The penalties for transgressing say of these rules are severe; plebes who break the rules can be ordered not to eat their meals.

"Some freshmen used to lose as much as 60 pounds over the course of a year," said one West Point official. In order to prevent outright starvation, a new rule was instituted which required that plebes must be permitted to eat one meal a day.

Outside the dining halls, plebes are required to do other tasks, which include mail delivery.

The plebe rules are among the more controversial aspects of the West Point experience among Cadets themselves. SCUSA participants were permitted to attend classes with the Cadets, and is several section meetings of a course on "The Psychology of Leadership," the outsiders turned the classroom into a forum for debate on the plebe issue, and on the value of West Point itself.

The arguments against the plebe rules were obvious: the rules are unnecessary and degrading, designed primary to rob Cadets of their self respect in order to weaken any will they may have to resist West Point socialization.

The section leaders-mostly captains and majors who went through the Academy themselves-defended the rules on three grounds. In the first place, they agreed that the rules were designed to tear people down. "We want to tear down people in order to build them back up again," one Major said.

"In addition," he added, "the rules lead to democratization. Everyone has to go through plebing, and there's very little you bring in with you from the outside that can help you. Everybody wears the same clothes and has to do the same things."

The third argument for plebing is that it teats people under a "stressful" situation, and makes those who survive it stronger. That many cannot survive-or are unwilling to put up with-plebing is evidenced by the Point's drop-out rate. Thirty per cent of the members of entering classes do not graduate, and two out of every three people the drop out do no before the out of freshmen year.

The Cadets are defensive about the system. "If we were arguing with officers we'd probably be attacking the place," junior Bill Betson explains. "But arguing with you guys makes us want to defeat it, because it really has a lot of good points."

"Only five per cent of the officers in the Army are from West Point." Betson explained "but 95 per cent of the Generals are. The people here are going to be leaders and that's something that's very important to all of us."

The Cadets realize that the rest of the world, and especially the other studies delegates at SCUSA, may look at them as freaks for what they go through. "It's the sprit of the place, the sense of belonging and everyone participating, that keeps as here," one Cadet explained.

The second night of the conference for example a small riot broke out in the Mess Hall at dinner, as the Cadets staged a peprally of sorts to get psyched for the coming Syracuse game. Food was thrown, glasses were smashed, the place turned into shambles. West Point authorities condone such actions, Brigadier General Phillip Feir, Commandant of Cadets, explains. "The sprit these incidents build its worth the cost of the food and broken silverware to us."

One thing SCUSA does do is changer a lot of delegates' perception of, West Point. A student from outside nights approach, the military academy with a sound that it is full of programmed robots, mindlessly following orders in the inevitable march to fascism. One finds instead a group of individuals, most of them bright, friendly interesting, committed people. The system might still seem foolish, perhaps even evil, for what it does to the individuality and humanity of the Cadets. It still remains difficult to justify the rule of absolute silence for plebes in the Mess Hall, for example.

But the Cadets do have their escapes. One is flirtation walk, it narrow path on the campus which is unofficially off-limits to officers, and as such is the only place at West Point where Cadets dare touch members of the opposite sex, and which has also been known to shelter many it liquor or dope party. Another escape route is athletics, which consume a major portion of each Cadet's day.

For the most part, however, the Cadets don't have time to escape. Their days are full, with classes, studying, and attending scheduled functions. Their achievement motivation and dedication are almost Puritan. The Cadets of West Point are constantly being told that they are "the cream of the cream."

Although it tried, West Point did not escape-all the trends of the sixties. It is actively engaged in recruiting blacks, who have not traditionally been represented in large numbers in its ranks. It suffered a severe shortage of applicants, as well as a high dropout rate, during the Vietnam War. In addition, many of the Academy's academics now make a point of demonstrating their open-mindedness, their willingness to criticize government policy.

But despite these changes in style, the Point has not changed in any fundamental way, and it's unlikely that it can. The purpose of the school is to train military leaders ready to do the bidding of political leaders. Assuming one believes that no army is necessary, this isn't a bad thing. But it does mean that the Point must necessarily be an institution where discipline and toughness are the order of they day. That's true of Today's Army as it was of Ulysses Grant's.

Most college students if they think of it at all, shudder at the thought of wearing uniforms, being forced to follow a rigid schedule, saluting officers, participating in mandatory parades and formation. But to the Gadets at West Point it is something very much more: a place where you get the discipline be a man and a leader.