Scrutiny
Magic Pill
I understand a little better now that it is just a relic of my outdated notion that I can beat my anxiety by sheer force of will.
Vyvanse Magic Pill
Vyvanse is a miracle. It makes my mind sticky, providing an incredible opportunity: to focus.
Volume XXXIV, Issue IV March 9, 2023
Dear Reader, We’re back, and it’s a Thursday! This means that it’s Housing Day (when freshmen get assigned to upperclassmen houses), but more importantly, that the issue is out on time! Dorm storming for Cabot there’s always a risk that things end in tears, but they didn’t! And besides, what’s to hate about the Quad when six out of 13 of FM execs live here… Speaking of the quad, this week’s scrut opens in Currier dining hall, as our intrepid scrut writers, KSG and GRW, get caught in a five hour conversation about their experiences taking psychiatric drugs. That conversation became the impetus for this scrut, which explores the experience of taking psychiatric drugs, weaving their stories together with other student’s reflections and expert opinions. It’s brave, beautiful, and important, so go read it — it’s sure to leave you in tears (the good kind). MGB and MAT tell us the history of 2 Divinity Ave., and how it turned from a Widener-funded Institute to the home of East Asian Studies at Harvard. SND and RR dive into (no pun intended) the sea voyage of a Harvard professor with a strange obsession with Christopher Columbus seeking to reenact his trip across the Atlantic. AGF takes to the stacks to write about the “Pfoho Cookbook,” written in 2007 by two Pfoho friends who immortalize the best HUDS creations. CSE and ESKS make a visit to “Symbionts,” an art exhibit at the MIT List Visual Art Center that displays BioArt, an artistic practice at the intersection of biology and art. One exhibit involves a mushroom that’s kept alive with human urine… MG talks to Joe Harris '72, the Math 55 Professor for 15 Questions, and BWF talks to David C. Atherton ’00, an East Asian Languages and Civilizations professor. OGP and LLQ visit “Nailed It,” a Somerville community baking event based on a Netflix show of the same name, that promotes mental health wellness through cupcake decoration. NHS listens to the sounds and stories of Somerville on a recently-installed jukebox in Kendall Square. YAK and CJK talk to the creators of a new club on campus: the Harvard Undergraduate Pole Dancing Club. Their mission: uplifting women of color through body positivity and strength training. In this issue’s endpaper, KLM writes about his grandma Ruth, a local celebrity in New York City and an expert in the craft of sewing, making matzo ball soup, and the art of living (for 99 years and counting). Shout out to compers for publishing their first articles. Thank you to JJG, JH, MQ, SET, SS, MHS, and SCS for maestro and a gorgeous, gorgeous glossy, and to JYY and KL for helping us put that glossy up on the website — go flip through the issuu pdf now! Thank you to MG for fierce dedication, to DRZ for timely comments while scroofing, and to BLK and MX for sage advice and, of course, proofing. Thank you to AHL, for never letting go of the rope even when everything feels like it’s falling apart. And, a massive, massive thank you to KT for empathetic and careful scrut editing — 14,000 words and all. Semper cor, IYG & AHL
The Magic Pill Club
The phenomenon of using psychiatric drugs remains largely unscrutinized, so we set out to document and better understand this aspect of living with mental illness. The perseverance of students and spirit of psychiatrists — often forced to confront the blank face of uncertainty — wove together into a tapestry of resilience, one at once tattered and perfect, inspiring and incomplete.
ChatGPT Learning
Students might be tempted to rely on ChatGPT’s outputs for critical thinking. “That’s great,” Hamilton says. “But am I losing my ability to do precisely that for myself?”
ChatGPT Google Translate
In some language classes threats posed by intelligent technology are nothing new. Prior iterations of French 50 already included measures to limit students’ ability to use tools like Google Translate for assignments.
ChatGPT Wikipedia
ChatGPT’s training likely involved processing most of the text on the internet — an ocean of niche Wikipedia articles, angry YouTube comment threads, poorly written fan fiction, recipes for muffins, and everything in between.
ChatGPT Time
ChatGPT can condense hours of work into minutes, an enticing prospect for many. Students have many different demands on their time, and not everyone puts academics first.
Volume XXXIV, Issue III February 23, 2023
Dear reader, This week I wasn’t quite sure what to open this note with, so I turned to ChatGPT to save me. It suggested that I tell you, “While the weather outside may be unpredictable, the articles in this week’s issue of FM are sure to provide a delightful forecast of diverse topics, ranging from science and technology breakthroughs to culture and arts, and everything in between.” I’m not quite sure what it means to “provide a delightful forecast of diverse topics,” but, hey, at least now I have a conceit. In reality, the real saviors this week are HD and SEW who take on ChatGPT and cheating in this issue’s scrut. They talked to professors and students, hoping to understand how they are responding to the emergence of AI that can write and code fluently. Along the way, they examine some limitations of ChatGPT, consider the future of AI, and end up learning a little bit about learning. Whether you’re a ChatGPT enthusiast (my friend is asking it for advice on whether to switch concentrations) or a ChatGPT skeptic (another friend is quite dismayed by its inability to play chess) or have some other take on ChatGPT, read this scrut! ChatGPT — and its impact on the classroom — may not be exactly what you think. Speaking of things that aren’t quite what they seem, this week EJS and EJJ interview Anna Delvey — or should that be Anna Sorokin — examining her public persona, the implications of her visit to a Harvard Business School class, and white collar crime. NDC and AEP talk to Kate Smith, a painting conservator at Harvard Art Museums, about getting up close to paintings, making mistakes, and diversity in the conservator world. In this week’s 15Q, MG interviews Manja Klemenčič, a sociology professor, about student agency, pre-professionalism, and small acts of kindness. In a photo essay, BYC graces us with beautiful photos of birds in Harvard’s Ornithology Collection, exploring the beautiful plumages of several different species. MTB and CJK visit the giant papier-mâché octopus that was recently restored and hangs in the lobby of the Northwest Building now. STB writes about the role that Samuel P. Huntington, a Harvard government professor, played in constructing apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s. In this week’s endpaper AZW writes about his love for (or addiction to) photography and how he came to resist the urge to document everything, leaving room to be fully present. Thank you to JJG, JH, MQ, SET, SS, MHS, and SCS for maestro mastery; to SCS, MQ, BYC, JZL, and PC for contributing their photography and design talents to this issue; to BWF for scroofing; and to MX and BLK for proofing. AHL, we’re doing it! Thank you for listening to all my complaints, emotional support, and being there for every up and every down. Looking forward to the social (finally), and to something shiny on the horizon… FM Love, IYG & AHL
ChatGPT, Cheating, and the Future of Education
Professors are grappling with whether to ban ChatGPT or let students use it. But beyond this semester, larger questions loom. Will AI simply become another tool in every cheater’s arsenal, or will it radically change what it means to learn?
ChatGPT Cover
Professors are already grappling with whether to ban ChatGPT or let students use it. But beyond this semester, larger questions loom. Will AI simply become another tool in every cheater’s arsenal, or will it radically change what it means to learn?
Phúc Courtesy Photo
Phan Thị founded an organization, the Kim Phúc Foundation International, to provide psychological and medical aid to child victims of war. As a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, she gives dozens of lectures each year.
Napalm Girl
“The Terror of War,” a Pulitzer winning photograph from 1972. In it, Phan Thị Kim Phúc runs away after being hit by a napalm bomb. Years later, Phan Thị was identified by the Vietnamese government as the child from the famous photo, and they pulled her out of school to exploit her fame. Subject to severe government surveillance, Phan Thị lost all of her friends and spiraled into a deep state of bitterness and depression.
Napalm Art Fire
For this napalm art project, Yang and Miller plus three collaborators experimented with a flamethrower and materials that included steel rods, bamboo, paper, and fireproof fabric.
