MIDSHIPMEN

Now, hear this!

You can hear that call right now, ringing out at this very moment at Columbia and Northwestern, we'll bet. And you can see them running blinker drill, and ordnance drill while we muster for statistics lab and industrial management. They're looking forward to commissioning day at Columbia and to mid-semester exams at Northwestern (and here we sing "Four More Months to Go" (grunt, grunt)...and for most of us that's only forgetting the fact that we should be singing "Twelve More Months to Go."

More Work, Plus

We've only been here nine days as of today, but we might as well have been transported to Shangri-la for the first few of those nine days, it has been so amazing. Musters divided by 10 and then redivided to give us our present number, no daily room inspection, but instead, a student club, more shore leave, generally less iron-clad discipline...BUT, more work and still more of it.

It is to Laugh

Stangest part of the time we've spent here (and that seems to be unanimous) was the period between Friday and Tuesday morning. We relaxed. We drew bed linen. We sang songs over at the student club. We sang songs over at the student club. We relaxed. We drew case books. We asked the senior class of midshipmen about the case books. Then our relaxation was over. They only laughed at us.

"Yes," said one seasoned midshipman to us "a case is a case is a case."

We buried our heads in case books and until Monday morning understood little about them. Suppose Folsom pump was NOT operating at maximum capacity. What difference did that make to us? Suppose Mr. Little of Standish Foundry broke three blood vessels trying to refinance the corporation. No difference. Look at the senior midshipmen. What were they doing? Sitting in their billets, passing much scuttlebutt amongst them, lounging at the student club and laughing knowingly when we mentioned cases. Why not follow their example and laugh at the whole case question as well.

Real Work Begins

Then, on Monday, Captain McIntosh, Commander Collins, Deans David and Smith, Professors Baker and Bates not only began to explain the rhetorical "A case is a case is a case," but soon made us feel once again a dynamic (even if still quite lowly) part of the Navy. Yes, we were here to study, and to eventually do a job. That made us feel much better, looking forward to that day when we might come through with an "Aye, Aye, sir" in the full sense of the word.

Tuesday morning, they belayed classed for us so we could watch the commissioning exercises of these men who had been such playboys to us for the past five days. The skipper said they had made quite a record. One of the neophytes told us that "the only reason you middles are here at commissioning is as a living example to us of what we've been through up to today."

Between the words of the skipper and the side remark of that young ensign, gentlemen, I suppose we have some sort of a keynote of what we're in for. Class number One of midshipmen has set quite a record for us. In spite of the lounging we've seen them doing (and not much else that we've seen) they must have really scooted around this place night and day to make the grade (first third of it, anyway) and what we heard and saw on Tuesday is really a goal to set for this class... providing "a case is a case is a case" does not become a plague.

Midshipmen Will Dance

Whenever we lecture to ourselves this way (editorial "we") we take ourselves too seriously and usually suffer a minor mental breakdown in two or three days. So tomorrow night, after having given ourselves this lecture, we're laking time off to attend the dance for Midshipmen at the liasty Pudding Club at 2000. We understand that it's just fine to bring along a wife or sweetheart, but we're going stag because we understand that Wellesley will be well represented.