graduate him. Time limits permeated lives. The Bison T-hundering Herd band met weekly deadlines during football season. Expected to perform a flawless precision drill at each home game, the group held many early Saturday morning practices on a dewy football field. The Bison staff had weekly deadlines to meet. Reporters frat:lticaUy researched and collated information to make each issue informing, challenging and entertaining, to make each "Bif" funny and each Fifth Column original. Also boasting a fleeting acquaintance with the deadline principle was the Petit Jean staff, as was illustrated by nights when security guards checked the lights burning in the second floor of the student center to find typewriters churning, music blaring, popcorn popping and staff members sleeping in shifts under tables and on pews in Shores Chapel. The all-nighter - a case study in masochism What reaction did deadlines receive? One option was to ignore them and suffer the consequences - academic, financial or often to one's self-image. Another more productive but less healthy solution was the all-nighter. . For a term-paper, an all-nighter required some preparation. A hot pot and something with caffeine in it to assist in keeping the martyr conscious was essential. Some availed themselves of synthetic, more concentrated relief from semi-consciousness by procuring a valuable b"'(;"x- of No-Doz. A study lamp directed toward the allnighter's face assisted in maintaining his alertness. Then there were the necessary tools for producing the literary masterpieces his vigil would yield -.,- typewriter, pencils, correction fluid, reference materials and a clock. The serious all-nighter chose the most uncomfortable chair available; for the half-hearted scholar, a study ·pillow and a blanket sufficed. Junk food tempered the bitter taste of black coffee, which was consumed at the boiling point initially and tepid as the evening progressed. Self pity mingled with self-chastisement for not completing the project earlier, when the student had nothing to do but work on it and found every opportunity to avoid it. One fact asserted itself - his mother would die if she knew how he was treating his body. The paper ground to a close as the sun began to rise. The alJ-nighter, with a new understanding of the phrase "walking dead," succumbed to that horrible, morning-after feeling: the knowledge of how rotten he looked, the drugged inability to seize firm muscle control a~d the resentment for everyone who might make the slightest mention of fatigue. He knew that no matter how little sleep anyone else got, he got less. What did he derive from his rich experience? His bed was, at least for once made when he left for his eight o'clock class. And perhaps the next time he considered procrastination, he remembered agony and resolved to make the next one on time - before the ~ deadline. Il!!ll 1. BURNINC the candle at both ends, Dale Templeton prepares for midterm exams in a torturous all-nighter. 2. THE EERIE glow of the study lamp catches this sleep procrastinator in the act of giving away to weariness. 3. PREPARINC to meet her deadline , Sara Lay utilizes the library for its intended purpose, unlike her lighthearted compatriots in the background. 53 Deadlines
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