Victimized

Lester gazed at the big white moon with narrow red eyes. Red because Lester was being a diligent student the night before exams. His mind was crammed with declensions and conjugations and his box of No-Doz was filled with encouragement. The pill-and-pray technique worked well in days gone by, when Lester would study till breakfast, nap till test time, then rise to snear at the men who said, "Gentlemen, this examination will . . . ."

But those were the old days. This semester Lester still passed the night and wee hours grinding and took the usual nap before breakfast. But he slept right through an eight o'clock hour exam. For this is the day of the eight o'clock agony. Lester was not as fortunate as his instructor who remained blissfully in bed all morning, nor as fortunate as the boy next door who staggered into Memorial Hall ten minutes late with a pajama top on his back and hatred in his heart. He was certainly more rested, however, than the lad who arrived on time, took his blue book, and then dozed at his desk for the next fifty minutes.

Lester is bitter, not because he missed the exam nor because he lost his hard earned sleep the next night while thinking up excuses. It seems that his well rested section man announced, "Absence at the exam is understandable and will count neither for nor against your grade."