OT - an apocryphal story?

The tale goes that back in the late 1960s there was a student who had
wasted most of his academic career for four years, barely scraping by,
set to fail his finals, etc etc etc. Whilst desperately trying to cram
in the last few days before exams, he stumbled across a very handy
little by-law that did not seem to have been repealed, and he decided to
try it out. Having sat almost all his papers (and discovered he knew
nothing), he then turned up for his final exam looking confident and
relaxed alongside his pale, haunted, ink-stained fellow students.
Whilst the others were scratching away with their nibs, he raised his
hand and summoned the invigilator.
"I would like to see the University porter, please" he said (because
despite being a layabout he was a reasonably well-brought up young man).
"What?" said the incredulous invigilator. "Why?" But the young man
persisted with his request and eventually the University porter was brought.
"What do you want?" he asked, bemused.
"I want a glass of port, please."
There was a stunned silence.
"I beg your pardon?" (The porter was also well-brought up).
"I would like a glass of port, please. Preferably within the next half
an hour." The student folded his arms as the invigilator, the porter,
and most of the exam-takers stared at him.
"Well," said the porter, after a while. "I suggest you wait until after
your exams to start celebrating," and off he went. The young man put
down his pen, pushed his chair under the desk and left the room.
The next day he made representation to the Senatus Academicus;
according to an ancient by-law, if a student is not given a glass of
port, when requested, during his final exam, he must be awarded an
unspecified Honours degree. The Senate, horrified, checked the law and
found that it had indeed never been taken off the statute books, and
that the young man was entitled to an unspecified Honours degree. Three
weeks later, he was duly presented with one, standing proudly alongside
his fellow graduates who had slaved so hard for theirs.
Two days later, the Senate stripped him of his degree for walking
across the grass in the Quad without wearing a sword.

"Bruce" wrote in message
news
The tale goes that back in the late 1960s there was a student who had
wasted most of his academic career for four years, barely scraping by, set
to fail his finals, etc etc etc. Whilst desperately trying to cram in the
last few days before exams, he stumbled across a very handy little by-law
that did not seem to have been repealed, and he decided to try it out.
Having sat almost all his papers (and discovered he knew nothing), he then
turned up for his final exam looking confident and relaxed alongside his
pale, haunted, ink-stained fellow students. Whilst the others were
scratching away with their nibs, he raised his hand and summoned the
invigilator.
"I would like to see the University porter, please" he said (because
despite being a layabout he was a reasonably well-brought up young man).
"What?" said the incredulous invigilator. "Why?" But the young man
persisted with his request and eventually the University porter was
brought.
"What do you want?" he asked, bemused.
"I want a glass of port, please."
There was a stunned silence.
"I beg your pardon?" (The porter was also well-brought up).
"I would like a glass of port, please. Preferably within the next half an
hour." The student folded his arms as the invigilator, the porter, and
most of the exam-takers stared at him.
"Well," said the porter, after a while. "I suggest you wait until after
your exams to start celebrating," and off he went. The young man put down
his pen, pushed his chair under the desk and left the room.
The next day he made representation to the Senatus Academicus; according
to an ancient by-law, if a student is not given a glass of port, when
requested, during his final exam, he must be awarded an unspecified
Honours degree. The Senate, horrified, checked the law and found that it
had indeed never been taken off the statute books, and that the young man
was entitled to an unspecified Honours degree. Three weeks later, he was
duly presented with one, standing proudly alongside his fellow graduates
who had slaved so hard for theirs.
Two days later, the Senate stripped him of his degree for walking across
the grass in the Quad without wearing a sword.

And what was the name of the Honours degree, for those of us who don't know?

On 07/05/2011 16:45, Carey N. wrote:
And what was the name of the Honours degree, for those of us who don't know?

It was an "unspecified" Honours degree (I'm just relating the story as
passed to me g)