule-abiding entryway. Subjectivity must occasionally enter into proctor judgments, and when it comes to creating order and harmony in a hall full of first-years, not even the age and wisdom of Solomon could make everybody happy all the time.

Acting Your Age?

Proctors say age shouldn't play a major role in determining whether students can relate to their proctors and feel comfortable coming to them with problems.