It's that time of the semester when students focus on intense study and face their final examinations.  Professors (and/or TAs) will then spend hours grading the exams and recording final grades.  In the early years of the Institute, final examinations were not evaluated by professors, but by a board of examiners.  The Board of Examiners was composed of several "literary, scientific and practical men" not associated with the Institute.  The examiners were appointed by Stephen Van Rensselaer himself for several years and then by the Board of Trustees.  A public exami