And having the same person responsible for academic advice and discipline may mean trying to put on two faces.

For both groups, though, Faculty participation is low, leaving many first-years without established connections to professors in their fields.

The result is that some first-years are willing to take advantage of the resources advisers willingly offer. But the system does little to encourage more independent-minded students to reach out.

"You could scrap the entire [system] and I would be fine with it," says Ernesto J. Diaz '03.

The Silent Majority

When first-years arrive in the Yard in September, their advisers are already waiting for them.

Those who are assigned non-resident advisers are paired up by the Freshman Dean's Office based on questionnaires about their academic interests they fill out in the spring. There are about 160 adults who volunteer to be non-resident advisers, from deans to chaplains to psychologists at the Bureau of Study Counsel. Each takes on about three first-year students.

For the rest, proctors are the default. In entryways with less than 22 students, the proctor, usually a graduate student in his or her mid-20s, advises everyone.