May 14 (UPI) -- A lard-covered obelisk is more than a slippery slope for U.S. Naval Academy plebes, who view it as a rite of passage that changes them into midshipmen. Dozens of freshmen who are called "plebes" were tasked with climbing the 21-foot-tall Herndon Monument on Wednesday, with the mission being to replace a cap placed on top to mark the end of their first year at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. They accomplished the feat in 2 hours, 27 minutes and 31 seconds by using the kind of