by Aldus Marius on Thu Jul 15, 2004 2:27 am
Salvete discipuli...
My congratulations are extended to the Societas as a whole, both for nurturing such fine gentlemen-and-scholars...and for Her resilience in carrying on normal operations while Her top brass is effectively missing for two or three months out of the year.
The exams could be a stressful time here, even for those who are not taking them. It is difficult to get a hold of the magistrates then, and should you manage to do it, you may not get a timely reply. The refrain heard everywhere is, "I'm studying for a test." I dare say if the OP had to function in this kind of environment, they'd have proclaimed one of their beloved "crises" by the end of the first week, and in two months or less they would have likely experienced a complete thermonuclear meltdown. But then, they are a nation of masochists, not scholars.
The membership of the SVR, OTOH, does not panic. We have simply wrapped our brains around it, recalibrated our expectations accordingly, and accepted this rite of Autumn and Spring as the normal way of things. We're pretty self-propelled anyway and don't require much babysitting. If the official who normally does a thing is too busy cramming, why, we find someone else who can do the same thing, tell us how to do it, or refer us to someone else who can get it done instead. No biggie. We're taken care of.
So while the near-absence of several of the magistrates during exam season could be a structural problem, it is not. That it is not is, I think, due largely to our developing institutional culture...but mainly to the character of the membership. I thank you all for this.
Omnes te saluto!!
In fide,
Aldus Marius Peregrinus.