Room 12 or Area 51?

Room 12, the center of all ASP activities has a mysterious reputation, similar to that of area 51. Sadly, no one will see aliens there. The office for the Assistant Directors of ASP is Room 12. Most offices are used for answering phone calls, but that is not the whole story for Room 12. 

People wonder how the AD’s developed such a strangely tight bond. ASP has three AD’s in total; however, Room 12 only graces itself with the presence of two of them during a shift. The shifts are around ten hours and there are AD’s on duty from 8:00 A.M. until 11:00 P.M. Ten hours may sound like a long time to work with another person, but Ned Heckman said that, "working with Grace and Matt is awesome.”  Matt Caputo seconded that response and also added that working with the two AD’s “is something else.”  All three of the AD’s-- Ned Heckman, Matt Caputo and Grace Van Noy-- worked together as interns last year, so they had a close bond before arriving this summer.     

Fireworks Lighting Up New Hampshire Skies

Though all students enjoy their time at ASP during their summer, there's no place like home. July 4th weekend is one of the first opportunities for students to return home and celebrate with their family opportunities for students to return home celebrate parades, and BBG's galore attract families from towns everywhere. 

Wondering where to go? Wondering what your ASP peers will be up to? Below are some of the most highly anticipated events for the 4th of July in New Hampshire, where lots of fellow ASP students will enjoy. Based on answers reported by ASP students, there is one event that overcomes all fourth of July celebrations: fireworks!

Giving Blood: Crucial during Summer Months

Next Wednesday, June 2nd, is a chance for people attending the ASP (Advanced Studies Program at St. Paul’s School) to help people in need and donate blood. The donation center is located in the front lobby of the Athletic and Fitness center.

When asked why he donates blood, Aaron Svendson declared “I do it to save lives”, and maybe you should think about doing it for that reason too.

Concord Excitement Beyond ASP Boarders

Are you curious of what lies outside the walls of the ASP bubble? Are you trying to find easily accessible ways to occupy your time for free afternoons and Sundays?  

Just under three miles outside of St. Paul's school is home to approximately 40 various shops and activities offering things from hot dogs, to delicious frozen yogurt or even a unique dollar thrift store.

Going to Main Street could be a great way to get out of the busy hustle of classes, get to know your new ASP friends better, or just become more acquainted to the community surrounding St Paul's, and the capitol of New Hampshire. 

Just walk straight down Pleasant St. and take a left at the end. It's only 2 miles!

Where Da Boyz @?!?

The 2014 Advanced Studies Program at St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH has a disproportion of 165 girls to its 92 boys, making only ⅓ of the student population male. Is this because the admission process at ASP, or does the population’s ratio have an influence on the numbers?

Students gather for fruit break, where the male-to-female difference is obvious.

From the Cow Pastures to the Lunch Line: How is St. Paul’s Going Green?

Famous for the amount of food produced, the St. Paul’s School dining hall strives to be conscientious of the environmental world that we take for granted 

Larry Pletcher, owner of The Vegetable Ranch
Photo credit

The dining hall at SPS serves an assortment of high quality food to students almost year round. There are several ways in which the dining hall staff, in conjunction with the former SPS Environmental Stewardess Maura Adams, has improved the sustainability of the dining hall. In order to decrease the amount of food wasted by students and faculty, SPS must improve the sustainability of the food services on campus through several environmental strategies.

Dinner Time

On Monday this week, the Assistant Directors at the Advanced Studies Program sent out an email to all students and faculty regarding a change in kitchen hours from 5:30-7 to 5-6:30. Though this may seem like a relatively small change, some students aren’t happy about it. Upon interviewing members of the community the most common complaint was that dinner was too close to lunchtime. In addition, many found themselves hungry during the later end of study hours or eating junk food as a snack.

A study done by UCLA researchers shows that people with a diet high in simple sugars and low in fat (essentially junk food) actually makes you lazier, and over a significant amount of time can seriously impact your study and work habits as well as pack on a few pounds!

MISHOP Madness

St. Paul’s School held their annual, open “MISHOP” on Wednesday, June 25 during the fifth day of the Advanced Studies Program. MISHOP is the term used for all the miscellaneous items left on St. Paul’s campus from past years. Organized in the format of a sample sale, the lightly used items are categorized by type of clothing and stacked neatly on long tables. In a matter of nearly 30 minutes, students scavenge and sift through the clothes.

Students browsing through the MISHOP collection.

From children’s clothing to blazers and slacks, MISHOP has it all. Here’s the catch–each item is only ONE DOLLAR. That’s right, designer brand polos with a retail value of $85 only $1, nearly a 98% discount. It gets better: all MISHOP proceeds go to charity, which is voted on by the buyers.

They Know What They’re Talking About

Advanced Studies Program interns get ready to start the college workshop.

On Tuesday, June 24th, a panel of interns sat on the stage of Memorial Hall and gave advice to the college hopefuls of the Advanced Studies Program.

I settled in for what was sure to be just another night of everything I had already heard: the inevitable conversations of how to choose a college and the consistent cliche lines about how walking on the quad helped to make the final decision,

Current Events---Update #1

At Media Machine '14, we're all about keeping up with current events. And, we're taking it upon ourselves to make it hip to be in-the-know regarding current events. We'd like to educate this community about the news (and media) and thus leave it wiser than when it assembled. With that said, below are a list of the stories we are following right now. We'll add current event posts each week to keep you in-the-know. You're welcome, ASP!


#1 Iraq--After America's direct involvement in Iraq from 2003 to 2011 and the ousting of former president Saddam Hussein, Iraq finds itself embroiled in crisis again at the hands of a group called ISIS which has launched an offensive campaign to take over northern Iraq leaving US government officials to wonder if Baghdad may be next. ISIS, which stands for Islamic Stat in Iraq and Syria, is a group of Sunnis that demands theocracy in the Middle East. U.S Secretary of State, John Kerry recently promised assistance to Iraq with a few conditions. Further reading is available here (Washington Post) and here (BBC)

#2 Carbon tax passes Supreme Court--On Monday, in a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Environmental Protection Agency's bid to regulate power plants to control carbon emissions. The Clean Air Act gives the EPA regulatory power over stationary producers of greenhouse gasses. This victory represents a feather in the cap of Obama's second-term executive initiatives where he hopes to help the country with or without congress. Further reading is available here (NY Times) and here (Washington Post)


#3 World Cup Fever--How could we talk current event without mentioning the World Cup? Today, the first two teams advanced (Brazil and Mexico) to the knock-out round from Group A; this week we will learn which teams will join them from Groups B-H. The United States will learn its fate this Thursday when they play Germany. If the US wins or ties, they move on; if they lose, they have to hope they earn a bid through a tiebreaker technicality with the winner of the Ghana-Portugal game.

Image credits: Washington Post and sfgate.com

ASP Move-in

On Friday, students from all over New Hampshire arrived in Concord at St Paul's for the beginning of the 56th summer of the Advanced Studies Program. We, the Mass Media class of 2014, covered the opening day on our twitter and instagram and back-channeled it all on Storify. Check it out!