Physics Pkyzzer

The organisation of the Physics I second term exam just before the holidays caused some discontent among those who sat it. About half the class had an additional few minutes to complete the paper, as there was an initial shortage of papers.

Five minutes after the starting time of the exam, rooms C3 and E511 heard the muted strains of sweet renderings of that fine old song "Why are we waiting?" Ten minutes after the starting time the supervisors hurried in, to be greeted with loud catcalls and cheers.

The uproar increased when it was discovered that the supervisors did not have enough question papers for their respective rooms.

After much rushing round, more papers were procured, and the exam proceeded quietly.

It seems that the secretary of the physics department had gone out for lunch, taking the only key to the filing cabinet containing the papers. Strong men from the department brutally attacked the defenceless cabinet and had it open by the time she was located.

Unfortunately for the embarrassed supervisors, only one drawerful of papers was taken and another drawer holding the remainder was forgotten in the confusion.

So some students felt hard done by because others had seen the paper five minutes earlier, although they had not had much chance to write anything in that time; others felt hard done by because the late start meant 10 minutes less in the local hostelries that afternoon; and the supervisors . . .