ã€ŠHire Lernin&#x2019;: An Idealist&#x2019;s Quest Through the Realm of for-Profit Educationã€‹


 Front Matter

    Hire Lernin¡¯

    An Idealist¡¯s Quest Through the Realm of for-Profit Education

    by Victor D. L¨®pez

    _________________________________

    ? 2021 Victor D. L¨®pez

    No portion of this copyrighted work may be reproduced, transmitted, or posted in any form for any purpose without the express written consent of the author

    _________________________________

    With love always for some of the as yet unacknowledged friends and family who have seen me at my best, at my worst, and have always loved me through it all, being there when it counted:

    Manuel Zapata

    Robert Zapata

    Thomas and Maricarmen Gonzalez

    Louis and Valentina Gonzalez

    Gabriel F. Gonzalez

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Elizabeth Gonzalez

    Maria Olga Naveira Ambrosio

    (And Michelle, Frank, Melissa and Pedro)

    William Raynor

    _________________________________

    With special thanks to my friend, trusted colleague, and co-author

    of several law-related articles, Eugene T. Maccarrone,

    who was the first to read and comment on the first draft of this book.

    _________________________________

    Author¡¯s Note

    This novel is a work of fiction. Although it was born out of my slightly more than one-year experience as the dean of a proprietary, for-profit business school in my first academic posting early in my career in a manner and circumstances similar to the protagonist, the characters, locations, and situations are not based on nor intended to represent any actual persons or places. Alas the issues raised directly and indirectly about the failings of both for-profit education and increasingly traditional higher education are far from fictional. Indeed, for-profit education has grown exponentially since the 1980s and is no longer limited to small, closely-held corporate entities. And some segments of traditional higher education today¡ªboth public and private¡ªhave come to mirror the same bottom-line-driven ethos of the proprietary, for-profit market with its primary emphasis on maximizing tuition revenue, minimizing cost, and imposing ever-increasing burdens on faculty with a constant call to ¡°do more with less¡± until they are expected to do practically everything with nothing and forced to work in an environment where academic standards take a back seat to student retention providing students with an education of questionable worth. But that is a matter for another novel¡ªone I also hope to eventually write.

    I should make it clear that all proprietary, for-profit education is not necessarily bad. There are and have always been good and bad players in this arena just as in any other. The one I served in my first posting was not as good as some and much better than others. I will always be grateful for lessons learned there¡ªand for some of the wonderful people I got to work with. It was there, not in any classroom, that I learned to lead by example, to effectively manage professionals through honest, open communication and consensus building, and to use entrepreneurial leadership to successfully attain goals others said were unreachable. These skills served me well throughout my life as both an administrator and twice-tenured full professor in the public and private colleges and universities I have been privileged to serve. They serve me well still, for which I am grateful beyond words.

    Victor D. L¨®pez, J.D., Esq.

    Coram, New York

 Chapter 1: Dreamers Dream Until They are Awakened

    Dan peered out of his Jackson Heights second story apartment window hoping to spy the letter carrier¡¯s cart on the sidewalk below bearing good news. He had risen as usual at 8:00 a.m., showered, dressed and was at his desk by 9:00 a.m. ready to face the world, which these days largely meant waiting for the mail to arrive or the phone to ring with an interview offer while working on a book about public domain software that he had begun writing. A classic overachiever, Dan was undaunted by the fact that he had settled into this routine two months ago and was still waiting for a reasonable job offer that he could actually accept. No matter, he would persevere and everything would be fine.

    Success had always come easily to Dan. He completed middle school in two years in a special progress class, graduated from one of the best High Schools in the country, Brooklyn Technical High School, with honors, and excelled not only in the traditional college-level math, science and technical courses that formed the foundation of his pre-engineering curriculum, but also in the humanities and social sciences. College had been more of the same. He looked forward to every class, never managed his GPA by dodging hard courses or dropping courses in which he was not maintaining an A average, never cut classes, and graduated with high honors. Both his I.Q. and LSAT scores qualified him for membership in Mensa, an organization he had absolutely no interest in joining. He coasted through law school, though his grades were only average as he was frustrated and bored by the emphasis on memorization and regurgitation of facts, issues, holdings and rationales for cases in the traditional case method employed by the law school he attended (and most others for that matter both then and now).

    Dan had decided to go to law school to help people, to make a difference, and to promote justice¡ªactually believing these clich¨¦s with the fervor and innocence possible only for recent arrivals from faraway galaxies and people whose only exposure to the law and lawyers is derived from romanticized Hollywood movies, novels, and television shows. His delusions did not survive the first week of law school. He knew almost immediately that he would not practice law as a career, at least not as his primary occupation, but stubbornly decided to stick it out for no better reason than he had always completed anything he started and law school would not be the exception. So, instead of leaving law school after a week, a month or even a semester as any rational person faced with the clear evidence that he had made a terrible mistake would have done, he plodded onward. He could have pursued a Ph.D. in political science, English, philosophy or any of the half dozen other fields that were of real interest to him in the humanities and social sciences where he could have found a fulfilling career as an academic. Instead, he chose to stay in law school and use his law degree to obtain a non-legal corporate position in human resource management, government compliance or one of the many other areas in business in which knowledge of the law and the ability to give legal advice are essential.

    After graduating from law school, he took and comfortably passed the grueling New York State bar exam, though he would not receive the results until December and would not be admitted to practice until the following spring, just like everyone else who passed the bar exam. In the meantime, he had worked on Wall Street for a year hating the experience. Once admitted to practice, he prepared his resume and sent out application letters, neatly typed and appropriately listing his educational experience and competencies seeking to find more satisfying work. With no relevant work experience, however, responses were not what he had hoped for that summer. He received perhaps one interview for every ten or fifteen application letters sent out. This was actually much better than average, especially since he was not applying for work as an attorney. He should have expected three to five interviews for every 100 letters sent out, but he did not know that. Accustomed to success and with an unrealistic notion of his marketability and value, he was disappointed at getting at best a couple of interviews a month and was even less enthusiastic about the salaries offered for the entry level administrative and consulting positions for which he interviewed and which he was offered.

    But this week would be different. In researching positions for which he would qualify as someone with a law degree, he had learned an interesting fact: more college deans hold a Juris Doctor degree than degrees from any other discipline. This appealed to him and he had instantly decided that rather than accept any of the unsatisfying offers like the ones he had recently received, he would concentrate on obtaining a dean¡¯s position at an academic institution. The fact that most college deans are highly experienced academics or accomplished professionals before their ascension to administration is something that completely escaped Dan¡¯s less than comprehensive research into the subject. Thus, his mind made up about a career choice that would after all vindicate his decision to obtain a law degree, he readjusted his resume, developed a new cover letter, and began to apply for deans¡¯ positions from The Chronicle of Higher Education. And, not knowing any better, he also kept reading The New York Times classifieds hoping to find those types of positions listed there as well.

    Within a few days of making this new life-altering decision, he had sent out a half dozen new application letters to community colleges in the New York, New Jersey, Connecticut tri-state area from the Chronicle and one to Practical Entrepreneurial Management Training Institute (PEMTI), a local business school Dan had never heard of. The cryptic ad in the classified section of The New York Times read: Academic Dean. Leading business school with branches throughout the tri-state area is searching for an Academic Dean for its Queens campus. Competitive salary and benefits. Master¡¯s Degree required; Doctorate preferred. The only other information was an address for PEMTI at Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens, an area not too far from Dan¡¯s apartment. He then waited for a call he was sure would come, oblivious to the fact that the lag time between the submission of an application for a dean¡¯s position and the search committee selection of candidates for preliminary phone interviews and, eventually, on-campus interviews takes months at traditional academic institutions, even at lower-level community colleges and baccalaureate institutions. But ignorance is bliss, and Dan eagerly expected a call or letter inviting him to an on-campus interview within a week of having sent the application.

    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    It is said that even broken clocks are right twice a day¡ªwell, at least that¡¯s true for the old-fashioned analog ones. And this morning, just three days after mailing his application, his phone rang.

    ¡°This is PEMTI calling. May I speak to Daniel Amor?¡± The woman¡¯s husky, southern accented voice gave Dan a sudden adrenaline surge as he quickly responded, ¡°This is he.¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Amor. I¡¯m calling with regard to your application for the dean¡¯s position. Will you please hold for the director, Mr. Lantz?¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± Dan tried to keep his voice calm as his heart rate sped up further. A click on the line was followed almost immediately by the mellow voice of a man exuding cheerfulness.

    ¡°Dr. Amor?¡± The voice queried.

    ¡°Yes sir, good morning¡± Dan answered.

    ¡°Good morning. I¡¯m Marvin Lantz, the school director. We received your application for the dean¡¯s position and would like to bring you in for an interview. Are you available this week?¡±

    ¡°Any time this week is fine with me, Dr. Lantz,¡± Dan retorted without the usual response he knew he should give about having to consult his schedule in order to not appear overeager and unattractively unoccupied.

    ¡°Call me Marvin, please. I¡¯m an MBA, not a Ph.D. or Ed.D. Can you come in tomorrow at 10:00 a.m.? We¡¯re on Queens Boulevard about two blocks from the courthouse on the fourth floor of the Wang Office Building. Our school is actually on the fourth and fifth floors.¡±

    ¡°I know the area and have your address. I¡¯ll be there at 10:00 a.m. Thank you. I look forward to meeting you, Mr. Lantz.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to meeting you as well. See you then,¡± Marvin replied and hung up the phone.

    Dan smiled widely. Finally he had an interview he could really look forward to. He called his girlfriend, Linda, as soon as he got off the phone, eager to give her the good news.

    ¡°Morning babe,¡± he said as soon as she picked on the phone. ¡°I have some great news!¡±

    ¡°Hi Dan. What is it?¡±

    ¡°I just got called in for an interview at a local business school for a dean¡¯s position.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and I just got crowned Miss Universe,¡± she scoffed.

    ¡°I¡¯m serious!¡±

    ¡°You told me you sent out applications for deans¡¯ positions a few days ago. How can they possibly be interviewing already?¡±

    ¡°I guess they know quality when they see it,¡± he quipped.

    ¡°Joke all you want, but be careful. I see a huge red flag popping up here.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, Linda. You¡¯re such a damned pessimist. Why are you perpetually raining on my parade?¡±

    ¡°Because I love you and someone has to protect you from yourself. You always see the glass as half full, and even if someone takes the time to make you see it¡¯s actually completely empty, you¡¯ll point to rain clouds in the horizon and argue it will soon be full again.¡±

    ¡°So shoot me for always looking at the bright side, Ms. Perpetual Party Pooper! For me the glass is always half full, true; for you it is always completely empty, dusty, cracked and lying in the middle of the Sahara Desert under six feet of sand,¡± Dan said with a tone of exasperation, yet knowing full well that she was right.

    ¡°Just be careful, Dan. Congratulations on getting the interview, but be wary.¡±

    ¡°I will, Linda. Have some faith in me, won¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I have always had complete faith in you¡ªit¡¯s your judgment that worries me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve gotta go,¡± Dan said. ¡°I¡¯m off to the library to do some research. We can talk tonight,¡± Dan said, giving the receiver a kiss and hanging up the phone.

    He knew Linda was right¡ªshe almost always was. He could be impulsive and allow his enthusiasm to cloud his judgment. Nevertheless he felt some annoyance at Linda¡¯s harping on the negative rather than exploring the positive. She was a realist who looked at the positive and the negative in every situation and parked herself somewhere in the middle. Dan was an idealist who had a hard time accepting any reality he found unpleasant or unfair and would look for a rainbow in the middle of a hurricane, even if it killed him.

    After getting off the phone, he did what he did best: turn to the task at hand and devote his full attention to it. He needed to get as much information as possible about PEMTI in preparation for the interview with little time to do so. In the days before the Internet, a library¡¯s holdings were the only effective way to research a prospective employer, so he headed for his car to take a quick trip to the St. John¡¯s University library to find out anything he could about PEMTI. Unfortunately, it was a trip that would prove fruitless. The same was true of his trip to his public library.Returning home that evening, he avoided going to see Linda as he knew she would harp on his need for caution and make him miserable. Instead, he called her and they chatted on the phone briefly. He also called his parents who were much more enthusiastic about his good news knowing nothing about the usual process involved in a dean¡¯s search and, therefore, offered Dan only the encouragement he craved.

    <hr>

 Chapter 2: The Adventure Begins

    The next morning, Dan got up early, put on his best suit and gathered his leather portfolio, placing extra copies of his resume and undergraduate and graduate transcripts in it along with three glowing letters of reference from professors who knew him well and could vouch for his intellectual acumen and skill set. Rather than take his car into an area where parking would likely pose a problem, he opted to take the subway, leaving his home at 9:00 a.m. for what should be at most a half hour trip door to door. Nothing beats the NYC subway system for getting around cheaply and quickly, especially during rush hour when bumper-to-bumper traffic moves at about the same rate as the average lethargic slug. Traffic flow is further impeded by traffic lights whose timing sequence seems to be set by particularly perverse, sadistic children during breaks from biting their baby siblings, torturing puppies and singeing the tail feathers of caged songbirds on sunny windowsills with magnifying glasses when their parents are not looking.

    As he neared the ten-story office building that housed what might become his first academic home, he slowed his pace as he was nearly a half hour early and knew that he should not arrive earlier than fifteen minutes before his scheduled interview. He walked slowly past a variety of small shops, that included a Chinese restaurant with about a half dozen small tables visible through the front window, a pizzeria, a check cashing place sporting a prominent ¡°Payday Loans¡± neon sign in its window, a bagel shop, a tattoo parlor and several bars. He continued past the office building towards the courthouse, enjoying the glorious early fall day. As he approached the courthouse, he could see dozens of lawyers going about their business, many of them accompanied by their clients chatting on their way to court or holding impromptu conferences. He smiled at the realization that it was often hard to distinguish criminal lawyers from their clients as they moved side by side on their way to and from the criminal courthouse. The lawyers, of course, could be discerned from their ubiquitous bulging leather briefcases, but seemed every bit as shabby, shifty and untrustworthy as their charges and wearing similarly rumpled off-the-rack suits and sports jackets. Even his criminal law professor in law school fit that mold¡ªthere was too much of the streets about them, a greater affinity to their clients than to the polish and eloquence that used to be associated with the legal profession in the days when lawyers were not free to hawk their services on commercials during television shows aimed at the terminally unemployable members of society with loud, obnoxious, misleading commercials. These echoed all the finesse and professionalism of local used car salespeople hawking their wares to individuals with toxic credit histories in the wee hours of the morning.

    ¡°Have you been injured by a slip and fall? Did the police find a kilo of heroin in your car after a traffic stop motivated by racial profiling? Is the IRS hounding you because you¡¯ve never paid taxes? Is your son doing poorly in school because he was slapped too hard on his fanny by the obstetrician at birth? Were you denied employment or a promotion because you are an unqualified drug user with a bad attitude, body odor and perpetual absenteeism caused by Chronic Lethargy Syndrome? You may be entitled to compensation. Call 1-800-SHEISTER and a lawyer will come to your home to discuss your case. No injury is too small or frivolous for us to pursue. The law firm of Sheister & Sheister is always on your side.¡± These commercials should come with the following rapidly-scrolling disclaimer in small print (but do not--a testament to the political clout bought by the very generous campaign contributions of trial lawyers in the United States):

    ¡°Disclaimer: we only take cases we know we can win with a minimum of effort, and then only on a 50-percent contingency fee basis. We routinely file cases with little or no merit knowing full well that judges will seldom throw them out on pretrial motions, and count on our ability to settle almost any claim for its nuisance value of $10,000 or less as the average litigation will cost defendants $25,000 in lawyer¡¯s fees and it is cheaper for them to pay us $10,000 to go away than it is to win a Pyrrhic victory in court and have to pay their attorneys $25,000. After paying for court fees and some ancillary expenses off the top from the $10,000 nuisance judgment, we get about $4,500 for little or no work beyond basic motions filed by our underpaid paralegals, and you get $4,500 for any injury real or imagined that may have been caused by anyone you choose to sue. God Bless America, the only country on the planet in which lawyers have succeeded in maintaining the sanctity of the American Rule that prevents losing parties from having to pay the legal expenses of the prevailing party.¡±

    After walking past the courthouse killing time and thinking these dangerous, subversive thoughts that would get him immediately voted off the island by his brothers and sisters of the bar, he turned around after a leisurely seven-minute stroll and slowly walked back. He made his way to the fourth floor at precisely 9:45 a.m.

    ¡°Dan Amor to see Mr. Lantz,¡± he told the smiling receptionist. ¡°He¡¯ll be with you in a moment.¡± She picked up the phone, punched a button and announced ¡°Mr. Amor is here to see you.¡± She then turned to Dan and said sweetly, ¡°Please sit down. He¡¯ll be right with you ¡°

    Before Dan had a chance to take a seat, a smiling, short, thin man in his late thirties with short hair in an almost perfect horseshoe pattern around a gleaming, bald head opened the inner door to the right of the reception area and offered Dan a broad smile. ¡°Good morning, Dan. Please come in. I¡¯m Marvin. It¡¯s good to meet you.¡± Marvin extended his hand to Dan who shook it firmly, saying ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for seeing me.¡±

    Marvin held the door open and asked Dan to pass through. Dan noted what appeared to be a metal detector as he walked through the threshold, while also noticing another metal detector on the wider door to the left of the reception area that must lead to the classrooms given the number of young people carrying books that he saw walking through it. Unlike today, metal detectors at a school in the 1980s was something Dan had never seen before and found curious. Marvin pointed to the end of the hallway and said, ¡°My office is just down the hall, please follow me.¡± On the way to Marvin¡¯s office, Dan saw several small offices with people busy at work at their desks, and a large office just before Marvin¡¯s door that looked like a phone bank with a half dozen people working the phones in diminutive cubicles.

    As he walked inside Marvin¡¯s office, Dan noticed a short man with mid-length hair staring out the large picture window at the traffic below on Queens Boulevard. The man¡¯s shirt, though clean and of apparent good quality, was rumpled and looked slept in. The man turned his attention to Marvin and to Dan when he heard them come in. Unlike Marvin¡¯s conservative blue tie and a pressed shirt, the man¡¯s tie sported a cacophony of discordant colors that could have been designed by a chimp of subpar intelligence on an acid trip supplied with finger paints in all the primary colors for its hands and feet. The man immediately walked towards Dan with his hand extended in the style of life insurance salesmen, car dealers and televangelists the world over.

    ¡°Good to meet you, Dan. I¡¯m Jerry Mason, Vice President for Administration of PEMTI,¡± the man said, enthusiastically shaking Dan¡¯s hand. ¡°Marvin and I will be interviewing you today and appreciate your coming to see us on short notice.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Mason. Thank you for granting me this interview,¡± Dan replied meeting the man¡¯s smile, though not quite matching it¡¯s size or intensity.

    ¡°Call me Jerry. We Don¡¯t stand on ceremony here, plus I don¡¯t hold a doctorate, just an MS in Marketing. Please, sit down,¡± he added, pointing to one of two padded leather chairs in front of a massive mahogany desk. ¡±You too, Marvin. I¡¯ll just stand if you don¡¯t mind.¡± Marvin smiled and took the seat, but not before offering Dan a cup of coffee or tea, pointing to an elegant side table with freshly brewed coffee, china cups and saucers, a matching sugar bowl, and silver spoons. The office smelled pleasantly of vanilla and fresh brewed French roast coffee. Dan waved off the offer with thanks and sat down, opening his leather portfolio on his lap.

    ¡°Would either of you like a copy of my resume or letters of reference?¡± He asked, looking at both men. ¡°No thank you,¡± Marvin replied. ¡°We both have a copy and have reviewed it carefully,¡± he added. Jerry leaned back on the windowsill behind Marvin¡¯s desk and studied Dan while Marvin spoke. ¡°Why don¡¯t you begin by telling us a little about yourself and why you want this job,¡± Marvin added with a pleasant smile.

    Dan covered the basics about his education, training and commitment to higher education. He emphasized his ability to learn almost anything quickly, his legal training and adaptability. He touched on his academic credentials and eclectic competencies as well as his ability to work well both in groups and in self-directed projects. He closed by explaining that he was a young attorney who did not wish to practice law but instead had chosen to pursue a career in higher education, preferring the intangible rewards and self-satisfaction that career offered over the pecuniary rewards available to a competent young lawyer, with native-language proficiency in Spanish in a city with an insufficient number of attorneys that could effectively serve the needs of a growing Latin American community. Dan knew but did not mention the insultingly deficient ¡°bilingual attorneys ¡° whose inability to effectively communicate orally or in writing in Spanish was at once amusing , dangerous and insulting to the clients they targeted through the Spanish-language media.

    Dan did not try to address what he anticipated the interviewers would ask as his weakness¡ªlack of experience¡ªwas obvious, and he preferred not to raise any negative issue until he was asked about it. The second question, however, he did not anticipate, and it came from Jerry.

    ¡°How do you feel about for-profit education?¡±

    Dan answered honestly and immediately. ¡°I really have not given the matter much thought. However, I believe that college is not for everyone, and that there is a very real gap in career training that community colleges are increasingly failing to meet. Most have turned away from their original job-training mission and become feeders for four-year schools. A majority of graduates with associate degrees lack any real marketable skills and are prepared almost exclusively to transfer to a four-year institution that too often will offer similar bachelor degrees of little use for those seeking employment.¡± Both Jerry and Marvin nodded, smiled, and looked at each other as Dan said this.

    ¡°I have an uncle who learned typing skills from one business institute or other in Manhattan that saved him from an infantry position when he volunteered to serve in Korea¡± Dan continued. ¡°He served very near to the front lines, but in a clerical position that kept him out of the infantry because of his office skills. He is a writer now and a retired high school teacher. I envy him the touch-typing skill which served him well and could have earned him a living as a clerk in any number of companies if the G.I. Bill had not allowed him to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees through the City University of New York and NYU. I also have two very good married friends who trained as beauticians and own their own salon. He is a construction worker who helps out during the winter off season, and she is someone who survived radical cancer surgery in her late teens that left her with physical disabilities that would have precluded her from holding many jobs for which she was otherwise qualified. Both are successful, productive and very happy in their work which would not have been possible other than by attending a proprietary school in NYC. I support for-profit education because I have seen it work, as long as it is offered at a reasonable cost and provides good practical training for individuals that for whatever reason cannot or choose not to go to college.¡± All of this was true, and it was very well received by both Jerry and Marvin.

    ¡°You would be surprised to learn how many people disagree with that point of view,¡± Jerry said, smiling broadly once again. ¡°But of course we completely agree with you, and we do provide an excellent education at a fair price. We also provide graduates with job placement assistance when they graduate, free of charge and for as long as they need it, not just help in getting their first job after completing their training.¡±

    ¡°That sounds terrific,¡± Dan said, again meaning it.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have any other questions for you at this time, Dan. Is there anything you¡¯d like to know about PEMTI of the position in question?¡± Marvin said. Dan was very surprised. He knew he had not said or done anything wrong, and the vibes he was getting from both Marvin and Jerry were all very positive. He wondered whether this was this really the end of the interview, or just a subtle test to see whether he had some intelligent questions to ask before they moved to more probing, meaningful questions of their own. No matter, he did have some questions he would like answered. Of course, he could not ask about salary or benefits; he did not need the few books on the employment communication cycle he¡¯d consulted as soon as he started his job search to tell him that, though they dutifully had. But salary and benefits were not nearly as important to him as finding meaningful work. If they were interested in him, they would shift the interview to selling him on the position in due course and would offer as much of that information as they could to entice him to take the job anyway.

    ¡°I do have a few questions that I would like to ask. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do so. First, I could not find any information about PEMTI at my local library. You are not listed on any of the resources I consulted. Can you tell me a little about the organization?¡±

    ¡°Happy to do that, Dan,¡± Marvin said, beaming. ¡°It is a family-owned closed corporation that has been in existence for about twenty years. We have six business schools in the Tristate area, including this Queens branch, a branch in Midtown Manhattan, one in the Brooklyn Heights area, one in the South Bronx, one in Philadelphia and one in Paramus, New Jersey. Our flagship branch is in Manhattan, where the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Melamed, make their corporate home as President and Executive Vice President of the organization.¡±

    ¡°Is there a provost or academic vice president to whom your deans report?¡±

    ¡°No, the deans report directly to the school director in each school and the senior dean serves as chief academic officer, assisting with recruitment, training and support of the faculty, along with coordination of the curricular development and assessment. Each dean is also responsible for supervision of the faculty and class scheduling, as well as coordination with the State Education Department on matters relating to program development, faculty credentialing and program assessment. The director handles the day-to-day operations of each school and the deans handle all matters relating to academic affairs. They are the second in command for each school, just as the Provost or Vice President for Academic Affairs at traditional colleges and universities.¡±

    ¡°What is the governance structure at each school and for the corporation?¡± Dan asked.

    ¡°There is no governance structure at the local level beyond the director and dean. The third in command is the marketing director who works closely with the director and usually not at all with the dean. You would have complete autonomy to recruit, hire, and assign your faculty subject only to my approval as far as hiring/firing decisions. We are not a union shop, and there is no tenure system or long-term contracts. We hire strictly at will, so the only restrictions on hiring our faculty is that imposed by the State Education Department as to their credentials, training and the maximum hours that they can teach. I would more or less rubber stamp your decisions in these areas. My primary responsibility is the financial side of the house.¡± Marvin said, smiling both at Dan and at Jerry who had abandoned his window perch to half lean against/half sit on the corner of Marvin¡¯s desk as the latter spoke.

    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°Are you on a semester system or quarter system, and how long do your courses run?¡±

    ¡°Neither, actually,¡± Marvin replied. ¡°We have a wide range of programs that run from six months to twelve months. Courses end on a Friday, we have a graduation ceremony for the graduates with cake and punch, and new courses begin the following Monday.¡±

    ¡°When do faculty take vacation time?¡± Dan asked, puzzled.

    ¡°They don¡¯t, actually. If they want to take time off, they can, without pay. We call them unpaid sabbaticals.¡± Dan winced noticeably on hearing this. ¡°But of course, you would get one month vacation a year and all federal the holidays, though it is best if you take vacation in four one-week segments as it is hard to be without a dean for a longer period than that since we have no backup position. Your tech assistant is eager to step in any time you ask him to, as he loves to crack the whip any chance he gets, but he is not qualified to do anything more than review time sheets and deal with any disciplinary issues of students that may arise¡± Marvin said, adding quickly ¡°These are very rare, by the way.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Dan replied. He didn¡¯t, not at all, but thought it would all fall into place soon enough. Then he added. ¡°Since faculty are not directly involved in the governance process, what input do they have into crucial matters of curricular development, advisement, hiring and similar faculty functions?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s completely up to you, Dan. Keep in mind that this is not a university, and the faculty are not university professors either. We¡¯re more like a . . . high school, yes, that¡¯s a better model,¡± Marvin added thoughtfully. ¡°Faculty are not content experts they¡¯re . . . generalists, for the most part, with some notable exceptions, like the engineering tech faculty and nursing faculty who are really top-notch. They do not control the curriculum. We do. And, like high school teachers, they have to provide a comprehensive lesson plan for each class and must be monitored to ensure that they are following it.¡±

    ¡°Who monitors the content and in what way?¡± Dan asked.

    ¡°Why, you do, of course. The modality is completely up to you. At a minimum you have to collect and keep on file the lesson plans. State Ed will review these when they schedule a site visit. And they can do that at any time. You should eyeball these to make sure they meet reasonable rigor and stick to the actual course content,¡± Marvin said as Jerry was back to looking out the picture window, possibly worrying about traffic back to Manhattan.

    ¡°I have no expertise in this area. Law, English composition, philosophy, electronics, mechanics and computers I am very comfortable with. I¡¯ve done some college-level teaching as part of an honors seminar while an undergraduate, and I¡¯m very comfortable in front of a class. And I know I can support faculty in a collegial manner. But business courses and office technology courses I know absolutely nothing about.¡±

    ¡°No problem, Dan.¡± Marvin reassured Dan with a smile and wave of the hand, ¡°One of the things that attracted us to your application is the depth of your skill set. You¡¯re something that¡¯s very rare these days¡ªa true Renaissance man still in his 20s with really diverse competencies and interests. That will serve you well. The law degree helps too, in other ways, as you will need familiarity with HR regulations, the Civil Rights Acts, and other federal and state employment laws and regs in hiring and supervising faculty and support staff. You would also be responsible for counseling and discipline issues with students, so a law degree is a definite plus from a risk management perspective for us there, too.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Dan said again, a highly optimistic and less than accurate statement at best.

    At this, Jerry turned away from his close examination of traffic patterns and turned to Dan. ¡°We think you have all the skills that will allow you to excel here. Moreover, our Senior Dean in the Manhattan school is an Ed.D. and would be available to answer any specific questions you may have. In fact, if you were to be our next dean, you would spend a couple of days in our flagship school with Dr. Green for training.¡±

    ¡°That sounds good,¡± Dan said, brightening somewhat at the prospect of having some expert support to ease him into the transition if, as he was beginning to suspect, he were offered the job.

    ¡°Now to brass tacks.¡± Jerry continued. ¡°The job offers comprehensive life, health, dental, eye-care and prescription drug coverage through Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Metropolitan Life. It is a self-directed POS plan where you can go anywhere you like, unlike some cheap HMO.¡± All of that was true, as Dan would eventually learn. ¡°As to salary, we were looking to bring in someone at under $25,000, but because of your doctorate and credentials, we could offer you $30,000 plus a very generous pension plan that will match dollar for dollar your elected contribution up to 10 percent of your salary. Only our execs get the health and retirement plan, by the way.

    The salary was more or less a joke, even in 1987. But for Dan, who through scholarships, part-time and summer work and fiscally sound planning owed only $10,000 in student loans for his entire seven year undergraduate and graduate education, money was not a major consideration. He was single, and had modest needs, and gaining valuable experience in a position where he could make a difference for others was a very appealing prospect. So he smiled and said nothing.

    ¡°We intend to make a decision shortly and would like to have a new dean in place within a couple of weeks at most,¡± Jerry noted. If we were to make you an offer, would you be available in that time frame?¡±

    ¡°I could start immediately,¡± Dan said, knowing that might make him appear overeager. But he did not like to play games and had no interest in giving the appearance that he was weighing other offers as that was not the case, or of using that appearance to exact a larger salary offer. He was sure that once on board any company, he would work hard and prove himself a valuable employee and would in turn be appropriately rewarded for his efforts in time. He was patient, confident and eager to begin a new career path where he could get the priceless intangible rewards of meaningful work.

    ¡°That¡¯s just fine,¡± Jerry retorted as Marvin smiled benignly. ¡°I need to leave now,¡± he added, ¡°I¡¯m sure Marvin will give you the grand tour. Good meeting, you, Dan, and we¡¯ll be in touch,¡± with that, he shook Dan¡¯s hand, nodded at Marvin and walked out the door with all the eagerness and grace of a third grader on a sugar high going out to recess.¡±

    ¡°Can I give you the nickel tour?¡± asked Marvin with his easy smile and somewhat glazed look.

    ¡°That would be great, thank you,¡± Dan said getting up. Marvin led the way back down the long corridor, this time stopping at the last office on the left just before the reception area. A bearded man with longish, thinning brown hair and gold-rimmed glasses stared up from his computer monitor as Marvin peered in. Bob, I¡¯d like you to meet one of our dean candidates, Dan Amor. Dan, this is Bob Wiener, our Director or Human Resources and also our Placement Director. Bob got up, and extended his hand to Dan. ¡°Nice to meet you, Dan.¡±

    ¡°Likewise,¡± Dan responded shaking Bob¡¯s hand.

    ¡°We¡¯re a small operation, so Bob does double duty. We¡¯re lucky to have him,¡± Marvin said, smiling beatifically.

    ¡°Twice the work at half the pay, that¡¯s the PEMTI way!¡± Bob replied as if reciting a jingle, chuckling, and momentarily making Marvin¡¯s smile disappear, only to quickly and brightly return as the sun emerging from a fast-moving puffy cloud over a field of pretty red poppies.

    ¡°He¡¯s such a kidder,¡± Marvin said. ¡°But he is the best resource for our graduates, most of whom owe their jobs to his hard work and many contacts.¡± That was a true statement. And Dan immediately liked the man He also liked Marvin who seemed a genuinely nice person to him.

    ¡°That¡¯s me,¡± Bob chimed in, ¡°People pusher extraordinaire.¡± He chortled again good naturedly as Marvin smiled on. ¡°I hope we¡¯ll have a chance to work together, Dan,¡± Bob added. ¡°Good luck!¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Bob. It was really nice meeting you. And I hope so too.¡±

    With that, Bob went back to his desk and Marvin led Dan out towards the reception area to the hospital-style double swinging doors with the words ¡°To Classrooms¡± stenciled in black letters above the small window in each door. They passed through to a long, fairly narrow hallway with windowed doors and extra-large windows that gave the place the look of an aquarium¡ªor the large displays of giant octopi atop sperm whales and life-size dioramas of prehistoric humans hunting, building grass huts or just looking lost amid hip-high grassland at the Metropolitan Museum of Natural History.

    ¡°We¡¯re lucky that classes are in session right now, so we can observe the faculty and students without the class change hubbub,¡± Marvin said. ¡°To the left is our nursing-assistant training lab. They stopped by the large picture window and observed about a dozen students practicing catheterization on male and female practice dummies¡ªanatomically correct partial mannequins of a male and female lower torsos cut off at the waist and about a foot above each knee, making for a rather gruesome but cost effective practice tool. Dan winced visibly as a student practiced inserting a plastic tube in the anatomically correct penis of the male mannequin under the guidance of the nursing instructor. All wore white lab coats and several looked up smiling as they noticed the observers. Marvin then moved on.

    ¡°To the right, you¡¯ll see our electronics lab.¡± They stopped by the next picture window to see about twenty students circling around a large shop table, soldering components while a distinguished tall, thin gentleman in a dark business suit sporting a neatly trimmed beard lectured, pointing to a blackboard with a circuit board. ¡°They¡¯re building a regulated power supply that powers a D.C. motor,¡± Dan said smiling.

    ¡°How do you know that?¡± Marvin asked, puzzled.

    ¡°The diagram on the blackboard--It shows a step-down transformer and dual capacitors connected to a D.C. motor.¡± Dan said. ¡°They may be making a personal fan or similar project. I hope they wound their own coils for the D.C. motor and created their own breadboard circuit, otherwise it¡¯s not much of a learning experience,¡± Dan added with a smile.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a clue. But Mr. Singh is an excellent electrical engineer and one of our finest teachers. I¡¯m sure they¡¯re getting a lot out of the lesson.¡±

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a power supply for a computer with a cooling fan. Yes, that sounds right. A good way to introduce them to electricity or to basic computer repair, for that matter. Is that what they do here?¡±

    ¡°We train electronic technicians that can work on the emerging personal computer technology as well as basic electronics repair. They are technician-generalists,¡± Marvin answered.

    ¡°Where do they get jobs?¡±

    ¡°Bob can answer those questions for you in detail in due course. But I believe he places these graduates in electronic assembly companies and, more recently, in the emerging computer manufacturing and repair industries. He has been able to place almost all graduates from this program to date¡ªthe same as our nursing-assistant students, as these are both growth fields.¡±

    ¡°How long are there programs?¡±

    ¡°Both of these run for 12 months,¡± Marvin answered.

    ¡°They can get real job training that leads to good jobs in just one year?¡±

    ¡°They sure can. And they qualify for federal student loans and TAP and PEL grants, so it is an affordable investment for them,¡± Marvin said, adding, ¡°The remaining classrooms are traditional classrooms, typing labs and computer labs.¡±

    They continued past several classrooms, stopping briefly to see students listening to lectures on Business English, Accounting, Business Math and Business and Personal Finance. Each room held approximately 30-40 students. Next came two typing labs with I.B.M. Selectric typewriters, the preferred business typewriter of its day, and two labs of Apple IIe computers. Even in 1987, these were not state of the art. Dan could not help but ask, ¡°Why are you using the older Apple IIe computers instead of the new Mac or IBM PC computers?¡±

    ¡°We feel it does not really matter what platform students use to learn the basic skills of word processing, spreadsheets or database management¡ªor to practice typing on a computer. We are not training students who know WordStar, DataStar or Lotus 1-2-3, but rather students who are familiar with the basic word processing, spreadsheet and database concepts so that they can easily be trained in any current or future flavor of these programs by their employers. No matter what platforms emerge, the students will be able to adapt because they know the concepts. In a world where the average employee does not know how to turn on a computer, our graduates have a real leg up because they are familiar with basic concepts.¡± That seemed questionable to Dan who had recently build his own first IBM-PC compatible computer from parts and taught himself DOS, Word Star, DataStar, Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect without the benefit of formal training or user-friendly manuals. Knowing basic concepts was important when the PC and Apple computers were still in their infancy. But students should also know how to use the most current application software used in business in order to be truly attractive to employers, he thought. Word Perfect for DOS had overtaken WordStar as the DOS word processor of Microsoft Word for DOS had not yet been developed. The Mac was in its infancy and not generally used in business as yet, let alone the older Apple II computers. Dan did not want to press the issue. If he were offered the job, however, that is something he would immediately work to change.

    ¡°Our students learn more that is of use in the business world in six to twelve months with us than they do in any four-year baccalaureate degree,¡± Marvin continued. ¡°Computerized Office Specialist program is very popular and is also our most profitable.¡±

    ¡°Do you offer any programs of short duration to train students in specific programs or platforms, such as WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3 for DOS?¡±

    ¡°No, not at present. But that is something we would certainly be open to in the future. We¡¯re not locked into the curriculum.¡±

    That was a relief, Dan thought. There was certainly room for improvement just from what he could see in this very brief tour. ¡°How many full time faculty do you have on staff right now?¡± Dan asked as they continued to walk and observe each classroom in turn.

    ¡°Fourteen,¡± Marvin answered. ¡°And we¡¯re proud to say that all of our faculty are full time¡ªwe have no adjuncts here.¡± That surprised Dan, and he took it to be a good sign.

    As the tour came to an end, Marvin escorted Dan back to the reception area where he shook his hand and assured him that he would be in touch within a week, whether he was offered the job or not. Dan thanked him and left, uplifted by the possibilities of a new career, and thinking that he had an excellent chance of being offered the job at a place he knew he could make a real difference.

    On the way to the subway station, Dan could hardly contain his enthusiasm. The salary offered was very disappointing, but the chance to change students¡¯ lives for the better enormously appealed to him. He had always believed in the traditional mission of community colleges and technical schools of providing practical job training. Understanding the difference between Plato and Aristotle and their impact on all of Western philosophy for more than two thousand years expands the mind, as does reading, seeing or performing a Shakespeare play or spending a glorious semester reading the British Romantic poets. A liberal arts education is crucial for any well-rounded professional and can expand the mind and increase one¡¯s appreciation of life in general in ways that are impossible to quantify. But introductory courses on American literature, sociology, poetry, music appreciation, and archaeology will not put food on the table. For someone who either due to lack of interest, lack of capacity or lack of funds cannot complete four or more years of college and must obtain marketable skills that allow him/her to furnish the essentials of life for themselves and their family, a liberal arts degree¡ªespecially a two year degree¡ªis about as useful as teeth on a chicken. On the other hand, learning office skills, basic bookkeeping, business communications, business math, and application software used in business can help someone get a good office support position in relatively short period of time¡ªtwo years or less. Likewise, learning a trade such as plumber, electrician, truck driver, hair dresser, carpenter, mason, welder, auto mechanic and any number of other blue collar jobs can provide an excellent salary and the ability to start one¡¯s own business if one is so inclined. And it can also be done in two years or less for many of these trades¡ªsome of which will pay as much as $100 an hour even to newly minted professionals. Dan knew this because he had a cousin who today would have been diagnosed with ADD who struggled with truancy and serious behavioral issues throughout much of his school years and beyond, and, though he had poor reading and writing skills, he always made a good living thanks to his practical training that allowed him to have more work than he could ever manage as a private contractor working for himself. Dan wanted to give to others a similar opportunity at a good life of honest, well-paying work that could dramatically change lives for the better. And he was thrilled at the prospect of being in a position to facilitate that opportunity for others.

 Chapter 3: Good News

    The phone rang at 9:00 a.m. the next morning as Dan was having his third cup of coffee and thinking about the prior day¡¯s interview. He picked it up on the second ring, his heart racing, yet knowing that it could not yet be the expected phone call. ¡°Dan speaking¡± he said, trying to remain calm.

    ¡°Is this Mr. Amor?¡± A woman¡¯s cheerful voice asked.

    ¡°Yes it is¡± He responded.

    ¡°Please hold for Mr. Lantz.¡± After a few seconds, a familiar voice came on the line. ¡°Good morning, Dan. I have some good news. We¡¯d like to offer you the academic dean position starting immediately. What do you say to that?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m very pleased, Mr. Lantz. And I accept.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just Marvin, remember? When can you come in?¡±

    ¡°I can be there Monday if that¡¯s all right.¡±

    ¡°Any chance you can make it today before the close of business? I know it¡¯s Friday and short notice, but I¡¯d like to get the paperwork started and schedule you to spend the day with our senior dean at the flagship school in Manhattan on Monday, if that¡¯s possible.¡±

    Dan was surprised at this and a bit puzzled at the rush, but he acquiesced and promised to be there by noon. Already showered, he dressed and grabbed his leather portfolio with copies of transcripts, and his passport and Social Security card in case it was requested by HR.

    He called his girlfriend to give her the good news. ¡°Hey Linda, remember your skepticism at my landing the dean¡¯s job yesterday?¡± He asked, beaming, when his girlfriend answered the phone.

    ¡°Yeah?¡± she answered, with a hesitant, questioning tone. ¡°What about it?¡±

    ¡°Well, I got the job and am leaving for work in a few minutes. I wanted you to be the first to know.¡±

    ¡°You got the job a day after the interview and are starting today?¡± She asked incredulously. ¡°Congratulations, Dan, but does that sound right to you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll admit it surprised me how quickly they made the offer, yes, but I¡¯m sure they have their reasons. Maybe their last dean left them in the lurch without notice, or died. Who knows? They¡¯re a small school with a limited staff and they don¡¯t have anyone competent to step in on other than a short-time basis.¡±

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°Maybe,¡± Linda responded sounding unconvinced. ¡°But be careful. You can be incredibly na?ve at times.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mom, I¡¯ll be careful not to inadvertently sign on to a cocaine distribution facility or brothel masquerading as a business school, though I have the credentials for the latter at least as a member in good standing of the world¡¯s second-oldest profession¡± Dan quipped.

    ¡°Look, just be careful, all right?¡± Linda insisted. ¡°Remember the time you were approached at a bus stop by Queens College while waiting for the bus to take you to work? And the four guys in the car that stopped offered you a ¡®management trainee¡¯ job on the spot?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Dan said blushing. ¡°I guess I just looked like management material all cute and cuddly in a nice suit on my way to work after school and they could tell quality when they saw it.¡±

    ¡°Joke all you want, Dan, but you actually gave them your real phone number and they called you at home the next day too. Remember?¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay point taken. That was stupid. But they left me alone when I told them I had been offered a promotion and was not interested in the non-specific management position they were offering.¡±

    ¡°And just what do you think that position was? Really, even at the time. It did not occur to you that no legitimate employer would EVER recruit at a bus stop from a car¡ªwith four guys in it? Or did you really want to become the local drug dealer?¡±

    ¡°They caught me by surprise and seemed like nice folk¡ªJamaicans, I think, by the accent of the guy doing all the talking--well dressed, well spoken. I guess I didn¡¯t want to offend them. I dunno.¡±

    ¡°You are by far the smartest idiot I know. I love you, but you lack the basic common sense God gave the average gerbil. If you don¡¯t find some soon you¡¯re going to regret it.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need common sense. I have cuddly delectable you as my personal Jiminy Cricket¡± he quipped smiling, glad she could not see him still blushing.

    ¡°Just be careful, okay? Promise?¡±

    ¡°I promise. I do.¡± But now I gotta run. I want to call mom and dad to give them the good news. And I¡¯m going to take the subway again rather than have to look for parking and risk being late. I¡¯ll stop by tonight. Big hug.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll see you then,¡± Linda replied. ¡°And Dan, congratulations on the job. I mean it. Sorry if I¡¯m a bit cautious. But you need a keeper sometimes. See you tonight.¡±

    ¡°Always wanted to be a kept man,¡± Dan quipped as he sent her a kiss over the phone and heard her sigh as she hung up the phone.¡±

    Dan then called up his parents and, speaking to them in Spanish as usual, related the good news about his having accepted the dean¡¯s job. His mom was thrilled¡ªthough she would have been thrilled if he told her he had decided to open a business to sell ice to Eskimos¡ªand would immediately offer to invest their life savings in his company. When his dad came on the phone, his first question after congratulating him was about how much money he would be paid. When Dan answered, he groaned and repeated an offer made many times before to give him the money to open a law practice, hire a legal secretary and practice the profession he had sacrificed so much to achieve. He was not mollified by Dan¡¯s assurance that this was just a stepping-stone and that well-paying administrative work would not be far off.

    At 11:00 a.m., he bid his parents good-bye, told them that he had to leave for work and assuring them he¡¯d call them later that evening. He then left for the subway station, eager to begin his new career.

 Chapter 4: First Day

    A half hour later, Dan was at the lobby of the Wang Office Building waiting for the elevator. The place was teeming with people going about their business in typical harried New York fashion. He got on the elevator and pushed the button for the fourth floor, arriving at 11:50 a.m. for his first day on the job. Taisha, the slightly plump, impeccably dressed receptionist beamed at him from behind her desk. ¡°Welcome, Mr. Amor.¡± ¡°Dan, please¡± Dan replied returning her warm smile. ¡°I¡¯m here to see Mr. Lantz,¡± he continued.

    ¡°Yes, he¡¯s waiting for you. You can go right in.¡±

    Dan nodded and made his way through the door to his right, and saw Marvin walking towards him at the end of the hallway.

    ¡°Welcome, Dan.¡± Marvin beamed and held out his hand when he reached him.

    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Lantz,¡± Dan took and shook the offered hand.

    ¡°It¡¯s just Marvin,¡± Marvin retorted, shepherding Dan to his office. ¡°Come on in. We have some paperwork for you to sign with Bob, but let¡¯s chat for a few minutes first. Then I want to introduce you to your faculty who will be taking a lunch break in the conference room shortly.¡±

    Dan followed behind and took the same chair he¡¯d occupied the previous day while Marvin went up to the little side table to pour some fresh brewed coffee. ¡°Do you want coffee or would you prefer tea?¡±

    ¡°Coffee, please¡ªalways. Thank you.¡± Dan replied. Marvin poured two cups and asked ¡°cream and sugar?¡±

    ¡°Black, please.¡± Marvin prepared both cups and gave one to Dan.

    ¡°This is really good coffee Marvin. Thank you. I taste an espresso roast with just a hint of vanilla. Really good.¡±

    ¡°You know your coffee. Yes, I grind and blend my own¡ªabout 2/3 espresso roast with 1/3 French Vanilla¡ªat least that¡¯s the blend for today. I like some variety.¡±

    ¡°I drink espresso all day even on regular drip coffee makers. And I always grind the beans in the Turkish coffee setting¡ªthe finer the better. My girlfriend and parents want me to cut back for fear I¡¯ll caffeinate myself into an early grave. But better a short caffeinated life than a long, dreadful life drinking decaf.¡± Dan retorted chuckling.

    ¡°I wanted you to meet with me today,¡± Marvin said after taking another sip of his coffee, ¡°so that you can be processed and be ready to spend the day with our senior dean at the flagship school in Midtown Manhattan on Monday. Depending on how that goes, he may ask you to return on Tuesday, Tuesday and Wednesday, or send you back to us for you to start here on Tuesday. It will be up to him as to your orientation and on how comfortable he is with your ability to absorb the procedures. I suspect you¡¯ll be back here Tuesday.¡±

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    ¡°Sounds good,¡± Dan said, smiling both for Marvin and for the coffee that was, actually, remarkably good.

    The sound of a bell startled Dan as Marvin said, ¡°That¡¯s the change of class bell. Everyone will be filing our for an hour lunch break. Let¡¯s finish our coffee and head to the conference room to meet the faculty in a few minutes when the students have had a chance to file out.

    ¡°Do you have a place for the students to eat?¡± Dan queried, taking another sip of his coffee.

    ¡°No, we just don¡¯t have the room for that. Even though we have two full floors, they are all classrooms except for the conference room that the teachers use as their lunch and prep room when they have a free period. We, or rather you, will try to schedule a free period for everyone during the day so that they can work on their lesson plans or otherwise prepare for classes, grade papers, and also be on stand-by to cover for any teacher who is absent.¡±

    ¡°How many classes does each faculty member teach?¡±

    ¡°Usually five hours a day¡ªfive classes, typically.¡±

    ¡°They teach five classes every day?¡± Dan queried, surprised.

    ¡°Yes. Remember, this is not a university where faculty have a typical load of two or three classes in research institutions or four to five classes at non-research teaching colleges for a total of roughly six to fifteen contact hours a week. The teaching load is just the tip of the iceberg for them¡ªespecially at research institutions where publish or perish is the rule and they spend countless hours in research, writing and editing publications for highly selective peer-reviewed journals. Then there are grant-related activities, department, school and university service commitments, advisement, and so on. For your faculty, 25 teaching hours a week sounds like a heavy load, but that is all that they do. No publication or service requirements of any kind. And no advisement to speak of either. We have counselors and Bob for that¡ªor you, if academic or behavioral issues are involved. They prepare their lesson plans, teach their classes, give exams from time to time and go home free and clear at the end of their day.¡±

    ¡°Do faculty have office space on campus?¡±

    ¡°No. They can use the conference room which is seldom used for anything other than lunch and prep time. But they don¡¯t need it. Again, no advisement is needed as the curriculum is fixed for every program and students don¡¯t need to make choices other than the initial certificate program they want to enroll in.¡±

    ¡°But Howard Green will go over all of that with you on Monday.¡± Marvin added, smiling. ¡°Don¡¯t try to filter this through a university lens. This is more like a high school or even a middle school in terms of the faculty workload and credentialing¡ªless in some cases, as we can hire teachers with just a baccalaureate degree for most classes.¡± That took Dan by surprise. HR did not expect people with terminal degrees, but just baccalaureates? His smile began to fade.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go meet your faculty,¡± Marvin cheerfully intoned while standing and motioning towards the door.¡± Dan rose, put down his now empty coffee cup on the side table, and walked behind Marvin a bit less sure about what he was about to get himself into than when he had walked into the office, but still optimistic despite a few red flags beginning to pop up in the back of his mind.

 Chapter 5: Meeting the Faculty

    Walking back to the reception area and passing the still smiling receptionist busy on the phone, Marvin led Dan to the double swinging doors marked ¡°To Classrooms¡± directly ahead of them. He opened the door to the right as a few students still poured through the one on the left, and held it open for Dan to follow. He then moved to his left down a corridor to what appeared to be a corner office to the left of the hallway and opened the door to a conference room. It was not what he had expected. In addition to needing of a new coat of paint, the room, while large, was quite unattractive and sported a collection of folding chairs around a long, worn wooden table. Sitting around the table were a dozen people chatting, scribbling on papers or reading paperback books while eating their lunch mostly out of brown paper bags or plastic containers.

    ¡°Good afternoon, everyone,¡± Marvin intone cheerfully. ¡°I wanted to take a moment to introduce you to your new Academic Dean, Dr. Dan Amor. He is starting with us today and will be back next Tuesday or Wednesday after visiting our flagship school for an orientation.¡±

    ¡°Hello everyone,¡± Dan said, looking around the room and smiling. Most of the faculty members smiled or nodded back at him, with a tentative ¡°hi¡±, ¡°hello¡± or ¡°good afternoon.¡± Some simply looked at him blankly, neither smiling nor scowling¡ªseemingly wary, weary or just uninterested.

    Marvin then told the group a bit about Dan¡¯s background and how pleased he was to have him on board, and proceeded to go around the room introducing each teacher by name and telling Dan in general the subject areas they taught.

    When Marvin had introduced everyone, including Jaime, the lab tech who Marvin said would be able to assist Dan with anything he needed, Dan very briefly addressed the group.

    ¡°First, I apologize for interrupting your lunch break, but I am very pleased for the opportunity to meet with all of you. I want to get to know you and learn how I can best help you to help our students. When I¡¯m settled in next week, I will do my best to meet with each of you as your schedules allow. Meantime, enjoy your lunch and have a good weekend.¡±

    Marvin then said ¡°Yes, have a good weekend. You¡¯ll have plenty of opportunity to get to know one another in the coming weeks.¡± He then escorted Dan out of the room as the hum of conversation once again began to rise in the room behind them.

    ¡°Now let¡¯s go look at your office and then we¡¯ll get you over to Bob to fill out the paperwork¡± Marvin said, walking Dan through the now nearly empty corridor. They passed through closed and locked labs as well as a few classrooms that remained open, some of which had students at their desks eating lunch or writing in their notebooks during the lunch break.

    ¡°Mr. Chang, our janitor, complains that students sometimes don¡¯t clean up after themselves when they eat lunch at their desks, but we need to have some flexibility as there is no other place for students who don¡¯t want to go out for lunch to eat. There¡¯s a small caf¨¦ downstairs you may have noticed, but they have no seating available so many students bring their own lunch or run down and grab a sandwich or a snack and come to the empty classrooms on both floors.¡± Marvin noted as they passed some students eating at their desks and chatting.

    ¡°It sounds fine as long as they make a reasonable effort to tidy up. I¡¯ll look into the issue.¡± Dan offered. One of the young women sitting at her desk and nibbling at a sandwich looked at him intently as they passed by. She was a remarkably beautiful, petite blonde with shoulder length hair and eyes the color of the sky at midday. She wore a dark blue dress with a design of tiny pink flowers and high heels looking more like a model than a student. She followed Dan with her eyes, regaling him with a broad smile as he passed by the classroom with the usual fishbowl window all along its wall. For some reason, he blushed and looked ahead, but kept her in his peripheral vision. She was simply stunning¡ªalmost painfully beautiful--and seemed completely out of place. Next to her sat another young woman, also in her early twenties, with black wavy hair below her shoulders wearing a black and white business suit with a skirt above her knees, a white silk shirt, and a jacket that flared out slightly at her hips accentuating her figure. The second woman was also petite, but shorter than the first, and wearing three-inch high heel shoes. She also momentarily glanced at Dan as he walked by, stopping her conversation with her blonde companion to see what had caught her attention. If Marvin noticed, he said nothing and shepherded Dan to his office one door away from that classroom, fishing in his pocket for a key to open it.

    The first thing Dan noticed is that his office, like every classroom and lab, had the same waist high picture window along its entire wall facing the hallway. That made him frown. The second thing he noticed is that the office was small and had no window to the outside. Marvin opened the door and motioned for Dan to enter ahead of him. The room was perhaps ten feet wide by twelve feet long¡ªjust big enough for two desks, one slightly more than three feet from the wall to the left, leaving whoever sat there a good view of the corridor to their right through the long window, and the other much smaller, desk immediately across from the door, facing the wall. Three of the four walls had shelving for two tiers of books and there was a four-drawer file cabinet immediately to the left of the main desk. There were two small chairs in front of the main desk and a high-back leather chair behind it and a small secretary¡¯s chair for the smaller desk that faced the wall across from the main desk. The window, Dan noticed, did not have blinds of any kind for privacy. That would have to change.

    Marvin pointed to the shelves and said, ¡°You will find on those large folders the lesson plans for the last three years. We need to keep them on file in case of an audit. The file cabinets contain information about your teachers and their credentials to assist you in making up their schedules. We have a new class beginning a week from Monday for which you¡¯ll need to assign coverage from your staff. That will be your first task for next week, but it should not be too difficult as faculty tend to teach the same classes. State Ed. Requires teachers to have certain degrees and coursework in order to teach specific courses. Two of your teachers have business education degrees which are perfect since they can teach almost every course we offer other than the nursing or electronics courses. But most of the traditional courses in math, English, and the like can be taught by any of them. You¡¯ll get a handle on that quickly¡ªit really is not very complicated. And with no tenure, union or seniority issues to worry about, you can assign classes as you like¡ªas long as the State Ed. Requirements for credentialing are met in the relevant courses that require specialized degrees or coursework.¡±You¡¯ll get a handle on that quickly¡ªit really is not very complicated. And with no tenure, union or seniority issues to worry about, you can assign classes as you like¡ªas long as the State Ed. Requirements for credentialing are met in the relevant courses that require specialized degrees or coursework.¡±

    ¡°Will I have access to secretarial support?¡± Dan asked.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have money in the budget for you to have a full-time secretary at this time, but I¡¯ll assign a part-time secretary for you from our secretarial pool, and you can borrow the receptionist any time you need her if you need work done when your secretary is unavailable. She is fully qualified, types at 80 words per minute and knows shorthand if you need to dictate correspondence or reports. We have a couple of student workers who can fill in for the receptionist and also give you additional support as needed too if you need help with filing, typing and the like when your secretary is not available. Just let me know your preference. That¡¯s what the second desk is for¡± he finished, pointing at the smaller of the two desks. ¡°I can have a Selectric typewriter brought in if you¡¯d like.¡±

    ¡°I will likely do most of my own correspondence. But it would be helpful to have a computer and printer instead of a typewriter on the small desk if possible as I have gotten used to doing my writing on WordStar or WordPerfect and also would like to be able to use spreadsheets and database management programs for record keeping and reports.¡±

    ¡°I have a transportable Compaq computer that I will assign to you. You can use it here or take it home if you like. And I¡¯ll get Jaime to connect a dot matrix printer from our classroom surplus.¡± Marvin said.

    ¡°Thank you, Marvin. That would be great.¡±

    ¡°Fine, now let¡¯s get you over to Bob for that paperwork.¡± With that, Marvin turned around to head back to Bob¡¯s office, smiling pleasantly with Dan following close behind through the double doors, past the still smiling receptionist on the phone, and past the second door to Bob¡¯s office¡ªthe first on the right in the administration wing of the floor.

    As soon as Bob noticed Marvin standing at the door or his open office with Dan at his side, he looked up from the pile of papers on his desk and smiled at them, chuckling lightly. ¡°Well, so they caught you, huh? Welcome aboard, Dan!¡± Dan had liked Bob even from his brief first meeting. He seemed a grounded, genuine straight-shooter with a good sense of humor and he sensed he would get along very well with the HR Director/Placement Counselor.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave you two to fill out the paperwork,¡± Marvin said, still smiling. ¡°No need to go back to my office when you¡¯re done here, Dan. Bob will give you the particulars as to your meeting Monday at the Manhattan school and I¡¯ll see you probably Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. Check in with me then. Meantime, here¡¯s the key to your office and I¡¯ll have Jaime, your lab technician, set up the Compaq and printer so you¡¯ll be set to go next week. Take care, and have a good weekend.¡± With that, he offered Dan his hand and walked out, leaving him with Bob, who once again chuckled softly and good naturedly.

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    ¡°Sit Down, Dan. Make yourself comfortable,¡± Bob said, pointing to one of two chairs across from his desk.¡± He then pushed the pile of papers he had been working on to one side of his desk and fished a file folder out a desk drawer. ¡°Let¡¯s see,¡± he said. We have some forms you will need to fill out, though I have already completed much of the required information. I will need you to have your official college and law school transcripts sent to my attention, but there¡¯s no hurry¡ªany time in the next couple of weeks will do.¡± He then passed several sheets of papers to Dan. ¡°Mostly I will need your signature where indicated on the forms¡ªplease read the terms of your contract before signing and ask any questions you have.¡± Dan reviewed the papers quickly and signed on the places where indicated, adding personal information where required, including his date of birth, Social Security number, and his educational information. ¡°I have a copy of your resume, cover letter, and formal job offer on file¡ªa copy of the latter which we did not mail to you as the decision was made too quickly for it to reach you in time. You will also see an attachment to the offer of employment letter listing the salary, benefits and related information.

    Dan dutifully looked over the materials, signed his at-will employment contract and returned the package to Bob, keeping the offer of employment letter with its attachment for future reference.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure Marvin would have gone over your basic responsibilities with you, but if there¡¯s anything you would like to know that was not covered, feel free to ask,¡± Bob said, while taking the paperwork from Dan and nodding after briefly scanning each page, then putting the papers in the file folder on his desk¡ªobviously Dan¡¯s file. ¡°Are you a U.S. Citizen?¡± he added.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Dan answered, ¡°and I brought my passport and Social Security card in addition to my driver¡¯s license if you¡¯d like to make copies now.

    ¡°That¡¯s great, Dan. Yes, please, just the passport will do nicely.¡±

    ¡°You bet,¡± said Dan, reaching into his leather portfolio for the passport.¡±

    ¡°So, what can I tell you about PEMTI while I make copies of these for your files?¡± He asked while getting up and going to a small Xerox machine to his right.

    ¡°Well, for one thing I¡¯d like to know why the hurry to hire me, if you can tell me.¡±

    ¡°Oh, sure. Our last academic dean quit without giving us notice¡ªwanted to go back to his old job. And there¡¯s no backup, so we were very happy when you applied. We were considering several other candidates, but none with your credentials and law background. Marvin wanted to snap you up before you came to your senses.¡± He chortled again. ¡°Jaime, the lab tech, wanted the job and has been doing some of the dean¡¯s duties for a week, but he was never considered. He has a two year degree from La Guardia Community College and, well, even for us, that was unacceptable. He just loves standing in, verifying time cards and the like.¡±

    ¡°Time cards?¡± Dan queried.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t Marvin tell you? One of your responsibilities is verifying time cards every week. Faculty must punch in and out to get paid and get docked if they¡¯re even a minute late or punch out a minute early¡ªat least when Jaime checks them. He loves enforcing the docking of time ¨C done in fifteen minute increments. Someone punches out a minute late, they get docked a quarter hour. Sixteen minutes late, they lose a half hour¡ªand the same with clocking out early.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid not¡ªthat order comes from the top and there¡¯s a time clock like the ones used in most factories that everyone needs to punch in¡ªeveryone except you, Marvin and me that is. We have one of those in this wing too for the support staff.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not docking people fifteen minutes for punching in a minute late. The whole idea of having time clocks for faculty is insulting.¡±

    ¡°Oh, they don¡¯t mind. Only one or two teach as adjuncts at local colleges¡ªthe rest are proprietary business school lifers who are used to the grind. It¡¯s the same everywhere¡ªat least everywhere they¡¯ve been.¡±

    ¡°What about you, Bob?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m actually a high school English teacher. I have a masters in English and taught for about ten years before coming to work here. Got tired of the grind¡ªand of having to put up with increasingly unruly students that I had no real power to discipline in my classes. This is much nicer, and the pay is fairly comparable with a lot less stress.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s Marvin¡¯s background?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s also a lifer¡ªthis is his fifth year here and he has been a director in at least two other schools that I know of. He¡¯s a good guy, really. He¡¯s good to work with and you can trust him¡ªat least you can trust him more than anyone at corporate or the other schools.¡± Bob said, chuckling again.

    ¡°I guess there¡¯s a lot of turnaround in his position?¡±

    ¡°Yes. School directors can be as mercenary as the owners of these places. But overall this is not a bad organization¡ªthey¡¯re all bottom-line oriented but will leave you alone as long as you do your job. Your challenge is keeping your teachers and keeping students in line. Part of your responsibility is dealing with problem students¡ªin that your job is not that different from a high school dean¡¯s. But it is not as restrictive and student issues should not present a real challenge for you. Your teachers can be more of a problem than some of the students¡ªmost keep perfectly good order in their classrooms, but others are, well, weak and whiny and will send students to see you because they are unwilling or unable to deal with them themselves. ¡±

    ¡°What are my powers as far as disciplining students or faculty, for that matter?¡±

    ¡°As far as students are concerned, pretty much absolute powers. You can suspend them for a day, a week or a month if they cause problems and they will have to leave. No one will question your judgment on that¡ªunless, of course, you discipline too many and then profits suffer if they don¡¯t come back. But that is very rare¡ªthey will all come back, or they will not get their tuition paid for by Uncle Sam and the state, and, in many cases, they also will have their welfare checks taken away if they won¡¯t work or go to school and are able-bodied.¡± Bob said, earnest, serious, but apparently enjoying the look of incredulity that seemed to blossom on Dan¡¯s face like a rose facing the first rays of the sun.

    ¡°What about faculty? Any problems I need to be aware of? What powers do I have to discipline them?¡± Dan asked, and by this time he began taking notes. He was really grateful for Bob¡¯s candor, though beginning to realize some of the challenges he was going to have to face.

    ¡°Well, they¡¯re as mercenary and disloyal as everybody else in this business¡ªif they get a better offer, from another proprietary degree mill or especially from a public school system or a community college, most will bolt. There¡¯s a fair amount of turnover, but frankly, that depends largely on who the dean is and how she or he treats them. Most in my tenure here¡ªand there have been three¡ªyou are the fourth in five years¡ªhave not been very effective at working with them or making them feel as though they are valued. So they¡¯re a bit gun-shy. They will expect little from you, and, in return, frankly, you can expect more or less the same from them. They will do their job, almost all will teach their classes regularly and pretty well, but that¡¯s as far as it will go. Though I think they will respond well to you¡ªI just have a feeling.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Dan asked.

    ¡°Well, you obviously give a shit and it shows¡ªand they will notice that. Just give them a little time.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Bob¡± Dan said, glad for the sentiment but still processing what he was hearing. The unforeseen challenges before him were beginning to look daunting. But he was not afraid of a challenge¡ªlike most na?ve folks who feel everything is going just fine until the very moment they step right into the abyss. ¡°But I have no experience at this and it is becoming clear I¡¯ll face challenges I was completely unaware of until now.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Dan. I know you¡¯ll do fine. We¡¯ve had several very experienced burnouts on the job who failed miserably at least one of whom was nearly tar and feathered before finally getting a hint and moving on. Inexperience is something you will quickly overcome. You have the right tools and attitude, and you will win at least most of them over I think pretty quickly. At least they will respect your background and the fact you have some real credentials unlike their last dean. Keep in mind that they have no tenure, no union and serve largely at your pleasure. Most of them like their jobs, and this is a better place than most in this industry. They will depend on you for their livelihoods and though you do not have the power to give them raises or lessen their teaching loads, you can make a great deal of difference in their quality of life here and in how they are valued. If you are fair with them, they will quickly learn to appreciate you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve given me a lot to think about, Bob. I appreciate your honesty. Thank you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re here, Dan. I suspect we¡¯re going to get along very well.¡±

    ¡°One question, Bob. I know that classes here start at 9:00 a.m. and go on until 10:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. What is the expectation for my being on site? I¡¯m responsible for day and evening classes, but obviously I¡¯m not going to be able or willing to be here thirteen hours a day.¡±

    At this Bob finally fully laughed out loud rather than merely chuckling. ¡°No, Dan, you are expected to be here regularly but the schedule is largely up to you. Most of your predecessors worked 35-40 hours a week¡ªincluding lunch. You set your own schedule¡ªMarvin won¡¯t care, as long as classes run smoothly and are covered when needed due to absences. You should always give faculty a free period in addition to their noon lunch break staggered so you always have at least one faculty member free every period to call on if one of them is out sick. They know they have to cover for each-other, and absenteeism is really not something that has been a problem here. They don¡¯t get paid if they don¡¯t work, so they always show up, unless they are really sick of have a personal emergency. Also, if they don¡¯t show up regularly they get fired quickly by the dean with Marvin¡¯s blessing. They know to call the receptionist if they are not able to make any class. She then has a student worker get in touch with faculty who are free at the required times that day to tell them they need to cover a class. They are pretty good at arranging these things in advance other than in real emergencies, so it should seldom involve you directly. Because we have their lesson plans in advance, they can easily cover for one another or give an impromptu assignment for them to work on from their books.¡±

    ¡°If I¡¯m free and it¡¯s a light day, can I cover their classes if I want to?¡± Dan asked.

    ¡°You can do whatever you want. But be careful--being too solicitous can backfire. Most of your teachers are fairly conscientious, but not all. If you¡¯re willing to cover for them, some will likely take unfair advantage. That is at least my guess, though I can¡¯t say for sure as no previous dean has been willing to teach any classes to my knowledge.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve given me a lot to think about, Bob. Can I take you to lunch next week when I get back here? Just my way of saying thanks, and I¡¯d like the company, as well as an idea of where one can safely eat around here.¡±

    ¡°Sure, Dan. But we¡¯ll do this often¡ªno need to spring for lunch.¡±

    ¡°Fine, but the first one¡¯s on me¡ªwe can split the bills after that. OK?¡±

    ¡°You bet. I look forward to it, Dan.¡±

    After that, Bob gave Dan some additional papers, including Bob¡¯s card with the address of the Manhattan school scribbled on the back and the school¡¯s main number, along with Dean Howard Green¡¯s name as his 9:00 a.m. appointment. Bob then went over the details of the pension and health plans (both were actually quite generous), and Dan was done with his first day shortly thereafter.

 Chapter 6: Dans Education Begins

    Monday morning Dan showered, changed, had his usual two mugs of coffee and headed out of his apartment by 8:00 a.m. for the five-block walk to the 65th Street subway station to catch the G train to Queens Plaza. After a five-minute wait, he boarded the train for the short ride to Queens Plaza, where he walked across the platform to wait for the E train heading to Manhattan. Five minutes later, he boarded the crowded Manhattan-bound E train and suffered the approximately fifteen minute ride tightly pressed on all sides by fellow strap hangers¡ªone of whom had obviously had too much garlic in his dinner the previous night or perhaps in his breakfast. Since moving was not an option, Dan tried to lengthen as much as possible the interval between breaths, and did his best to inhale only when the other seemed to inhale as well. Immediately behind him, a lovely buxom brunette in a tight-fitting business suit pressed against him doubtless out of necessity rather than choice, but he felt mixed emotions at the warmth of her body against his back and the lingering essence of her expensive perfume. The latter would have been intoxicating but for the incongruous and nauseating odor of the young man¡¯s breath directly in front of him. He began to blush, thinking of his girlfriend and trying hard not to dwell on the beautiful woman behind him whose touch was far from unpleasant¡ªespecially when the rocking motion of the subway car and curves along the route caused her to repeatedly rub up quite intimately against him. He wondered whether she was as uncomfortable as he while trying not to think what it might feel like had he chosen to face her way rather than towards the man who seemed to have attempted suicide by garlic overdose¡ªand his blush deepened at the thought.

    After what seemed an eternity in his subway purgatory half way between heaven and hell which was, in fact, just one slightly longer than usual stop as the subway wormed its way beneath the East River separating Manhattan from Queens, the subway stopped a bit brusquely at the Lexington Avenue 53rd Street station giving him one final unintentional goodbye bump against the poor women behind him. He barely managed to get out of the subway car before the doors closed again with only minor jostling followed by pleas of ¡°excuse me, getting off.¡± He then proceeded slowly along with the throng of subway riders making their way to the exit, through the turnstiles and up the stairs to a cool, wonderfully bright early September morning in Midtown Manhattan. This was by far the part of the city that Dan loved best, though he generally loved and loathed the city in equal measure. His girlfriend, on the other hand, loved it with all her heart. That is something that would eventually cause them minor problems in their relationship and later major ones in their marriage.

    There is no city like New York City, and even most of those who grew up in the city or its surroundings never quite get over the uniqueness of their city that showcases some of the best and worst humanity has to offer. It offers unparalleled cultural, educational, architectural, artistic, commercial and professional opportunities, with the unique richness that only a truly multicultural city can bring to natives and visitors alike, alongside too many pockets of abject poverty, rampant homelessness that includes mentally ill people and addicts. Crime-riddled areas also abound in many neighborhoods where thugs run free in all five boroughs, including Manhattan¡ªnot unlike the similar problems faced by most major cities, if less visible perhaps to casual observers here behind a facade of glamor, wealth, beauty and the allure of the city that never sleeps.

    Outside, enjoying the fresh, non-garlic-scented air, Dan breathed in deeply, feeling the unmistakable vibe of Midtown Manhattan with its moving mountains of humanity pounding the pavement, impatiently waiting for lights to turn green at street corners or jaywalking. He walked South for two blocks to 51st Street, then East for two additional blocks to 2nd Avenue and the PEMTI flagship school, located in a once-impressive office building that had seen better days but still retained a reasonably elegant facade if one did not look too closely. He went in unimpeded to the main lobby and scanned the building¡¯s directory listing multiple businesses, including several doctor¡¯s offices, insurance agencies and PEMTI on the top floor of the four-story building. There were already numerous people waiting for the elevator whom he suspected must be students given their ages and dress, along with a couple of better dressed older adults. He waited for the next elevator as the first one quickly filled to capacity, and eventually arrived at the fourth floor reception area approximately fifteen minutes prior to his 9:00 a.m. appointment.

    ¡°Daniel Amor to see Dr. Green¡± he told the twenty-something African-American receptionist sporting short hair and a fashionable light purple business suit with a yellow blouse who looked up from her reading material with a friendly smile. ¡°He¡¯s been expecting you,¡± she said, and picked up the phone to announce him. ¡°Please have a seat, Mr. Amor. Dean Green will be with you shortly,¡± she added hanging up the phone.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Dan as he moved to one of the unoccupied chairs to his right. He noticed that several individuals, most likely students, were sitting on about half of the available dozen chairs with clipboards, writing intently. He wondered whether they were applicants for admission or job seekers.

    A few minutes later, a middle aged man approached the reception area and slowly ambled towards Dan. He was perhaps in his late forties, sporting a rumpled yellow shirt with rolled up sleeves and an ugly green tie with brown pants over which a ponderous belly hanged like over-leavened bread escaping a bread pan. He sported a full beard, black plastic-rimmed glasses and longish curly dark brown hair. ¡°You must be Dan¡± he said, extending his hand as Dan rose to shake it. ¡°I¡¯m Dr. Howard Green.¡±

    ¡°Pleased to meet you,¡± Dan said, offering him a firm handshake and a smile.

    ¡°Come with me. You¡¯ll be shadowing me today and I¡¯ll fill you in on your responsibilities as I work. But we¡¯ll have some time together as well, including about a half hour now before some student and faculty meetings.¡± With that the man, looking for all the world more like a burned out undercover cop from central casting than an academic or academic administrator, turned and signaled for Dan to follow. Dan did as he was bid, his smile fading. It was not what he had expected, but he knew better than to judge a book by its cover, so he quietly followed his new mentor to his office.

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    The actual office was a cluttered, small, windowless room approximately twelve feet long by 12 feet wide¡ªnot too different from his own but for the lack of a window facing a hallway. A battered desk was located directly in front of the door, about four feet from the rear wall. Two plastic chairs with metal frames not much better than those one finds in a typical food court at a mall were placed in front of the desk and a well-worn leather high back chair behind it. Book cases ran all along one wall, and a filing cabinet similar to the one in Dan¡¯s office was placed at right angles with the desk for easy access by the desk¡¯s occupant. There were piles of papers and books everywhere with little room to move in the tight space.

    ¡°Have a seat,¡± Dr. Green commanded, pointing to the nearest plastic chair across from his desk while sitting on his leather chair. He then interlocked the fingers of both hands behind his neck and reclined on his chair. ¡°So.¡± he continued after staring intently at Dan for what seemed a long time. ¡°You are the new Dean of the Queens school. Is this your first brush with the proprietary business school market?¡±

    ¡°Yes it is,¡± Dan said quickly. ¡°It is not a path I had contemplated taking until I saw the advertisement in the Times and decided to apply. I¡¯d been considering an academic posting, but in a traditional college or university setting.¡±

    Dr. Green smiled. ¡°So you wanted to be an academic and ended up at PEMTI, eh?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s about it¡± Dan said.

    ¡°Well, the academy this is not.¡± Dr. Green scoffed with a wan smile. ¡°But we do what we can for our students. I want to get some things straight out of the box since you¡¯re a newbie at this and I¡¯ve been around the block a few times in the proprietary market. You must understand that this is first and foremost a business, and that you can never take your eye away from what impacts the bottom line or you¡¯ll be terminated quicker than you can say bye-bye.¡±

    ¡°I have no problem with sticking to a budget or generating revenue for the school as long as I know that the students are being well served. I won¡¯t have to be terminated if I find that is not the case¡ªI¡¯ll gladly quit,¡± Dan responded not attempting to hide his annoyance. ¡°Increasing profits is fine with me, as long as the product provides a good return on investment for the students. If it does not, I won¡¯t be a part of it.¡±

    Dr. Green said nothing as Dan spoke, but simply stared at him with the same wan smile. ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± was his only response once Dan had finished speaking. ¡°For now, let me try to give you a basic idea of what you¡¯ll be required to do. You are lucky in that you have a decent Director to work for at the Queens school as far as they go, and that you also have a pretty stable slate of teachers there. Also, your enrollments are within acceptable limits and the support staff has also been fairly stable, thanks in no small part for Marvin¡¯s leadership style which is for the most part supportive of his managers. And he treats his staff decently. So they¡¯re relatively happy with their lot and you don¡¯t have too many serious issues to worry about immediately.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good to know,¡± Dan noted, grateful for that assessment.

    ¡°Having said that, this is a tough business. We cater to the lowest common denominator as students go. Many choose the business school only because they need to work or study to keep the welfare checks coming, and school is easier than actual work. At least half of the students are here just to scam the system¡ªeven the ones who actually want an education. They will take out student loans they never intend to repay¡ªjust like any other credit they may have had in the past, if any¡ªand will take advantage of the federal and state grants that pay the majority of their tuition. This is as true for the Queens school in general as it is for the rest of our schools and for the whole industry. We are basically being subsidized by the government and by student loans that nearly half of the students have no intention of repaying. And that is the perpetual sword hanging over our heads, as the government can cut off our ability to qualify for guaranteed student loans and grants any time if the default rates become excessive¡ªand they will judge what that means¡ªusually around a 50-55 percent student default rates.¡±

    ¡°I had no idea about any of this,¡± Dan said.

    ¡°Of course not. Nobody outside of the industry does. Moreover, the State Education Department (SED) does not in general think very highly of our industry so they can be a real pain in the ass when it comes to periodic audits or turning down new course proposals. You have to make sure that your teachers keep up their lesson plans and that these contain reasonable, relevant information. That is a major part of your job. Many if not most of your teachers will likely be a lazy lot and they will delay that part of their jobs as long as they can get away with it. You have to make sure they keep their lesson plans current and that you review and keep them on file regularly. I suspect you¡¯ll have issues with a number of your teachers¡ªeven ones who are actually pretty decent in the classroom based on conversations with your predecessor. If you don¡¯t crack the whip and stay on top of them, they will walk all over you and do the least amount of work they can get away with¡ªand writing lesson plans is not a favorite part of the job for any of them.¡±

    ¡°Since you mention the faculty,¡± Dan interjected, ¡°how and how often do we evaluate them, and do we have students evaluate them regularly?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s actually up to you, Dan. If you have the time you can evaluate them annually, quarterly or any time you damned well please. SED does not much care about that¡ªas long as their credentials check out and they have current lesson plans on file in your office during an audit, that¡¯s all they will want to see. Student evaluations are irrelevant, as are your class observations¡ªexcept in cases where you have suspicions about what¡¯s going on in a classroom or want to build a case against a given teacher. As you know, they are employed at will and can be fired at any time with or without cause. But you have to beware firing anyone in a protected classification as they will likely sue or file charges of discriminatory firing regardless of fault or galloping incompetence. The white males you can chuck out the window for no reason and nobody will care¡ªbut watch out for just about everyone else. I personally don¡¯t evaluate my teachers unless I have a problem or suspicion of a problem from one of them¡ªincluding too many student complaints.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Dan said, not really seeing at all and having no intention of following the advice on evaluating faculty only as a risk management protocol.

    Just then, a young woman peeked into the open door and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry to interrupt, Dr. Green. But there¡¯s a student here insisting to see you.¡±

    ¡°He rolled his eyes and asked,¡± What is it about?¡±

    ¡°She won¡¯t say but says it¡¯s urgent.¡±

    ¡°Fine, send her in.¡± Then, looking at Dan, ¡°It never ends.¡±

    <hr>

 Chapter 7: A Tale of Two Students

    A moment later, a young woman of perhaps 18 or 19 was shepherded in, with the secretary announcing ¡°This is Tenisha, Dr. Green.¡±

    ¡°What do you want, Tenisha,¡± He responded, looking at the young black woman dressed in jeans and a faded T-Shirt in nondescript pastel colors.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to bother you, dean, but I need subway fare to get home tonight.¡± The woman looked at Dr. Green intently, in neither a pleading nor a demanding tone, looking down from time to time as if embarrassed.¡±

    ¡°You need money for a subway token? Why are you coming to me? What do I have to do with that?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know who else to ask,¡± she answered, scrunching up her nose as if the answer should be obvious.

    ¡°You did not know that you would need money for a subway ride back home when you came in just now? What happened? Did you lose your purse on the way here? Get mugged?¡± His tone was sarcastic, and unnecessarily hurtful to Dan¡¯s ears.

    ¡°No¡±, I just did not have enough money for two tokens.

    ¡°I¡¯m not made of money. I don¡¯t have a slush fund for students who can¡¯t afford to pay for their transportation. Why don¡¯t you walk home?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s too far. I live in Brooklyn and it would take me hours to walk home after my classes.¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± he retorted, still in a sarcastic tone and louder voice than necessary, ¡°That¡¯s something you should have thought about before coming, don¡¯t you think? That¡¯s why you have student loans, or maybe you need to get yourself a job.¡±

    ¡°I have a job¡±, she said, defiantly. Anger now tinging her voice. ¡°I just don¡¯t have the money for the subway fare today. I have never asked you before.¡±

    ¡°No, you haven¡¯t, maybe because you¡¯re new. But others do every day. I am not your piggy bank. Why don¡¯t you go see your admissions counselor? His salary depends on your coming to school regularly. Mine does not.¡±

    ¡°Please,¡± she pleaded for the first time. How am I supposed to get home?

    At this Dan could no longer be just an observer and pulled out his wallet, offering her a $5 bill. ¡°Here¡ªand get a sandwich or snack for lunch too, OK?¡±

    ¡°NO!¡± Exclaimed Dr. Green as the girl extended her hand towards Dan¡¯s offered bill. ¡°They have to understand that they can¡¯t just panhandle every day.¡± With that the girl pulled back her hand as if stung.

    ¡°Just this once,¡± Dr. Green continued, ¡°I will help you out. I won¡¯t give you any money, but,¡± he stopped and reached under his desk pulling out a plastic bag, ¡°here¡ªtake these cans and bottles. The corner deli across the street will take them and give you back the deposits. There¡¯s more than enough here for a token. That¡¯s a lot of money. But I¡¯ll do this just this once.¡±

    The girl reached out for the proffered bag, taking it and giving a very quiet ¡°Thank you¡± while turning towards the door.

    ¡°Wait a moment, Ms.¡± Dan said. ¡°Please take this and when you go to return the cans and bottles get yourself a sandwich,¡± he said offering the $5 still in his hand to her. You can¡¯t learn on an empty stomach. Go on, please take it. Maybe someday when I forget my wallet home someone will do the same for me.¡± She looked up into his eyes with a thin smile and took the money, once again saying ¡°Thank you¡± and holding Dan¡¯s eyes for a moment. Then she walked out of the office.

    As soon as she walked out, Dr. Green got up, walked to the door and closed it, returning to his seat. ¡°Don¡¯t ever do that again!¡± he said to Dan with barely suppressed anger in his voice. ¡°You don¡¯t know these kids, but you will. They will bleed you dry like leeches if they think you an easy mark. If you do that in Queens, you¡¯ll never get rid of them.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, Dr. Green¡± Dan said. ¡°But that girl did not seem a leech to me¡ªjust a desperate young woman who seemed caught between a rock and a hard place. You said she had never asked before¡ªI might take a similar though gentler tack if anyone repeatedly asked for carfare.¡±

    ¡°You will learn the hard way.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re probably right, and I¡¯m sorry if I overstepped here¡ªshe is not my student and this is your office. I apologize for that. But I noticed she was wearing very well-worn clothing that was spotless. And she was clean, well-groomed and bright eyed¡ªnot the usual panhandler profile in the streets whom I also, frankly, avoid and very seldom give money to. If I said nothing I know I would not sleep tonight¡ªand that, if you want to look at it from a purely selfish point of view on my part, is well worth $5 to me.¡±

    ¡°Fine Dan,¡± Dr. Green sighed, while rifling through a desk drawer for a file that he pulled out and placed atop his desk, then continued. ¡°It¡¯s your money, but know that these kids and most of the teachers will walk all over you if you let them.¡± He then handed Dan the file which Dan opened and began thumbing through.

    ¡°What I just gave you is a list of some of the forms you should use for various tasks in case your predecessor did not leave you such a folder. You can keep these as originals and make copies of each for your routine use. I developed these myself, and, though they are not official forms, you may find them useful.¡±

    Dan noticed various forms titled ¡°Teacher Evaluations,¡± ¡°Behavioral Issues,¡± ¡°Formal Reprimands,¡± ¡°Lesson Plans,¡± ¡°Student Suspension,¡± ¡°Book Orders,¡± ¡°Requisition Form¡± and several other one-page forms for dealing with routine matters. ¡°Thank you, Dr. Green¡± he said after quickly thumbing through these.

    ¡°Call me Howard, Dan. We¡¯re going to be working together so no need for formality.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Howard.¡± Dan replied, noting the offer had not been made initially while Howard had used Dan¡¯s first name from the start. He smiled at what he took to be a simple mind game to show dominance, or perhaps just insecurity on the other¡¯s part. He had noticed that his staff seemed to refer to him as either Dr. Green or Dean Green, and his smile broadened further as he considered that his colleague would likely take Dan¡¯s smile as pleasure for being recognized as an almost-equal. Nevertheless he did not really dislike the man for other that his treatment of the student, but then again he had a hard time really disliking anyone¡ªsomething friends had sometimes ribbed him about.

    ¡°Am I free to create my own forms if I find the need, or do I need to get approval?

    ¡°You can do whatever you think best. No approval is ever needed unless you want to fire or hire someone¡ªthe Director gets the final say on those decisions¡ªor if you want to spend any money, always a challenge unless dealing with routine office supplies. And don¡¯t even think about asking for anything useful, like a computer. If you want such luxuries, you¡¯ll need to buy your own. We don¡¯t have a discretionary budget as such¡ªall requisitions have to be approved by the Director.

    Dan noticed there was no computer on Howard¡¯s desk and did not mention that Marvin had promised he¡¯d have one on his desk by tomorrow, along with a printer. He had no wish to stoke the other¡¯s insecurity if that was, in fact, at play here and not just simple arrogance.

    ¡°Howard, I notice in the forms you gave me that there is a form for student suspensions. What type of due process are students given if they are suspended or expelled¡ªor have a grade grievance, for example?¡±

    Howard laughed, then responded ¡°No such thing, Dan. If you want to set up a grievance process, that¡¯s up to you, but you¡¯d just open up a can of worms. Who would you ask to participate? How would you schedule it? No. All you need is the form as to suspensions or expulsions. Just make sure you mark down a reason with details as to the circumstances of the transgression¡ªalmost always behavioral issues¡ªand have the student sign it. If they won¡¯t sign it, threaten them with expulsion. They will always sign then as they don¡¯t want their dole dollars affected.¡±

    ¡°What about grade grievances?¡±

    ¡°What about them?¡± Howard retorted. ¡°The grade is the grade. They don¡¯t get to debate that. Now, if you think the teacher has done something wrong, you can look into it and request justification for the grade, but the student is never involved in that process. I usually tell them I¡¯ll look into it and then get back to them that the grade is appropriate.¡±

    ¡°Do you actually look into it?¡± Dan asked, suspecting what the answer would be.

    ¡°Maybe two or three times in the five years I¡¯ve been here when I had my suspicions about the teacher involved. The word gets around that the grades are not subject to challenge. Problem solved.¡±

    ¡°What If I look into it and find the faculty member did not award a fair grade?¡±

    ¡°Then you change it on the transcript. You are the keeper of the transcripts¡ªwe have no registrar. If you don¡¯t agree with a grade if you actually decide to look into the matter, just give the student whatever grade you want. Nobody will know or question it, and it is YOUR signature on the official transcript. Teachers just submit the grades to you.¡±

    This conversation was making Dan more and more uncomfortable, and red flags were popping up in nearly every discussion in his mind. But he just said, ¡°I See.¡±

    Howard looked at him intently for a moment then smiled and responded, ¡°You are over-thinking this Dan. This is not a college. You are in charge and have basically unlimited power to do whatever you believe to be right or expedient. These students are not going to challenge your decisions beyond the school level, which means you and Marvin. As long as he backs you up, your word is law. If he doesn¡¯t, you won¡¯t last long anyway. So be careful what waves you think you can make. Tread softly and test the waters before diving in.¡±

    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    ¡°Thanks, Howard. I appreciate your counsel and will take it under advisement.¡±

    ¡°Good, now leave the folder here and I¡¯ll show you around. But my first appointment of the day will be walking in soon, so sit tight.¡± Howard said. And, as if on cue, the receptionist walked in with another student in tow. This time it was a male.

    ¡°Dr. Green, this is Deshawn. He is here on a referral from Mrs. Smith, his typing teacher, for behavioral issues.¡±

    ¡°Thanks¡± Howard said. Then, addressing the student, he snapped ¡°Come in, Deshawn.¡±

    The student was dressed in baggy pants with the crotch extending down to his knees and army boots. He sported a black T-shirt with ¡°Fuck You¡± written on it in red, dripping letters as if brushed on with a paint brush dipped in blood. He also sported a large diamond stud earring through his right nostril and a second larger diamond on his right earlobe. He walked in and pulled back the chair next to Dan, ignoring him, while glaring at Howard.

    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing, Deshawn? I did not give you permission to sit. Stand there and look at me when I talk to you. And wipe the damned attitude from your face or this won¡¯t go well for you.¡± The young man took his hand away from the chair and stood still, but the glare remained.

    ¡°Do you know why you¡¯re here?¡±

    ¡°Yah,¡± he answered. ¡°The white bitch that teaches typing didn¡¯t like me talking to the white girl next to me during class.¡±

    ¡°In fact, Deshawn, you were harassing the students around you and cracking jokes while Mrs. Smith was trying to deliver her lesson.¡±

    ¡°She don¡¯t teach shit, man. She just sits there and barks out letters --F-F-F-F-U-U-U-U-C-C-C-C-K-K-K-K all class long. What kind of shit is that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a beginner¡¯s typing class, dimwit. The drills are intended for you to learn touch-typing.¡±

    ¡°What I gotta learn me no fucking typing for? That¡¯s not what I¡¯m paying you for!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get one thing straight. One more obscenity and you¡¯re gone for good. I¡¯m sure your parole officer would love to know that¡ªand I¡¯m also sure that Neo Nazi, Bubba, you were shacking up with in the Tombs is eagerly awaiting your return¡ªno doubt he misses whispering sweet nothings into your ear as he takes you from behind every night without the courtesy of a reach-around.¡±

    Deshawn, enraged, hissed back, ¡°You can¡¯t talk to me like that. I make more in a day than your sorry ass does in a month¡ªI guarantee you that. Who the fuck do you think you are talking to me like that? Do you know who I am?¡±

    ¡°I know exactly who and what you are. A petty drug dealing thug and a two-time loser heading back to the Big House any time I decide he¡¯s violated his parole. As to paying my salary, unlike you, I actually pay taxes and subsidize your sorry ass being here wasting MY money while you pay nothing¡ªthe federal and state governments pay for your ride to help you avoid prison and you are allowed federally guaranteed student loans you have no intent of ever paying back to boot for the rest of your tuition and living expenses. And one more unsolicited word from you will get you suspended for a month. Two will get you Expelled.¡±

    ¡°You . . .¡± Deshawn began.

    ¡°That¡¯s one word. Suspension for a month effective immediately. Care to go for Expulsion and parole violation?¡±

    Deshawn said nothing, just glared at Howard with pure rage in his eyes that he was having obvious trouble restraining as Howard took out a blank suspension form and pushed in in front of Deshawn with a pen atop.

    ¡°Sign the form at the bottom and date it. Then print your name below your signature on the space provided. You¡¯re suspended for thirty days starting today. When you return, you will not be wearing that T-shirt or causing any problems in any of your classes. This is your second strike and second suspension. The third time¡¯s the charm and you¡¯ll get the booby prize¡ªexpulsion and a trip back to Bubba¡¯s house. Clear?¡±

    Deshawn looked at the form, then at Howard, and signed it in blank. Then shuffled out of the office without a word.

    Once he was gone, Howard turned to Dan with a smile and said, ¡°And that, Dan, is how it¡¯s done. I¡¯ll fill out the form later. This one¡¯s a tough nut to crack but he¡¯s at the point of no return in thirty days so I can expel him the next time and PEMTI gets to keep the full tuition with no partial refund possible. I¡¯ll also get a statement in writing from Mrs. Smith later just in case I do have to expel him so that I can contact his parole officer and get him sent back to jail¡ªit is unquestionably where he belongs as he is an unredeemable lowlife.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid for your safety when you challenged him like that?¡± Dan asked.

    ¡°No, not really. He does not want to go back to jail. And he¡¯ll actually respect my tough guy persona much more than he would a weak, bleeding heart trying to understand his pain and excuse his past conduct as rooted in the vestiges of slavery, racism, or any number of other countless facile ways of excusing the inexcusable. Deshawn is a thug¡ªhowever he got there is not my concern. He is what he is and will always be the same with one of two predictable outcomes: a life in and out of prison or an early violent death at the hands of other identical thugs. Either way, not my concern and not my mission to change what he is¡ªthat only he can do. But he won¡¯t because the path of lawless self-indulgence is always easier and often much more rewarding than getting a real education and working your way through the rat race in the law-abiding world. He has never been a part of that world and wants no part of it. And he¡¯s right about one thing¡ªhe¡¯ll make more in a good day selling drugs and through his gang activity than I do in a month¡ªall tax free and while living on the dole. God Bless America, man,¡± he finished, laughing.

    ¡°Still, Howard, what if he attacked you?¡±

    ¡°Well, we have the metal detectors at the door for a reason. He¡¯s not likely to have a weapon on him and I have other means of defending myself I¡¯ll keep to myself in addition to the button under my desk that will summon building security. If I press it, they will run in with guns drawn in less than two minutes. In five years, I only had to use it once. But it¡¯s a reassuring backup. And, by the way, you have the same button under your desk, though I doubt Marvin would have mentioned it during your preliminary walk through as it is not something the average applicant would consider a selling point--unless they are veterans of the proprietary business school business, that is.¡±

    Howard was certainly right about that, Dan thought. It might have given him serious pause about taking the job. The metal detectors themselves which he knew about were far from reassuring during his initial interview.

    ¡°But please don¡¯t get the wrong idea, Dan¡± Howard continued. ¡°Deshawn is not our typical student and you do not have to worry about a meeting like this very often¡ªmaybe once a year or so on average. Most of our students are slackers who ended up coming to us looking for a quick fix¡ªa short program that could get them a first or a better job in an office environment. There are the scammers and thugs¡ªbut the average community college is no different in that regard. And faculty members there actually have to go through real due process before being able to effectuate any form of punishment, unlike here. In many ways, I¡¯d much rather be an administrator or even a teacher here than in the typical community college. Their students are marginally better there¡ªbut only marginally¡ªand they have their fair share of thugs gaming the system too. And the salaries are also only marginally better for teachers and most administrators alike, though their benefits rock in comparison to the benefits of our teachers and office staff here. The faculty and academic administration at a community college get about the same benefits that you and I do here but only a select few in our organization get. And for administrators, the vacation time is comparable to ours. Red tape here is basically non-existent for you and me, while it drowns the typical college administrator, especially at low-level community and technical colleges of both the public and private variety. So don¡¯t let the seedy side of our business get you down¡ªyou¡¯ve got to put it in perspective.¡±

    ¡°But community college have standards very different from our own both for the faculty credentialing and rigor as far as SED is concerned, no? And they have to contend with accrediting agencies like Middle States and the other regional accrediting bodies, as well as specialized accreditation for some of their programs, isn¡¯t that so?¡± Dan queried.

    ¡°That¡¯s true, Dan. But for students who are really interested in learning and picking up marketable skills at either a community colleges or here, we actually do a better job of providing training that get students real jobs. We are not saddled with the politically, turf-driven battles about inclusion of often completely worthless liberal arts and humanities courses as half of the curriculum. If you want to learn bookkeeping to be able to work at a small business as a bookkeeper, for example, you¡¯ll need to spend two years at a community college taking mostly unnecessary and irrelevant courses in the liberal arts and humanities in order to get the AAS degree when only maybe 18-24 credits are actually directly related to the accounting major. You could take those credits in nine months and be done but for the core requirements that have nothing to do with the major. Basket weaving, music appreciation, poetry, creative writing, anthropology and psychology courses may be fun, but what do they have to do with bookkeeping? On the other hand, we can offer a bookkeeping program in twelve months that includes valuable skills in basic computer operations, business math, finance, economics, and business communications that are very relevant to the jobs available for individuals with solid office skills and no degree beyond a high school degree or equivalency diploma. And we offer real job placement¡ªnot just the trapping of job placement so many colleges provide for students with no marketable degrees that qualify them for the exact same jobs they could have had out of high school. That is fraud, yet many accuse our industry of fraud¡ªdespite the fact that our students are trained for existing and emerging jobs, and get those jobs generally while theirs are trained to do little more than they could with a high school diploma after two years of study and are forced to take mostly irrelevant coursework when it comes to job training or retraining.¡±

    Dan knew enough to know there was more than a grain of truth to Howard¡¯s statement as he had long lamented the veering away from the practical education that was originally a primary mission of community colleges. They once prepared students for work. Now they largely serve as feeder schools to four year colleges and universities where students could often have gone in the first instance and been better served. He also knew the reasons, though not as intimately as he would discover later in his career: training blue collar workers and even office support staff required labs, equipment and supplies that are expensive to obtain and maintain and could only serve limited numbers of students in each lab, whereas one could put 100 students or more in a lecture class at a highly effective per-student cost with no additional support than chalk, erasers and perhaps a transparency projector in the classroom. So turf issues aside, community colleges¡ªalways under-funded¡ªchanged their mission from primarily training workers to preparing students to pursue four year degrees that provided little by way of employable skills.

    Changing tack, Dan said, ¡°I don¡¯t disagree with you, Howard. But even though I¡¯ve been on the job for less than a half day, I wonder whether we are doing all we can to provide intensive, short courses at a reasonable price. I¡¯d much rather see short three month programs than a 12-month program that for many entry-level support jobs may be overkill.¡±

    Howard again smiled benignly, ¡°That may be, but remember that this is first and foremost a business. Short courses don¡¯t bring in the money that longer courses do. So longer courses are going to be preferable. And, in any case, the shortest program we offer is six months here, and it beats two years of largely irrelevant coursework at a community college for students who need to get job skills quickly. They may pay more for a nine- or twelve-month course with us than a two-year community college associate¡¯s degree¡ªthey do in fact--but they will be able to get real jobs that they cannot get with a typical AS transfer degree. And, since the vast majority of our students qualify for PELL and TAP grants, guaranteed student loans and even state incentives for some students, it is a relative bargain.¡±

    Dan did not respond, but was still unconvinced and knew he would work to add at least one three-month certificate program with the greatest possible flexibility for students that could get them good jobs as soon as possible in the emerging computer-assisted clerical and data entry fields of the 1980s. He was sure that was the right path to take and would not easily be dissuaded from pursuing it. He would just have to find a way to make it palatable to the organization.

    Without further discussion, Howard rose from his chair and said, ¡°Let me give you the grand tour, and then we can break for lunch.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good,¡± Dan replied, rising to follow his colleague out of his office.

 Chapter 8: Lunch with Howard

    For the next half hour, Howard showed Dan the various classrooms that were set up little differently from the ones in the Queens school. Each classroom had either large full-wall windows to the common corridors, and/or custom windows taking up the upper portion of every door so that prospective students could view students in class during tours of the school. He was surprised and annoyed to see two different admissions counselors taking students around actually go in to classrooms where lectures where taking place and continuing to speak to their charges as though they were tour guides in a zoo.

    ¡°Why are these people interrupting classes by walking in and showing their groups around during lectures?¡± Dan asked, turning to Howard.

    ¡°It¡¯s the best way to showcase what¡¯s happening in the classroom and to let prospects see what goes on in the classroom for a few minutes.¡±

    ¡°I find that very disruptive for the classes involved,¡± Dan replied.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t agree¡ªat any rate, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a significant disruption, and they do the same thing in all of the schools. It¡¯s a favorite tool of the admissions counselors for signing up students.¡±

    ¡°That will continue over my dead body in my school,¡± Dan thought, though he refrained from making further comment on the matter out loud. As the tour continued, Dan noticed that there was no nursing assistant lab and no electronics lab at this facility, but the other rooms and classrooms were about the same as in the Queens school. He noticed two typing labs with the same IBM Selectric typewriters in use, and the same computer labs with the outdated Apple IIe computers that he knew had become obsolete some seven years prior when Apple introduced the Apple III series in 1980.

    ¡°Why haven¡¯t the computers been updated to the new IBM PCs that are the most commonly used computers in business today?¡± Dan asked Howard as they passed by the first of two Apple IIe labs.

    Howard looked at Dan as if he had asked ¡°Why do people have to pay for stuff at the supermarket?¡± He shook his head and said, ¡°It¡¯s a cost issue, Dan. These computers are old but still workable, and they are perfectly fine for business simulations, typing practice and basic word processing which is what they are mostly used for.¡±

    ¡°But they won¡¯t run the newest common business software¡ªWordStar and the new WordPerfect word processors, Lotus 1-2-3 for spreadsheets and dBase III or the newer Paradox database management programs,¡± Dan objected.

    ¡°The Apple IIe can actually run VisiCalc and the earlier version of dBase, but we don¡¯t even teach that at this point. Computers in the office are becoming very common, and you¡¯re right that the IBM PC is the dominant system used in business, but what we try to do is to provide students with some basic computer literacy that will make them easier to train on whatever business programs and platform employers may be using now or in the future. They are way ahead of the game these days if they can just turn on a computer and load a program or know what a floppy disk is and the difference between RAM and ROM. That we teach them. The rest the employers will be able to piggyback on easily.¡± Howard responded, seeming to genuinely believe what he was saying. And, although Dan disagreed, he did not want to have that debate here and now. It would likely be yet another challenge he would need to overcome while finding a way to do it at a minimal cost o if he could swing that somehow.

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    Shortly thereafter, the tour done, Howard suggested they go out for lunch at a local eatery. Dan happily agreed. They went out and crossed the street to the corner deli, with Howard saying that they had about an hour as the Melameds, the PEMTI owners, wanted to meet Dan at 1:00 p.m. The typically small deli in a high rent district sported only a half dozen high wooden chairs along a long, narrow table affixed to the sill of the plate glass window facing the sidewalk. There were no chairs or tables outside as these were prohibited by local codes. The seats were unsurprisingly all taken, so Howard suggested they buy their lunch and return back to his office to eat it. Howard ordered a pastrami and Swiss on rye with mustard and Dan ordered one of his favorites, a classic Reuben sandwich¡ªthin-sliced corned beef with sauerkraut, thousand island dressing and Swiss cheese on buttered bread grilled to perfection. He and Howard both got a half pickle with their sandwich and Dan ordered a can of coke while Howard ordered a can of 7-Up. The sandwiches were ready within five minutes, and Dan insisted on paying, but Howard would not let him. ¡°This is on me. Trust me, although I don¡¯t know and don¡¯t want to know your salary, I guarantee you mine is more than twice yours. Plus, I¡¯ll get the Melameds to reimburse me for lunch.¡± Dan relented and thanked Howard who paid the $11.98 bill and they once again crossed the street carrying their lunch in brown paper bags back to Howard¡¯s office.

    As they ate their lunch on Howard¡¯s desk, Dan asked Howard if he taught at all. He replied, ¡°Yes, I teach Industrial and Organizational Psychology as I am the best qualified to do so here and get paid extra for it¡ªsomething I negotiated with the Melameds when I was hired. I have a masters in sociology in addition to my Ed.D.¡±

    ¡°Howard, I was wondering how you handle the long days. I assume your school is also open from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. or so. How do you juggle being around for both sets of faculty and having a presence both morning, noon and night?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re actually open from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. here. And I try to be flexible by being here on some days as early as 7:00 a.m. and others coming in sometime after noon and staying through 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. I don¡¯t tell people what my schedule is, except for my secretary and the receptionist in case they need to schedule appointments. Unlike everyone else, we don¡¯t need to punch the clock so our schedule is completely up to us. No one will ask you about it as long as there are no problems and no obvious pattern of abuse. I¡¯ve even taken off when I need a long weekend from time to time¡ªusually on a Monday. I check in from home with my secretary or the receptionist.¡±

    ¡°You mentioned a secretary. Do you have full or part time support?¡± Dan asked.

    ¡°I have a part-time secretary who is actually a work study student in the secretarial program¡ªthe best they have¡ªwho works for me about four hours a day during the week. She is paid partially by PEMTI and partially from federal funds. You can get one too¡ªall the deans have the same support. And you can use the receptionist when needed as receptionists also have student workers assigned to them. All the receptionists are real secretaries with excellent typing and steno skills.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll look into that.¡± He said, though Marvin had already offered him a similar arrangement but with a regular secretary rather than a student¡ªsomething he would not mention to Howard either.

    They made additional small talk and Howard continued to offer advice on a wide range of subjects as they finished their lunch. Then, at the appointed time, Howard called the receptionist over to walk Dan to the Melameds¡¯ office to meet his bosses, telling Dan to return when the meeting was over, adding ¡°It should go very quickly¡ªthey just want to put the name and the face together.¡±

 Chapter 9: The Grand Tour

    For the next half hour, Howard showed Dan the various classrooms that were set up little differently from the ones in the Queens school. Each classroom had either large full-wall windows to the common corridors, and/or custom windows taking up the upper portion of every door so that prospective students could view students in class during tours of the school. He was surprised and annoyed to see two different admissions counselors taking students around actually go in to classrooms where lectures where taking place and continuing to speak to their charges as though they were tour guides in a zoo.

    ¡°Why are these people interrupting classes by walking in and showing their groups around during lectures?¡± Dan asked, turning to Howard.

    ¡°It¡¯s the best way to showcase what¡¯s happening in the classroom and to let prospects see what goes on in the classroom for a few minutes.¡±

    ¡°I find that very disruptive for the classes involved,¡± Dan replied.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t agree¡ªat any rate, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a significant disruption, and they do the same thing in all of the schools. It¡¯s a favorite tool of the admissions counselors for signing up students.¡±

    ¡°That will continue over my dead body in my school,¡± Dan thought, though he refrained from making further comment on the matter out loud. As the tour continued, Dan noticed that there was no nursing assistant lab and no electronics lab at this facility, but the other rooms and classrooms were about the same as in the Queens school. He noticed two typing labs with the same IBM Selectric typewriters in use, and the same computer labs with the outdated Apple IIe computers that he knew had become obsolete some seven years prior when Apple introduced the Apple III series in 1980.

    ¡°Why haven¡¯t the computers been updated to the new IBM PCs that are the most commonly used computers in business today?¡± Dan asked Howard as they passed by the first of two Apple IIe labs.

    Howard looked at Dan as if he had asked ¡°Why do people have to pay for stuff at the supermarket?¡± He shook his head and said, ¡°It¡¯s a cost issue, Dan. These computers are old but still workable, and they are perfectly fine for business simulations, typing practice and basic word processing which is what they are mostly used for.¡±

    ¡°But they won¡¯t run the newest common business software¡ªWordStar and the new WordPerfect word processors, Lotus 1-2-3 for spreadsheets and dBase III or the newer Paradox database management programs,¡± Dan objected.

    ¡°The Apple IIe can actually run VisiCalc and the earlier version of dBase, but we don¡¯t even teach that at this point. Computers in the office are becoming very common, and you¡¯re right that the IBM PC is the dominant system used in business, but what we try to do is to provide students with some basic computer literacy that will make them easier to train on whatever business programs and platform employers may be using now or in the future. They are way ahead of the game these days if they can just turn on a computer and load a program or know what a floppy disk is and the difference between RAM and ROM. That we teach them. The rest the employers will be able to piggyback on easily.¡± Howard responded, seeming to genuinely believe what he was saying. And, although Dan disagreed, he did not want to have that debate here and now. It would likely be yet another challenge he would need to overcome while finding a way to do it at a minimal cost o if he could swing that somehow.

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    Shortly thereafter, the tour done, Howard suggested they go out for lunch at a local eatery. Dan happily agreed. They went out and crossed the street to the corner deli, with Howard saying that they had about an hour as the Melameds, the PEMTI owners, wanted to meet Dan at 1:00 p.m. The typically small deli in a high rent district sported only a half dozen high wooden chairs along a long, narrow table affixed to the sill of the plate glass window facing the sidewalk. There were no chairs or tables outside as these were prohibited by local codes. The seats were unsurprisingly all taken, so Howard suggested they buy their lunch and return back to his office to eat it. Howard ordered a pastrami and Swiss on rye with mustard and Dan ordered one of his favorites, a classic Reuben sandwich¡ªthin-sliced corned beef with sauerkraut, thousand island dressing and Swiss cheese on buttered bread grilled to perfection. He and Howard both got a half pickle with their sandwich and Dan ordered a can of coke while Howard ordered a can of 7-Up. The sandwiches were ready within five minutes, and Dan insisted on paying, but Howard would not let him. ¡°This is on me. Trust me, although I don¡¯t know and don¡¯t want to know your salary, I guarantee you mine is more than twice yours. Plus, I¡¯ll get the Melameds to reimburse me for lunch.¡± Dan relented and thanked Howard who paid the $11.98 bill and they once again crossed the street carrying their lunch in brown paper bags back to Howard¡¯s office.

    As they ate their lunch on Howard¡¯s desk, Dan asked Howard if he taught at all. He replied, ¡°Yes, I teach Industrial and Organizational Psychology as I am the best qualified to do so here and get paid extra for it¡ªsomething I negotiated with the Melameds when I was hired. I have a masters in sociology in addition to my Ed.D.¡±

    ¡°Howard, I was wondering how you handle the long days. I assume your school is also open from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. or so. How do you juggle being around for both sets of faculty and having a presence both morning, noon and night?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re actually open from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. here. And I try to be flexible by being here on some days as early as 7:00 a.m. and others coming in sometime after noon and staying through 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. I don¡¯t tell people what my schedule is, except for my secretary and the receptionist in case they need to schedule appointments. Unlike everyone else, we don¡¯t need to punch the clock so our schedule is completely up to us. No one will ask you about it as long as there are no problems and no obvious pattern of abuse. I¡¯ve even taken off when I need a long weekend from time to time¡ªusually on a Monday. I check in from home with my secretary or the receptionist.¡±

    ¡°You mentioned a secretary. Do you have full or part time support?¡± Dan asked.

    ¡°I have a part-time secretary who is actually a work study student in the secretarial program¡ªthe best they have¡ªwho works for me about four hours a day during the week. She is paid partially by PEMTI and partially from federal funds. You can get one too¡ªall the deans have the same support. And you can use the receptionist when needed as receptionists also have student workers assigned to them. All the receptionists are real secretaries with excellent typing and steno skills.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll look into that.¡± He said, though Marvin had already offered him a similar arrangement but with a regular secretary rather than a student¡ªsomething he would not mention to Howard either.

    They made additional small talk and Howard continued to offer advice on a wide range of subjects as they finished their lunch. Then, at the appointed time, Howard called the receptionist over to walk Dan to the Melameds¡¯ office to meet his bosses, telling Dan to return when the meeting was over, adding ¡°It should go very quickly¡ªthey just want to put the name and the face together.¡±

 Chapter 10: Meeting the Melameds

    Dan thanked Howard and followed the receptionist as she escorted him to the administrative side of the school through doors off the reception area. She found her way down a corridor with a half dozen small offices not unlike those in the Queens school, and eventually got to one of two large corner offices facing each other at the end of the hall. The corner office to the left had the name Benjamin Melamed emblazoned on an impressive, gleaming golden plaque with the title Chief Executive Officer immediately below the name. The office to the right sported an identical golden plaque on its own massive cherrywood door with the name Martha Melamed and the title Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.¡± Turning to the left, the receptionist knocked lightly on the partially open door and received a prompt ¡°Come in¡± from a male voice inside. She opened the door all the way and escorted Dan to a massive oak desk polished to a high gloss behind which sat a portly, balding man in his middle to late 50¡¯s. To his left, sat a handsome woman perhaps ten years his junior on a large brown leather chair. Both rose and the man extended his hand to Dan. ¡°Dean Amor, I presume¡± he said, cheerfully. ¡°I¡¯m Benjamin Melamed, and this is my wife, Mrs. Martha Melamed.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m very pleased to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Melamed,¡± Dan responded, shaking the man¡¯s offered hand and then extending his to Mrs. Melamed.¡±

    ¡°Please have a seat,¡± the man motioned to a plush leather chair across from his desk as the woman sat back on her own just a few feet to the left, at the right side of her husband¡¯s desk. As Dan did as he was bid, the man continued affably. ¡°Jerry, our V.P. for Administration, and Marvin were both very impressed with you on paper and in person and highly recommended you. We are very happy to have you onboard.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m very pleased to be here, and grateful for the opportunity and vote of confidence. I¡¯m very much looking forward to my new role.¡±

    ¡°So tell us, how is your meeting with Howard going today?¡± Mrs. Melamed asked.

    ¡°Dr. Green has been very helpful and I appreciate his guidance before taking on a role about which I have much to learn. But I¡¯ve always been a quick study, so I¡¯m confident I will hit the ground running starting tomorrow at my new post, if that is acceptable to both of you, and to Dr. Green, of course,¡± Dan offered.

    ¡°Fine, fine,¡± Mr. Melamed answered. ¡°We have every confidence in you, but you are welcome to spend a few more days with Howard if you would find that helpful. I know they¡¯re eager to have you at the Queens campus, but we want you to be comfortable in talking on your role there¡ªno rush as another day or two will make little difference.¡±

    ¡°Dr. Green has been very helpful to me today, but as I said, I¡¯m a quick study and he has graciously offered me his assistance by phone whenever I need it, so I think I¡¯ll be ready after today to assume my duties without further delay, as long as he concurs.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s wonderful,¡± Mrs. Melamed intoned, as Mr. Melamed smiled an apparently genuine smile. She then added, ¡°We¡¯re a family business and PEMTI is pretty much our only baby these days, so we are deeply invested in the success of each of our branches. We reward talent and like to promote from within when opportunities arise, so you can expect a rewarding and lucrative future with us both at the corporate and branch levels if as we suspect you prove to be a good fit for our organization.¡±

    ¡°Absolutely,¡± chimed in Mr. Melamed almost before his wife had finished speaking. ¡°As Martha said, you can have a rewarding and lucrative future with us. We were very impressed by your credentials and background and more so now that we have the opportunity to meet you. We¡¯re curious, though. Why does a bright, young attorney want to be a proprietary school dean at a salary that is far less than he should be able to command in his field?¡±

    ¡°Money has never been a primary motivator for me. It is important, and I do expect to be reasonably compensated based upon my performance, but salary is not a major consideration in my career choice. I can always make a decent living practicing law, even if I decided to hang a shingle and do a solo practice. I am honest and hardworking and in this city the mere fact that I have native fluency in Spanish would get me all the clients I could ever want to start a practice simply by advertising in the Spanish language media. I love the law in an abstract sense. Maybe someday I¡¯ll teach law or consider running for a judgeship. But that is not in the immediate future for me. I want to devote myself to educational administration and I believe I am a good fit for the dean¡¯s position at the Queens campus where I think can make a real difference.¡±

    ¡°How, specifically, do you think you will make a difference?¡± Mrs. Melamed asked not in a challenging way but rather with apparent genuine curiosity, tilting her head slightly as she observed Dan.

    Dan immediately wondered if he should have said that as it could be misinterpreted as either arrogance or, worse, empty hyperbole. Fortunately he really meant what he said, so he was able to answer earnestly without hesitation.

    ¡°Please forgive me¡ªI know it must sound silly for someone who has not yet taken on the job to claim he thinks he can make a real difference. But I really believe I can. For example, I noticed that our programs run from six to twelve months. And I think it would be useful to create at least one new program that runs for only three months and concentrates on the emerging computer technology that is exploding in all sectors of business. I¡¯d envision a course entitled something like ¡°Computerized Office Support Specialist¡± that would allow students to learn MS-DOS, the WordPerfect word processing software, the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet software and the Paradox or dBase III database management software packages. They seem to be the leading software packages actually used in most business today. And I think advertising that particular program and highlighting the software competency that students would acquire would make our students more marketable upon graduation.¡±

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    Neither of the Melameds said anything for what seemed to Dan a long time. Then Mr. Melamed spoke. ¡°That sounds like an intriguing idea, but our longer programs are our bread and butter, and we wouldn¡¯t want to lose those students.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you would, sir. I envision such a program running on a rolling enrollment basis as I would only create it to run exclusively as a self-paced course with students learning primarily by following step-by-step self-study workbooks guided by an instructor and a work-study student assistant. This means that rather than having to wait for six, nine or twelve months for a program to end before starting a new cohort, students could be enrolled at any time. And though the course would of course be much less expensive, I think the volume and the rolling enrollments could actually make it more profitable in short order. It would also resolve any attrition issues we may have with students dropping out prior to completing the course. If the 12-month courses now command about $10,000, a $2,000 three month course with classes filled to capacity would generate revenue of $8,00 per year per,¡± Dan said.

    ¡°But we now get $10,000 for the 12-month programs, as you noted¡± Mr. Melamed objected.

    ¡°That¡¯s true, sir. But in the 12-month programs, each cohort must run for an entire year. You may start with 40 students, but there will be attrition. Partial tuition refunds and no government support for students who drop out means that on average you may have 30 students complete the course¡ªand I¡¯m being very optimistic here. I¡¯m sure you know the actual numbers and that actual attrition is more than 25 percent. So a 40 student cohort may produce $300,000 in total revenue. My rolling enrollment which would allow students to enroll at any time in the program means that if one student drops out after a week or a month for any reason, she or he can be immediately replaced by students waiting for a seat to open. I am also confident that you would have an easier time recruiting for a three-month program than for the 12-month programs. So 40 students enrolling in the program will actually yield $80,000 every three months or $320,000 per year. Conversion of labs from Apple II computers to IBM-PC or PC-compatibles would be needed, but that cost would be significantly less than the $20,000 it would take to create a new PC compatible lab. The investment would pay off in less than one year.¡±

    The Melameds exchanged looks with one another when Dan had finished speaking. After a short pause, Mrs. Melamed asked, ¡°But how do you know that you can find appropriate self-paced software or a workbook-driven format that could make that work?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Mr. Melamed said. ¡°And you¡¯re forgetting about the cost of the software itself. Licenses for PC-DOS and the application software packages you mentioned are very expensive.¡±

    ¡°I have a technical background in the emergent technologies, though most of it is self-taught. I¡¯m a bit of a geek who learned BASIC programming on an Atari 400 and a Texas Instruments TI-99/4A both of which used tape recorders as storage devices. My first MS-DOS (IBM-PC near-compatible), was a Canon AS-100 system I bought new at an 80 percent discount when Canon decided to get out of the PC business not too long ago. That is how I taught myself DOS, WordStar and dBase since the programs were included with that beautiful computer. I also built my first truly IBM-PC Compatible system from parts, purchasing the motherboard, case, all components, and the monitor from a half dozen different suppliers for about $500 all told¡ªan unbeatable bargain at the time and still a great deal today--and a priceless learning experience. Electronics in general and personal computers in particular are of great interest to me and something I¡¯ve become somewhat of an expert on. I say all of this because I know that there are numerous self-paced textbooks and workbooks available for these programs, though I have done only very brief research on the subject to date for my own use. And I know that at least some of them come with free student versions of the programs. Also, any PC-compatible computer bought for the labs will likely include MS-DOS or PC-DOS either free or at a nominal cost.¡±

    Both of the Melameds looked at Dan and at each other several times as he spoke, not interrupting him. When he finished, Mr. Melamed reclined slightly in his plush leather chair and said, ¡°That is a very interesting idea, Dr. Amor. We would like to hear more about it whenever you have a chance to develop a curriculum proposal. We¡¯ll talk to Marvin. He has all the forms you will need and can help you submit it to the State Education Department. They have not been as receptive as we would like with our last few proposals, but this really seems like a radical departure from what not only we but our competitors are doing and we¡¯d love for you to explore the idea further and move forward with it as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Yes indeed,¡± chimed in Mrs. Melamed after nodding along with what her husband had said. ¡°It really sounds like an intriguing idea. Please pursue it when you are settled in and have the time to devote to the project.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m pleased you are receptive to the idea. I will work on it with Mr. Lantz¡¯s help and will develop a formal proposal as soon as I can review appropriate book and software packages. I¡¯ll do a detailed proposal as to cost of books and any additional equipment that may be required. I¡¯ll also do the research on hardware and keep costs as low as humanly possible. At worst, it will be a good intellectual exercise for me and a first attempt at creating and shepherding a course proposal through State Ed.¡± Dan said.

    ¡°This has been a very interesting and productive meeting for us, Dean Amor. We are very pleased to have met you and look forward to hearing about your progress in general and on this project in particular,¡± Mr. Melamed said beaming. Dan got the hint that the meeting was over and rose from his chair and extended his hand first to Mrs. Melamed and then to Mr. Melamed. He then thanked them for the generous amount of time they had devoted to their meeting.

 Chapter 11: The Day is Done

    Mr. Melamed walked out with him and escorted him to the reception area, where he turned Dan over to the receptionist after once again shaking his hand and patting him affectionately on the shoulder. Dan was then escorted to Howard¡¯s office, where Howard was busily reviewing some papers on his desk as the assistant knocked gently on his half-open door. ¡°Dan,¡± he exclaimed looking up from his work. ¡°Come on in. That took a lot longer than anticipated. Did they make you wait that long before seeing you?¡±

    ¡°A bit,¡± Dan lied, not wanting to give Howard any reason to feel threatened at the generous amount of time granted to what was supposed to be a courtesy meeting lasting only a few minutes.

    ¡°What did they talk about?¡± Howard pressed.

    ¡°Oh, small talk mostly, and a bit about my idea for a short course.¡±

    ¡°That must have gone as well as the average lead balloon, eh?¡± Howard retorted with a wry smile.¡±

    ¡°Well, they did not dismiss it off hand and asked me to send them a proposal.¡± Dan said.

    ¡°Yeah, well, don¡¯t expect much and you won¡¯t be disappointed.¡±

    ¡°Good advice,¡± Dan agreed smiling.

    ¡°So, what else can I tell you today about your duties, about PEMTI, or anything else?¡± Howard asked, reclining again back on his chair with fingers interlocked behind his head.

    ¡°Actually I don¡¯t have any questions at this point. You¡¯ve been very kind and generous with your time and gracious enough to give me your card with your number earlier, so I know I can call you if something comes up that I can¡¯t handle or need guidance on. And I really appreciate that.¡±

    ¡°Any time, Dan. I¡¯m happy to help with anything I can.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve taken up enough of your time, so, unless there¡¯s anything else you think I should know, I think I¡¯ll leave you to your work as I know I¡¯ve kept you from it today.¡±

    ¡°Not at all, Dan. It was nice to have a break and I know we¡¯ll get along just fine. Just call me if there is anything I can help with. I¡¯ve been doing this for a while, so it¡¯s unlikely that I would not be able to answer any question you may have at any time.¡±

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    ¡°I¡¯m grateful for your support, Howard. I don¡¯t have any cards yet from PEMTI, but here¡¯s my home number for now. If there is anything I can do for you at any time to return the favor, please let me know.¡± Reaching into his pocket, Dan pulled out a silver business card case with his initials and pulled out a card with his name and title of Attorney and Counselor at Law along with his current address and phone number.

    ¡°Are you practicing?¡± Howard asked after looking at the card.

    ¡°Not at present, but I have done some legal and consulting work for clients since being admitted and have these mostly for friends and family. Actually, my girlfriend had these made for me when I was admitted to practice and also gave me this card case. I carry it around more because they remind me of her than anything else.¡± He then thanked Howard, shook his hand and headed out. Overall it had been a good day despite some low spots. And he was again looking forward to starting work the next day.

    Dan retraced his steps and walked the four long blocks to the subway station thinking about the days ahead. In due course, he transferred from the E to the G train at Queens Plaza, and rode it to the Northern Boulevard station, then walked five blocks East to his girlfriend¡¯s Woodside home where she lived with her parents, eager to tell her about his day.

    He arrived at Linda¡¯s home around 4:00 p.m. and found her sitting outside on a lawn chair wearing a pink halter top and denim shorts, trying to get some sun on her long, beautiful, milk-white legs. He smiled at that. He¡¯d gotten to calling her his little lobster during the summer, as she would easily burn under the sun¡¯s rays like a luckless lobster cruelly thrown into a pot of boiling water. But she could never quite achieve much of a tan¡ªunlike Dan, who could get a tan by moonlight much to her chagrin.

    ¡°So how¡¯s my little lobster today,¡± she scrounged her nose and gave him a mock look of anger through beautiful hazel eyes whose color changed from mostly brown when she was in a fiery bad mood to green with just some specs of brown and a deep blue outer rim of her iris when she was happy, playful or in a romantic mood. They were mostly bluish-green at the moment¡ªa good sign.

    ¡°How¡¯d it go, Dan?¡± she asked getting up to give him a quick hug and a lingering kiss.

    ¡°Very well, for the most part.¡± He answered, through a wry smile. I can¡¯t wait to tell you about it. Let¡¯s go in so I can say hi to your folks and have a soda or a cold beer before you burn to a crisp and I¡¯ll tell you all about it.

    ¡°Can¡¯t wait to hear it, but my folks are out visiting. They¡¯ll be sorry they missed you.¡± She said, taking him by the hand and leading him inside through the back door that led to her kitchen. He followed and, as usual, they chatted about the highlight of their day over a beer.

    <hr>

 Chapter 12: First Full Day

    The next day, Dan rose early after a night of maybe two hours of restless sleep as he could barely contain his excitement about his first full day of work. He could not get the idea of the short course out of his head, nor think of a way to overcome the hurdle of needing new IBM-compatible computers for one of the labs to run the new software. He would not compromise and offer obsolete software on obsolete apple IIe¡¯s. He¡¯d just have to find a way. He showered, made coffee and put on his best suit. By 8:00 a.m. he left his apartment, intending to be at work before the start of the school day. He stopped at a newsstand on the way to the 65th Street subway station to pick up a copy of The New York Times and his favorite Computer Shopper magazine¡ªa thick, oversized magazine chock full of ads for closeout computer equipment alongside personal computer reviews. It is where he had bought his first MS-DOS computer with WordStar, MS-DOS 1.0, dBase and no manual for just over $600 including a printer¡ªmore than 80 percent off its original retail price. It is also where he had scavenged for the cheapest components with which to build his own IBM PC-Compatible system¡ªpurchasing a generic case here, a power supply there, a motherboard at yet another place, and other peripherals in a similar fashion piecemeal over a couple of months. The complete price had been about the same as his Canon AS- 100 which had only dual floppy disk drives that required special high-density disks from Canon. The PC-compatible system he¡¯d built had twice the speed of the Canon and weighed less than half as much¡ªand he¡¯d included a relatively speaking ¡°huge¡± first-generation 10 megabyte hard disk which itself had originally sported a price tag of more than $3,000 and which he¡¯d gotten used for little more than $100. He now intended to pore over his favorite magazine for a way to re-equip one of the computer labs, hoping to find a way to sell or swap the aging Apples for newer low-end PC-clones that would make it possible to run the state-of-the-art MS-DOS-based new business software.

    He arrived at work about a half hour later. His commute would take him largely against the rush hour mass of humanity going towards Manhattan as PEMTI was to the East¡ªaway from the heart of the city, though still well within the city limits. The subways were still full, as they always are in any part of New York City in the heart of the rush hour, but much less so than the compressed bodies on the ride West towards Manhattan. He remembered that lovely woman with her exquisite perfume on the way to the Manhattan school yesterday morning during his current ride to work, his cheeks coloring slightly at the memory. After getting off the elevator on the fourth floor, he noticed the receptionist already at her desk and on the phone despite the fact that it was still about twenty minutes to 9:00 a.m.

    ¡°Good morning, Taisha¡±, he said after she hung up the phone and scribbled a quick message on a pink message pad.

    ¡°Good Morning, Dean Amor¡± she responded with a broad smile. ¡°I did not expect to see you here so early,¡± she added.

    ¡°It¡¯s Dan, please. I thought I¡¯d get an early start on my first day,¡± he responded. ¡°Is Mr. Lantz here yet? It just occurred to me that I don¡¯t have a key to my office.¡±

    ¡°He won¡¯t be in until 9:00 a.m., but he left me a key for you,¡± she said, opening a desk drawer and pulling out a small yellow envelope slightly bigger than a key and handing it to him. The words ¡°Dean¡¯s Office¡± were written on the envelope. ¡°You can go in if you like.¡±

    ¡°Thanks very much,¡± Dan replied, taking the envelope, removing the key and adding it to his key-ring containing his house, garage and car keys. ¡°Could you please let Mr. Lantz know I¡¯m here when he gets in and that I¡¯d like to see him when he has some time for me today?¡±

    ¡°Sure, Dean . . .¡± Dan gave her a mock frown and cocked his head. She immediately responded with a chuckle ¡°. . . I mean, Dan. I¡¯ll ring you when he¡¯s available and am sure he¡¯ll want to see you as soon as he can. Meantime, I have a manual for your office phone. Please let me know if you have any questions. Just dial 0 to reach me at any time. Your extension is on the phone itself¡ªits 2527. To dial out, you¡¯ll need to dial 9 first, then the number. Your phone is unrestricted, so you can call anywhere you like.¡±

    ¡°Good to know. Thank you, Taisha.¡±

    ¡°My pleasure,¡± she replied with another broad smile.

    Dan made his way to his office, opened it, and placed the phone manual in his desk¡¯s top drawer. He then began to take inventory of the office supplies and various manuals in his desk drawer and on the bookshelves. He also noticed that the Compaq transportable has been placed on the second smaller desk in his office across from his own, with a dot matrix printer next to it, taking up all of the desk¡¯s limited real estate. To his right as he sat at his own desk, he noticed with a frown the large picture window to the common corridor that had no venetian blinds or other means of providing privacy. That would have to be addressed as he had no intention of being on display all day for passersby.

    Within a few minutes he heard a knock on his door and rose to answer it. Whoever it was had come from the opposite side of the corridor and had not walked by his picture window. Opening the door he noticed Mr. Chang, the maintenance person.

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    ¡°Good morning Mr. Chang,¡± he said to the Asian man of perhaps 65 years of age standing there.

    ¡°Good morning, Dean Amor.¡±

    ¡°Just Dan, please.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir. I wanted to know if there was anything you needed, and to let you know that the books for the class starting Monday have already arrived.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Mr. Chang. Do we have a book store?¡±

    Mr. Chang gave a half smile and replied, ¡°No bookstore. Just me. I give out the books on the first day of classes to students who show me their I.D. And I check off each student against my list so no one gets a book who is not a student and no student gets more than one book for each of their classes.

    ¡°Where do you give out the books?¡±

    ¡°My office¡ªI barricade the door with a small table and give out the books from there.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Dan said. Office? It was little more than a supply closet with a tiny table and chair. He did not see how the man could manage cramming boxes of books there as well, but apparently he did. He hoped he was being well compensated for his many roles, though strongly suspected that would not be the case.¡±

    ¡°If you need any supplies or anything else, please let me know. I will order them for you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Mr. Chang. Actually, I would like some venetian blinds put on the inside of my office window. I need some privacy.¡±

    ¡°Ah, you don¡¯t want to monitor the students?¡± Mr. Chang replied seemingly puzzled.

    ¡°I can open the blinds during class changes when I am not busy, working on student records, or in meetings with students or faculty, but not at other times.¡±

    ¡°I will need to get Mr. Lantz¡¯s permission before I can order and install the blinds.¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s an issue of cost, I will buy and pay for them myself,¡± Dan offered.

    ¡°No, not cost¡ªjust policy. It has not been done in the twenty years I¡¯m here because directors want their deans visible to students¡ªto keep order.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a security guard, Mr. Chang. But I¡¯ll talk to Mr. Lantz myself later and have him tell you if it¡¯s o.k.¡±

    ¡°As you say, Dean Amor.¡±

    ¡°Just Dan, please. I don¡¯t need anything else for now, and thank you for all the supplies in my desk. I appreciate it.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome. Mr. Lantz had Jaime, your lab tech, set up your computer and printer yesterday. I left two ribbons for the printer and an extra box of perforated plain write letter-sized computer paper in the lowest drawer of your filing cabinet which was empty and a box of 5.25¡± floppy disks on the top left drawer of your desk. The computer has a hard disk with DOS and WordPerfect on it but nothing else¡ªJaime told me to tell you.¡±

    ¡°Thanks again, Mr. Chang. I appreciate it. I¡¯ll let you know if I need anything else,¡± Dan said, then added after looking at his watch, ¡°It¡¯s about ten to nine so I need to head over to the conference room.¡±

    ¡°To check the time cards?¡± Mr. Chang asked.

    ¡°No, to meet the faculty on my first day,¡± Dan said, walking out of the office and walking off to his right, towards the conference room. ¡°I¡¯ll see you later, and thanks again.¡±

    As Dan walked in to the conference room, he noted a flurry of activity there with several faculty members waiting to punch in and others sitting around the conference table chatting or getting paperwork ready.

    ¡°Good morning, folks,¡± Dan intoned to no one in particular, looking around the room. I¡¯m glad to see you all again and am looking forward to getting to know each of you in the coming weeks. This is my first day here and I just wanted to say hello and wish you all a good day. You know where to find me if you need anything or just want to chat. I¡¯ll be scheduling a quick lunch meeting for this Friday at Noon and would appreciate it if you can all attend. I¡¯ll provide a light lunch. Anyone with special dietary needs, please let me know. Otherwise I¡¯ll have some ham and cheese and turkey and cheese sandwiches with a salad for us to break bread and chat for a bit. There are some things I¡¯d like your feedback on. Meantime, I hope you each will have a great week. I don¡¯t want to keep you,¡± Dan finished and turned to head out of the room. As he did so, he heard Jaime call out ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll verify the time cards for you.¡±

    He stopped and turned to Jaime who was standing close to the time clock having just punched in. ¡°I appreciate the offer, but I¡¯ll take care of that myself later.¡±

    ¡°I really don¡¯t mind,¡± Jaime insisted. I¡¯ve been doing it for some time.

    ¡°Thanks, Jaime, but I will to do that myself from now on.¡± With that, he walked out and started walking back to his office as all eyes followed him out of the room. He noticed what appeared to be surprise in the faces of his faculty, though whether good or bad he could not tell. It was not something he was going to worry about either way at the moment.

    Back in his office, he turned his attention to the filing cabinet drawers, hoping to get a better read about the types of data that may be there. He found, with little surprise, files on each member of the faculty in the top drawer of his four-drawer filing cabinet. After a quick inspection, he had noticed that the other drawers were stuffed with sundry files with no apparent system. Many of the files were not even labeled, and none but the faculty files contained tabs on the hanging folders. He pulled out the first four faculty files and quickly rifled through them, looking at the type of information they contained. He found copies of letters of applications, resumes, college transcripts, and personal information as to their degrees and competencies to teach specific courses. He also found copies of current and past teaching schedules, but little else. The same was true of the remaining files. There was nothing about annual evaluations, students evaluations or related materials. He looked in the other drawers more closely, thinking perhaps that they were filed separately, but found nothing. He¡¯d have to ask Marvin if those files were in his office as he¡¯d like to see them in order to establish a schedule for future periodic evaluations. He made a mental note to do so just as his phone rang, startling him.

    <hr>

 Chapter 13: The Real Work Begins

    ¡°Dan, this is Taisha. Mr. Lantz would like to see you when you have time. He said to go to his office at your convenience.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Taisha. I¡¯ll be there in a minute,¡± he said, and hung up the receiver. He looked at his watch. It was 9:30 a.m. He headed towards reception, past the double swinging doors and looked into the several classrooms he passed on his way. In one, he noticed Ms. Hunter sitting at her desk reading a magazine while most of her students were reading or writing in their workbooks and quite a few were just leaning back on their chairs chatting. He frowned, making another mental note.

    As he passed reception, Taisha, who was on the phone, placed her hand over the receiver and told him, ¡°Go right in, giving him a warm smile.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± he mouthed, as she returned to her conversation, giving the address for PEMTI and directions from the E train. He walked through the single door to the administration wing and down the long corridor, waiving to Bob as he passed his office, with Bob waiving back as he talked animatedly on the phone, apparently with a client, extolling the virtues of PEMTI¡¯s recent graduates. He made a right at the end of the corridor and was soon standing at the half-opened door in Marvin¡¯s corner office. He knocked gently on the door and Marvin looked up from whatever he was reading on his desk, giving him a wide smile and motioning for him to come in while rising from his desk and saying, ¡°Good Morning, Dan, please come in¡ªand welcome!¡±

    ¡°Good morning Marvin. Thank you. It is good to be here.¡±

    ¡°Have a seat, Dan¡±, Marvin motioned behind him while pouring fresh coffee onto a white china cup. ¡°How do you want your coffee?¡±

    ¡°Black please, no sugar. It smells heavenly,¡± Dan replied.

    ¡±Black it is,¡± Marvin countered, offering Dan a steaming cup of coffee faintly smelling of espresso and hazelnut.

    ¡°Thanks very much, Marvin,¡± Dan said taking the cup and saucer in both hands and quickly taking a sip. ¡°Simply wonderful,¡± he added, meaning it.

    ¡°So, how did yesterday¡¯s meeting go? I had a report from the Melameds as soon as you left their office¡ªbut I¡¯d like to hear your take on the day.¡±

    ¡°I thought it went very well. Howard was kind enough to bring me up to speed on basic policies and procedures, and the meeting with the Melameds went better than I expected. What I thought would be a quick courtesy meeting lasted for nearly an hour,¡± Dan said, taking another sip of the steaming coffee.

    ¡°Well,¡± Marvin said, leaning back on his chair, ¡°you made quite the impression on the Melameds¡ªand they are not easily impressed, believe me. They congratulated me for hiring you and said they expect great things from you. I¡¯ve never seen them so excited. They both talked to me on speakerphone from Benjamin¡¯s office shortly after you left the meeting. They are particularly interested in your idea for a short course, though skeptical about your ability to get it through State Ed--and about the cost of implementation. But no matter--they loved your entrepreneurial spirit and were genuinely excited about your thinking in that way even before starting the job.¡±

    ¡°Look, Marvin, they basically asked about how I could make a difference and I answered honestly¡ªmaybe I shouldn¡¯t have before having the discussion with you in greater detail and seeing how you felt. I¡¯m sorry if I overstepped.¡±

    ¡°Are you kidding? They loved it and think me a genius for both finding you and convincing you to come on board,¡± Marvin replied still smiling broadly. ¡°The only thing I¡¯d caution you about is over-promising, as they can be mercurial in their reactions¡ªespecially as to things that affect the bottom line. For now, though, they are extremely happy and, unless you royally screw up, I don¡¯t see that changing any time soon,¡± he added.

    ¡°Then I¡¯d better not screw up,¡± Dan retorted, and added ¡°By the way, do you have any information about SED guidelines for course approvals?¡±

    ¡°I do, and I already prepared a folder for you with some basic background information and the required forms. I can help you with this when you are ready to explore it in greater detail,¡± Marvin said, then reached for a folder on his desk and passed it to Dan who opened it and briefly thumbed through the materials.

    ¡°This is great, Marvin, Thank you. I have some things to figure out, but I¡¯ll put a rough proposal together including some numbers on the technology improvements that will be needed.¡± Marvin¡¯s smile half evaporated on hearing this, so Dan quickly added, ¡°But don¡¯t worry¡ªI will try my best to keep the actual cost to an absolute minimum and will drop the matter altogether if I can¡¯t. I want to strike while I have some enthusiasm from the Melameds but won¡¯t propose anything that requires a significant capital investment¡ªdon¡¯t worry about that.¡± Hearing that, Marvin¡¯s placid smile returned to its usual full bloom.

    ¡°On another matter,¡± Dan continued after another sip of his coffee, ¡°Can you tell me whether you have any faculty evaluations in your files. I could not find any in mine.¡±

    ¡°Only for teachers that were fired. Your predecessors only did them when they had suspicions of a problem, such as too many complaints by students or issues with absenteeism. So the only ones I have are in the files of dismissed instructors.¡±

    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    ¡°So there are no regular class observation of the faculty or student evaluations?¡¯

    ¡°No. Keep in mind that all the teachers here are employed at will and there¡¯s no tenure, promotion, or union to contend with. It¡¯s pretty straight forward: you like them they stay. You don¡¯t, they get fired.¡±

    ¡°I get that, but don¡¯t you think that having regular evaluations would contribute to better quality control of teaching and possibly better support for teachers who evidence some deficiencies?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s up to you Dan. If you think it important, by all means, evaluate them any time and in any way you like. I¡¯ll always back up your judgment. If you¡¯re not happy with a teacher, you can fire them on the spot regardless of evaluations. Just keep in mind that you will need to replace them quickly. We don¡¯t have substitutes and, though you can assign your teachers to cover temporarily for someone you fire as long as you make sure every period has at least one teacher free to take the load, that only works short term. ¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± Dan replied. ¡°I did not find any folder with applicants¡¯ resumes or any type of list of individuals who may be interested in teaching on an as-needed basis to cover for illnesses or other exceptional circumstances. Do you by any chance have such a list?¡±

    ¡°No, Dan. If you don¡¯t have one in your files it probably was never created¡ªor your predecessor threw it out¡ªeither is a possibility.¡± This concerned Dan. It would be one more thing he¡¯d have to address quickly.

    ¡°Could I run a help wanted ad in the paper for business education faculty to build a resume bank in case a need arises?¡±

    ¡°I can authorize that¡ªthe cost would be under $400 for one of the local papers. But be aware that it could make your teachers jumpy if they see the ad and suspect one or more of them might be axed. You can be sure some of them read the help wanted ads regularly looking for supplemental work or greener pastures. We¡¯ve had less turnover than most of our competitors¡ªor even our sister schools. But with a new dean, it might make some jump ship if they think you¡¯re looking to make changes. Shakeups are not unusual in our industry when there are changes at the top.¡±

    ¡°I had not considered that. Let me think about it and see if I can find another way. But I do appreciate your willingness to authorize an ad if I can¡¯t find a viable alternative.¡±

    ¡°Whatever you think best,¡± Marvin said, smiling complacently.

    ¡°Two other things really quickly if I can have just a couple of additional minutes of your time, Marvin.¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± Marvin replied.

    ¡°First, I¡¯m going to have my first faculty meeting this Friday at lunch hour. I assume you won¡¯t have a problem with my bringing in some food for the group? I¡¯ll drive in and bring sandwiches, sodas and dessert as well as paper plates, cups and the like.¡±

    ¡°Sure, Dan. As long as the cost is reasonable I can pay for simple catering like pizza and sodas from petty cash,¡± Marvin offered helpfully.

    ¡°I appreciate that, Marvin, but I¡¯d rather make some decent sandwiches myself and I don¡¯t want to be reimbursed. I want this to come from me, and not just pay for pizza delivery. I just wanted to make sure you¡¯re ok with my bringing food in. I¡¯ll park in the parking garage next door for the day to make carrying the stuff in easier.¡±

    ¡°Sure, Dan. No problem¡ªjust don¡¯t get them used to free lunches or they¡¯ll expect it. Tell Jiang to help you carry the stuff in and set up.¡±

    ¡°Not to worry. I don¡¯t intend on having faculty meetings more than once a quarter, and if I feed them again for that it will be just be pizza and sodas¡ªI just want something different for the first meeting¡ªa good faith gesture. As to Mr. Chang, I won¡¯t need his help. I¡¯ll take care of it all myself.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not been done before, so I¡¯d be curious to know their reaction. Hope they don¡¯t bite the hand that feeds them,¡± Marvin chuckled. ¡°What was the other thing?¡±

    ¡°Just a simple request. I¡¯d like a venetian blind on my office window that faces the corridor. I don¡¯t want to have every student peering in at me while I work. It is distracting and, worse, makes it impossible to have any privacy when I¡¯m working with sensitive student records or having a meeting with a student or faculty member.¡±

    ¡°But you won¡¯t be able to keep an eye on students during class changes that way,¡± Marvin noted.

    ¡°I can open the blinds during class changes when I¡¯m not otherwise occupied, but don¡¯t want to work in a fishbowl.¡±

    Marvin considered a moment, with a blank expression then looked at Dan and said, ¡°All right Dan. I want to make you comfortable here, so sure. You can have the blinds installed Just tell Jiang.¡±

    ¡°I already asked him but he said he¡¯d need your approval.¡±

    ¡°All right, hold on,¡± Marvin said, picking up the phone and dialing a four-digit extension. ¡°Jiang, this is Marvin. Please measure Dean Amor¡¯s office window and order mini blinds. Hold on a moment.¡± Then, turning to dan he asked ¡°are one-inch mini blinds OK or do you prefer standard sized? And what color do you want?¡±

    ¡°Mini blinds are fine. Bone or off-white is probably best given the wood trim on the window¡±, Dan answered.

    ¡°. . . Make them bone or off-white and the type that are opaque, not the flimsy ones you can almost see through. You can have them custom made if they don¡¯t have the exact size available. And make sure you get rush delivery. I want you to install them within the week if at all possible¡±, he added, then hung up the phone.

    ¡°Thank you, Marvin, I really appreciate that.¡±

    ¡°No problem. Can I get you another cup of coffee?¡±

    ¡°No, thanks. I have to get back to work. But I¡¯ll call you if I have any questions later.¡±

    ¡°You bet. I¡¯m here for you and want you to know I¡¯m glad you¡¯re on board.¡±

    With that, Dan rose from his chair and shook Marvin¡¯s hand before turning to go, thanking him for his support. Then he walked back towards the reception area and peeked in to Bob¡¯s office through the open door. Bob was looking at papers on his desk, so he knocked on the door frame. Bob looked up and gave him a smile.

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re still here and it¡¯s almost noon. That¡¯s a good sign. A little longer and you¡¯ll be the longest serving dean in our history,¡± he said chortling.

    ¡°That¡¯s me, setting records already,¡± Dan quipped back. ¡°When are you going to go to lunch today?¡±

    ¡°Oh, in an hour or so. I¡¯ve got to finish some reports for Marvin.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you come by my office when you¡¯re ready and I¡¯ll go with you¡ªmy treat today if you have no other plans. You pick the place.¡±

    ¡°Sounds great, Dan. I¡¯ll go by in an hour or so.¡±

    ¡°Look forward to it. Meantime I¡¯ll get to some work of my own¡ªprioritizing the order of the next thousand or so things I need to get through this week. See you later,¡± Dan said, walking through the door to the reception area on the way back to his office.

 Chapter 14: Lunch wih Bob

    Back in his office, Dan turned to creating a prioritized To Do list for the remainder of this week. This included putting together an agenda for his first faculty meeting, developing a process for faculty evaluations, determining the competencies and preferences of his faculty as to teaching classes, developing the class schedule for the new cohort in the Computerized Office Specialist certificate program that was set to start on Monday, and beginning a review of the currency of lesson plans. A dozen other items followed, but these would be the first priority. He would start the review of the lesson plans today, and would bring in his software for spreadsheets and database management tomorrow to install on his office computer. He¡¯d need to decide whether to create a master spreadsheet or a full-fledged database to keep faculty records and facilitate writing reports. It would be a daunting task as there was nothing at present remotely resembling meaningful current data that he could call upon and he would have to reinvent the wheel just to get the process started.

    Thinking about the variety of data that he would need, the types of reports he would like to be able to create and the need to keep the data entry process as fluid and simple as possible, he resolved fairly quickly to use Lotus 1-2-3. It would provide the ability to create useful reports by using its database functions, and also allow him to look at large swaths of data on screen at any time rather than having to rely on generating reports as would be the case with dBase III. The setup process would also be much simpler with the spreadsheet program than with the more powerful but also more cumbersome database management system. So, he started to think about how data should be set up. He was also concerned about privacy issues if he were to turn over some of the data entry to the part-time secretarial support that he had been promised, so he would need to keep the most sensitive data such as annual reviews paper-based only at this point, but faculty scheduling, teaching preferences, competencies and such general information he would port over to electronic form for easy report generation. He was also determined when it came his time to move on, he would leave behind useful data and processes in place for his successor to avoid anyone else being placed in the situation in which he now found himself. He then began to sketch out what the spreadsheet should look like as he heard a knock on his door.

    He looked up from his desk and saw Bob waving at him from his picture window. Lunch time. Good. He opened the door and said, ¡°Glad to see you, Bob. I need a break. Lead the way, and take me to your favorite eatery. I¡¯m starved.¡±

    Bob chortled and began walking towards the elevator. The halls were empty but for a few stragglers late to class after their lunch break. ¡°You like seafood?¡± Bob queried.

    ¡°Sure. I like pretty much everything¡± Dan replied.

    ¡°There¡¯s a red Lobster a few blocks away. And they serve alcohol. Are you game?¡±

    ¡°Lead on. A beer or glass of wine sounds good, with or without shrimp and lobster,¡± Dan replied smiling.

    They were soon on the street, walking East on Queens Boulevard, enjoying the lovely fall day. They strolled slowly as the usual din or cars, trucks and buses zipped by on the busy arterial boulevard.

    ¡°So how did your meeting at the Manhattan school go yesterday?¡± Bob queried.

    ¡°Pretty well, actually. I got a quick but useful orientation from Howard,¡± Dan said

    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s a bit of a dick, isn¡¯t he?¡± Bob interjected, chortling.

    ¡°He¡¯s a bit tightly wound, but he was helpful and considerate. We just have different styles.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re not a dick,¡± Bob replied, chortling again.

    ¡°Dan smiled and continued, ignoring the comment. ¡°The Melameds were a surprise. They actually gave me a pretty lengthy interview when I expected just the formality of a quick chat to put names and faces together.¡±

    ¡°You made quite the impression on them. Marvin told me they called him gushing about you.¡±

    ¡°They just liked my idea for a short course to train students on current software packages that can get them real jobs in businesses that can¡¯t find enough people for data entry positions and general office support.¡±

    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Bob asked with some interest.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to create a three-month program that exclusively trains students on MS-DOS basics and the leading word processing, spreadsheet and database programs for the IBM-PC and compatible computers instead of the outdated Apple IIe systems we currently have that no businesses use. Companies don¡¯t have the time or resources to train entry level people to use the software they need to be productive, despite our company line to the contrary.¡±

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t agree more, Dan. My clients would love me to send students who can actually do real work on day one instead of being unable to even load the programs they¡¯re using. That would be huge if you could pull it off¡±, Bob said excitedly. ¡°But it won¡¯t fly if you need real resources to make it happen. The Melameds are so tight only dogs can hear them fart,¡± Bob added, laughing.

    ¡°I have some ideas I need to pursue. I think I may be able to get the equipment we need at very little cost, but I need to do some more research and make some calls. The Apple IIe computers we¡¯re using in the two labs are obsolete, but there¡¯s still a market for them. I¡¯ve seen used apple II and IIe systems for sale at comparable prices to new IBM-PC clones from leading manufacturers, and the new generic clones like the one I put together from parts are selling for significantly less than the used Apple IIe for reasons I¡¯ll never understand. I¡¯m thinking that if Marvin will let me horse-trade for the computers in one of the labs, I can probably get us 20 generic PC clones with little additional cost. At least that¡¯s something I¡¯m going to look into further¡± Dan said.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you can make that happen, Dan, but it would be a game changer. I¡¯ll sure advocate for it as it would make a huge difference on my ability to place of our students with local businesses.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to try. I know they won¡¯t go for a significant investment, as modest as it would be¡ªmaybe $20,000 at most¡ªfor a new lab. But I¡¯ll explore every low-cost option,¡± Dan said, quickly adding ¡°Do you know if there are any grant monies from the state or federal government that we could apply for?¡±

    Bob once again good naturedly chortled at the suggestion, answering ¡°Drug dealers have a better chance of getting a grant to reduce drug dependency than proprietary for-profit schools getting federal or state grants. We¡¯re not exactly on Santa¡¯s nice list these days.¡±

    ¡°Too bad¡ªthat was one avenue I¡¯d hoped to explore.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t waste your time. Trust me, it¡¯s a dead end.¡±

    ¡°Back to Plan A again, then. I¡¯ll work on it in my spare time and hope to get enough information to start seriously looking at some options by next week. I really don¡¯t like expensive programs that go on for a year and don¡¯t provide students with the job training they need. And I intend to do something about that one way or another,¡± Dan said.

    They walked on for another block making small talk and arrived at the local Red Lobster restaurant. It was crowded for the lunch hour rush, but they were seated at a small table within ten minutes and ordered their meals with accompanying cold beers. Both ordered the endless shrimp platter with fried popcorn shrimp and grilled shrimp, salad bar and a beer. As they ate, Dan asked, ¡°Bob, I noticed that Marvin always seems to have a broad smile on his face. Is he really that mellow or is it an affectation?¡±

    ¡°Naw, he¡¯s really pretty mellow. I think he smoked too much weed earlier in life and it just rendered him perpetually happy. You¡¯ll also notice the far-off stare that comes with it from time to time. But he¡¯s a good guy at heart¡ªone of the best bosses I ever had. And don¡¯t underestimate him¡ªhe is smart and shrewd. And he¡¯s a straight shooter.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I liked him immediately. But his perpetual beatific smile can be unnerving at times,¡± Dan said.

    ¡°Be assured, it¡¯s not an act. Though who knows where he flies off to at times in the middle of a conversation. Wherever it is, it must be a very happy place,¡± Bob said, chuckling while reaching for another sip of his beer after soaking up some buttery shrimp residue from his beard with a paper napkin.

    A half hour or so later, they had completed their meal and Dan insisted on paying the check over Bob¡¯s objections. ¡°I invited you last Friday, remember? No arguments¡ªthis is on me.¡±

    ¡°Fine,¡± Bob relented. ¡°But tomorrow we¡¯ll do this again and it will be my turn. We can take turns paying or split the bill after that, but I¡¯d like us to do this regularly when our schedules allow,¡± Bob said. ¡°One perk about our job is that we can take two hour lunches every day if we want to¡ªnot a problem, as long as the work gets done, though we will have some days when any lunch at all may be impossible. Let¡¯s try to leave room for several lunch meetings every week, though. It will be the highlight of my day,¡± Bob said, rising from the table and leaving a generous tip. ¡°No arguments¡ªthe tip¡¯s on me.¡±

    ¡°Fine, Bob. It will be the highlight of my day as well whenever we can do it. Let¡¯s try our best to do this regularly,¡± Dan said.

    ¡°Done. Tomorrow, if you¡¯re free any time between 1:00 ¨C 3:00 p.m. I¡¯ll treat you to my favorite diner. Huge portions, fresh food and, of course, beer and wine. A glass always makes digesting the day¡¯s events so much more palatable.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll drink to that,¡± Dan said, draining the last of his beer before following Bob towards the door.

    About an hour and a half after they had left, both were back at their offices immersing themselves in their work. Both men had enjoyed their lunch and the slow walk along a teeming sidewalk with people rushing past them, talking shop and getting to know each other better. Both seemed genuinely pleased to be in each other¡¯s company, and both knew they were on their way to becoming trusted colleagues and friends.

 Chapter 15: End of a Productive Day at Work

    For the remainder of the day, Dan concentrated on reviewing the lesson plans on file and making notes as to those that showed deficiencies, or, worse, were missing altogether. He would schedule his first conferences with these faculty members and get them on the right track. At least four faculty had missing or deficient lesson plans and that would not do. On Friday, he would announce the new required one-on-one meetings and class visitations and would schedule these for the week following their first faculty meeting¡ªgiving faculty members at least three days¡¯ notice before a class visitation as a courtesy. The evaluation schedule would be announced at Friday¡¯s meeting¡ªthough not the reason they were chosen which would hopefully be obvious to the individuals involved and a first unspoken warning that they needed to step up their games.

    Dan remained at his desk and made it a point to be visible several times during the day by taking a stroll on both floors of the school, walking slowly past every classroom and observing from outside the goings on while walking by. When he passed Vanessa Hunter¡¯s classrooms on three different occasions that day, he noticed her sitting at her desk reading while her students worked on assignments in their workbooks or sat at their desks chatting with their neighbors or looking bored. A few were clearly flipping pages on magazines that had nothing to do with the course. Mental note¡ªshe would be the first person whose classroom he would visit and the first scheduled in-person meeting. She was also one of the faculty members with shoddy and missing lesson plans.

    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

 Chapter 16: The Plan Begins to Gell

    He awoke as usual a few minutes before his alarm clock came to life, showered, shaved, dressed, and had two cups of coffee before heading out the door at fifteen minutes past eight. He carried a briefcase with several sheets of paper shorn from his Computer Shopper magazine and a plastic case with his installation disks for Lotus 1-2-3 and dBase III.

    He arrived at work a few minutes before 9:00 a.m. and headed to his office. After the hubbub of students going to their first-period class, he pulled out the torn Computer Shopper pages and called the first of two retailers that purported to buy and sell used Apple computers. When a receptionist answered, he asked to be connected with the company¡¯s sales manager. After a brief pause, a man answered the phone.

    ¡°This is Frank Basehart. How may I help You?¡±

    ¡°Hi Frank. My name is Dan, and I am the Academic Dean at PEMTI. We are a small business school and I¡¯m looking to upgrade one of two labs from Apple IIe computers to PC compatibles. I was wondering whether you might be interested in either buying our 20 existing APPLE IIe computers with monitors, keyboards and mice or in a swap for new generic IBM-PC compatible systems. My needs are modest¡ªa minimum of 256K RAM, one floppy disk drive and ideally a 10MB hard disk, monochrome monitors and keyboards. Is that something you could help me with?¡±

    ¡°We buy and sell the entire Apple line of used and refurbished computers, including the IIe computers, but we don¡¯t deal in PCs at this time. But I can get the types of PC systems you need in exchange for the Apple IIe ones you have. I¡¯d have to see them, of course, but if they¡¯re in good working condition I can probably offer you a two-for-one swap¡ª2 Apple IIe computers for one PC generic clone in the configuration you need. Or I can buy the computers outright¡ªprobably for $250-300 each depending on condition.¡±

    ¡°Do you have any flexibility on price? Our computers are in perfect working order and professionally maintained, and all are in daily use.¡±

    ¡°I might be able to go up to $325 per computer, depending on configuration and condition¡ªbut that¡¯s the absolute best I could do.¡±

    ¡°All right, Frank. I appreciate your time. I¡¯m still researching vendors and pricing, but I¡¯ll get back to you if this seems workable for us. I have a very tight budget, so I really need to get as close to a one-to-one swap as I can. But I appreciate the basic information and will get back to you if this is something I can pursue.¡±

    ¡°Sure Dan, call me at any time.¡±

    Dan hung up the phone with renewed hope. This was not ideal, but not too discouraging for a first attempt. He called the second number, and a man¡¯s voice answered on the first ring.

    ¡°Joe speaking. How can I help you?¡±

    Dan repeated the same information he¡¯d given to Frank moments ago, and Joe responded that he could pay up to $350 for each Apple IIe computer system if in good condition or provide generic IBM-PC clones in turbo configurations with twice the speed of the original IBM PC for an even swap for 20 Apple IIe computers, though with dual floppy drives instead of a hard disk. A single floppy disk and a 10 MB hard disk would be $150 extra per computer. Dan thanked him and made an appointment for a meeting the following Monday for Joe to inspect the Apple IIe computers and bring a PC clone for Dan to examine. Although Dan intended to keep looking for a better deal with other suppliers, he knew that he was unlikely to find it as this was by far the lowest price for PC clones he¡¯d ever seen and represented a great deal. He had called several textbook publishers the day before and verified that workbooks with bundled limited versions of the leading software packages on floppy disk were available for adoption at a reasonable cost. He had asked for desk copies of half a dozen of these titles that the publishers promised would be rushed to him.

    With the pieces falling into place, Dan felt a surge of confidence about his ability to create the new certificate program. He called Marvin¡¯s office, but the call went to voicemail, and he left a brief message telling Marvin that he needed to speak to him and asking him to call when he had some time today. Then he went to the transportable computer in his office and began loading his copy of Lotus 1-2-3 that he had brought from home to start creating a computerized record of his faculty¡¯s credentials and prior teaching assignments to facilitate the scheduling of classes that would begin Monday. He had pre-planned the basic spreadsheet ahead of time the day before, but the process of creating the actual spreadsheet and then entering the required data was more onerous than he had thought, and he realized it was going to take him much more time than he could devote to the project since there was a great deal of data to enter. He nevertheless diligently pushed on, focused on the task at hand. The most critical portion of the spreadsheet needed for scheduling had to be completed by the end of the day or he would have to take it home with him to finish by working through the night if need be. He was startled by a knock on his door and pleased to see Marvin standing there when he opened it.

    ¡°Good morning, Dan. You wanted to see me?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Marvin. Good morning. Thanks for coming over,¡± Dan replied motioning for Marvin to take the chair in front of his desk and taking the chair at the small secondary desk himself where he had been working on the data entry.

    ¡°I needed to see you today anyway, Dan, as I forgot to tell you about the panic button in your office.¡±

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    ¡°Panic button?¡± Dan queried, remembering Harold having mentioned it.

    ¡°Yes, let me show you,¡± Marvin said getting up and going around Dan¡¯s desk, pulling his chair back and pushing it against the picture window while motioning for Dan to come over. ¡°If you go down on one knee, you will see the red button mounted on the left side of your desk, easily accessible from your chair when you are sitting. If you press it, it will alert both building security and the local police precinct that is less than a quarter mile from here. In case of emergency, press the button and security guards will respond with guns drawn within two minutes, with police arriving soon thereafter.¡±

    ¡°Should I be comforted or scared out of my wits by this?¡± Dan asked, only half joking.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a precaution, Dan. It¡¯s been a while since we had any problem here requiring security to be called by a panic button, but you need to know that it¡¯s there just in case, if only to make sure you don¡¯t press it by mistake. I have one just like it under my desk and the receptionist has one also. If you ever see a situation you think may escalate to violence, press the button and know that security will respond very quickly.¡±

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s good to know,¡± Dan replied. ¡°Though it is also a bit disconcerting.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it¡ªit¡¯s just an extra precaution to protect us and our students,¡± Marvin assured him. ¡°Now, what did you want to talk to me about?¡± he added, eager to change the conversation.

    ¡°I have what I hope is some good news I wanted to share about the short course I¡¯m working on developing. First, I found a supplier who is willing to do an even swap of PC clones for the Apple IIe computers in one of the labs. We can get 20 computers at no cost with a one-year warranty. The specs are not ideal, but they will do: 256K RAM, dual floppy disks, keyboard and a monochrome monitor. The vendor will pick up the Apple computers and monitors and deliver the PCs at no additional cost. I¡¯ve arranged a meeting on Monday sometime between 10:00 a.m. and noon for the vendor to examine our computers and verify they are in good working order. He will bring a PC clone sample for us to look at. I¡¯d like you to be there if you¡¯re available to evaluate the PC with me and to talk to the guy¡ªhis name is Joe.¡±

    ¡°Well, you sure move fast¡± Marvin said, smiling.

    Dan was unsure if Marvin thought that to be a good or a bad thing, so he quickly added. ¡°I made no commitments, of course, and intend to contact other vendors in the tri-state area before Monday, but I¡¯ve got to tell you that I doubt very much anyone will match that deal. I¡¯ve been keeping a very close eye on PC prices for some time and have not seen anything that comes close to a complete system for that price.¡±

    ¡°It sounds good, Dan, but I¡¯ll have to talk to the Melameds before agreeing to anything. I know they¡¯re really excited about your proposal, but they own all of the equipment and I can¡¯t agree to any deals involving their sale or replacement without their approval.¡±

    ¡°Of course, and I can reschedule the Monday meeting if needed¡± Dan said.

    ¡°I¡¯ll call them today and get back to you. Let¡¯s see how they react.¡±

    ¡°I also wanted you to know,¡± Dan added, ¡°that I¡¯ve contacted several textbook publishers and ordered desk copies¡ªdon¡¯t worry, they¡¯re free¡ªfor six different software and workbook bundles that they offer for courses on WordStar, WordPerfect, Paradox, dBase III and Lotus 1-2-3.¡±

    ¡°You do move fast, Dan¡± Marvin noted with a chuckle and wide grin. ¡°What¡¯s the cost to us for the books and software?¡±

    ¡°Under forty dollars for each book which contains a limited version of the actual software program. The limitations include a banner embedded in every WordPerfect file and a one-line banner at the bottom of each page noting the software can only be used for educational purposes. Lotus 1-2-3 is limited to spreadsheets of not more than 250 rows and Paradox and dBase are limited in the number of records that they can contain. All of the software packages place a similar footer or header on each printed page about the software being licensed for educational use only.The limits are more than generous for learning purposes and the programs are otherwise full-featured and come free of charge with the books with no software license fees.¡± Dan looked at Marvin with an expectant smile, as he knew this was very good news.

    ¡°That¡¯s great news,¡± Marvin said. ¡°I did not know completely free software would be a possibility. And $40 per workbook is very reasonable-- cheaper than many other course textbooks, actually. Nice work Dan.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll need to see the books themselves¡ªthey are being rushed and I expect to have them by Monday to try with the sample PC the vendor is bringing. They are being overnighted as I told them I need them here by 10:00 a.m. on Monday. Mr. Chang gave me the contact information for all the publishers¡¯ sales reps, and they were very accommodating.¡±

    ¡°Let me go talk to the Melameds now. I did not expect so much progress in two months, let alone two days on the job. I still have serious doubts about State Ed approving the new program and courses, but this is still a remarkable start.¡± With that, Marvin rose from his chair again and moved to the door.

    ¡°Before you go, Marvin. I¡¯m working on putting together a spreadsheet to track faculty performance and competencies. It would help if I could get some secretarial support as I¡¯ll have the spreadsheet done pretty quickly, but the data entry process will take a lot longer than I had thought.¡±

    ¡°No problem Dan¡± Marvin replied as he walked to the door and opened it. ¡°I¡¯ll have Katie, our best part-time secretary, assigned to you permanently. I¡¯ll ask Taisha to have her report to you until further notice today when she comes in at 1:00 p.m.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Marvin. I really appreciate that.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it¡± Marvin replied walking towards the door. ¡°Katie¡¯s a good kid and a hard worker. You¡¯ll love her.¡± With that, Marvin was gone, ambling back to his office.

    Dan went back to his spreadsheet and soon became immersed in his work once again. His phone startled him some time later. He went to his desk and picked it up.

    ¡°Hey Dan, it¡¯s Bob. Are you ready for lunch?¡± Dan looked at his watch, surprised to learn it was already about a quarter to one. Time had simply flown by this morning.

    ¡°I¡¯d love to but can¡¯t right now. I have to wait for Katie who should be here around one and will need to brief her on some data entry I need her to do before I can leave.¡±

    ¡°How long do you think that will take?¡± Bob asked.

    ¡°About an hour or so, I think.¡±

    ¡°No problem, Dan. I¡¯m working late tonight on some reports so we can go when you¡¯re done.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure? That may not be until after two.¡±

    ¡°Absolutely,¡± Bob replied cheerfully. I have lots to do here too and the more I do now the less I¡¯ll have to do later. Just come by when you can¡ªno hurry.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Bob. That sounds terrific. I¡¯ll see you as soon as I can.¡±

    ¡°You bet¡ªbut remember, my treat today,¡± Bob he said, hanging up the phone.

 Chapter 17: Katie

    Dan smiled. He was grateful to have someone with whom he felt the seeds of friendship germinating and taking root. He went back to work, and, a minute later, heard a gentle tapping on his door. He got up, opened it, and saw a young woman he assumed was Katie standing there looking up at him with a thin smile. She was a petite, lovely young woman of maybe 21 or 22 years of age with wavy chestnut-brown hair neatly flowing around her shoulders and wearing a tweed black and white business suit. Even with high heels, she was little more than five feet tall.

    ¡°Dean Amor?¡± She queried. ¡°My name is Katie Ricci, and I was told to report to you.¡±

    ¡°Hi Katie,¡± Dan answered waving her in. ¡°It¡¯s very nice meeting you. Please call me Dan.¡±

    ¡°All right, Dan,¡± she said stepping into the office, her smile widening slightly.¡±

    ¡°I have not had the chance to meet you before as this is my first week and I¡¯ve been pretty busy. Are you familiar with Lotus 1-2-3?¡± Dan asked, pointing at the five-inch green-tinted monochrome screen of the Compaq transportable on the small desk.

    ¡°I¡¯ve worked with VisiCalc before but not Lotus, but I¡¯m a fast learner¡± she said.

    ¡°There¡¯s not that much difference between the two except for the formulas and function keys assigned to various functions. You¡¯ll pick it up quickly, I¡¯m sure. What I need you to do first is basically enter data into a spreadsheet I just finished creating today but barely began populating with data. I need to track faculty performance and competencies in order to facilitate report creation. I also created a separate spreadsheet to assign courses and faculty to the available rooms for every period. That is also not yet populated as the data entry is much more work than I had anticipated not having done this before.¡±

    ¡°What do you need me to do?¡±

    ¡°I just created a simple spreadsheet to track all the courses faculty have taught in the past three years and their relevant degrees. Later I¡¯ll work on the courses that should be assigned to each instructor. But for now, it would be very helpful if you could go through the current and previous two years¡¯ schedules and enter every course that has been previously assigned to each faculty member so that I can later print a report of classes each instructor has taught to assign them classes for the COS cohort that starts Monday. I have a binder here with the master schedules for the past five years. The spreadsheet has the instructors¡¯ names down column A with the years 1985 on column B, 1986 on column C and 1987 on column D with a variety of additional data on columns E through M that you can ignore for now. I¡¯ll input it later. I left five rows between each instructor as I did not see any instructor teaching more than five different courses in any one year after a very quick visual scan of the past schedules. If I missed something, rows can be added as needed. What I need you to do is to carefully cross check every schedule for the past three years and type in every course each instructor has taught in every program they teach in.¡± Dan then paused, catching himself, and looked at Katie closely. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I know I¡¯m giving you a lot of information. Does any of this make sense to you?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I got it.¡± She replied, smiling. You need me to research all the different courses they taught for the past two years and for this year and note them on column B for every instructor every year. Easy peasey¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll get right on it.¡±

    And with that, she opened the large loose-leaf binder, paged through the musty-smelling pages to the proper year, and began looking through the schedule and entering the courses as instructed. Dan was pleased, she did seem to be a quick study. But he decided to go back to his desk and start work on a different project before heading to lunch just in case she hit any snags or had questions along the way. Forty five minutes later, with no questions being raised, he asked Katie how it was going.

    ¡°It¡¯s going fine, but the process is slow because of having to scan each page for instructors¡¯ names and the classes they teach. Because there are so many different programs, it gets complicated. I¡¯m working on Mr. Blackmun. They do teach an awful lot of classes. He actually taught six different classes, but I figured out how to add rows so that¡¯s not a problem. And I¡¯ll get faster as I go along,¡± she said, typing the entire time as she spoke.

    ¡°That¡¯s terrific, Katie. Thank you. I¡¯m not a touch typist and, though I¡¯m pretty fast, I make a lot of mistakes as I type. You¡¯re much faster than me and seem to make no mistakes at all from your continual typing. You¡¯re a Godsent. Thank you.¡±

    She turned to him beaming but simply said, ¡°Just doing my job¡± in an exaggerated manner with a slight rolling of the eyes, then giggling softly, but without stopping her typing.

    ¡°I have a lunch date with Bob Wiener and am going to go now, if that¡¯s OK. I¡¯ll probably be gone for a little over an hour. Can I bring you something back?¡±

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    ¡°No thanks,¡± she said. ¡°I ate before coming.¡±

    ¡°How about a soda or coffee, or some dessert?¡±

    ¡°Nope. I¡¯m good, but thanks for asking,¡± she said without turning away from her work or stopping her typing. Take your time. I¡¯ll take messages if your phone rings. Otherwise, it will go to reception after the sixth ring, but some people hang up before that.¡±

    ¡°That would be great, thank you. I should buy an answering machine for times when you¡¯re not here. Mr. Lantz has one as I left a message earlier today.¡±

    ¡°Reception has an answering machine for off hours calls or for when they¡¯re too busy with multiple calls or away from the desk momentarily¡ªthey can also forward incoming calls directly to the answering machine if needed. I don¡¯t think you need to worry about having your own machine¡ªTaisha does a great job, and so do the work-study students assisting her.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Katie. That¡¯s good to know¡± Dan replied, walking towards the door, and adding ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon¡± as he opened the door and walked out.

    He reached Bob¡¯s office a minute later and knocked on the door frame of the open door. Bob quickly looked up from whatever he was reading.

    ¡°Ready to go?¡± Bob asked.

    ¡°Always,¡± Dan replied.

    ¡°That was fast,¡± Bob replied, grabbing his coat hanging on the back of his high-back office chair. It¡¯s only ten of two.¡±

    ¡°Katie is a fast study. I could have come more than a half hour ago but wanted to hang around in case she had any questions. She had none despite not having worked with Lotus 1-2-3 before and has been more than twice as productive as I would have been typing in the material myself,¡± Dan said.

    ¡°Yeah, Katie is little dynamo,¡± Bob replied as the men walked to the elevator. ¡°She¡¯s one of the ones that slipped through the cracks. Cute as a button too.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Dan asked as the men entered the empty elevator.

    Bob chortled in response, then added ¡°Well, once in a while a really good grain of wheat slips in unnoticed with all the chaff and we luck out. Kinda like you, I¡¯m starting to think.¡±

    Dan smiled at the compliment and said, ¡°Not so sure about me, but she¡¯s definitely a keeper¡ªat least that¡¯s my one-hour assessment of her.¡±

    ¡°Bank on it¡± Bob replied as the men walked out of the elevator and made their way to the as always busy street. It was a little chillier than the day before, but still lovely with plenty of sun despite some cloud cover.

    ¡°So where are we going today?¡± Dan asked.

    ¡°To my favorite diner, just a few blocks away. Good food and plenty of it¡ªplus, did I mention, beer and wine?¡± Bob chortled good naturedly.

    As the men walked, Bob asked ¡°So, how¡¯s your second full day of work going?¡±

    ¡°Pretty well, actually,¡± Dan said. I think I have a way to replace one of the labs at no cost with PC clones and also found that I can get free student versions of the software packages I need bundled with textbooks at a reasonable cost¡ªaround $40 each.¡±

    ¡°Holy shit,¡± Said Bob with genuine excitement. ¡°Are you going to tackle world peace tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± said Dan laughing. ¡°I have a plan. It involves one giant asteroid strike and ¡®poof,¡¯ world peace achieved.¡±

    ¡°Not a very palatable plan, eh?¡±

    ¡°Well, you know what they say, the ends justify the means. You want world peace, I deliver. I never said it would be pleasant. Plus, this time it will hold.¡±

    Bob chortled again with his signature mixture of part little boy¡¯s unselfconscious amusement and part cynical old man¡¯s cackle. ¡°I hope the Melameds buy the idea. A no-cost option is the way to go with them¡ªprobably the only way to go.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± Dan said, adding ¡°Marvin is supposed to talk with them today to see if they¡¯ll agree. I have a meeting for Monday with a vendor that is willing to swap out the old Apples in one of our labs for brand new low-end PC clones. It¡¯s a great deal, though I¡¯d like to see the sample system he¡¯ll bring on Monday for us to evaluate. If the damned thing works and comes as advertised, it will be a deal that¡¯s pretty much impossible to beat.¡±

    ¡°Are those things hard to maintain or expensive to fix?¡± Bob asked.

    ¡°Not really. They¡¯re much cheaper and easier to fix than any Apple computer, that¡¯s for sure. And the open architecture means there are a lot of suppliers for replacement parts at really low prices in the rare instance something fails. In my limited experience, if they work out of the box and are still working in a couple of days, they are unlikely to fail for years. And if a part fails, replacements are cheap and easy to swap out¡ªfrom motherboards to peripherals¡ªunlike Apple which forces you to run to them any time anything goes wrong and then charges you monopolistic prices for repairs and upgrades. It¡¯s ironic that they market themselves to their rabid but still small user base as the liberal, play-nice company against the evil corporation. But they ARE the evil corporation. I love how they have liberals lining up to march in lockstep behind their fascistic company and rolling their eyes about the ¡°corporate¡± IBM and the other PC players who produce a better product at a lower price and allow anyone to manufacture peripherals and parts for their systems. It is actually quite funny.¡±

    ¡°You mean like all the peace-loving students loudly protesting war and decrying violence while proudly wearing Che Guevara T-shirts?¡± Bob chortled once more, spittle flying from his mouth in the process.

    As they reached the diner¡¯s doors, Dan made no reply but smiled broadly at Bob¡¯s comments. That summed it up. Like the Anti Shah of Iran demonstrators at Queens College when he attended classes there in perpetual demonstrations loudly decrying the Shah¡¯s repressive, murderous regime only to impose another repressive regime after the Shah was overthrown. But Dan kept these thoughts to himself, preferring to keep politics out of work relationships¡ªespecially with new colleagues.

    After a huge and hugely satisfying half-pound burger and crispy, not-previously-frozen fries and a beer, with a black coffee chaser, Bob insisted on paying for the meal after some protest from Dan, and Dan left a generous tip. Both men agreed that in the future, to avoid arguments, they¡¯d split the bill absent special occasions. They then proceeded to walk back to the office chatting about work and life and getting to know one another better.

 Chapter 18: Tentative Corporate Buy-in to Dans Plan

    When Dan arrived back at his office, Katie told him that Marvin had come by looking for him about ten minutes after he had left and asked that Dan see him when he got back from lunch. He thanked her and went directly to Marvin¡¯s office.

    ¡°Come in, come in,¡± Marvin said before Dan had a chance to knock on the half-open door, motioning for him to enter. ¡°I spoke to Benjamin Melamed and he seemed receptive to the idea of changing out one of the labs per your suggestion, but he wants his information technology guy to take a look at the PC clone since he has doubts about the low price. Upinder will be here by 10:00 a.m. on Monday to take a look at the computer. If he approves, we¡¯ll have the go-ahead to make the exchange¡ªcontingent on your being able to get State Ed approval for the new program and related courses. He doesn¡¯t want to put the cart before the horse.¡±

    I guess that¡¯s good news a far as it goes, but it could take some time to get the approval of State Ed. One of the labs currently is being used exclusively for typing drills, isn¡¯t it? And Jaime uses it for formatting and copying disks and the like? That could be done on the PCs¡ªI know we¡¯re using software that comes with one of the typing books¡ªI can verify that it¡¯s available for the PC as well as for the Apple¡ªI can¡¯t imagine that wouldn¡¯t be the case. So, there¡¯s nothing to lose by upgrading now anyway, if the equipment passes muster.¡±

    ¡°Dan, I know you¡¯re eager to update the equipment, but understand that the Melameds don¡¯t really see the need except for the new program you are proposing. If I can get them to agree and the program does not fly, they are going to be pissed off and it will reflect on you. They can be mercurial, and today¡¯s happy dance can be tomorrow¡¯s farewell waltz if you end up not being able to deliver. You are better off under-promising and over-delivering. Trust me on that.¡±

    ¡°I appreciate your trying to protect me,¡± and yourself, he thought but did not say. ¡°But whether I can get the new program and courses approved or not, having PCs instead of aging Apple computers should be a selling point for prospective students and will give me much more flexibility as to integration of newer software into the classrooms. The new Macs are rarely used in business at this point, and I for one doubt that the technology will catch on any time soon because of their higher cost and more limited software offerings. Anyway, new Macs would cost a bundle. But essentially free PCs? Come on, they have to have already fully depreciated both labs long ago.

    ¡°Look, Dan. I¡¯ll think about it, but I don¡¯t think it is wise and Upinder doesn¡¯t think it will fly with them. You¡¯ve convinced them of the revenue potential of your new program idea, and if they now think you¡¯re just using that to get a new lab and that you may not be as interested or committed to getting the new program approved, it will backfire on you. I know how they think. I gave them all the reasons I think getting the program approved would be highly unlikely when they called me last Monday¡ªI for one am not going to over promise and under-deliver¡± There it was, Dan thought, honesty at last. He appreciated that.

    ¡°All right, Marvin. It¡¯s your decision ultimately but be aware that if this is as good a deal as I believe it is, it may not be available if we have to put off a decision for months on end. That¡¯s my only concern.¡±

    ¡°I will think about it, Dan. I just don¡¯t want to invite the wrath of the Melameds. You¡¯ve only seen their charming and enchanted side. Trust me that you do not want to see their disappointed and pissed off side.¡±

    ¡°I understand, Marvin. Really, I do. For my part I will do everything I can to get the new proposal to SED as soon as possible. I plan on working at it through the weekend from home. Can you give me a copy of at least one successful proposal that SED has approved in the past? Any of our current programs should be a useful guide.¡±

    ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll make copies of the last two approved and will walk them to your office before I leave today at around 5:00 p.m. Is that all right?¡±

    ¡°That would be perfect, Marvin. Thank you. Meantime, I¡¯d better get back to work. Katie, by the way, is a huge help. How many hours a day can she work for me?¡± Dan asked while getting up to leave.

    ¡°You can have her for four hours¡ªthe usual half day¡ªMonday through Friday. And I will approve reasonable overtime on your request when and if you need her to work longer.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s perfect. Four hours a day should do. Is her schedule up to me?¡±

    ¡°Sure, just have her punch in for any time that works best for you. And let me know if you need her to work overtime.¡±

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    Giving his thanks again, Dan left Marvin¡¯s office and headed for his own where Katie was still hard at work. When he got there, he consulted the list of publishers¡¯ representatives Mr. Chang had given him and called the two that provided the office technology titles currently used at PEMTI. As he had expected, the typing simulation drill books and software were available for the PC as well as the Apple IIe at the same price. He requested desk copies of the titles in question and was told he would have them by Monday. He emphasized that it was important he receive them by 10:00 a.m. on Monday, and the sales rep said she would overnight them to him. The school bought enough books from these and other publishers to make such small concessions ones the sales reps were only too happy to make.

    As 5:00 p.m. approached, Dan turned his attention to Katie who had been clicking away at her keyboard without making conversation or asking questions since he had returned from lunch.

    ¡°You can wind down, Katie. I¡¯ll take over. Your shift is about done.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m almost done¡ªjust need another half hour or so,¡± she said.

    ¡°Let me call Marvin before he leaves for the day and get his approval to have you work another hour today,¡± Dan said, picking up his phone to make the call.

    ¡°No,¡± Katie responded quickly, stopping her typing for a moment and turning to meet Dan¡¯s eyes. ¡°This is on me¡ªnot a biggie. I just need a little more time and want to complete the project before I leave. It will be less than a half hour, and I¡¯m happy to do it.¡±

    ¡°O.k.,¡± Dan said. ¡°Just start a half hour later tomorrow¡ªI¡¯ll o.k. it on your timecard.¡±

    ¡°Nope,¡± she insisted. ¡°I¡¯ll do this on my own time¡ªjust want to finish what I start.¡±

    ¡°I appreciate it, Katie. But I won¡¯t let you do this on a regular basis¡ªI¡¯m sure you are paid little enough as it is, and I want you to get compensated for your work.¡±

    ¡°No worries, dad,¡± she quipped. ¡°Just let me do my thing. I¡¯m not a clock watcher and I like what I¡¯m doing. It¡¯s fun.¡±

    Dan smiled, though she could not see it as she had once again turned her attention to her work and was happily clicking away at her keyboard. ¡°She¡¯s a remarkable young woman,¡± Dan thought to himself. ¡°I hope I can do right by her.¡±

    As promised, right on cue about twenty five minutes past her shift, she was done and turned to Dan rising from her chair. ¡°The portion of the spreadsheet with three-years of teaching assignments is done. You should be able to print out a report by faculty member or by program. I took the liberty of adding a column immediately after each faculty member¡¯s name for the program in which they teach thinking you might like to be able to run reports not just by faculty member but also by program so that you can get a listing of all available teachers for any of the current programs and the courses they have taught for the current year and the previous two years. If you don¡¯t want that, I can delete it,¡± she added, taking her purse and waiting for Dan¡¯s response.

    ¡°No, that¡¯s perfect, Katie. Thank you. I was planning on printing out a listing for each faculty member and then manually using only what I needed for each program but that will help¡ªshould have done it myself. Thanks again.¡±

    ¡°No prob,¡± she said. I¡¯ll see you tomorrow. And with that, she was out of the office as Dan smiled watching her leave. He then sat on the warm seat she had just vacated and created his first report¡ªpulling all the faculty members who have taught in the COS program with all the classes they had taught over the past three years. After that, he went to work creating a spreadsheet with the courses required for each period and the available rooms based on the rooms in use at present by the graduating class. Once that was done, he turned to the task of matching faculty to the required courses, trying to give them schedules similar to their current schedules where possible and making sure there was at least one faculty member with a free period in every time slot for temporary substitute duty where needed. The entire process kept him busy past 9:00 p.m., but he was done and had a working schedule before leaving for the day. Tomorrow would be a short day, since he needed to buy and prepare the food for the faculty meeting day after tomorrow. He was very tired but exhilarated as well. He had wrapped things up nicely after his full second day of work, thanks in no small part to his new secretary. That brought another smile to his face as he got his things together and walked out.

    When he got home, he called his girlfriend whom he knew would be eagerly waiting for his call. He had not had a chance to check in with her from work, and he knew she would worry about his long days and subway ride and walk home. She knew his Jackson Heights neighborhood was still relatively safe, but also knew there had been some significant changes for the worse in recent years due in part to the drugs and drug dealers that had begun to permeate the area encouraged by lax policing by mayors who cared a lot more about criminal rights than victim rights¡ªsomething that would not change in New York City until Mayor Giuliani took the reins of City Hall, and even then starting in the mid 1990¡¯s when Rudi Giuliani began a serious effort to clean up New York City crime through a zero-tolerance policy towards both petty and serious crime, his own neighborhood would continue to get worse as drugs and prostitution moved from Times Square and other Manhattan locations to the outer boroughs where neighborhood policing would remain more lax and criminals freer to ply their trades.

    After talking with Linda for the better part of an hour while he cooked and consumed a simple meal of hot dogs and salad, he called his parents and checked in with them as well prior to turning in, answering their myriad questions about his day and trying to reassure them that the long hours would just be temporary, while hoping himself that would in fact be true.

    <hr>

 Chapter 19: Katie

    He awoke the next morning, startled by his alarm clock. It was rare for him not to wake up on his own before the alarm went off, but this morning waking up felt like swimming to the surface of a tar pit. Nevertheless, he was fully alert in a minute or two, and rose to his usual routine, leaving his apartment in a two-family home owned by an aging lovely woman whom he thought of as an adopted grandmother more than a landlord, and she him as another grandson. He should talk to her, he thought, and let her know about his new job as she might worry about his unusual schedule which she had no doubt noticed. He¡¯d do it tonight when he got home, if he could get here early enough after having Linda help him buy and prepare the food. He knew she went to bed early and was an early riser, but he could not afford to speak to her now as their conversations often lasted a half hour or more and he knew she¡¯d have questions for him. So, he went out again, got into his car in the attached garage below that she rented to him, and left for work, hoping he would find a spot at the parking garage next to his office building.

    Twenty minutes later, at around 8:30 a.m., he arrived at the parking garage and was pleased to learn parking was still available. He stopped by the booth where he would have to pay at the end of the day before leaving to ask about monthly parking and was again pleasantly surprised by the rates posted there as they were much more affordable than he had feared. A monthly plan would cost him little more than twice the round trip subway fare. He immediately signed up for a month-to-month plan and paid for the first month, which would be renewable every 30 days. As long as he paid the monthly fee at least one day before the end of the 30-day period, he would be guaranteed renewal of the parking privilege. He was not assigned a specific spot¡ªit was first come first served. But he was very happy to know he could drive to work and always have a spot waiting for him somewhere in the three-story garage. He asked the attendant whether arriving later in the day would cause a problem and was assured that the garage closed to new traffic when the total number of spots were taken, and monthly customers¡¯ spots would always be counted as occupied whether or not they were in use. He would be let in by swiping his paid-up parking card even if the sign at the entrance flashed ¡°CLOSED¡± in red letters.

    He was happy¡ªno more subway rides, even if he had to work on the weekends. And fewer worries about getting mugged late at night in dingy subway stations like the ones closest to his home. Less than five minutes later, about ten minutes before 9:00 a.m., he was at his office. He booted up his Compaq and began to print schedules for his faculty who would be teaching the new COS cohort the following Monday. He would distribute these at his meeting tomorrow.

    He worked on several projects for the next couple of hours, including his agenda for tomorrow¡¯s meeting and a review of the lesson plans for all of his faculty, scanning these for content quality but more interested for now in figuring out who was behind in turning them in. He found four faculty members who were behind anywhere from a week to four weeks in turning in lesson plans. That would be addressed at tomorrow¡¯s meeting, and he would also announce the first round of faculty classroom observations with these faculty members heading the list. The worst offenders were Vanessa Hunter, Abbas Haddad, Homer Gachette and Martha Washington. He would evaluate each of their classes beginning next week and would schedule personal meetings with each of them to discuss their evaluations and missing lesson plans.

    He then started working in earnest on planning his State Education Department filing by examining the paperwork for the approved programs that Marvin had given him. It seemed straight forward enough. He had all the information he needed and filling out the paperwork would be manageable by using the approved programs as guidance. Developing the rationale for the program was the easy part, and he began drafting an outline of the benefit of providing training for individuals in just three months that would qualify them for data entry, document preparation, and a wide range of office support positions requiring the use of the MS-DOS operating system and the leading word processing, spreadsheet and database programs currently in use in most office environments. He emphasized the unique flexibility of a self-paced program that would allow students to be enrolled at any time, and the usefulness of a short, skills-based training program of value to employees who needed to update their skills by learning the new software packages. He noted the benefit of guided study in small classes limited to not more than 20 students with a full-time faculty member and an assistant to offer personalized attention as needed. Over the coming weekend, he would research U.S. Labor Department published data on employment outlook and careers in data entry and related fields, as well as unemployment data and industry need for workers with skills his new program would provide. The internet did not yet exist, but Dan had good research skills and his alumnus status gave him access to the excellent libraries at St. John¡¯s University. He was also no stranger to the New York Public Library system should additional research be needed. He knew he would have no trouble objectively showing both a need for the type of training the new program would provide and a healthy job market for its graduates.

    Around Noon, Dan¡¯s phone rang. ¡°Hey Dan, are you ready for lunch?¡± Bob asked in his usual cheerful voice.

    ¡°I would like nothing better right now, Bob, but I¡¯ll have to take a rain check. No time today. I need to leave not later than 6:00 p.m. and need to get as much done on the new program I¡¯m working on to get it ready to send to State Ed by Monday.¡±

    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡°You don¡¯t seriously think you¡¯ll get that done in one day, Dan,¡± Bob said, scoffing.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m just starting to put a rough draft of the proposal together that I¡¯ll work on through the weekend. I want it ready by Monday as an extra incentive for Marvin to give me the lab I need¡ªespecially if I can work it out so there¡¯s no significant cost involved by trading for the old Apple IIe computers¡ªI have someone coming in Monday before Noon to look at our computers and bring a generic clone he says he¡¯ll trade for them. I want all my ducks in a row to seal the deal if the clone PC system checks out. The Melameds are sending their IT guy from the Manhattan school to evaluate the sample PC and I want him to take back a copy of the proposal I intend to file on Monday which calls for 20 PC-compatible computers in one of our labs. No computers, no program. I know they want the program, so I¡¯m going to do whatever it takes to make it hard for them not to agree to the computer swap or some other alternative if that falls through.¡±

    ¡°You know, Dan,¡± Bob answered in a sober tone, ¡°If you get them to agree and something goes wrong, it will likely mean your job. You understand that, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know. But it¡¯s worth the risk. I don¡¯t buy the argument that it makes no difference what computer platform we use or what programs we teach our students because as long as they know the basic concepts, employers can train them on any software they want. You know better than anyone that¡¯s unadulterated crap. The help wanted ads for secretaries and office support personnel are very specific as to what software proficiency applicants need¡ªand it¡¯s not typing simulations on Apple IIe computers they¡¯re looking for¡± Dan replied.

    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re preaching to the converted. I¡¯m 100 percent with you on that. I just don¡¯t want to see you canned. Remember: under promise and over deliver. The Melameds will take for granted that you can do what you claim and won¡¯t be much impressed when you simply deliver what you promised. But they¡¯ll be thrilled if you deliver more than you promised. And if you deliver less than you promised . . .¡±

    ¡°I know, I know,¡± Dan sighed. ¡°But this is important, and I need to get it done before the thrill of the shiny new moneymaker fades for them. If I do nothing else while I¡¯m here, that will make a lasting difference. The rest is irrelevant for me. If I get fired, I¡¯ll land on my feet. I have no real ambition for advancement here and no fear of failure for setting the bar high knowing I may not reach it. I can¡¯t in good conscience not try to change what I know needs changing.¡±

    ¡°The problem with you is you¡¯re an idealist. And you know what happens to them, right?¡± Bob said, chuckling again.

    ¡°They miss out on lunch with their friends?¡± Dan quipped.

    ¡°Yeah, and then they turn into bitter, angry, unemployed realists that leave their friends to eat lunch alone permanently.¡± Bob replied with a half-hearted chuckle.

    ¡°Have a good lunch, Bob. Tomorrow I¡¯ll definitely go with you.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you bringing lunch for your meeting tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but I always have room for more food. Gotta make up for today, no?¡± Dan said, smirking.

    ¡°Fine¡ªbut I¡¯ll hold you to that--and it will have to be an extra-long, two-beer lunch.¡± Bob replied, chortling once more and hanging up the phone.

    Dan hung up the phone with a broad smile. And he went back to work. A short time later, Katie knocked on the door. ¡°It¡¯s open,¡± Dan said, looking up as she walked in.

    ¡°Hi boss,¡± she greeted, walking in and draping her handbag on the back of her small secretary¡¯s chair by her desk. ¡°What¡¯s on the schedule for today¡± She looked at Dan expectantly with a broad smile. Dan smiled back, glad to see her. She was dressed in a black business suit with a frilly blouse and high heels. Her shapely body notwithstanding, her size and higher pitched voice reminded Dan of a little girl playing dress-up and made him feel protective of her in an irrational way. She gazed at him with big brown eyes, head cocked slightly to the right. ¡°You o.k.?¡± she asked when he did not answer immediately.

    ¡°Yeah, sorry. Just thinking about what needs to be done. I¡¯ve been working on the new program proposal. Take a look at what I have so far. Can you read my handwriting?¡± He handed her the handwritten report he had been preparing. ¡°I¡¯d like to move on to preparing the syllabus for the courses.¡±

    Katie took the papers Dan offered and said, ¡°Geez, your handwriting could use improvement. Buy yeah, I can read it.¡±

    ¡°Too many years taking too many notes too quickly. I¡¯ll be glad to translate anything that¡¯s unclear ¨C if I can read it myself, that is,¡± Dan replied laughing. ¡°No joke, I sometimes have trouble, so please do ask me. Think of it as a puzzle¡± he added smiling.

    ¡°I¡¯ll type it up. I assume you want this in WordPerfect?¡±

    ¡°Yes, please, Katie. I¡¯ll need to take a copy on floppy disk home to finish it this weekend after I do some required research that needs to be incorporated, but it will really help if you can transcribe what I have so far. Meantime I¡¯ll work on the syllabi and get those to you as I finish them.¡±

    ¡°Okey dokey,¡± she said in her sweet voice, turning and walking the few steps to her desk to boot up the Compaq. Within a minute or two, she was busily typing, stopping from time to time to puzzle over Dan¡¯s inscrutable handwriting. She was done long before Dan completed the first syllabus for the word processing module, printed a copy of the proposal, formatted a floppy disk and copied the file to it, labeling it as New Course Proposal. She then put the hard copy and the floppy disk in its Tyvek sleeve in a file folder labeled New Course Proposal and placed it on Dan¡¯s desk.

    ¡°What would you like me to work on while you complete the syllabi?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Gosh you¡¯re efficient,¡± Dan replied. ¡°I¡¯ll need the desk copies of the books I ordered to create the weekly reading and self-paced assignments. Would you mind going to see Mr. Chang to ask if the books arrived? They should be here today.¡±

    ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll be right back¡± She said and left.

    Dan reviewed her work and was amazed at how quickly she had completed it and without any errors. She did not ask even once for clarification about his sometimes nearly illegible scrawlings and still managed to get everything right. ¡°Simply amazing,¡± Dan said out loud, shaking his head and smiling.

 Chapter 20: A Welcomed Helper

    As she walked back into the office carrying a cardboard box with the books Dan had been waiting for, she noticed him still holding the documents she had given him in their labelled file folder and smiling broadly. ¡°Is everything o.k. as written?¡± She asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s perfect, Katie. You¡¯re wonderful. I¡¯m amazed you could actually make out everything I wrote without a single question. I don¡¯t know if I could have done that without guessing. But you got it all right.¡±

    Katie responded, ¡°No biggie. I could make out anything that was unclear from the context. Your writing is not that bad¡ªI¡¯ve dealt with much worse.¡± She responded, blushing slightly. ¡°So, what should I tackle next?¡±

    ¡°Just take a bit of a break while I finish the first syllabus. Now that I have the books it won¡¯t take me long to do these since I know the subject matter very well.¡± Dan answered.

    ¡°Time goes too slowly if I just sit here like a lump on a log. I¡¯ll do some organizing of the filing cabinets if that¡¯s all right with you. I noticed a lot of files don¡¯t have labels and some just seem to have been thrown in without any thought as to organization.¡±

    ¡°Suit yourself. But feel free to go get yourself a cup of coffee¡ªof just take a break¡± Dan replied.

    ¡°No need. Just let me know when you¡¯re ready for me to type the syllabi as you finish them.¡± With that, she set to work on the files that Dan knew could use reorganizing. He smiled as he surreptitiously watched her getting on her tippy toes to reach the tallest file cabinet drawer.

    ¡°What are you smiling at,¡± she asked while she continued working.

    ¡°Oh, just thinking about tomorrow. I have a great deal to do, but I don¡¯t know what I¡¯d do without your help. I really appreciate having you here. You¡¯re quickly making yourself indispensable.¡± He looked at her as he said that and noticed her blushing again. Then he felt guilty about embarrassing her and felt his own cheeks grow warm, hoping she did not notice. If she did, she said nothing.

    For the next two hours, Dan worked diligently and completed the syllabus for ¡°Word Processing Applications Using WordPerfect,¡± ¡°Spreadsheet Applications Using Lotus 1-2-3,¡± ¡°Database Applications Using dBase III,¡± and ¡°Using MS-DOS 2.0.¡± Each syllabus represented a stand-alone module with detailed learning objectives and week-by-week readings and exercises from the required textbooks he adopted for use in each course. Although he had never done anything like this before, he was guided by the materials included in the two programs accepted by SED but with much greater attention to detail than was contained in the latter. Katie dutifully transcribed each syllabus as completed and added a cover page titled ¡°Appendix A: Course Syllabi¡± per Dan¡¯s instructions. She then printed and filed each in the folder she had created for Dan¡¯s use. By the time she left for the day at 5:00 p.m., the work had been completed and Dan felt good about the first draft of what would be the SED application.

    Before leaving for the day, Dan made the last of what had become his usual rounds, strolling through the hallways on both floors and looking in through the picture windows as his faculty taught their classes, making mental notes when he noticed particularly engaged students and instructors and when he noticed obvious deficiencies, such as classes with generally inattentive students or ineffective instructors like Vanessa Hunter, yet again sitting at her desk reading a book as her students apparently worked on some assigned project, talked to each other, or engaged in other obvious non-educational activities. There was an unmistakable pattern here he would address next week after his formal observation of her class.

    At exactly 6:00 p.m., he left the office, walked next door to the parking garage, got into his car and drove to his girlfriend¡¯s home to pick her up for the shopping trip for tomorrow¡¯s lunch preparations. A little more than a half hour later, he arrived at Linda¡¯s Woodside home after navigating the rush hour traffic on Queens Boulevard and on the side streets. He found Linda waiting for him outside, sitting on a lawn chair in pressed light-blue jeans and a white cotton short-sleeve blouse, reading a book. She looked up as he drove into the driveway and gave him a broad smile, rising to meet him. They hugged and kissed, and Dan was pleased to see her bright, beautiful hazel mood-eyes were again mostly green today with a deep blue outer ring in her iris¡ªa sign she was happy. They got into his red Mustang II and he backed out of the driveway, saying ¡°I thought we¡¯d go up to Roosevelt Avenue to my favorite Italian Deli and Italian bakery for the cold cuts, bread and pastries, and the fruit stand on 61st Street for salad fixings,¡± Dan suggested.

    ¡°You could do one-stop shopping at Pathmark on Northern Boulevard or at the Jackson Heights small shopping center on 76th Street and 31st Avenue. You¡¯d save money too,¡± she replied.

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    ¡°No, I want the best cold cuts and bread. But we can go to Pathmark or Waldbaums for the rest of the stuff¡ªthat¡¯s a good idea. I¡¯ll need paper plates, cups, napkins, plastic forks, and soda too in any case. And I can get the salad fixings there too.¡±

    ¡°Do you still intend to make the sandwiches tonight? They will get soggy that way if you put lettuce and/or tomato in them as you usually do,¡± she warned.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have much choice, do I?¡± Dan answered as he stopped backing down the driveway to look at her.

    ¡°What about getting all the fixings and preparing them tonight but holding off on actually making the sandwiches? Instead, you could go tomorrow morning on the way to work and get Italian bread, French bread or the freshly sliced specialty breads and rolls of your choice at the bakery and let everyone make their own sandwiches with the oven-fresh bread. You¡¯d just need a salad¡ªI¡¯d suggest getting Romaine or a mix of salads we can wash and chop up tonight and put in gallon Ziplock bags you can later transfer to a large plastic bowl at work. You can then buy a couple of different salad dressings and maybe some cherry or grape tomatoes and be done quicker, easier and have a fresher product that way. Some potato salad and maybe macaroni salad or coleslaw would be nice too¡ªbuy it pre-made,¡± Linda offered.

    ¡°I wanted to take a variety of sandwiches pre-made but that may be a good idea. I didn¡¯t think about the bread getting soggy and stale in the fridge overnight¡ªand tomorrow in the cooler until lunch time.¡±

    ¡°You have another issue you probably did not consider, too. Making hearty sandwiches with fresh Italian or French bread as you intended will give you a problem both for overnight storage and transportation tomorrow. Everything won¡¯t fit in your cooler¡ªand I know you won¡¯t have room in your always full fridge for twenty or so sandwiches. You can¡¯t leave them out once made¡ªthey¡¯ll spoil,¡± she added.

    ¡°I had not thought of that either. You¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what you have me for,¡± she quipped smiling as Dan blushed in embarrassment at not having thought through any of these obvious issues. ¡°I suggest you get maybe a dozen rolls and a fresh large peasant bread freshly sliced at the bakery, and maybe one of their large Italian loaves sliced as well. That will make it easier to transport and the bread will be fresh and delicious too and won¡¯t make a mess like slicing it onsite will. You can then put the bread in a couple of large plastic or aluminum serving platters along with the cold cuts in similar platters. We can buy a large plastic salad bowl that you can put the salad into with the cherry tomatoes, croutons and anything else you like at work and let each person serve him/herself. Keep in mind you¡¯ll need to also get a large bag of ice for the cooler that can serve to keep the perishables cool until lunch time and then put the ice in a plastic container for whatever water, juice or sodas you intend to get.¡±

    ¡°Geesh,¡± Dan exhaled. ¡°I should have just ordered Pizza.¡±

    ¡°My little Laputan,¡± Linda retorted with a mischievous smile.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Dan replied, missing the reference.

    ¡°Remember Swift¡¯s Gulliver¡¯s Travels? The Laputans? People who live in a flying island, lost in their lofty meaningless projects to do anything useful, or even look where they¡¯re going and falling down holes to their death?¡± She cocked her head and offered him another wry smile. ¡°Sound like anyone we know?¡± She added.

    ¡°Oh, the burdens of us intellectual types,¡± Dan responded in his best affectation of an English accent with a disdainful, pompous, tone. ¡°You Lilliputians with your small minds and small-minded ways could not possibly ever comprehend . . . Ouch,¡± he yelped as she smacked him hard on the shoulder.

    ¡°Drive,¡± she commanded in fake exasperation, ¡°Before I tie you up and leave you on the lawn to ponder your evil ways overnight.¡±

    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am,¡± Dan replied, once again engaging the clutch, shifting into reverse, and gently pulling out of the driveway.

    They drove to Dan¡¯s favorite deli about a quarter of a mile away on Roosevelt Avenue and 63rd Street, and Dan parked only a half block away, grateful to find a rare spot at a meter. They bought Prosciutto, Turkey, Salami, Swiss Cheese, and Provolone cheese¡ªmore than the usual quarter pound per person as Dan wanted to make sure there would be more than enough for everyone. He also bought a quart of potato salad, a quart of macaroni salad and a quart of coleslaw. Then they headed out to the Pathmark superstore about ten minutes away, where they bought the salad, salad dressing, cherry tomatoes, scallions and artichoke hearts, in addition to paper plates, cups, napkins, plastic forks, and large plastic serving trays for the bread and cold cuts as well as some plastic serving utensils, a gallon of spring water and three assorted two-liter bottles of soda. After that they headed to Dan¡¯s apartment where Dan retrieved and washed his large cooler from his garage and under Linda¡¯s guidance got everything ready for the next day. All the perishables were safely tucked away in Dan¡¯s fridge and the salad was duly washed, chopped up and stored in two one-gallon Ziplock bags, ready to be transferred to the cooler the next day by Dan. Dan then prepared a quick Spanish tortilla (a large omelet with potatoes, onions, garlic and Spanish chorizo) and salad that they ate while sipping a glass of wine (Rioja red for Dan and Albari?o white for Linda). Afterwards, they cuddled in front of Dan¡¯s TV while watching a movie. A couple of hours later, Dan drove Linda home, gave her a lingering kiss by her front door, thanked her for her help, and promised he¡¯d see her the next day after work.

    He was home in bed around midnight, with his alarm set an hour earlier than usual for the next day to allow him time to buy the bread and ice he needed prior to heading to work, as well as dessert. He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow and slept soundly.

 Chapter 21: First Faculty Meeting

    The clock alarm buzzed annoyingly at 5:30 a.m. waking Dan from a dreamless sleep. He got up, made coffee, shaved, showered, dressed and left to buy the needed bread and ice at 6:30 a.m. He took Linda¡¯s advice and bought a dozen fresh rolls, and an extra-large Italian bread and a large, round peasant loaf asking for both to be sliced. Then he ordered a half dozen mixed bagels and a large box with three dozen mixed mini-pastries for dessert. The bread, still hot from the oven, made his mouth water as he carried his goodies in several plastic bags to the car. Then he went to the convenience store two doors away and bought a bag of ice. Ten minutes later, he was back in his apartment doing his best to fit the ice and all of the perishables into his large metal cooler. After several tries¡ªhe wished Linda were here as she had the uncanny ability to fit five gallons of stuff in a one-gallon container¡ªhe managed to get everything but the salad in the cooler. And three trips down to his car later, he was finally on his way a little after 8:00 a.m.

    When he got to the parking garage, he took as many of the packages as he could with him on the first trip to his office. They were bulky, but with the exception of the sodas and water, they were not very heavy. He would have liked some help with the cooler though, as it was heavy and awkward to carry down three levels of stairs and between buildings while wearing a suit. He nonetheless managed on his own in three trips, not wanting to inconvenience anyone else with the grunt work. He placed everything in his office, making the limited space even more crowded. But it was manageable, if not a pretty sight through the always open window.

    As if reading his mind, Mr. Chang knocked on his door a few minutes later, just after the 9:00 a.m. class change, carrying a large Venetian blind and some tools. Dan was pleased to see his window covering and the reprieve it would bring from feeling like a caged animal in a zoon for everyone to gawk at all day long.

    ¡°Your window covering just came in. Is it all right for me to install it now?¡± Mr. Chang asked.

    ¡°Absolutely. In fact, I¡¯ll help you.¡±

    ¡°Not necessary. I can manage myself,¡± Mr. Chang replied in his usual monotone with no change in expression.

    ¡°I insist. It is a bulky item, and I can at least help you hold it while you put in the necessary hardware. Or I can do that while you hold it if you prefer.¡±

    ¡°Fine, you can help hold it,¡± Mr. Chang replied, adding ¡°Thank you.¡±

    They were done in about 15 minutes, and Dan was pleased with the result. The blinds were a perfect fit and provided the privacy he needed at least for parts of the day.

    ¡°Thank you very much, Mr. Chang. I really appreciate your ordering and installing the blinds.¡±

    ¡°No trouble,¡± Mr. Chang replied with a shadow of a smile crossing his lips. ¡°You know, other deans have asked for curtains or blinds. They were always told no. You must be held in high regard.¡±

    ¡°Maybe I just made more persuasive arguments,¡± Dan said. ¡°I really do need privacy at times when dealing with confidential matters, but frankly it is also a matter of personal preference. I don¡¯t like being stared at by everyone all day long as I work, nor do I appreciate the hidden message that I am always watching everyone else either,¡± Dan replied, with a smile and shrug of his shoulders.

    ¡°Whatever the reason,¡± Mr. Chang replied, ¡°This is a first for anyone in this office. You should know that, Dean Amor.¡±

    ¡°Please call me Dan, Mr. Chang¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you call me Jiang, like everyone else?¡± Mr. Chang asked, looking at Dan intently in the eyes?

    ¡°Because, Mr. Chang, I am barely out of diapers and you are a respected elder whom I would feel uncomfortable calling by his first name,¡± Dan answered honestly.

    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    Mr. Chang made no response, but his eyes grew glossy as he wordlessly turned to leave without any change in his expression.

    ¡°Thanks again, Mr. Chang. I really appreciate your help with this.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± he said as he walked out, not turning around.

    Over the next hour and a half, Dan printed copies of the agenda to distribute at the meeting, including the names of the four faculty members whose classes he would visit next week. He then did his first round of walking the halls on both floors, and by 11:30 a.m. he went to the conference room to begin setting up for lunch. He was surprised to see Mr. Chang there, who had already cleared and cleaned the top of the wood cabinetry that ran the entire length of the wall opposite the door, where Dan had intended to set up for lunch. He had brought a plastic table cloth that he was placing above the table-height top of the cabinetry that housed three rows of wooden drawers, the contents of which were unknown to Dan.

    ¡°Mr. Chang,¡± Dan called out. ¡°I did not intend for you to do this. Did Mr. Lantz ask you to help set up?¡±

    ¡°No, Dan,¡± the latter replied. I noticed you bringing up many bags and a cooler this morning and remembered you mentioning you had a staff meeting today. I thought it must be lunch so wanted to get the space ready for you.¡±

    ¡°I appreciate it very much, Mr. Chang, but it was not necessary. You have more than enough to do as is¡ªthis is my idea and I intended to do the setup and cleanup myself.¡±

    ¡°I could have helped you carry the bags in. You only have to ask,¡± he replied.

    ¡°I managed just fine on my own, but thank you.¡±

    ¡°It is my job and I want to help if I can. Let me help you set up,¡± Mr. Chang insisted.

    ¡°Since you¡¯ve already done the hardest part, you can help me set up the rest. I appreciate it. But I¡¯ll bring the stuff over. I need the exercise and you get plenty, I know.¡±

    ¡°I am old but not frail,¡± he responded. ¡°Let me help carry the packages too.¡±

    Dan felt his face redden. The last thing he wanted was to offend Mr. Chang and he was afraid he may have done that unintentionally. ¡°Of course,¡± he quickly replied. ¡°Forgive me¡ªI don¡¯t like others to do unnecessary work I bring on myself, but I am grateful for your help.¡±

    The other man nodded, with little change in his expression, though Dan again thought he saw the merest shadow of a smile cross his lips. ¡°Come with me and we can bring the stuff together,¡± Dan said.

    Dan then left the room for his office with the other man following closely behind. They grabbed the heavy cooler first, each holding on to one of its two metal handles, and each man carried several bags of the bulky bags, with Dan making sure he gave Mr. Chang the lightest of bags while trying not to have the other notice that fact, taking the heavier bags with bottles, water and food himself in his free hand.

    They slowly made their way back to the conference room, and in short order had all the food out and set up for easy access a full five minutes before the start of the meeting just as some faculty members started to walk in.

    ¡°Thank you for your help,¡± Dan said. ¡°Please take some food and drink with you¡ªor stay and eat it here if you would like. There is nothing confidential about this meeting.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± the man replied,¡± but I prefer to eat later and brought my own ham sandwich today.¡±

    ¡°I really appreciate all of your help today and apologize for taking you away from your other work,¡± Dan said.

    ¡°I am glad to help, Dr. Amor,¡± Mr. Chang replied, a smile more palpable on his lips now. He then turned and walked out of the room as more faculty members began arriving.

    Dan sat himself not at the head of the table but in the middle. It was a purposeful choice, and one he would always make in his future executive and administrative roles, as he did not want to be seen as other than one more participant. About five minutes later, the entire faculty was in attendance and seated around the table. Dan then began to speak.

    ¡°Thank you all for coming,¡± he began, ¡°And welcome to our first faculty meeting. Although I won¡¯t promise to always have food at these, today I wanted to bring lunch my girlfriend and I prepared with Mr. Chang helping to set it up so that we can break bread together. I know we have less than an hour, so please get some food and we can eat while I conduct the meeting. I have a short agenda, so we should have plenty of time. But we do have some important issues to discuss. Please help yourselves to some food.¡±

    People began getting up and queueing up to the food, taking their preferred bread and cold cuts and/or salad with their choice or dressing and sides. Ten minutes later, all were back at the table. Dan was the last in line¡ªhe would prefer not to eat until after the meeting, but the idea of breaking bread required, well, breaking bread¡ªso he made himself a small sandwich with the sliced Italian bread and one slice each of prosciutto, salami and provolone, adding some lettuce leaves on top and a small helping of potato salad. He also poured himself a coke over ice.

    As everyone began eating, Dan took a bite of his sandwich and set it aside, picking up the printouts of the agenda and passing them around, keeping one for himself. The chatting around the room quieted down as he began to speak.

 Chaper 22: Faculty Reactions

    ¡°First of all, I¡¯d like to note that we will be having meetings like this one on a regular basis¡ªmost likely at two or three times a year. I don¡¯t know whether you¡¯ve had regular meetings before as there is no record of them. Have you had regular meetings in the past?¡±

    Most people stared at him blankly, with a few shaking their heads. Harry Benton, one of the electrical engineers who taught the math and electronics courses, replied, ¡°No, not regularly. We have had them in the past only when there was a problem that needed to be discussed at the Dean¡¯s discretion, but the last meeting was at least three years ago.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Mr. Benton,¡± Dan replied. ¡°I suspected that might be the case but wanted to make sure. I don¡¯t want these meetings to be overly formal¡ªno Roberts Rules or formal votes, in general. I just want us to have an opportunity to share information and discuss issues any of us thinks important for the benefit of the group and of our students. I also want all of you to feel comfortable coming to me when you have anything you¡¯d like to discuss privately. It has to be a two-way street. I do want there to be a very general record of what we discuss, however, not so much for my benefit but for the benefit of whoever succeeds me.¡±

    ¡°Thinking of leaving us already?¡± Martha Washington, one of the business education instructors, quipped with a clear note of sarcasm in her voice.

    ¡°No, Ms. Washington. I just got here. However, I serve at the pleasure of both Director Lantz and the owners of PEMTI, so I can be here today and gone tomorrow. I may also choose to leave in the future if I find that I am not a good fit for PEMTI or it for me. And, of course, just as I serve at the pleasure of the administration, so do you.¡±

    ¡°You mean we serve at your pleasure, don¡¯t you?¡± Ms. Washington again interrupted.

    ¡°If you want to put it that way, yes that is true. You all serve at my pleasure¡ªthat is the nature of this business. But it is my intention to make this as welcoming and rewarding an environment as I can for all of us. That means I intend to do everything within my power to provide a workplace you want to be in and can be proud of¡ªwhere good people feel appreciated and respected. And, of course, as is always the case with appreciation and respect, that too is a two way street. You won¡¯t stay if you are not appreciated and acknowledged for the good work that you do here, and neither will I. I also will not stay if it becomes apparent that I am either not up to doing my job effectively or unsatisfied with my job. And the opposite is also true¡ªI won¡¯t keep anyone who proves unable or unwilling to effectively do their job.¡±

    There was no response from the group, just intense stares.

    ¡°I would like a volunteer to take minutes for the meeting and would ask that the names of anyone who speaks not be mentioned¡ªunless it is me, and you think it relevant as everything I say is on the record. Would anyone be willing to serve as our secretary for purpose of this meeting? I¡¯ll ask for volunteers at every meeting and will take minutes myself if no one is willing to do so, though I prefer an objective observer to do it.¡±

    Ms. Pearl Smith raised her hand and volunteered.

    ¡°Thank you, Ms. Smith. I know you know shorthand, so it will be easier for you to take the minutes than for most of us. And I really appreciate it. You can begin after you finish your lunch or simply write down your recollection of what was discussed later, if you prefer.¡±

    ¡°I can eat and write,¡± she replied smiling while taking out a steno pad.

    ¡°All right, with that settled let me begin with the top of the agenda,¡± Dan said. Starting next week, I will be visiting your classes at least once every year¡ªmore at my discretion if I think it necessary or helpful to do so. I randomly selected the first faculty members whose classes I will visit next week. They are Vanessa Hunter, Abbas Haddad, Homer Gachette and Martha Washington per the listing under Item One. I will individually contact other faculty after next week whom I select for a classroom observation. As to our four colleagues on the list, I would like you to inform me by the end of the day today which of your classes you would like me to attend. I will leave it up to you. I don¡¯t want to schedule a visit on a day when you are giving an exam or having students work on some sort of project, so please choose a day and class when you will be lecturing so there is something meaningful for me to observe. If you don¡¯t get back to me before you leave today, I will assume you have no preference or exams next week and I will choose a class based on what best fits my schedule. Any questions about that?¡±

    Advik Singh raised his hand. ¡°Yes Mr. Singh?¡± Dan said.

    ¡°Some of us teach days and nights, Dean Amor. Do you want us to select classes just during the day?¡±

    ¡°No Mr. Singh, you can choose whatever class works best for you. And please call me Dan. Unless I have a conflicting meeting, I will attend that class. If there is a conflict, I will tell you immediately and give you an opportunity to select a different class. I¡¯m not just here during the day. I¡¯ve been putting in long hours this week and will continue to do so as long as needed. But whatever schedule I choose to work, be assured I will attend whatever class works best for you¡ªbe it 9:00 a.m. or 9:00 p.m.¡±

    ¡°Why was I chosen as one of the first four to be evaluated?¡± Martha Washington asked.

    ¡°As I said, I chose the first four randomly.¡±

    ¡°What system did you use to choose the names¡±?

    ¡°No system. But please understand that I don¡¯t need a system, nor do I need to tell you why or how I choose to evaluate anyone at any time. It is at my discretion.¡± Dan was having a tough time not showing his annoyance at this particular instructor¡¯s attitude. In fact, he had singled out faculty that he had good reason to know were not doing their jobs effectively either through personal observation or by the quality or lack of lesson plan submissions. ¡°But that¡¯s a good Segway into Item number two on the agenda. I will schedule an in-person meeting to discuss each evaluation within a few days after my classroom visitation. If I did have a reason to single out any individual for early evaluation, I would not disclose it publicly¡ªthough be assured I will discuss it during the face-to-face meeting along with my classroom evaluation with the faculty member and give him or her a written, signed copy that they will also be asked to sign with or without adding their own comments. These will be added to each faculty member¡¯s permanent file.¡±

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    ¡°We have not been evaluated like this before,¡± Ms. Washington again interjected.

    ¡°I am well aware. That is one of the issues I am changing immediately. I am unwilling to simply either support or oppose faculty retention or raises on the formal annual evaluation that the Director will use to make such decisions based on my personal feelings. I intend to make recommendations based on the record¡ªneither rubber stamping everyone nor blindsiding anyone with a negative recommendation when they had no idea I had issues with their performance.¡± Dan concluded.

    ¡°If there are no other questions, I¡¯d like to move on to the third item on the agenda,¡± he looked around the table but no one else spoke. ¡°Fine,¡± he continued. ¡°Item three relates to scheduling for the AOS cohort that begins Monday,¡± Dan said, while reaching into the folder in front of him and pulling out the schedules of everyone affected. He then passed them around the table saying, ¡°Please take the schedule with your name. I tried as much as possible to roll over classes based on your current schedule or, if that did not work based on faculty availability, classes you taught in any of the two years prior. Please take a look at it and let me know now if you see any glaring issues as classes begin Monday and I will not make any changes after today.¡±

    No one spoke up. Then, as Dan was about to move to the next item, Harry Lippmann raised his hand.

    ¡°Is there any possibility of swapping the Business English course you assigned to me for the fourth period for a math or technology course?¡±

    ¡°But you taught that last year, is there a problem?¡± Dan asked.

    ¡°No, I can teach it, it¡¯s just not a course I¡¯m comfortable teaching. I was assigned it last year when our dean at the time needed me to teach it due to a staffing change at the last minute.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I did not know that.¡± Dan said. ¡°Is there anyone that would be willing to change the fourth period English course for a business math, accounting or business technology course?

    ¡°I¡¯d be happy to do that,¡± Jazmin Cole piped in. ¡°It makes no difference to me. He can have my Business Math course if that¡¯s o.k. with you and I¡¯ll take his Business English.¡±

    Perfect, Thank you Ms. Cole. I really appreciate that,¡± Dan said.

    ¡°Me too,¡± interjected Mr. Lippmann laughing, then added ¡°Thank you both.¡±

    ¡°That too is a good segway to my next item. I don¡¯t have any information about your teaching preferences on file¡ªjust your degrees and the courses I can extrapolate you can teach based on State Ed. requirements. So please do let me know at your convenience if you have a preference for teaching courses that you are not already teaching but can teach, or if you would prefer not to teach courses you have taught in the past three years. I will always do my best to give you your preferences when I can. I won¡¯t always be able to accommodate you but will do my best. Just send me a memo or a simple listing of courses with your name and the programs the courses are attached to and I¡¯ll add them to a database I began with Katie, my part-time secretary¡¯s help.¡± He noticed a lot of heads nodding and smiles at that, and a couple of people actually clapping in approval.

    ¡°That brings me to my final item on the agenda. I am working on a new program proposal that I intend to submit to SED Monday for a short, three-month self-paced course that will prepare our students for office support and related positions requiring proficiency in WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3, dBase III, and DOS. I am structuring the courses as tutorials with students using a workbook and included student-software. This is designed not as a cohort where all students begin and end at the same time, but as a rolling admissions course where the maximum number of students is 20 but every time one completes the course and earns a certificate, a new student can immediately replace them. I¡¯ve selected books for each module that are intended for self-paced instruction. The students will read and then apply concepts by following step-by-step instructions with the faculty member serving as a guide and mentor, getting each student started and then circulating around the room reviewing their progress and giving help when they get stuck. Initially Jaime Castro, our Lab Technician, will be assigned to classes where these modules run, and as soon as we can hire a student worker who has expertise with the programs in question, one will be hired to take Jaime¡¯s place and assist the instructor in every class.¡±

    ¡°You realize,¡± Harry Benton began, ¡°That we have not had a new program approved by SED in many years, and that we would need a new computer lab for the software you mentioned, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I do, Mr. Benton. I have someone coming in Monday with a proposal to swap one of our two Apple IIe labs and replace it with 20 PC-compatible clones. We¡¯ll have someone from corporate here on Monday as well to help evaluate the clones and anyone interested in seeing the sample is welcome to join us for a demonstration. The PCs will be low end¡ª256K RAM, dual floppy disks and the usual monochrome amber or green monitors and keyboards. But they will run the free student version of the software packages that come with the textbooks and much more. I¡¯ve already evaluated these, and anyone interested in seeing the books and software is welcome to come to my office where you can try it out. The clones will be the turbo models running at twice the original PC speed.¡±

    ¡°And the Melameds will spring for the cost?¡± Harry asked incredulously.

    ¡°Actually, I found an outfit that will swap out our Apple IIe computers with the clones at no cost¡ªincluding free delivery and take-away of the old Apples.¡±

    ¡°If you can pull that off, you should be a candidate for sainthood. Do you know how long we¡¯ve been lobbying to make the switch?¡± Harry interjected excitedly.

    ¡°This is just at the proposal stage, but I need to get a new program proposal to SED as soon as possible as that is my leverage for getting corporate to agree to the change. The computers will come with a one-year warranty on parts so if anything fails, we can swap out the offending part and have it replaced in days. What I¡¯d like to know is how many here who are qualified to tech computer software would be interested in participating in the program if I can get SED and the corporate to agree? I intend to run both a day and evening program to maximize the lab use for an initial total of 40 students as a trial run.¡±

    Three instructors immediately raised their hands. Martha Washington then asked, ¡°What about the typing simulations we use on both Apple labs now. Will the new lab run the same software?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I have a copy of the PC version of the same software we now bundle with the typing simulation textbook and the price is the same for the Apple and PC versions of the book, so no additional cost will accrue to us or to our students. Anyone who wants to preview the PC versions of the software is also welcome to stop by my office at their convenience.

    A buzz rose around the table as faculty members chatted with one another excitedly. And Dan chose the opportunity to end on a positive note. ¡°All right folks,¡± he announced, ¡°unless anyone has any further business, we can adjourn with eight minutes to spare.¡± Everyone immediately rose and several faculty members stayed behind to speak with Dan excitedly about the new program, trying to get additional details and a better idea of how likely it was to be approved.

 Chapter 23: A Quick Lunch with Bob

    As the faculty left for their respective fourth-period classes, Dan gathered his file and notes and went about preparing himself a real sandwich and a salad. He also prepared one for Katie and one for Mr. Chang then left for his office, intending to ask the receptionist to let folks on the administrative wing know there were plenty of leftover sandwiches, pastries and salad for anyone who wanted to prepare themselves a snack, and intending to come back in an hour or so to dispose of the leftovers.

    First, he took a plate with various pastries and a nice sandwich of prosciutto, Swiss and salami to Mr. Chang, along with a mini ¨¦clair and a mini napoleon, an unopened bottle of 7-Up, a cup full of ice and some napkins. He found Mr. Chang in his office, poring over a notebook with figures on it that Dan took to be his book orders. ¡°I know you brought your own ham sandwich, but I thought you might want to sample what we prepared anyway.¡± He put the plate, napkins, soda and cup on his diminutive desk in front of him. ¡°Thanks again for your help. I am going to ask anyone on the other wing of this floor who wants a sandwich or pastries to come and get it and I¡¯ll dispose of the leftovers later.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Dan. I appreciate it¡± he said with a rare actual smile.

    Dan then went back to the conference room and picked up his sandwich and a pastry, and Katie¡¯s sandwich with three small piles of potato salad, macaroni salad and coleslaw for her to choose from. He also placed several assorted pastries for her on a separate plate. He then took the food to his office, where Katie was back at work reorganizing the filing cabinets, and put down her plate atop the space remaining on the long, flat top of the Compaq computer on her desk with the printer atop it, and placed his own plate on his desk, then said ¡°I¡¯m going to ask whether Taisha at reception wants a sandwich and will bring us back a soda. Do you want regular Coke, Diet Coke or spring water?¡±

    ¡°Diet Coke, thank you¡± she responded.

    Next, he went to reception and asked Taisha and her student worker whether they¡¯d like a sandwich and pastries. Both said yes, and he made a note of their preferences. He then asked Taisha to let the folks in the office know there was enough food for another 20 people if anyone wanted to help themselves to a snack. He got the sandwiches for Taisha and her student worker with sodas, then retrieved two plastic glasses of Diet Coke for Katie and himself.

    Back at his desk, he remembered he¡¯d promised Bob to go to lunch. So, he called him and asked whether he was ready to go. Bob cheerfully said he was, so he left his sandwich (but drank his Coke) and went out to meet Bob at his office, telling Katie he would return in an hour and a half or so. ¡°Bye boss, have fun,¡± she replied. ¡°The sandwich is great. You sure you¡¯re not Italian?¡± She quipped, squinting her eyes at him and grinning.

    ¡°I¡¯m a full-blooded Spaniard¡ªbut my stomach is mostly Italian. Must be the remnants of our shared Roman Empire ancestry.¡± He said, smiling and added, ¡°You realize that two of the greatest Roman emperors, Hadrian and Trajan, were actually Spaniards, right?¡± He then winked at her on his way out the door. Before heading to Bob¡¯s office, he stopped at the conference room and noticed about a half dozen people either making sandwiches or eating them along with a salad. ¡°Please take whatever is not eaten if you¡¯d like, and I¡¯ll dispose of any leftovers and clean up later, as soon as I get back from lunch,¡± he said. Then he headed to Bob¡¯s office, glad for a break. Fifteen minutes later, Bob and Dan were at Red Lobster again eating and enjoying a cold beer.

    ¡°So, how do you feel about Monday,¡± Bob inquired while chewing on some fried shrimp.

    ¡°Fine,¡± Dan replied. ¡°Over the weekend I¡¯ll gather the statistical information I need about the job outlook for office support personnel with computer skills and on the software most used in business today. That¡¯s all I need to finish up the SED filing which is otherwise complete. If you¡¯re willing to look at it, I¡¯d appreciate your feedback on the job placement potential for students who complete the program of study and any suggestions you can make on anything I may have missed would be greatly appreciated.¡±

    ¡°Absolutely, Dan. But I was actually referring to your meeting about the computer exchange for the new lab; I didn¡¯t know you had already completed a draft of the SED application. That¡¯s really impressive. And of course, I¡¯d love to review what you have and give you my feedback. I can do it as soon as we get back to the office. I¡¯m really excited about this program and hope you can make it fly.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll make you a copy when we get back and you can call me at home over the weekend if you don¡¯t have a chance to read it today. I¡¯ll be working on a final draft tomorrow and Sunday once I¡¯ve completed the research. I¡¯ve got to say, though, I feel really good about it. I just hope the computer swap idea goes through. That¡¯s my main concern right now, but we¡¯ll see.¡±

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    ¡°I¡¯ll definitely give you my comments today¡ªanything else on my desk can wait,¡± Bob said excitedly. ¡°This would really make a difference to me in placing our students.  Off the record, it will be far better for our students to enroll in this program than in our long COS certificate program which costs them almost ten grand and does not give them the software skills my clients need and demand. In fact, let¡¯s forego a second beer and get back as soon as we finish lunch.¡±

    ¡°Geez, had I known you¡¯d be so eager to help I would have suggested we have a nice sandwich in the office,¡± Dan quipped with a broad smile.

    ¡°Had I known you had the program proposal ready to go I¡¯d have skipped lunch altogether,¡± Bob replied attacking his shrimp and salad with renewed vigor. ¡°I never thought you¡¯d get it done this quickly despite what you said earlier in the week.¡±

    ¡°Thank Katie. She¡¯s incredibly efficient and is the only person that can read my handwriting¡ªeven I can¡¯t make that claim. I¡¯d never have had it done with all else on my plate this week without her help. She was also instrumental in doing all the data entry that I needed to do the schedule for Monday¡¯s new COS class. She¡¯s really amazing.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s a little dynamo all right. Good kid too. You¡¯re lucky to have her.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t I know it,¡± Dan said, draining the last of his beer and leaving half of his food untouched. ¡°Let¡¯s go back. We have work to do.¡±

    ¡°You bet,¡± Bob responded, quickly wiping some grease from his beard while getting to his feet.

    Ten minutes later, after a quick stroll back, both men entered Dan¡¯s office.

    ¡°We¡¯re back, Katie. I¡¯m going to make a copy of the State Ed proposal for Bob,¡± he said, rifling through the file on his desk.

    ¡°No need,¡± Katie said. ¡°I¡¯ll print a copy for you.¡± Several minutes later, she tore out the printout from the dot matrix printer, removed the perforations and assembled a copy of the proposal, stapled it, put it in a file folder and handed it to Bob. ¡°Full service, no extra charge,¡± she quipped with an impish grin.

    ¡°Thank you, Katie, ¡°Bob said, then turning to Dan, ¡°I¡¯ll get this back to you within the hour.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, my friend. I really appreciate your input,¡± Dan replied, opening the door for Bob who was already reading the proposal as he walked out, making no answer.¡±

    ¡°So, what else for today, Dan?¡± Katie asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to clean up the mess in the conference room. You can keep working on reorganizing the files or, if you prefer, you can go to reception and see if Taisha needs any help.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d rather stay here, if that¡¯s o.k. I¡¯m making good progress on the filing system, but it still needs a lot of work.¡±

    ¡°Suit yourself I¡¯ll be back soon.¡±

    Moments later, Dan was back at the conference room, surprised to find it spotless and his cooler on top of the wood cabinet that had been the makeshift buffet table earlier. The cooler had been wiped clean and dry from the condensation and leakage resulting from the large bag of ice. He grabbed it, feeling guilty as he knew who must have taken care of the task he had intended to do himself. He grabbed his cooler and headed to Mr. Chang¡¯s office, where he found the man opening boxes of books and piling them on shelves, apparently getting ready for Monday¡¯s new AOS class.

    ¡°Mr. Chang,¡± Dan said in a soft voice so as not to startle the man whose back was turned to him and who turned slowly towards him.

    ¡°I thank you very much for taking care of the cleanup in the conference room, but I said I would take care of it myself and did not want you to do it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my job, not yours,¡± Mr. Chang replied. ¡°And I was happy to do it.¡±

    ¡°I do appreciate it, but it is not my intent to give you needless additional work.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my job,¡± he insisted, then added ¡°And thank you for the sandwich and pastries. They were delicious.¡±

    ¡°Thanks again, I really appreciate all your help today,¡± Dan replied, then turned and walked back to his office.

    As soon as he opened the door, Katie pointed to his desk and said ¡°Mr. Lantz dropped off the pile of certificates on your desk for your signature. He told me to take them to him as soon as you sign them as there will be a graduation ceremony at 4:00 p.m. that you also need to attend. He didn¡¯t remember whether he had mentioned it to you before.¡±

    ¡°He did not,¡± Dan said, walking to his desk and picking up one of the certificates. ¡°Impressive,¡± he said. ¡°They are better quality than my college and law school diplomas, and larger too.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Appearances are everything when substance is lacking,¡± she replied with sarcastic emphasis.

    ¡°Geez, so young yet so jaded,¡± Dan snickered.

    ¡°I am wise beyond my years,¡± she retorted with a wry smile and rolling of her eyes.

    ¡°No argument from me on that, kiddo. You are most definitely an old soul,¡± Dan replied laughing. He then set about signing each of the 20 certificates in the space provided above the line with the title ¡°Academic Dean¡± printed below it. Below his signature was Marvin¡¯s signature with ¡°Director¡± printed underneath. He used the best pen he had available and neatly signed his full name on each certificate, making sure not to soil them. Katie, working on the filing cabinet next to his desk glanced over and commented in a low voice, ¡°My, he actually has beautiful handwriting when he applies himself,¡± then gave a little girl giggle.

    Dan smiled and said, ¡°They paid top dollar for these certificates, and they may be the only ones they ever earn. The least I can do is not cheapen them with a fast signature.¡±

    Katie said nothing but flashed him a genuine smile he did not notice.

    *.  *.  *

 Chapter 24: Pomp and Circumstance

    Chapter 24: Pomp and Circumstance

    As he finished signing the last certificate, Bob knocked on the door and walked in when Dan looked up, saw him looking at him through the window¡¯s open blinds, and waived for him to enter. ¡°This is terrific Dan,¡± he said, putting the file on his desk. ¡°I made some suggestions as to employment opportunities and trends that you¡¯re free to use or discard as you see fit, but its excellent as written. I couldn¡¯t even find any typos or errors in grammar or usage.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s thanks to Katie,¡± Dan said. ¡°I¡¯m not the best editor of my own work, and she had to guess at half of my chicken scratches--but she is flawless.¡±

    ¡°Well, you two make a great team,¡± Bob said, chortling, which made Dan smile and brought color to Katie¡¯s cheeks.

    ¡°I appreciate your suggestions and will incorporate them, along with any other relevant information my research turns up tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not the most optimistic person around, but I¡¯m starting to think you could actually pull this off.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s not count our chickens, Bob. But I appreciate the positive feedback and support. We¡¯ll see how Monday goes and take it from there.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll see you at the graduation later.¡± Bob said, turning to leave.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be there too?¡± Dan asked.

    ¡°Of course¡ªI¡¯m the designated photographer. Plus, I get to play Pomp and Circumstance on my kazoo,¡± Bob chortled as he walked out the door and closed it behind him.

    ¡°He¡¯s kidding, right?¡± Dan asked, turning to Katie.

    ¡°About the kazoo, yes. About the photography, no.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a relief,¡± Dan said smiling and shaking his head.

    ¡°There will be Pomp and Circumstance on a record player, though¡± Katie added, ¡°And you and Mr. Lantz will give out the diplomas, shake each student¡¯s hand and stand next to them as Bob takes their picture to post on the reception area with the class banner.¡±

    ¡°Who calls out the student¡¯s names? I don¡¯t know any of them and I¡¯m lousy with names even if I did know them.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Lantz will call the names from a list and you will give the students their certificate when they come up and both of you will stand with the student in front of a large PEMTI banner for the photo. Don¡¯t worry, the names and certificates will be in alphabetical order. Parents and other friends and family will be present for some students too, and they will all be dressed up. Then there will be cake and punch and a quick mixer with everyone.¡±

    ¡°Where is it held?¡± Dan asked.

    ¡°Room 4010¡ªthe largest classroom that holds up to 80 people. There¡¯s never that many, so no worries. Each student can invite two guests, but mostly it¡¯s a mom and/or dad or significant other. Sometimes kids, too.¡±

    ¡°And we do this for every certificate program?¡± Dan asked.

    ¡°Yep. Every few weeks on average we have a graduation of some kind¡ªsame routine always.¡±

    ¡°I should take the certificates to Mr. Lantz since you¡¯re done,¡± Katie added.

    ¡°No, I¡¯ll do it. I want to talk to him about Monday and show him a copy of the proposal with the comments Bob made. I want to get his opinion on it. Frankly, I just want to get him excited about it going out on Monday. I need him in his most supportive mood for the computer exchange meeting in case the corporate guy they send puts up roadblocks.¡±

    ¡°My, my,¡± Katie said, shaking her head and clucking her tongue. ¡°Such a Machiavellian core beneath the soft, gentile facade. Do your mom and girlfriend know this side of you?¡±

    Dan laughed, ¡°Hey I¡¯m a lawyer, what did you expect? As to mom, I could sprout horns and a tail and breathe fire and brimstone and she would see only her little angel. My girlfriend, on the other hand, is probably waiting for the horns, tail, fire and brimstone to show up any day now so she can shout ¡°I knew it!¡±

    ¡°Girlfriends usually know best. But you¡¯re an easy one to read, and my money¡¯s on mom¡¯s interpretation,¡± Katie said, cocking her head to the side and giving him an impish smile that for some reason made him blush. He was doing that much too often these days around her and had no idea why. He carefully grabbed the certificates and walked out saying only ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon¡± as Katie returned to her work, still sporting that impish smile.

    Dan got to Marvin¡¯s office and knocked on the half-open door. Marvin looked up from whatever he was working on at his desk and waved him in jovially, ¡°Come on in Dan, come in.¡±

    ¡°Hi Marvin. Katie told me you asked her to bring you these as soon as I signed them, but I wanted to see you anyway so decided to walk them over myself,¡± Dan said, putting the certificates gently on Marvin¡¯s desk and sitting on the chair across from him.

    ¡°Glad you did. Want some coffee? I just made some¡±

    ¡°Absolutely, thanks.¡± Dan smelled the fresh coffee¡ªa dark roast with a hint of caramel today¡ªand realized he badly needed a caffeine jolt about now.

    Marvin served himself and Dan a cup and gave Dan his black, as he usually took it, putting a bit of milk in his own cup.

    ¡°Thanks, Marvin. It smells delicious, as usual. I wanted to talk to you about my SED proposal. I have a draft here that I will change as needed based on my research tomorrow. Bob was kind enough to volunteer to review it and provided some useful additional information for me to add. I¡¯d appreciate it if you can scan through it as I¡¯ll have a final draft ready to go on Monday and would really like it to be submitted then, if it meets with your approval.¡± He then handed the file folder to Marvin and took an appreciative sip of the delicious coffee as the other took out the proposal and began to read it.

    By the time Dan was finished with the last of his coffee, Marvin finally looked up from his reading and said, ¡°This is really impressive work, Dan. I can¡¯t believe you put it together in just a few days. It took many months for the last two successful proposals I gave you¡ªAnd the same for several more unsuccessful ones I did not share with you as I did not want you to be discouraged from pursuing this further. It¡¯s really, really impressive¡ªespecially given that this is your first week with us and that you¡¯ve never prepared a new program proposal before.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m very happy to hear that, Marvin. Any issues or need for changes from your perspective?¡±

    ¡°None. Bob¡¯s comments are right on point, though, and I suggest you incorporate them, though your research tomorrow may independently lead you to some of the same information he provides. I think State Ed will be impressed with your rationale of the need for this new program and the employment data will be the icing on the cake. Your syllabi are very detailed, and the learning objectives are a nice touch. I¡¯d send it out as written, frankly, even without the additional placement and jobs outlook information.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. I¡¯m new at this, so your perspective and Bob¡¯s are really helpful in making me feel I¡¯m on the right track. Let¡¯s see how Monday goes with the PC guy and hopefully we can take it from there. By the way, I contacted the publisher that supplies the Apple keyboarding book and software, and they have a PC version and book that costs exactly the same as the Apple¡ªso a new lab would not pose any additional issues or cost as to the current use or affect the curriculum of the programs that use the keyboarding book and software. I used the desk copies I got from the relevant publishers for the required books noted in the syllabus and independently tested all of the free student versions of the software that accompany the self-paced books. Both the books and software are really excellent, taking the students step by step into learning how to use the main features of each programs.

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    ¡°That¡¯s great, Dan. You previously told me the price of the books is about $40 each, and that is certainly not an issue.¡±

    ¡°So, I can count on your strong support for the program and the lab?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely¡ªas long as the computer sample checks out and the net cost is zero. I¡¯ll go to bat with the Melameds as to its needed.¡±

    ¡°Great, Marvin. Thank you. And, by the way, thank you for assigning Katie to me. You should know that I could not have done this and prepared the new schedule for my faculty for Monday¡¯s new COS class, along with all my other duties without her help. The new program would have had to wait at a minimum several more weeks as she is  much faster and accurate at typing and data entry than I am, and also much more organized. She took a great burden from my shoulders and is worth her weight in gold. She¡¯s put in a couple of extra hours this week but did not want to get paid. I do want her to get paid, though, which is something else I wanted to ask you. Will you allow her two extra hours if I sign off on it?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely. I¡¯m glad to hear she¡¯s working out so well. She¡¯s yours for as long as you¡¯re happy with her¡ªand I can approve more hours for her when you need her. Not a problem.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Marvin. I¡¯m grateful for that. I¡¯ll make a notation on her timesheet when I review and approve them¡ªsomething I need to do before you leave today. By the way, when do I turn these in to you? Some faculty are in until 9:00 p.m. but I assume you want the timesheets today?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you can do them any time after 3:00 p.m. every Friday and give them to me by 5:00 p.m. Anyone who signs out after that I¡¯ll verify next week when those timesheets are turned in. Most faculty will be done by 3:00 p.m., so that¡¯s a good time to do them.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good, Marvin. I¡¯ll go do it right now as its just past 3:00 p.m. and I¡¯ll get them to you before 4:00 p.m. when we have the graduation ceremony.

    ¡°Sounds good Dan. I¡¯ll see you then.¡±

    Dan got up to leave and, as he was walking to the door, Marvin called out to him. ¡°Dan, you need to know that what you¡¯ve accomplished your first week is truly remarkable. I¡¯m really impressed.¡±

    ¡°Just doing my job, boss. And I did not do it alone. Katie and Bob have been a great help. And I also very much appreciate your support.¡± With that, he turned around again and headed out the door. ¡°And thanks for the delicious coffee,¡± he added without turning around, waving to Marvin as he walked out the door. He then headed straight to the conference room and began to verify the timesheets for the week. There were several instances of faculty punching in or out several minutes early but no major discrepancies. He made notations as to the irregularities for himself, intending to speak to the individuals involved during their upcoming evaluations, but did not dock anyone as none were more than five minutes early or late. When he got to Katie¡¯s card, he calculated her overtime as one hour and fifty five minutes and, circling the days she worked late on her timesheet, noted ¡°Two hours of overtime approved¡± with his signature. He then took the timecards to Marvin¡¯s office.

    ¡°That was fast,¡± Marvin said before he could knock on the still half-open door.

    ¡°I thought you might want to review these before the graduation ceremony in case you want me to put them back so the night faculty can punch out.

    ¡°No need¡ªI¡¯ll review and put them back myself before I leave which will be not much after the ceremony ends¡ªusually takes about an hour. I¡¯ll put them back long before the folks working nights punch out. Thanks for getting them to me early, though.¡±

    ¡°You bet. I¡¯ll go back to the office and will meet you in room 4010. When should I get there?

    ¡°About ten or fifteen minutes before if you can, just so we can greet early arrivals.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good. See you in about fifteen minutes, then.¡± With that, Dan left and headed to his office after doing another quick round of the classrooms. He got there at about a quarter to four, looked at his watch and knew he had to leave immediately for the graduation ceremony. He stuck his head in the office and said, ¡°Katie, I have to head out to the graduation ceremony but wanted to tell you not to worry about punching out. I¡¯ll tell Marvin you¡¯re leaving at five today as I gave him the timecards already. Have a great weekend.¡±

    ¡°You too,¡± she replied. ¡°But hold on. Come here a minute.¡± He did as he was asked, and she gently pulled up his tie and straightened it. She then combed the front of his hair with the fingers of her right hand. ¡°Much better. Gotta look good for the photos, she grinned.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a fun week,¡± she said.

    ¡°And a very productive one thanks in great part to you. See you Monday.¡± With that, he closed the door and rushed to the meeting room for his first graduation ceremony.

    When he got to Room 4010, Marvin was already there, and Mr. Chang was setting up a large sheet of cake with ¡°Congratulations COS Class of 1987¡± written on it in golden piping. Paper plates were piled on a table to the left of a lectern along with a very large glass punch bowl full of plum-colored punch with a ladle inside it and clear plastic cups next to it that Mr. Chang was slowly filling with punch. Plastic forks and napkins were next to the cake, along with a cake cutter and server.

    A group of graduates and guests began arriving around the same time as Dan and were greeted by Marvin who congratulated them and asked them to take a seat. ¡°The ceremony will begin shortly, and we will have celebratory cake and punch afterward,¡± he announced to everyone he greeted. By five minutes of six, the room was more than ? full with 20 graduates and their guests sitting in rows of folding chairs. Dan greeted the newcomers, along with Marvin, and chatted briefly with them. He noticed that almost all students and their families were formally attired¡ªmen wore suits or ties and jackets and women business suits or dresses¡ªsome in evening gowns that seemed touchingly incongruous. Dan took it all in during quiet moments, realizing how important the occasion was for most of these students and their families, some of whom-- perhaps many of whom--were the first in their family to graduate from a professional school that was a source of pride for them. This day and the large certificate they were about to receive told them they had made something of themselves and might soon find meaningful work and successful careers.

    He was moved by this¡ªeven more so than from his own undergraduate and graduate graduations. And it became even more important for him in that moment to ensure that their certificates meant something in reality, not just on paper. Dan¡¯s vision blurred with unshed tears, and he felt in a much more personal way the responsibility that he had undertaken, its weight very palpable on his shoulders. He may be the dean of a proprietary, for-profit business school whose mission was simply to make money. But he personally was in the business of changing lives for the better. That was his own very personal vision and mission statement.

    ¡°Welcome everyone,¡± he heard Marvin say, shaking him out of his reverie. ¡°Today is a special and happy day for all of our graduates and their families. You have worked hard, you have studied, you have sacrificed and today you get your just reward: a beautiful certificate you can proudly frame and hang in your homes or offices that shows you have achieved competence in a variety of business areas that employers will find useful and that will serve you well from this day forward. We are very proud of you and welcome you to the role of proud graduates of PEMTI. When I call your name, please come up and take your certificate handed to you by Dean Daniel Amor, and then stand by us as we take your photo. We will send you a complimentary copy of an 8¡± by 10¡± photo home within ten days and will also post a snapshot by our reception area of each of you to inspire all of our students in honor of your graduation. So, without further delay, let¡¯s begin this happy occasion.¡±

    As soon as Marvin was finished speaking, Mr. Chang cued up a record in a portable record player and Pomp and Circumstance began to play as Marvin began reading the names of each student, each of whom walked up with a broad smile on her or his face and cheers and applause from their family and the families of the other graduates. Each had a picture taken by Bob with a 35mm camera after shaking hands with Dan and with Marvin and receiving their congratulations. Each was asked to hold their impressive certificates in front of them for the photograph. About twenty minutes later, all had their certificates, the record player was silenced, and Marvin invited everyone to come up and get some cake and punch, which Mr. Chang had been busily cutting and serving during the ceremony, careful to leave the gold-piping in the center part of the cake intact so all could read the message of the large sheet of cake when they came to take their plates and pick up their glasses of punch. Dan and Marvin also picked up some cake and punch once all others had been served, and they cordially chatted with the graduates and their families. Dan noticed that the cake was actually excellent¡ªnot the Pathmark sheet cake that he had expected. And so was the punch¡ªmade from a variety of fruit juices, he guessed, but really delicious¡ªnot some insipid powdery drink mix or fruit drink with 10 percent fruit juice and 90 percent water, artificial flavors, and enough corn syrup to give hummingbirds diabetes. He was impressed, even though he immediately recognized that, like the ostentatious certificates, this was part of the facade. ¡°I am in the business of changing lives for the better,¡± he mentally repeated to himself, facade or no facade, he had a mission he intended to fulfill. Although he could not know it yet, he would remain true to this personal mission and vision throughout a long, productive and intensely satisfying career in higher education in each of his many future titles and roles at every institution he would be privileged to serve.

    *     *     *

 Chapter 25: Katie

    Dan went back to his office as soon as the ceremony wound down and everyone left. As Marvin had predicted, it took just about an hour from start to finish. He opened the door and was surprised to see Katie still working, peering at the top drawer of the five-drawer filing cabinet on her tippy toes. Her tight, form fitting navy blue business suit accentuated her fine figure which he could not help but notice¡ªespecially as she stood on her tippy toes, with her skirt above the knees and her . . . He caught himself, began to blush and quickly went to the Compaq computer, sitting on what was now Katie¡¯s desk, and booting up.

    ¡°What are you still doing here,¡± he asked, intently looking at the integrated green five-inch screen as WordPerfect came up. ¡°It¡¯s after 5:00 p.m.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± she said, still fussing with the files on her tippy toes, her nose barely above the rim of the topmost drawer. ¡°Almost done. No biggie.¡±

    She then closed the drawer and turned to face him¡ªor rather his back.

    ¡°What are you looking for?¡± she asked, tilting her head slightly to the right.

    ¡°I need to take the latest file of the new program proposal home to make the changes Bob suggested and incorporate whatever other relevant information I find tomorrow at my university¡¯s libraries,¡± he said, still not looking at her.

    ¡°But I already gave you that, remember? It¡¯s in the file folder on your desk along with the notes that Bob made¡ªyou put it back before going to the graduation earlier.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, right, I forgot,¡± he said shutting off the computer and finally turning to face her. ¡°Thanks.¡±

    ¡°Geez Louise, no need to blush about it,¡± she replied giggling her little girl giggle. That only deepened the shade of crimson on his cheeks.

    ¡°Early dementia,¡± he replied sheepishly.

    ¡°So how did the ceremony go?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± he replied.

    ¡°Golly Ms. Molly, get a grip will ya?¡± she retorted chuckling some more, her head tilted slightly more to her right.

    ¡°Yes, sorry, the graduation ceremony . . . went well. It was not what I expected, but I actually enjoyed it. It was fun and unexpectedly emotional for me.¡±

    ¡°Were they all dressed up?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Yeah, almost all of them. Some were a bit over-dressed, but it made me realize how important it was for them¡ªand for their families. A few of the grads had young children with them¡ªalso all dressed up. I realized that this is a red-letter day for them, and for their loved ones. I had a very long and challenging week this week. And I had more than my share of pessimism thrown my way in my meeting with my counterpart at the Manhattan school and even some people here. I got hammered with the idea that this is a racket¡ªthat our typical student is here only because they want their welfare check, to stay out of jail, or because they¡¯re getting a free ride and have no intention of ever paying back student loans. And, honestly, I know that this is true in some cases. But I don¡¯t believe for a moment it is true for the vast majority of our students who are here because they may not know all of their options or may have been seduced into coming by the advertising on network TV with well-known ex-NBA players and other celebrities. But they are mostly here because they want what all of us want¡ªa better life for our families and for ourselves, hope for a better future, to see a light at the end of the tunnel.¡±

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    She did not respond, immediately just looked at him, head still slightly tilted to the right. ¡°So, you literally drank the Kool-Aid, huh?¡± she said, smiling broadly and giving him another gentle giggle¡ªnot derisive, neither laughing at nor with him.

    ¡°No, I have no illusion about what PEMTI is about¡ªit is a money-making operation first and foremost. But that does not mean we can¡¯t make a difference¡ªyou, me, all of us here. I had a bit of a revelation during the ceremony.¡±

    ¡°Drinking the Kool-Aid will do that to ya,¡± another half laugh, head still slightly tilted, huge brown eyes looking intently at him, through him.

    ¡°I¡¯m serious, Katie. I think we are in the business of changing lives for the better. Or at least I want to be¡ªneed to be¡ªin that business. I hope I can do that here. And I¡¯ll try my best to do that. But if find that I can¡¯t, I¡¯ll have to find somewhere where that need is fulfilled.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s some revelation boss.¡± She said, her smile waning.

    ¡°Yeah. It is.¡± He then looked at her as intently as she had been looking at him. ¡°I want you to know you made a huge difference for me this week.¡±

    ¡°Oh puh-lease,¡± she said dismissively, waving off his compliment.

    ¡°I mean it Katie. It was very important for me to get all my ducks in a row for Monday¡¯s meeting¡ªI need that new lab to be approved. I had to have the SED filing ready¡ªI know it was an unrealistic goal, but I had to try. I also had to do scheduling and prepare for my first faculty meeting and acclimate myself to a job I know almost nothing about with no time to master the learning curve. No way on earth I could have done any of that without your help. None.¡±

    ¡°I just transcribed your admittedly challenging but highly organized work¡ªno biggie. And I typed in information into a spreadsheet. Call the Pope, St. Catherine is ready for beatification.¡± She smiled and framed her face in her upturned hands looking angelically towards heaven.

    ¡°You can waive away my thanks all you want, but it is the absolute truth. I COULD NOT have done it without you. You bought me time and did what would have taken me the better part of a week in three half days. And if my proposal was delayed for several more weeks, I doubt I would have half as good a chance of getting the lab I desperately need. I am very grateful.¡±

    ¡°Geez,¡± she said, looking down, ¡°Fine, you¡¯re very welcome¡± she said, with exaggerated emphasis. She then looked at him intently and very seriously and continued, ¡°I like working for you. And I did not do anything special.¡±

    ¡°You work with me, not for me and both you and your work are very special.¡±

    ¡°I better go while my head still fits through the door,¡± she said, her turn now to blush again. ¡°Have a good weekend boss.¡±

    Dan sighed, ¡°Have a nice weekend, St. Catherine.¡±

    She left at about 6:00 p.m. And she would not be able to clock out, so he could not get her the extra hour¡¯s pay. He would not push the issue this time. But he was, in fact, very grateful for her help.

    He remembered he had promised to see Linda today after work, and, having no reason to stay late this day, he grabbed his file folder with the disk and draft of the program proposal and left after a quick round to check on the evening classes. First week done. Check. He had a lot to feel good about all things considered. Yet he could not help an irrational feeling of unease along with the sense of satisfaction. ¡°Just a long week¡± he thought, trying to shake it off while walking to his car, carrying the now empty cooler. ¡°That¡¯s all it is. Just a long week.¡±

 Chapter 26: Dinner with Linda and Her Parents

    Dan arrived at Linda¡¯s home as she was about to start having dinner with her parents.

    ¡°Dan, what a pleasant surprise,¡± Linda¡¯s father greeted him at the door with his usual warmth.

    ¡°How are you, Tom. I¡¯m happy to see you.¡±

    ¡°Is that Dan,¡± Linda¡¯s mom called from inside. ¡°Come on in¡ªwe thought you¡¯d moved to another country and forgot to tell us,¡± she said in her usual loud voice full of cheerful good will. ¡°Come, have dinner with us.  Linda, Dan is here, set another plate.¡±

    After shaking Tom¡¯s hand, he went in and gave Luisa, Linda¡¯s mom, a hug and kiss on her plump cheek.

    ¡°You¡¯re still in a suit. Come straight from work?¡± she asked. "Tell us about your first week. Getting anything out of Linda is like extracting blood from a turnip. You can squeeze all you want, but it just won¡¯t give.¡± Dan smiled and shook his head. Luisa was a gregarious soul who loved people, good food and conversation, though not necessarily in that order. Her hobby was talking with people, probing their innermost secrets not out of malice but for her own sport. She loved to talk and loved people in a larger than life sort of way¡ªlike an operatic deva whose every word and action seemed both theatrical and yet perfectly natural for her. That was in sharp contrast to her husband who was a low-keyed academic one had to draw into conversation, at least until he grew comfortable with a person¡ªor until he had drunk a glass or two of wine at dinner, when he became nearly as loquacious as his wife, albeit at a lower volume and without a hint of the natural theatricality that was his wife¡¯s trademark. Both were exceptionally good people of whom Dan was very fond, and both treated him like family through the long, exclusive, (and to them apparently endless) courtship between him and their beautiful daughter they thought should long ago have been married to him.

    Linda peeked in from her bedroom across the hall from the dining room where they were sitting. ¡°Hi Dan, be right with you,¡± she called out.

    ¡°Ah, the butterfly finally emerges from her cocoon,¡± Luisa intoned in a stage whisper. I think she wants to look her best for you as you seem to have neglected her this week, you heartless, naughty boy.¡±

    ¡°Guilty as charged,¡± Dan admitted. ¡°I was actually here a couple of times but very briefly and came in only once on a day you were both out visiting friends.¡±

    ¡°You fiend,¡± Luisa shrieked good naturedly. ¡°How can you come by and not say hello?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, Luisa. Just a very busy week. I was only here earlier this week just to say hi and give a quick kiss and hug to Linda on my way home and yesterday to pick her up and drop her off after she helped me with shopping for lunch fixings for work.¡±

    ¡°We know,¡± Tom interjected. "She¡¯s just teasing you."

    ¡°Why it¡¯s no fun if you tell him, hon. I wanted to see him squirm just a little. He¡¯s so cute when he gets flustered and flushes like a young girl.¡±

    ¡°Now that¡¯s just mean, Luisa. Just for that I¡¯ll have two helpings and leave you all hungry.¡± Dan said, laughing.

    ¡°No chance of that, Linda cooked enough for a pride of hungry lions. She must have been hoping you¡¯d show up for dinner or intending to feed you later. She¡¯s really quite a good cook, you know. And a marvelous house keeper, too. And won¡¯t she just have the cutest babies?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to sell her to him, honey. I¡¯m pretty sure he already bought her,¡± Tom said laughing.

    ¡°Nonsense. No ring on the finger means he and she are still free to shop around. But you know what they say about he who waits too long . . .¡± She responded with a mock frown.

    ¡°Ah, the shop closes and they go home empty handed?¡± Dan offered.

    ¡°No, you silly boy¡ªsomeone else buys the unique item you wanted and now can never have.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for the warning. I¡¯d better make sure I chase off any late shoppers.¡± Dan replied, good naturedly.

    ¡°Alas, the item seems to have taken itself off the market.¡± She said, smiling, in mock dismay. There was no malice or real attempt at pressuring Dan to propose. She was simply teasing him and having a grand time of it. She was quite happy to have her daughter home as long as possible. Though she certainly would not have been upset if Dan did finally propose once and for all¡ªthey had been dating exclusively for seven years¡ªwith one unfortunate lengthy breakup she would not like to see repeated.

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    Linda finally joined them, the gentle scent of her perfume wafting over Dan a step ahead of her as she leaned over him to give him a quick smooch. Her waist-long, light brown hair still sporting natural reddish and blonde highlights from the recent summer¡¯s sun hung loose about her shoulders and caressed him as she leaned over to kiss him, smelling of citrus mixed with her likewise citrus-scented cologne. She then headed to the kitchen to start serving dinner. Meantime, Tom opened a bottle of Dan¡¯s favorite wine, Marques de Riscal, a Rioja red that Dan long favored, and that Tom bought by the case especially for him on the many occasions he joined them for dinner. Meantime Dan rose, excusing himself.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to help Linda with dinner, but first I need to wash my hands. I¡¯ll be right back,¡± he said. He washed up in the bathroom down the hall past the kitchen, and joined Linda giving her a gentle hug from behind and nuzzling her ear. ¡°How can I help,¡± he asked. ¡°You can take the large serving tray to the table. I¡¯ll get the salad bowl.¡± He did as he was asked and took a very large ceramic serving dish with an uncarved roast beef in the center surrounded by broiled potatoes, peppers, whole stewed tomatoes, onions and whole baby portabella mushrooms redolent of Spanish saffron, garlic, and white wine.

    ¡°This smells delicious, sweetie,¡± he told Linda, his mouth watering.

    ¡°Can¡¯t have you living on prosciutto, salami and provolone sandwiches.¡± She retorted, smiling.

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget the turkey,¡± he said.

    ¡°You only eat turkey if there¡¯s no prosciutto, salami, capocollo, cantimpalo, jamon serrano or some equally hideous food invented by unscrupulous cardiologists to line their pockets,¡± she retorted, sticking her tongue out at him when he looked back at her frowning.

    ¡°Ah, that looks wonderful,¡± said Tom. ¡°Set it down as close to me as possible, Dan. Linda, you can put the salad as far away from me as possible too, won¡¯t you dear¡± he said, smiling broadly.

    ¡°You¡¯re both just as bad,¡± Linda said. ¡°You should marry each other and see who wins the race to become a widower.¡±

    ¡°But who would cook, then?¡± Luisa chimed in, straight faced.

    ¡°Dan of course,¡± Tom offered. ¡°He¡¯s actually an excellent cook¡ªalmost as good as you, dear,¡± he said, turning to Linda.

    ¡°Or we could just ask Linda to come and cook for us, Tom. Especially when we both reach 600 pounds and can¡¯t get out of bed,¡± Dan offered grinning.

    ¡°Yes,¡± said Tom. ¡°That¡¯s a capital idea. Maybe then she can force feed us her salads, captive audience and all, don¡¯t you know.¡±

    ¡°One more crack and I¡¯ll take the whole serving dish to the neighbors,¡± Linda threatened in mock exasperation.

    ¡°No dear, but please, by all means take them the salad,¡± Luisa offered with a look of absolute serious innocence. At that they all laughed, even Linda.

    ¡°All right, now I feel guilty and have to have some of that delicious salad,¡± Dan said passing his salad dish to Linda who was closest to the salad bowl.

    ¡°Too little too late,¡± Linda retorted, filling Dan¡¯s salad plate to capacity. Her salads were actually truly exceptional as she included all kinds of veggies beyond mixed greens, as well as beans, dried cranberries, freshly grated cheese, stuffed olives, slices of tomatoes on the vine, and some carefully diced fresh fruit. She topped it all with a variety of her own freshly made salad dressings. Today¡¯s seemed to be a type of balsamic vinaigrette with a hint of chimichurri of all things. Dan could taste the extra virgin, first cold-pressed olive oil, with just a hint of fresh garlic and fresh parsley blended with the balsamic vinegar. That is a pairing that would never have occurred to him, but the effect was delicious, with a new surprise in every bite.

    ¡°Wonderful salad, Babe. As always,¡± Dan said.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you believe him. He¡¯s just being polite,¡± Tom offered with a smile, while happily chomping on a freshly carved slice of perfectly medium rare roast beef and a piece of deep yellow potato broiled with a generous amount of saffron in a wine and olive oil base.

    Over dinner, the pleasant bantering and good natured teasing continued as Dan was quizzed about his week through the end of dessert¡ªLinda¡¯s flan (from Dan¡¯s mother¡¯s recipe), homemade cheesecake and espresso coffee with anis. Linda¡¯s parents were Scottish (Tom) and Irish (Luisa), but they had happily adopted some of Dan¡¯s predilections in food, not out of courtesy or to please him, but because they genuinely enjoyed the food and liquor of Spain as much as their own. Dan himself, and Linda, were actually fonder of Italian cuisine than any other, but in wine and spirits, and in some deserts (like flan, tarta de Santiago¡ªthe traditional almond based flat cake popular in Dan¡¯s parents¡¯ native Galicia¡ªand tarta helada (ice cream cake that also included an actual cake base) their taste ran to Spain, with Italy a very close second. In his cooking too, though he loved Spanish cuisine from the simple tortilla de patatas (a deep-disk potato and onion omelet popular throughout Spain), to paella marinera (seafood paella), cazuela de mariscos (a seafood stew in green or red sauce similar to the Italian zuppa di pesce which he also loved), and, of course pulpo a la Gallega (boiled Galician octopus topped with olive oil, coarse salt and paprika), fried calamari, prawns in garlic sauce and a dozen other favorite tapas. But he cooked Italian dishes for himself and for Linda more often than anything else by far¡ªlikewise when they dined out. He loved to cook for his friends Lasagna, Veal Parmesan with boiled ham, prosciutto and muenster cheese in lieu of the more traditional mozzarella, cannelloni (his version: crepes filled with a mixture of ground beef, spinach, chopped boiled eggs, raisins, sliced olives and spices topped with fresh tomato sauce and cheese), freshly made ravioli, and many, many other primarily pasta- and meat-based dishes.

    Hours later, Tom and Luisa reluctantly retired to their living room to give the couple some privacy. Dan gave them each a hug and said he would see them again tomorrow. Then he and Linda talked an hour or more before Dan finally left to make the short drive home¡ªstuffed, happy, and with a sweet weariness telling him he needed sleep soon. He got home, called his parents to say good night (both were night owls), then went straight to bed and, in less than a minute, was dead to the world.

 Chapter 27: A Much Needed Weekend Respit

    The alarm rang at 8:00 a.m., though Dan did not remember setting it, and he woke up after almost eight hours of solid sleep. He got up, had his usual two large mugs of coffee, showered, shaved, and dressed in comfortable jeans and a T-shirt and left for St. John¡¯s University to do the research needed to complete his program proposal.

    Remembering that he had failed to see his landlady this week as he had promised himself, he stopped at the first landing and knocked gently on her door. He had not seen her all week and knew she would be worried about him getting home much later than usual, long after she was fast asleep. She answered immediately and gave him a hug. ¡°Dan, I was worried about you. I did not see or hear you all week except when you went out in the mornings. Is everything all right?¡±

    ¡°Yes Mrs. Adams, I¡¯m perfectly fine. I have a new job that has me working long hours, at least temporarily. I just wanted to say hi and let you know I¡¯m fine. I know you worry about me almost as much as my mom.¡±

    ¡°How are your parents, dear? I haven¡¯t seen or heard from them in some time.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re fine. Unfortunately, they¡¯re about three hours away, so I don¡¯t see them as often as I¡¯d like these days either, and dad does not like driving into the city any more since his back has been giving him trouble on long trips. But they¡¯re otherwise fine, and they always ask about you whenever I speak to them or visit them. They send you regards as well that I too often neglect to pass along until I actually see you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m so glad you stopped by today. I really was starting to think there may be something wrong. I would have gone up today already, but I did not want to wake you in case you were sleeping in.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m on my way to the university to do some research for work, but I¡¯ll be around this weekend. Maybe you can come up and have a cup of coffee or tea and catch up later today or tomorrow. Does that sound o.k.?¡±

    Wonderful dear, I look forward to it. But you come down instead. I¡¯ll make some of my special almond cookies you like so much.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t trouble yourself. Mrs. Adams. I have lots of goodies upstairs.¡±

    ¡°No trouble at all dear. It will be my pleasure and give me something to do. My grandson will be around tomorrow too¡ªhe¡¯s covering the Mets game, so I¡¯ll save some for him also.¡±

    ¡°Give my regards to Steve. I¡¯m glad he¡¯s coming over. He and his charming wife Barbara are wonderful people. Please give them both my regards.¡±

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    ¡°I will. And I hope to see you later or tomorrow if you don¡¯t get back until late today. And give your Linda my love¡ªsuch a nice girl. You make such a lovely couple.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Mrs. Adams. I will. I had dinner with her and her parents last night and she might come over today or tomorrow. I¡¯ll bring her by to say hello.¡±

    ¡°Lovely dear. We can all have tea and cookies. Thank you for stopping to talk to an old lady.¡±

    ¡°You are not old¡ªbut you are most certainly one of my favorite ladies.¡± He said, giving her a quick hug. She closed the door and he continued on his way down the stairs. He really liked Mrs. Adams, who was like another grandmother to him. In fact, his grandmothers both knew and liked her too while they lived. They were three of a kind, despite the language barrier as his grandmothers both had difficulty with English.

    Less than a half hour later, Dan was at the main library on his old St. John¡¯s University campus in Jamaica Estates, Queens, gathering data in support of the need for his proposed program. And there was plenty of it from print sources. Although the research that today would have taken him at most an hour to compile from his desk from publicly available data from the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics sites alone took him many hours to find, consult and photocopy from the available print materials, by 3:00 p.m. he had more than he needed¡ªincluding data he culled from the Sunday New York Times classified section ads from the past two months for office support personnel with competence in WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3 and dBase III. By 3:30 p.m. he was back home and at his computer, updating his proposal with the relevant data that he knew would significantly strengthen his argument for the need for the program and its benefit to prospective students. He also included the helpful information Bob had provided. By 4:30 p.m. he was done, his dot matrix printer noisily buzzing his finished report.

    The rest of his weekend was uneventful and a much-needed respite from the past week¡¯s long hours and hectic pace. He called his parents several times on Saturday and Sunday, trying to make up for his inability to spend much time on the phone with them the prior week, happily updating them on his new job and its challenges in detail. He also tried to make it up to Linda with a romantic dinner and welcomed alone-time at home on Saturday for just the two of them, after having afternoon tea with Mrs. Adams who had regaled them with her scrumptious almond cookies and had insisted they take a full plate of the still-warm treats ¡°for later.¡± Sunday, they visited their closest friends, Claude and Cathy Morell in Elmhurst and went out on a double-date to a recently released romantic comedy in one of their favorite theaters in Fresh Meadows with dinner afterwards at a local diner and coffee, brandy and wonderful conversations at their friends¡¯ home later that evening.

    When he finally took Linda back home on Sunday night at 11:00 p.m., he made sure to go in for a short visit with her parents who were still up and sitting at their kitchen by their rear door having a snack. That turned into an hour of animated conversation over a glass of wine and a platter of jamon serrano, Manchego cheese and crusty French bread. He got home and went to bed close to 1:00 a.m., refreshed and quickly fell asleep contentedly.

 Chapter 28: Horse Trading 101

    Dan was at his desk the next day shortly before 9:00 a.m., after having made several copies of his new program proposal and leaving the original with the receptionist to give to Marvin as soon as he arrived. At 9:10 a.m. Marvin called him and asked him to go meet in his office.

    When Dan arrived a minute later, Marvin was all smiles. ¡°This is terrific,¡± he told Dan, holding up the program proposal paperwork. ¡°I¡¯ll drop it off to Taisha and have her draft a cover letter and send it to State Ed this morning after I Fax a copy to the Melameds. You¡¯ve outdone yourself, Dan. You really have.¡±

    ¡°Glad you approve, Marvin. I hope the Melameds are as enthusiastic as you are.¡±

    ¡°Oh, they¡¯ll be over the moon. I guarantee it.¡±

    ¡°So, how would you rate the chances of their approving the new lab before SED approves the proposal if everything goes well today?¡±

    ¡°Well, predicting that is a bit tricky¡ªthey will want the assurance of the program approval first, but if today¡¯s meeting goes well and if there really is no significant cost involved in the computer swap, I think there¡¯s a reasonably good chance they will go for it. I promise I¡¯ll push for it if they are on the fence as a new lab would be a selling point as far as overall recruitment, too with or without the new program. But I can¡¯t promise anything.¡±

    ¡°I know, Marvin. And I appreciate your support. I really do.¡±

    ¡°Hey, this proposal is one that¡¯s easy to get behind from where I sit. Still, don¡¯t get your hopes up too high,¡± Marvin said as his phone rang. ¡°Yes, Taisha? Ah, good, send him in,¡± Marvin said, hanging up the phone and turning to Dan, ¡°Upinder is here from corporate. He¡¯s early. Good. We can chat before the vendor arrives.¡±

    A moment later, a short, handsome, dark-skinned young man of perhaps 30 years of age knocked on the doorframe of the open door. ¡°Come in, come in,¡± Marvin motioned. ¡°Dean Amor, this is Upinder Kapoor, PEMTI¡¯s Director of Information Technology. Upinder, this is Dan Amor, our resident boy genius.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Dan,¡± Upinder said, extending his hand which Dan shook, responding, ¡°Likewise.¡±

    Marvin motioned for both men to take a seat across from his desk, which they did. He then poured coffee for the three of them, pouring milk and two spoons of sugar in Upinder¡¯s, milk in his own and leaving Dan¡¯s black. ¡°So, what do you think of the proposal for the no-cost new lab?¡± Marvin asked as he put the coffee before the men.

    ¡°I¡¯ll reserve judgment until I see the sample PC clone, but it looks good on paper at least. I understand you need the PCs for the new software needed for the short course Dan is developing. What about the software licensing costs? Do you have figures on that?¡± Upinder asked, stirring his coffee and taking a sip as he looked to Dan.

    ¡°There won¡¯t be any cost involved for the application software. Our publishers will provide student versions bundled with the workbooks at no cost. We will need a license or actual copies of MS-DOS or PC-DOS, though, something I¡¯ll need to discuss with this or other vendors¡ªunless you have a better idea.¡± Dan said.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have licenses at this point,¡± Upinder replied. ¡°But OEM copies should not be difficult to get with the systems, and we can make whatever copies we need after that for the students to use as boot disks as long as we have 20 genuine copies or a license. That should be a nominal cost, think.¡±

    ¡°That sounds good,¡± Dan said. ¡°That would be the only additional cost involved and I was hoping it would not be an issue. I¡¯ll bring it up with the vendor if you approve the system after you¡¯ve had a chance to examine the sample he is bringing.¡± The phone rang again just as Dan finished speaking.

    ¡°Yes Taisha,¡± Marvin said. ¡°Oh good, tell him to sit tight for a minute and we¡¯ll be out to get him. Tell him I¡¯m at a meeting but will be with him shortly. Thanks.¡± Then, turning to Dan and Upinder he said, ¡°The vendor is here. Anything else we need to discuss before we see him?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m good,¡± said Upinder with Dan echoing the same.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go then,¡± Marvin said, and the three men walked out of the office and on to the reception area.

    Marvin walked towards a young man sitting in the reception area next to a handcart with two large boxes on it. ¡°I¡¯m Marvin Lantz, the school Director. This is Dean Dan Amor, and the gentleman next to him is Upinder Kapoor, the PEMTI Director of Information Technology.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Joe Zapata,¡± the young man replied, shaking hands with the three men. ¡°I¡¯ve got a sample PC clone here per my discussions with Dean Amor last week. ¡°Where would you like me to set up?¡±

    ¡°Follow us,¡± Marvin said. We¡¯ll take you to the computer lab we¡¯re considering replacing.¡± He then led the men to the classroom area of the school on this floor where the first of the two Apple IIe labs was located, with Joe following closely behind him, pushing his hand truck with the boxes ahead of him. Classes were in session, but the lab would not be in use until after 1:00 p.m., so they had plenty of time for the demo.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll catch up with you in a moment. I need to grab the books and software,¡± Dan said, heading in the direction of his office, where he grabbed the three workbooks with the student copies of the application software, then joined them in the lab.

    Joe quickly unboxed the monitor¡ªa 12-inch monochrome monitor with an unknown brand name in front. He then unboxed the computer which was housed in a generic putty-colored metal case. He connected the power cord to the computer case and the keyboard after retrieving these from the box, wrapped in bubble wrap. Dan noticed there was no name of any kind on the computer case or keyboard¡ªcheap generics, but the keyboard had a solid feel, and the keys gave a nice response when pressed with a decent amount of travel on the keys and tactile feedback¡ªhe had feared and half expected a cheap chiclet-type keyboard with nominal response, but that was not the case. No one would confuse the keyboard with the one from the genuine IBM-PC which had an indestructible, tank-like feel and impressive (and noisy) auditory and tactile feedback when in use, but that was to be expected. As Joe was about to put the monitor above the computer case in the usual configuration, Upinder asked him to wait while he took out a leather tool kit from his pocket and withdrew a Phillips-head screwdriver to open the computer case in order to take a look inside. He removed the five screws from the back of the case and slipped out the top of the case by pushing it backwards about two inches and then removing the lid, setting it aside. Dan lifted it momentarily and noted it was made from heavy gauge steel¡ªa good sign. Inside the computer case they could see a motherboard with an Intel 8088 chipset, a standard power supply, two half-height, double-density 5.25¡± floppy disk drives and room for memory expansion. There was also a generic, no-name monochrome video card. No surprises there either. There would be ample room for future expansion with four empty expansion bays and two empty RAM slots as well. The installed memory was 256K as promised¡ªmore than enough to run the software of the time¡ªespecially the student versions. Upinder was doubtless also looking for signs of used parts, which were not in evidence¡ªeverything looked and smelled brand new. He reassembled the case, then took it upon himself to connect the monitor to the graphics card in the back and plugged it into the power strip.

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    ¡°Do you have a copy of MS-DOS with you?¡± he asked Joe, who produced one from his blazer¡¯s left pocket. With that, Upinder inserted the floppy into the first drive, closed the latch to engage the read/write heads and turned the computer on. Next, he turned on the monitor, which glowed a faint amber color. Dan preferred amber displays to the more common green ones, though it did not make any practical difference. Upinder and Dan both noticed a button to the left of the drives marked ¡°Turbo¡± which Upinder left alone for the moment. When the computer booted a moment later, he pressed the return key twice, not bothering to set the correct date and time. and typed ¡°Dir¡± at the flashing A:\> prompt and let the screen scroll. He then pressed the turbo button, hit the F3 key on the keyboard which brought up the last command ¡°DIR¡± on the screen, and pressed the ¡°return¡± key. The directory listing of the various files on the diskette raced at twice the normal speed. Good, it was a turbo unit as promised.

    ¡°It¡¯s overclocked to run at 8 MHz¡± Joe said. That was nearly twice the speed of the original IBM-PC¡¯s 4.77 MHz. It would make it twice as fast at calculating large spreadsheets, outputting data from large databases or running the normally painfully slow print preview mode to preview what text would actually look like when printed in WordStar or WordPerfect.

    ¡°Everything looks good,¡± Upinder said smiling. ¡°Will you include MS-DOS with each system?¡±

    ¡°Not on an even swap, but I can provide it at $40 per computer in a lot of 20.¡±

    ¡°What if we included the original boot disks for the Apple IIe computers. What would the price be then?¡± Dan asked.

    Joe thought for a moment and took a look around at the Apple IIe computers in the lab. Then he replied, ¡°Well, if you have the original disks, I can cut the cost of the DOS to $20 per computer. I have a licensing agreement for OEM distribution of PC-DOS that technically I am only supposed to supply with genuine IBM-PCs, but I can include it at my cost of $20 per unit. Let me take a look at the Apple computers while you evaluate the PC, if that all right?¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± said Marvin. ¡°Help yourself.¡±

    Meantime Dan showed Upinder the book and software bundles and pulled out the first, WordPerfect, and handed it to him. Upinder took it, loaded it, and played with it for a few minutes, then removed it and went through the same process with the other software. ¡°These look good,¡± he said smiling. ¡°The PC would have to be configured to print with the printer you have here,¡± he said, pointing to a Panasonic dot matrix next to the first computer on the first row. ¡°But that¡¯s something your tech can do.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and I can do that too. We just need to load the driver onto the Boot disk, something we can do for all of the copies of DOS we¡¯ll make, leaving the originals in a safe place.¡± Dan said, then added, ¡°It would be nice if we could get the lab configured as a network so that every computer could print to the printer instead of having students have to take their software and data disks to the one computer in the front of the room when they need to print anything as part of an assignment.¡± Dan said.

    ¡°One miracle at a time, Dan,¡± Marvin said while Upinder simply smiled and shook his head. That was not going to happen any time soon¡ªbut he¡¯d fight one battle at a time.

    Shortly after Upinder had tested all of the software to his satisfaction, Joe also finished his quick evaluation of the 20 Apples in the room and came back to join them.

    ¡°Well, what do you think,¡± he asked Dan, who responded, ¡°It¡¯s not up to me, but I¡¯d certainly be happy with a full swap if corporate will pay for the $400 PC-DOS disks we will also need.

    ¡°I think that¡¯s probably doable,¡± Upinder said. It seems a very reasonable cost for a new lab.¡± Then, turning to Joe he asked, ¡°What about warranties and support on these after the swap?¡±

    ¡°Like I told your dean, I¡¯ll give you a one-year warranty on parts. If you need me to install or diagnose any issues, I¡¯m willing to do that but at my normal reasonable charge of $50 an hour plus travel expenses of $.50 per mile for any in-house service.¡±

    ¡°Can you throw in free labor for the year?¡± Marvin asked.

    ¡°No. I¡¯m giving you these at my cost knowing I can sell the Apples for a reasonable profit. But I can¡¯t do free labor too. If you want, I can provide free parts and labor for a year for an additional $70 per computer.¡±

    ¡°No, that won¡¯t fly. How long would you take to deliver parts if needed?¡±

    ¡°Look, I¡¯ll send them to you the day of the request with you sending me the bad part in return when you receive the new part and swap it out and will ship by your choice of carrier at my actual cost, with no additional handling charges. That¡¯s the best I can do.¡± Joe answered.

    ¡°My experience is that if a PC is going to fail it will do so within 48 hours of being plugged in. If they pass a 48-hour burn-in test, chances are they will continue to work for many years without issues. Can you give us, say, a parts warranty for one year and parts and labor in house for three days from the date of delivery? In the rare case any of them fail the test?¡± Dan asked, knowing he was pushing the envelope.

    ¡°Tell you what. If you guys agree to do the deal today, I¡¯m willing to do that. But if not, then no. And the even swap with $20 for DOS offer expires today too. Like I said, I¡¯m not making much money on this deal, but happen to have a client interested in a quantity of refurbished Apple II systems for another school.¡±

    Upinder frowned at this. But he said, ¡°Let me call my CEO and see if he¡¯ll agree to the terms. Can you give me ten minutes?¡±

    ¡°Sure¡ªtake twenty if you need it, but I need to know before I have to leave for a service call within a half hour.¡±

    ¡°Dan, stay here with Joe and I¡¯ll take Upinder to my office to make the call,¡± Marvin said.

    ¡°Take my key¡ªmy office is closer,¡± Dan replied, giving Marvin his key ring, holding it by the tip of his office key.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be back shortly,¡± Marvin said as he walked out of the lab with Upinder.

    When the men were gone, Dan turned to Joe and asked, ¡°Out of curiosity, what would these units cost with a 10MB hard disk and a single floppy drive?¡±

    ¡°Normally I sell thee exactly as configured here for $550 each plus shipping and handling. The hard disk is an additional $200. But I can get them to you for $150 if that¡¯s an upgrade you¡¯d like.¡±

    ¡°Like, yes. Can sell to my boss? No. What if my faculty wanted to buy computers for their own use? Would you be willing to give them a discount?¡±

    Joe looked at Dan and smiled. ¡°You¡¯re nothing if not persistent. I can sell units just like this one in quantities of at least five for $450¡ªdelivery is extra, but they can pick them up with no extra cost, other than sales tax, from my office across the river. That offer is good for the rest of the month, but only if we close this deal today.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good to know, Joe. Thank you. I¡¯ll let my faculty know and they can contact you if we can reach an agreement today.¡±

    Ten minutes later, Marvin and Upinder returned, all smiles. ¡°I got my boss to agree,¡± Upinder said. It was not easy, but I told them it was a good deal that we could not match elsewhere and, after a bit of convincing, he agreed. We can sign an agreement today for delivery at your convenience. Just bill PEMTI for the $400 for the DOS, or you can have cash on delivery, whichever you prefer.¡±

    ¡°All right, said Joe,¡± as Dan sighed in relief. Let¡¯s draw up the agreement and I can deliver by the end of the week and take away the 20 Apple IIe¡¯s. If you like, I can leave this PC here and take one Apple IIe with me now.¡±

    ¡°That would be fine, Joe,¡± said Marvin. ¡°Let¡¯s go to my office and we¡¯ll draw up a purchase order we can both sign. Meantime, take whichever of these computers suits you and we¡¯ll get you an original boot disk to go with it.¡±

    With that, they all left, and Dan was left behind smiling broadly. He¡¯d done it. Now he¡¯d better get the program approval, or he knew there would be hell to pay despite the fact they would get a brand new lab of better computers at basically no cost since, as he well knew, no good deed goes unpunished.

 Chapter 29: Vanessa Hunter

    He went back to his office to resume his normal work. He had to evaluate Vanessa Hunter after lunch, and he was not looking forward to sitting through her class from what he had seen just walking by her classes for the past week. He pulled out her lesson plans, again noting that there were more weeks of these missing and tried to get a feel for what the class he would observe was about. It was an introduction to computers class and today was the cohort¡¯s first day. He wondered how Ms. Hunter would approach an introductory lesson to computer processing and had no idea, as she had not handed in the required lesson plans.

    As he was poring through last year¡¯s lesson plans for Ms. Hunter, trying to see what she was likely to cover based on what she had covered on the first day of the same class the previous year, he heard a knock on his door. ¡°It¡¯s not locked, come in,¡± he said, not seeing who was outside as he was sitting at Katie¡¯s desk with a thick lesson plan folder on top of the Compaq transportable computer on the desk. Marvin entered.

    ¡°Well,¡± he said, closing the door behind him and pulling a chair from across Dan¡¯s desk to sit closer to him, ¡°that certainly went well. I hope you¡¯re happy.¡±

    ¡°I sure am, Marvin. Now let¡¯s hope the State Ed filing goes through.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s sitting at Taisha¡¯s desk waiting for the FedEx guy to pick it up. I¡¯m overnighting it. The sooner we get it approved, the better. The Melameds know these things take time¡ªmany months usually, from the date of filing even if there are no major snags along the way that call for clarification or, worse, re-filing. But they¡¯ll start pestering me in a couple of weeks if I know them.¡±

    I¡¯m glad Upinder did not put any roadblocks as to the lab.¡± Dan said.

    ¡°About that, you should know that the little weasel made it seem like he negotiated the software deal, and that there was a great deal of haggling to get the vendor to agree to the swap. He also told them he pushed hard to make the deal today because it was just too good to pass up and that he had told the vendor that we had several other vendors coming in with competitive bids.¡±

    Dan smiled and shook his head, ¡°I honestly don¡¯t care, Marvin. Who knows, maybe he¡¯s trying to keep his job or is bucking for a promotion. He helped by not getting in the way and approving the swap. He could have torpedoed it or at least made it harder to achieve, so I¡¯m happy with that. If he wants to take more credit than he is due, that¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°Well, I do. I¡¯ll set the record straight with Benjamin when I call him later today.¡±

    ¡°Just let it go, Marvin. I don¡¯t want to make an enemy of someone whose support we may need in the future. Nor do I want to cost the guy his job. He may have expanded on the truth a bit, but who knows, maybe it was his way of trying to seal the deal with Mr. Melamed, providing a sense of urgency to accept a great deal. This was never about earning brownie points for me. I¡¯m just happy as hell that we¡¯re getting the lab. Sharing credit, even if not earned, is not a problem. My only agenda here is doing what I can to make things better. Upinder helped today, as far as I¡¯m concerned, and if he gets a gold star on his record or a step closer to a raise, or whatever else he may be after, that¡¯s perfectly fine. I¡¯m grateful for his support.¡±

    Marvin had no reply. He just stared at Dan for what seemed a long while, prompting Dan to ask, ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Nothing,¡± Marvin replied, his usual pleasant smile returning. ¡°I¡¯m just trying to figure you out.¡±

    ¡°What you see is what you get¡ªwarts and all.¡±

    After Marvin left, Bob called. ¡°Hey, Dan. It¡¯s nearly Noon. Do you want to go out to lunch?¡±

    ¡°I have a one o¡¯clock observation to do. I can go but have to be back before one, or I can go at two, if you like.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do two then. I don¡¯t want to rush back and I¡¯m dying to know how it went today. Marvin chatted with me for a while, but I¡¯d like your take on the day.¡±

    ¡°Sure¡ªthat would be perfect. I¡¯ll come by your office as soon. As I evaluate Ms. Hunter¡¯s class.¡±

    ¡°Oh, God. I suggest you shake her awake before the class starts and give her a double espresso, and then maybe she won¡¯t fall asleep before the hour is up.¡± Bob chortled, adding ¡°See you soon¡± before hanging up. Dan sighed as he put the phone back in its cradle. ¡°This is going to be fun,¡± he thought, then sighed again.

    An hour later, after reviewing Vanessa Hunter¡¯s file and those of the other three instructors he would be evaluating this week, he headed to her class and sat in the back of the room with a legal pad for talking notes. Some students were in the class before him and eyed him curiously. He stood out in his dark blue, pinstriped suit. At 1:00 p.m., almost everyone in the class was seated, but still no Ms. Hunter. She walked in five minutes late carrying a magazine and nothing else. She immediately sat down on the desk in front and told the students whom she was meeting for the first time, ¡°Hello. I¡¯m Ms. Hunter and this is Introduction to Computers and Data Processing. Dean Amor is sitting in the back today¡ªhe¡¯s here to observe you, so make sure you make a good impression. You all got your books today, so read Chapter One and do the exercises at the back of the book. I¡¯ll be up here if you have any questions.¡± With that, she plopped her people Magazine on her desk and began to read.

    ¡°Holy frigging feces of male bovine,¡± Dan thought to himself--or something to that effect. ¡°This woman has got to be frigging kidding me.¡± He began to write on his notepad. Late to class. Poor attitude. No effort to engage her class. No introduction to the subject of any kind. No notes. No effort whatsoever to teach. ¡°No wonder she did not submit any lesson plans for two weeks¡ªshe has no plan to teach any lessons,¡± he thought.

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    About ten minutes into the lecture, Dan looked around the room which was full¡ª40 students by his count. About two thirds of the students were actually reading, or pretending to read, from their textbooks. The other third were either chatting with each other or clearly reading, doodling or doing anything but their assignment¡ªhe did not blame them. He was seething, but there was little he could do other than leave, which he would not do if for no other reason than to document the full extent of this instructor¡¯s incompetence. She seldom so much as looked up from her magazine. Was it utter contempt on her part or simply galloping stupidity, he wondered?

    A student raised her hand which the instructor of course did not see. The student apparently did not want to call out to her for whatever reason, so Dan said ¡°Ms. Hunter, one of your students has a question.¡±

    At this she looked up at Dan then at the student pleasantly enough and said ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Ms. Hunter, I¡¯m reading about D-O-S and I¡¯m not really sure what it is or why we need to know about it. Can you please explain what D-O-S is and what it¡¯s used for?¡±

    ¡°M-S-D-O-S,¡± Ms. Hunter repeated, pronouncing each letter, ¡°Is the disk operating system that is used to boot an IBM PC and get it to do work. That¡¯s basically it.¡± Ms. Hunter said, then went back to reading her magazine. The student looked puzzled but did not raise her hand again. At this point, Dan could not stand it anymore, embarrassed not only for the instructor, but for himself and for the school as well. He called out to the instructor again, in as calm a voice as he could muster and said, ¡°Ms. Hunter, can you please give us a bit more information about what DOS,¡± he pronounced it dohs, as it was normally pronounced, ¡°is used for and why we need to know about it in order to use an IBM PC or compatible computer?¡±

    Ms. Hunter again looked up and simply said, ¡°I already said what its used for¡ªyou need it in order to run other programs. That¡¯s basically all you need to know about it.¡±

    ¡°Nobody could possibly be that stupid that teaches this course,¡± Dan thought to himself, but said out loud ¡°Would you mind if I took over the class for the rest of the period to at least expand on what DOS is and some of its basic functions?¡±

    ¡°Not at all, Dean Amor. Please. I¡¯d love to hear it.¡± There was no sarcasm in her voice, nor any malice. She simply seemed clueless as to what she should be doing. He did not mean to embarrass her, though he was angry. He hoped he could at least perhaps show her by example what she was supposed to be doing, rather than reading a magazine and having her students teach difficult concepts to themselves from a textbook not intended for self-guided learning and which she herself clearly had not mastered or perhaps even read. He got up and moved up to the blackboard, thinking an off-the-cuff lecture would be better than nothing at this point.

    ¡°Hello class,¡± he said facing the students and scanning the room, making eye contact with each of them as he spoke. ¡°My name is Dan Amor, and I¡¯m the Academic Dean at PEMTI, not an instructor. This is a subject I know pretty well, though, so if you¡¯ll indulge me, I¡¯d like to give you a bit of background on MS-DOS and PC-DOS. D-O-S is pronounced ¡°dohs¡± for short and stands for disk operating system.¡± He moved to the board and began making notes and noticed that almost every student took out a notebook or loose-leaf and began writing¡ªand that every student was looking at him as he lectured. The only real difference between MS and PC DOS is that one is produced by Microsoft Corporation and the other by IBM. For our purpose, they are identical.¡±

    ¡°As Ms. Hunter mentioned,¡± he continued. ¡°You need either MS-DOS or PC-DOS in order to make any IBM personal computer or any PC-compatible computer made by others¡ªI¡¯ll just call them PCs from now on¡ªwork. A computer by itself can¡¯t do anything. It needs software to work. Software is a set of instructions that tell a computer what to do. There are two basic types of software: system software and applications software. Applications software you will learn about later in the course¡ªthese are the programs that allow computers to do wonderfully useful things, like writing letters, reports and books, calculating your taxes, keeping track of large amounts of information and being able to retrieve it very quickly, or even playing games.¡±

    ¡°System software, on the other hand, is made up of instructions that tell the computer how to communicate and interact with all of its individual parts. Think of system software as a set of programs that wake the computer up from sleep and allow it to do useful things. A computer needs DOS to be able to communicate with all of its parts¡ªto accept input from a keyboard, to send information to a printer, or to show you information on a monitor, for example.¡±

    ¡°DOS also gives you some important functions that allow you to prepare disks for use the first time¡ªcalled formatting¡ªand to copy and delete files, create directories and sub-directories, set the date and time on your computer so that files created with application software accurately reflects the date and time it was created, and do many other useful things. Without its operating system like DOS, a computer is just an expensive paperweight that sits there and does nothing.¡± ¡°Kind of like your teacher,¡± he thought but did not say out loud.

    Dan then went on to explain the process of booting DOS, and how data is stored and retrieved on floppy and hard disks, drawing illustrations of how a floppy disk and hard disk differ from a record or CD in the way that it stores information. He also illustrated how DOS allows a disk to be used like a virtual filing cabinet and the commands to create directories that are like drawers on a physical filing cabinet in which one can save and organize files.

    As he lectured, Dan tried to make unfamiliar concepts accessible to students by giving a lot of examples and relating the new knowledge whenever possible to things they were already familiar with. He also stopped from time to time and asked students if they were following along and if they had questions. And he tried to involve students in the discussion and encourage them to ask questions. Along the way he was peppered with questions and he answered each in turn as fully as he could. Before he knew it, the bell rang, and he finished with ¡°I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m out of time, but it was really good to have a chance to spend this time with you. And I want to welcome you to PEMTI. I hope you are successful and will enjoy your time with us.¡±

    As students filed out on their way to their next classes, more than a half dozen students stayed behind to ask questions about computers or just to say thanks for a good class. When they had all left and before the next class filed in, he turned to Ms. Hunter and asked, ¡°What did you get from my lecture?¡±

    ¡°That you should teach for me more often,¡± she replied with a smile, which is not what Dan was hoping to hear. He asked her to stop by his office at 4:00 p.m. when he knew she had a free period. And she said she would, returning to her magazine.

    Dan grabbed his legal pad and walked out, shaking his head, heading for Bob¡¯s office very much looking forward to a glass of wine.

 Chapter 30: Lunch With Bob

    ¡°How did it go with Ms. Hunter,¡± Bob asked with a laugh.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if she was purposefully trying to get my goat or if she is as truly clueless as she seemed today.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s clueless. She is a very nice person, but completely useless in the classroom. I¡¯ve been getting complaints from students for years. She has no motivation and not much knowledge of some of the subjects she teaches. She¡¯s a little better in Business English and Typing, but still lacks motivation. She¡¯s going to be your greatest challenge.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m seeing her at 4:00 p.m., so I¡¯ve got to get back not later than 3:30 p.m. as I have to write up her evaluation and I¡¯ll be damned if I know how to begin. If she does not shape up, I¡¯ll have to fire her. I can¡¯t subject the students to what I saw today and live with myself.¡±

    They walked to the elevator and then walked to the nearest establishment that served both sandwiches and wine and beer just a block away. Bob ordered corned beef on rye with a Budweiser and Dan an Italian sub and chips with a glass of Malbec. As they ate, Bob asked ¡°So, tell me about today¡¯s meeting. I hear you got the lab?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Dan said. I¡¯m happy about that. Marvin sent out the SED filing this morning, so I hope we can get some good news about that soon. The total cost for the computer swap will be $400 and I got the vendor to give us a three-day parts and labor warranty and a year parts warranty, with immediate shipment of replacement parts if anything fails. I¡¯ll burn them in¡ªleave them on with a batch file to do an endless loop of directory searches on both disk drives continuously for 48 hours and if nothing breaks, it¡¯s unlikely to for years.¡±

    ¡°I hear Upinder took credit for that and for negotiating what you had already previously negotiated.¡±

    ¡°I know, but I don¡¯t care. I just want the lab. He can have the credit¡± Dan said

    ¡°Well, Marvin told me he already spoke to Benjamin and told him he was amazed at your negotiating skills. He told me you didn¡¯t want him to say anything, and he did not specifically contradict what he heard Upinder telling them on the phone, just innocently sang your praises and let him make up his own mind who should get the credit. He already knew about the zero-cost swap you had negotiated, so even if the Melameds believe Upinder about the DOS and three-day warranty nonsense, it will make him seem at best petty. At this point you¡¯re lucky the Melameds don¡¯t have a daughter, or they¡¯d be plotting how to get you to marry her,¡± Bob gave his signature chortle, and took a sip of beer and a large bite of his sandwich. ¡°Marvin was so happy after the vendor left that for a minute, I thought he had brought his bong to the office. I¡¯ve never seen him so excited,¡± he added, while still chewing.

    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡°I¡¯d hate to disappoint him if the program falls through,¡± Dan said, taking a sip of his wine. ¡°I know the Melameds would be furious, but, frankly I¡¯m not concerned about that. All I had them invest was a lousy $400 for the 20 DOS disks. Hell, I was thinking before that I¡¯ll pay them back for that if the deal falls through. And if they¡¯re still unhappy they won¡¯t have to fire me¡ªI¡¯ll quit.¡±

    ¡°They won¡¯t fire you. They¡¯ve seen what you can do. They¡¯d be pissed because they¡¯re already counting the money they can make on your rolling enrollment idea, and I guarantee you if it flies, they¡¯ll port it to all of their branches immediately. They may be greedy and maybe just a touch seedy, but they¡¯re anything but stupid. They¡¯ll want to know what your next great idea is even if this one fails. Or, rather, they¡¯ll make you rework it into something similar¡ªyou know, same crap, different smell¡ªand repackage it for SED in six months. Anything with computers is hot right now, so they¡¯ll just have you keep plugging away as long as there¡¯s a chance you can come up with something similar.¡±

    ¡°How about Computerized Brothel Management. They can start a new school in Las Vegas,¡± Dan laughed out loud as he said it, and Bob nearly choked on the beer he was swallowing.

    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s a marvelous idea. Just don¡¯t tell Upinder or he¡¯ll tell them you stole it from him. But the hell with Vegas. Times Square, baby. I can see the neon signs now: Computerized Whorehouse Management Program. It¡¯s got a catchy ring to it¡ªmore down to earth. Plus, prospective students wouldn¡¯t know what a brothel is. You gotta keep it real.¡±

    ¡°Too bad its illegal in New York, Dan replied, still laughing¡±

    ¡°Who cares? It¡¯s not like they¡¯re going to get a job anyway, is it? It¡¯s illegal to be a whore, not to train to manage a whorehouse. We can say it¡¯s a training program for work-abroad opportunities. I bet it would be a big hit. Nothing prohibits us from training people to run a brothel abroad, does it? Come on, I thought you were a lawyer,¡± Bob offered with a perfectly straight face.

    ¡°I guess we could try.¡± Dan said, ¡°But let¡¯s hope we won¡¯t have to, all right?¡± He tried to keep a deadpan face as he said it but failed and started to laugh again.

    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m just looking out for you. Can¡¯t lose my lunch buddy. No way. I¡¯ll go talk to Jack about marketing the program, just as a plan B. He probably has some experience on the subject in his staff.¡± Bob chortled again, spittle flying from his mouth while Dan smiled and shook his head.  Lunch done, the two men walked back to the office with Bob, now inspired, making all sorts of off the wall suggestions for programs Dan might develop as the two walked back. Dan mostly smiled and shook his head at such suggestions as ¡°Computerized Personal Delousing Assistant, Computerized Burger Flipping Specialist, Computerized Rectal Thermometer Insertion Manager, Computerized Hairball Removal Expert,¡± and on, and on, and on all the way back to the office.

 Chapter 31: Katie, and Vanessaéˆ¥æªš Evaluation

    When he got back to the office, Katie was there working on some files atop the computer on her desk, putting on neat labels and arranging the material in them in reverse chronological or alphabetical order, depending on contents, so that material on files, some of which were two inches thick, could be more easily accessed. She was wearing another business suit, a pinstriped navy-blue wool and silk blend with a skirt and blazer over a pale blue silk blouse and the usual three-inch heels. She was cute as a button and as professional and efficient a secretary as he had even seen.

    ¡°Hey Katie,¡± he called to her as he walked through the door.

    ¡°Hey boss. Heard you had a good day today.¡± She said, giving him a sheepish grin.

    ¡°Yeah, the lab is approved, the program proposal has gone out and I¡¯m both relieved and happy.¡±

    ¡°Not that she said with a dismissive wave of the hand and a shake of the head that made her thick, wavy hair dance around her shoulders. That¡¯s no surprise,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m talking about your performance in Ms. Hunter¡¯s class.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± he said. ¡°How did you hear . . .¡±

    ¡°Oh, word travels fast around here. You made some fans today.¡±

    ¡°If you mean Ms. Hunter, actually she¡¯s coming sometime after 4:00 p.m. and I¡¯ll need you to step out when she comes as I have to discuss her evaluation with her.¡±

    ¡°No, not Ms. Hunter. I mean a couple of the students in her class. Two women, to be precise.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Dan said again.

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯ve two women pretty excited about you and a third also showing interest, though she¡¯s not in the class.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about,¡± he said, wondering if she was teasing him again. She seemed to enjoy doing that.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s like this,¡± she said with exaggerated emphasis while making a strange face at him. There are two girls in the class that won¡¯t stop talking about you. How wonderful you are and what a good teacher you are and how nice you look.¡± She was obviously enjoying his obvious distress enormously, laying it on thick as honey foolishly stored in the fridge.

    ¡°Do you want to know their names?¡± she asked, looking at him with big innocent eyes and a Cheshire cat smile. ¡°I can get you their numbers, too if you want.¡±

    ¡°No!¡± He said. ¡°How do you know this anyway?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s like this. I have a good friend who is in the AOS track that started last month. She¡¯s the third young lady I mentioned. She is friends with one of the two girls in the class, and they were talking about you at lunch most enthusiastically. I was with them in one of the empty classrooms where they ate lunch¡ªI often join them before punching in when I get here extra early to spend time with my friend, Christine. She noticed you on your first day when you first walked through the hall at lunch time. I was with her. She is a gorgeous blonde, 20, blue eyed, a figure to die for, smart, lovely personality¡ªthe complete package.¡± She was teasing him now openly, but he still blushed¡ªnot because of the teasing but because he knew exactly who she was referring to¡ªthe beautiful young woman he had noticed on his first day sitting next to Katie eating a sandwich who had followed him with her eyes as he walked past the entire length of her classroom¡ªand whom he also gave a lingering look because of her extraordinary beauty and grace. He wondered now whether both the girl and Katie had noticed him looking at her as he passed by.

    ¡°Well, like I was saying,¡± she continued coyly still speaking in an emphatic voice as though telling a great secret, clearly having great fun at his expense. He did not know whether to laugh or strangle her, so he did and said nothing, merely continued turning a deeper shade of crimson. ¡°You made such an impression that I think they¡¯re debating which one should have your baby first. It could come to blows.¡±

    ¡°Not funny, Katie,¡± he said trying not to look at her and walking toward her desk to boot up the computer¡ªmore to get away from her than out of any great desire to write up Ms. Hunter¡¯s evaluation, for which he would have difficulty finding the words. He booted the computer and pulled up a blank form he had developed the previous week for use in evaluating his faculty. He did not like the one Harold had given him. The form included a rating of ten different items with a number from 1-4 on separate columns he could circle or highlight¡ª1 Excellent, 2 Good, 3. Fair and 4 Needs improvement. He had also left room for a narrative statement summarizing the evaluation in terms of strengths and weaknesses. The ten criteria ranged from ¡°Overall preparedness¡± to ¡°Rapport with the class¡± and on each he underlined ¡°Needs improvement,¡± thinking to himself that he should put a fifth column with ¡°Unbelievably shitty¡± and award her that most accurate of ratings.

    ¡°I¡¯m not trying to be funny, boss. You really made some impression. Expect to have each of them finding some reason to knock on your door often in the coming days and weeks.¡±

    ¡°Cut it out, Katie. I¡¯m trying to work here,¡± Dan retorted a bit crankily not for her ribbing him but for his embarrassment at the prospect that she knew that he had been looking at her friend his first day too. That was not like him, either, which not only embarrassed him but made him angry at himself. He thought of Linda and his annoyance grew, as Katie continued to good-naturedly needle him as he tried not to hear her. Fortunately, he had good powers of concentration, so he soon tuned her out and immersed himself in writing the two-paragraph evaluation which basically highlighted what needed to be changed and why¡ªa list that pretty much included everything.

    Ten minutes later he was done and printed the two-page evaluation. Katie was blissfully quiet, working on her filing cabinet either getting the hint that he really did not want to hear it or perhaps feeling bad about needling him mercilessly, not realizing the real reason for his distress¡ªor so he fervently hoped.

    It was 4:00 p.m. when he finished, and he had nothing to do but wait for Ms. Hunter to show up.

    ¡°Do you want me to leave now,¡± Katie asked looking at him.

    ¡°No, not until Ms. Hunter arrives. And she may not get here until who knows when. I¡¯ll have to have these meetings with the instructors for a while, but I¡¯ll try to do them before you get here or after you leave whenever their schedules allow it. It all depends on when they have a free hour, though.¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± Katie, said in a low voice and very serious. ¡°Are you mad at me?¡± she added, looking at him with her big brown eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I made you feel bad. I was just teasing. It¡¯s not appropriate. I didn¡¯t mean anything by it. I thought you¡¯d find it funny,¡± she continued almost as if she were about to cry. That, of course, made him feel even worse for a completely different reason, and he thought he had probably overreacted. He knew she had just been gently teasing him not out of meanness or malice or to get a rise out of him, but because she had grown comfortable with him in the very short time they had been working together, just as he had with her. Realizing that made him angry again at himself. He had not been angry with her¡ªjust embarrassed and a little ashamed of himself for no particularly good reason, he knew rationally. But emotions laughed in the face of reason. He knew that too, and he smiled warmly at the thought and at her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t apologize, Katie. You did nothing wrong, and I am glad that you feel comfortable enough to tease me. It¡¯s just been a very, very long and stressful week for me and I¡¯m emotionally and physically spent. I¡¯m the one who needs to apologize if I overreacted. I¡¯m just tired and none too happy about having to meet Ms. Hunter to break the news to her that she¡¯s a crappy teacher¡ªsomething I know will come as a huge surprise to her, all obvious evidence to the contrary notwithstanding. And I believe she¡¯s a good person to boot, else I¡¯d have no problem just canning her today. I¡¯m just not used to this. Please don¡¯t feel bad and don¡¯t apologize for being comfortable around me. It¡¯s o.k. I don¡¯t have any brothers or sisters, but if I did, I could not wish for a better little sister than you.¡±

    ¡°So little sister now, am I¡± She said and broke into a smile. ¡°All right, that¡¯s fine--for now. Just don¡¯t pull my hair or chase away my boyfriends, all right?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll think about it. Maybe I can agree to one of those two conditions.¡±

    ¡°Which one,¡± she asked impishly.

    ¡°That¡¯s for me to know and for you to find out,¡± Dan said with a genuine smile. Then he added, ¡°So they think I¡¯m cute, huh?¡±

    ¡°The cat¡¯s meow, boss.¡± She retorted deadpan. He resisted the urge to tousle her hair just as the door opened without a knock. Ms. Hunter, at last, nearly a half hour late and barging right in.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go to reception for a while,¡± Katie said. ¡°I didn¡¯t pick up my paycheck today yet.¡±

    ¡°O.K.,¡± Dan said. ¡°I¡¯ll see you tomorrow, Katie. Have a good night.¡±

    ¡°You too boss,¡± she said opening the door to leave. ¡°And you too Ms. Hunter.¡±

    ¡°Night Cathy,¡± she said.

    ¡°Please sit down, Ms. Hunter.¡±

    ¡°Call me Vanessa,¡± she said, taking one of the two chairs across from Dan¡¯s Desk.

    ¡°All right, Vanessa. Call me Dan,¡± he said sitting next to her on the second chair rather than on the high back chair behind his desk. He did not want a sense of distance between himself and his faculty¡ªeven when he had bad news to deliver. That is something he naturally practiced throughout the rest of his professional life as well. He would sit behind his desk when speaking with students, but never when speaking formally or informally with his faculty or staff as an administrator. He did not really care whether they noticed¡ªhe did not do it for that reason. He just thought it the right thing to do. It was the same reason that he never took the seat at the head of the table¡ªnot at PEMTI nor anywhere else he later served in administrative and executive positions. It was a very small thing, but it mattered to him.

    Stolen novel; please report.

    ¡°I have your evaluation. Before I go over it with you, can you tell me how you think the class went today?¡±

    ¡°I think you were great. The students did too¡ªI could tell.¡±

    ¡°What I meant is, how do you think you did?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I guess o.k. I always give the class an assignment and guide them when they have questions.¡±

    ¡°Did you notice that about a third of your class was not doing as you asked, and a number of students were simply talking to each other, not paying attention and being an annoying distraction to those around them who were actually trying to get the work done?¡±

    ¡°They were all attentive when you were lecturing.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re missing the point, Vanessa. It is your class and it¡¯s you they need to pay attention to, not me.¡±

    ¡°But you were lecturing . . .¡±

    ¡°Yes, and why is that?¡±

    ¡°Because you knew things I did not, and you wanted to answer the student¡¯s question more fully.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s part of it, but the better question is why did you not have a better answer when the material is covered in the book? I know because I¡¯ve been reviewing the textbooks in the classes of the faculty members I need to evaluate.¡±

    ¡°But all you said is not from the book,¡± she objected.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. And you don¡¯t have to know everything about the subject you teach, but for Pete¡¯s sake, you at least have to know what¡¯s in the book. Why didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a little behind on my lesson plans.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s another issue that you need to address immediately. But haven¡¯t you taught this course before¡ªat least three times that I know of?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Vanessa replied, looking away from him. At least she was not being defensive or denying the obvious failings yet. That was a good sign. Maybe there was hope for her. ¡°I am just not very comfortable with the PC yet. I know the Apple IIe better.¡±

    ¡°But the course includes a simple introduction to DOS. I could understand if you decided to cover disk operating systems generically¡ªI could accept that, though I¡¯d prefer you teach the updated material you have access to in the textbook so as not to confuse students if nothing else. And you should know that D-O-S is pronounced ¡®dohs,¡¯ not by its individual initials.¡±

    ¡°I did not know that. Nobody ever told me,¡± she said a bit flustered but still not defensive which he appreciated and decided to take a different tack¡ªmaking her feel bad would accomplish nothing.

    ¡°All right, Vanessa. I just need you to try harder, and I also need you to complete your lesson plans. I¡¯ll be in trouble if State Ed decides to drop by unannounced for an audit, and you would definitely be fired if that happens¡ªme too, probably. So please do us both a favor and work on those and submit them all by Friday at the latest. Can you do that?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Dean Amor.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Dan, remember? Now to the actual evaluation. I have two copies here. Please read and sign yours. Note that there is a space at the bottom for you to make comments and you can continue on the back side of the page if you¡¯d like to challenge or disagree with anything I write. Basically, you need to work on every area I evaluated based on today¡¯s observation. Some simple observations are that you cannot just give students an assignment and read a magazine while they work. That is not teaching. And this is not a self-paced course that students can learn on their own. They need guidance. They¡¯re hungry for it. I think you saw that today. You also need to get to class on time and show some enthusiasm¡ªenthusiasm is catching as are lethargy and detachment.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a great teacher, Dan. I¡¯m not that confident.¡±

    ¡°First off, I have very little experience teaching¡ªone semester in college as part of an honors seminar. I am not trained as a teacher¡ªyou are with your business education degree. I love to be in front of a classroom¡ªI knew that in college already. But I¡¯m nothing special. If students react to me as they did today it¡¯s because they can see that I care about them, that I know what I¡¯m talking about--even off the cuff and unprepared as was the case today. I did not do a great job today by any stretch of the imagination. They simply connected with what I was saying because I was enthusiastic and tried hard to make the material accessible to them¡ªto relate unfamiliar things to things they know and understand--and they picked up on that. I made them comfortable enough to ask questions, and I answered every question¡ªeven if I had to say at least once that I did not know the answer. That¡¯s 80 percent of the battle. Honesty also gets you a lot of points, and so does caring. Reading a magazine and not teaching simply puts up a wall that gets thicker and harder to break through with each passing day that you allow it to remain up.¡±

    Vanessa listened intently, eyes starting to get glassy, but said nothing.

    ¡°Is there something you¡¯re not telling me, Vanessa? Are you under some type of stress at home, or illness? It¡¯s o.k. to tell me. I will work with you if I can. Or is it the course itself?¡±

    ¡°I just feel overwhelmed. I have taken computer courses as part of my business education degree, but I¡¯m not particularly good at or interested in the subject, and it keeps changing. I just always had to teach it here.¡±

    ¡°What do you prefer teaching?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d rather teach business math or English instead of computer processing courses. I also like teaching typing.¡±

    ¡°Do you know off hand if any of the faculty like teaching computer processing who are currently teaching courses you like? I¡¯ve done the best I can with the schedule based on what everyone has taught over the past three years. I assumed you teach what you prefer to teach. You did not say anything last Friday or I would have asked your colleagues during our meeting if anyone would be willing to switch.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t like making waves,¡± Vanessa said, looking down at her hands.

    ¡°Stating a preference is not making waves, Vanessa. I want you to teach not just what you can teach, but what you are good at and ideally what you enjoy. And I have no information as to that, unfortunately. It¡¯s one of the things I¡¯m trying to change. I don¡¯t have time to try to contact everyone myself as to a possible switch, and I wouldn¡¯t want to cause you problems with your colleagues either as I don¡¯t know the relationship you have with them. Change after several class meetings is unfair to the students too. But you know your friends and colleagues here. If you can get one of them to take on your class or classes and you take theirs, I am willing to accommodate you. I¡¯ll give you until Wednesday to try to find someone to switch with. Understand that it has to be someone qualified to teach the class. I, for example, for all of my knowledge about computers could not teach the class here if I wanted to if I were an instructor. Ironically, I could teach it at the college level with no problem as long as I has the knowledge because their rules differ¡ªthey have much greater flexibility in having faculty teach outside of their areas of expertise in terms of degrees. Not so for us. I¡¯ll let you explore that option if you like. But either way, I expect a lot better in all of your classes going forward or I won¡¯t be able to retain you.¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± she said, still looking at her hands.

    ¡°I will evaluate your class again in another month or so to see what has changed. And I may evaluate more than one class. I will do it to help you if I can, Vanessa, not to hurt you or to build a case for dismissing you. Please understand that. I could fire you today based just on my evaluation and on the missing lesson plans. Or even without them. I want to help keep you, not get rid of you. Please know that.¡±

    ¡°I believe you,¡± she said, finally looking him in the eyes again.

    Please read what I wrote carefully and feel free to disagree or write anything you like if what I wrote seems inaccurate or unfair. After you do that, please sign the evaluation. You¡¯ll note I already signed my part of it. Take your time. Meantime, I¡¯m going to sit at Katie¡¯s desk and work on another evaluation,¡± he lied just to give her a little privacy as she read the evaluation and wrote her response. He then moved to Katie¡¯s desk and sat there looking at the screen for a while as Vanessa read her evaluation. Two minutes later, she rose and walked to give him the signed evaluation. On her ¡°comments¡± section she had simply written two words. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    He asked her to also sign and write the same comments on the second copy that he had also previously signed, and gave her a dated copy, keeping one for her file.

    ¡°I have faith in you, Vanessa. Please believe that.¡± She nodded and left, closing the door behind her.

    Dan grabbed the evaluation form from his desk and walked to the filing cabinet to file it. He noticed the terrific job Katie had done rearranging the files, starting with labels on the drawers themselves. The second drawer from the top was labeled ¡°Lesson Plans and Faculty Evaluations.¡± The lesson plans were filed alphabetically by course in large folders with files for every current faculty member teaching in each course. The folders themselves were further subdivided into each program separated by oak tags of different colors inside of otherwise empty hanging folder jackets so that he could easily find every class taught in every program currently offered. And there was a further division with slightly larger oak tag cutouts for years starting with 1985¡ªtwo years before Dan had started at PEMTI. Katie had been busy and very productive when he was otherwise occupied. He found Ms. Hunter¡¯s folder under the ¡°Current Faculty¡± divider and placed her evaluation inside. All labels were neatly hand written, and the outside drawer labels and inside dividers were computer printed and carefully taped so as to be not only very neat, but also easily visible. Just as he closed the drawer and was thinking he really needed to compliment Katie on the job she had done, she knocked and entered as if summoned.

    I helped out with some correspondence for Mr. Lantz in the reception area and punched out at 5:00 p.m. But I got a beef with you,¡± she said, looking at him sideways. ¡°I thought I told you I did not want to get paid for the time I volunteered last week. That was on me¡ªyou didn¡¯t ask me to,¡± she said.

    ¡°And I thought I told you that I expected you to get paid when you worked late.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do it for the money,¡± she complained, genuinely annoyed.

    ¡°Well, in that case you should be quite happy as you didn¡¯t get much of it.¡±

    ¡°Does that mean that I have to run out at 5:00 o¡¯clock if I¡¯m in the middle of something that will only take me five minutes to finish?¡±

    ¡°No, and I won¡¯t ask for you to get five minutes¡¯ worth of extra pay, either. But this was two hours, and you were doing me a huge favor, even though I did not ask you to¡ªmore reason to make sure you are compensated from where I sit.¡±

    ¡°What if I want to hang around and just chat with you for a while some days, will you insist I leave or pay me to do that?¡±

    ¡°Again, no. If you want to stay and chat and it has nothing to do with work, I¡¯m not going to ask that you get paid for that. I¡¯d be very happy if you did that, actually, any time you want to. But if its work and you¡¯re staying for a significant period of time, yes, I will insist you get paid¡ªor at least try to get you the compensation you deserve. And if I can¡¯t, then I will insist you leave when you¡¯re supposed to¡ªor at least stop working.¡±

    ¡°Says the guy who puts in 12 hours a day. Did you know your predecessor used to come in for half days all the time and take most Mondays off?¡± She asked, hands on her hips. And he docked the teachers if they were just one minute late, embarrassing them about it, or if they punched out a few minutes early?¡±

    ¡°I neither knew nor care to know what the last dean did¡ªunless I¡¯m doing less or a worse job, then I¡¯d appreciate knowing that.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re impossible, she said.¡±

    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m a Gallego from the North West of the most beautiful part of Spain. (Don¡¯t tell that to my friends from the South or West, by the way, though it¡¯s absolutely true.) I¡¯m extremely pig headed--It¡¯s a trait we learned from our Italian first cousins.¡± He said, smiling. She walked up to him and punched him hard on the arm, giving him the evil eye¡ªthen laughed.

    ¡°Go home, Katie. He said, rubbing his arm with a mock grimace of pain.¡±

    ¡°Fine. I¡¯m not going to stand here and get insulted,¡± she replied turning around and heading towards the door. ¡°I know when I¡¯m not wanted.¡± She added, in mock anger spoiled by a giggle she could not suppress.

    ¡°By the way,¡± Dan said before she reached the door. ¡°Thank you for the extra thought and care you put into the file cabinet reorganization. It is really terrific. Sorry I¡¯ve been too busy to notice until just before you walked in.¡±

    ¡°No biggie,¡± she said, opening the door. I like organizing. When I¡¯m all done, I¡¯ll start over and change everything again.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re one of those, huh?¡± he said, smiling.

    ¡°You have no idea mister.¡±

    ¡°I guess I don¡¯t,¡± he said to the door after she had closed it behind her.

    With Katie gone, he decided to do one more round of both floors before returning to his office, closing the blinds and concentrating on populating the spreadsheet he had created with the available information in his files about his faculty. By 9:00 p.m., he left the office after one final round, with everything in order. Another long, exhausting but fruitful day. He just wanted to get home, grab a bite of whatever he could find in the fridge, and go to bed. Another day he would not see Linda. He was simply too tired; but he¡¯d call her before retiring, and his parents too. They would understand that he was busy, and he knew this pace would not last long.

 Chapter 32: Paula Moretti

    The next day was little different from the last. He went through his morning routine and commute, got to the office before 9:00 a.m. and went about the business of catching up with work long neglected by those before him. He found the time went quickly, with the highlight of his day lunch with Bob and working with Katie. Over the next few weeks, he would find himself asking Bob to go to lunch earlier, in no small part to be back in the office before or as soon after Katie arrived as possible. He was growing very fond of her and looked forward to their time together. But this week he and Bob went out sometime between noon and 1:00 p.m. for their usual hour-plus lunch at the local eateries. Dan loved his time with Bob, who quickly became not just a colleague but a trusted friend.

    His feelings for Katie were different. He was spending a lot of time with her and wanting to spend even more. She was a great secretary, and a very special person. Unlike his time with Bob, though, he began to have some feelings of guilt about his time with her and how good it made him feel, especially when he was spending less and less time with Linda and not regretting it nearly as much as he should.

    Five weeks to the day from Dan¡¯s start date, Marvin burst into his office at 1:00 p.m. while Katie was entering data on the computer and Dan was busy reviewing the lesson plans of Ms. Hunter who had not only made good on submitting all late lesson plans by the end of the week when he had first evaluated her class but had kept current from then on with thoughtful and detailed lesson plans and had decided to keep her class rather than attempting a change. He was due to visit her again today and was preparing for that visit.

    ¡°We got it, Dan. We got it!¡± Marvin said excitedly.

    ¡°What did we get,¡± Dan asked puzzled.

    ¡°The approval from State Ed. It just came in. No requests for additional information, changes, clarifications . . . they accepted it as written in just over a month. Congratulations. We now have a new program for your new lab!¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± Dan said with a broad smile, ¡°I did not expect an answer so soon. That¡¯s terrific!¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t even called the Melameds yet. They¡¯re going to be over the moon over this. I¡¯ve gotta run, but I wanted you to be the first to know.¡± And with that, he slapped Dan on the back and was gone as quickly as he had come.¡±

    ¡°Geesh,¡± said Dan. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen him so excited.¡±

    Katie said nothing but went to him and put her arms around him, giving him a tight hug.¡± He hugged her back and they just stood there for some time holding each other in silence, until she whispered ¡°Congratulations, Dan. This is really terrific,¡± and broke away from him.

    ¡°Thanks, Katie. I couldn¡¯t have done it without you.¡±

    ¡°Bull feathers,¡± she said emphatically. ¡°I had nothing to do with it, and neither did anyone else. This was all you.¡±

    Just as he was about to argue the point, there was another knock at the door. This time it was Bob who heartily shook Dan¡¯s hand and patted him on the back at the same time. ¡°You son of a gun. I knew you¡¯d get it done, but I thought they¡¯d make it more of a challenge for you. Well done! I bet you the Melameds send you a $20 gift basket as thanks¡ªif they¡¯re in a particularly good mood,¡± Bob chortled, ¡°Let¡¯s go out and celebrate.¡±

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    I can¡¯t now, I¡¯ve got an evaluation coming up. ¡°But what about tomorrow at noon?¡±

    ¡°Sounds great,¡± Bob said. Champagne lunch instead of beer!¡± Bob said.

    ¡°And it¡¯s on me¡ªno arguments. You¡¯re invited too, Katie if you can get here around noon?¡± Dan said, turning to Katie, hoping she¡¯d agree. ¡°Told you I could not have done this without you.¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± she said. ¡°If you really want me to come.¡±

    ¡°You bet your Easter bonnet I do, kiddo. I¡¯ll invite Marvin too.¡±

    ¡°He won¡¯t be able to make it tomorrow. He¡¯s been summoned to the mother ship, ¡°Bob responded. We can let him take us out some other time. He definitely owes you lunch, and I¡¯ll tag along to make sure he doesn¡¯t take you to Burger King,¡± Bob quipped.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to exclude him. Let¡¯s do it day after tomorrow, then. My treat. I want to go to a nice place and don¡¯t want Marvin to pick up the tab. But for now, go away and let me get some work done,¡± Dan said, said laughing. ¡°What good is it if we have a new program I can¡¯t implement because I¡¯m fired for neglect of office?¡±

    ¡°Your job is more secure than Marvin¡¯s right now. I guarantee it¡ªat least for the next week or two.¡± Bob said, chuckling as he went out the door.

    As soon as he left, just as Dan was sitting down at his desk, there was another knock at the door. ¡°Geesh, this is going to be a long day,¡± Dan thought, as Katie opened the door and a young woman came in, walked up to his desk, and sat down across from him, not waiting for an invitation to do so.

    ¡°Hello Dean Amor. I¡¯m Paula Moretti, a student worker.¡±

    ¡°Hello Ms. Moretti¡± Dan said. ¡°What can I do for you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m actually here to see what I can do for you.¡± She replied, giving him a broad smile, and tossing her dirty-blonde curls over her shoulder. She was 18 or 19 years old, very well dressed in expensive tight-fitting designer jeans and a silk blouse. She was very pretty and nearly as petite as Katie herself. ¡°I¡¯m currently working for Ms. Smith and Ms. Washington as their work study student. I help them with their computer and typing labs. And I help out in reception too. But I¡¯d much rather work for you, at least part of the time. Could you use my help a couple of days a week? I¡¯m working to help pay for the tuition and student loans while attending the AOS program here.¡±

    Dan smiled as it was very clear to him from her clothing, stylist, and jewelry that she did not need the money. But what he said was, ¡°I appreciate your willingness to help, but I already have a secretary, as you can see.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I know. Katie and I know each other. We even live in the same neighborhood in Howard Beach. We ride to school together sometimes.¡± That was true, as Dan would later learn. ¡°But she only works part time and I¡¯d like to supplement what she does or do anything else you assign me to do. I am an excellent typist, I can file, work the copying machines, or just be an all-around gofer. I can work whenever you like¡ªmy schedule is very flexible¡ªdays, nights, evenings or even weekends if needed.¡±

    ¡°I really appreciate it, Ms. Moretti, but Ms. Ricci is very efficient, and my needs are modest. Also, I¡¯m pretty much of a hands-on guy, preferring to do most of my correspondence and computer work myself.¡±

    ¡°I love working for a hands-on boss,¡± she said in a perfectly innocent tone through large green eyes that fluttered constantly left to right as she alternated focusing on Dan¡¯s left and right eyes while she spoke.

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep you in mind, though I¡¯m good for now,¡± Dan said.

    ¡°All right. I just wanted to offer my services. I can work for Mr. Lantz too, but I¡¯d much rather work for you if you¡¯ll have me,¡± she said looking back over her shoulder at him as she walked towards the door and left.

 Chapter 33: Katie

    ¡°What was that all about?¡± Dan asked Katie after the girl had left.

    ¡°Do I have to draw you a picture?¡± Katie asked him, wide-eyed in mock exasperation, her hands on her hips, followed by a giggle, then adding, ¡°I told you that you had some admirers, but you didn¡¯t want to hear it. Well, voila. There¡¯s one.¡±

    ¡°Where were all these admirers when I was unattached, young and very lonely?¡± Dan said, laughing.

    ¡°I don¡¯t see a ring on your finger, boss. And I saw you checking her out as she walked away.¡±

    ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll buy one to wear around the office,¡± he said, ignoring her comment.

    ¡°Don¡¯t think that would make much of a difference,¡± she retorted with a wry smile.

    ¡°Do you really know her?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s actually a good kid. But be careful.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my honor is safe.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that. She¡¯s connected.¡±

    ¡°Connected to what?¡± He asked, puzzled.

    She gave him an open-mouthed stare of disbelief. ¡°Are you really that dense?¡±

    ¡°I guess so,¡± he said.

    ¡°You know Don Corleone?¡±

    ¡°Not personally, but I¡¯ve seen his movies.¡±

    ¡°Well, the local version,¡± she said, rolling her eyes.

    ¡°Glad I don¡¯t own a racehorse¡±

    ¡°There are other things that can be cut off and left under your sheets,¡± she said frowning. ¡°But she really is a good kid, and I think she just genuinely likes you, and not necessarily like that.¡±

    ¡°Like what?¡± He asked, deadpan, teasing her.

    ¡°Geez Louise, I¡¯ll bring a drawing pad and some crayons tomorrow and draw you some diagrams with big lettering and small words.¡±

    ¡°Great secretary and an artist to boot. Lucky me.¡±

    She giggled, but then added ¡°I¡¯m not kidding.¡±

    ¡°Not to worry. I¡¯m harmless as you know.¡±

    ¡°Tell that to her uncle. And no, I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Hey, I haven¡¯t said or done anything inappropriate to you or anyone else, have I?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± she admitted. ¡°But maybe I¡¯m just not your type.¡±

    That was not a question he wanted to answer, so he simply said, ¡°Fortunately, I have to go evaluate Ms. Hunter again now while I still have all bodily parts fully attached.¡± He said and walked out the door with a legal pad in hand.

    ¡°Yeah, go make some new fans,¡± she called after him giggling as he closed the door.

    He got to Ms. Hunter¡¯s class five minutes before the class was slated to start and was happy to see her sitting at her desk without a magazine or book open in front of her. In fact, the textbook for the class was the only item on her desk. He nodded at her and made his way to the back of the room, noticing only one empty chair available next to Ms. Paula Moretti who looked at him with a broad smile as he approached.

    ¡°Hello again, Dean Amor. Nice to see you,¡± she said sweetly as he sat next to her. He said hi and tried his best to focus on Ms. Hunter up front. Peripherally he noticed, thankful, that Paula was also looking at her instructor and not him. Her scent, though, washed over him¡ªa just a touch of a fine perfume, unknown to him, but impossible to ignore. He wondered whether he actually needed all of his body parts. The Yacuza, after all, managed just fine with the tips of their fingers cut off for their transgressions, no? He smiled at his own black humor while wondering whether Katie had been teasing him again or not as Ms. Hunter actually rose and began her lecture. It was not perfect, but it was an incredible improvement over his last visit. She put notes on the board, called on students by name, answered questions fully. Overall, it was a very good class. He was very pleased¡ªperhaps more so than at the news of his new program approval earlier. He had made a difference for Ms. Hunter and her students. That truly mattered to him. Hard work and low pay meant nothing compared to the feeling he had while sitting in a very different class. He was proud of Ms. Hunter, really proud of her. It may be foolish to feel pride for someone simply doing what they should be doing in the first place, but there it was.

    At the end of the class, he was pleased to see that several students stopped by Ms. Hunter¡¯s desk and lingered there for questions. Paula rose and left, saying good-bye to him with a smile, leaving behind the lingering essence of her perfume as evidence that a lovely young woman had been there. He looked around the room and noticed another beautiful young woman looking his way¡ªthe classically beautiful blonde he had noticed on his first day, Katie¡¯s other friend. And as he rose up from his seat, a third woman, like him, in her mid to late twenties, approached him carrying something in her hand.

    ¡°Hello, Dean Amor,¡± she said. We have not formally met; I¡¯m Pamela Schmidt and I just wanted to say thank you for the difference you made to this class.

    ¡°I have not done anything¡ªThank Ms. Hunter for her excellent lesson.¡±

    ¡°It figures you¡¯d say that. Anyway, I just wanted to give you a token of my appreciation and respect,¡± she said, handing him what looked to be a book wrapped in colored tissue paper with a bow. ¡°It¡¯s my favorite poet, and I just wanted you to have it.¡± She added.

    ¡°I can¡¯t accept a gift,¡± he said.

    ¡°Please, it¡¯s nothing ¨C just a book, but it means everything to me, and I¡¯ll be really hurt if you don¡¯t take it. I bought it and dedicated it just for you.¡±

    He was taken aback and not knowing what to do or say, decided to accept the gift lest it cause offense or pain to the student. ¡°Thank you,¡± he said, ¡°Even though it is my policy not to accept anything of value from students, I¡¯ll make an exception in your case just this once as I don¡¯t want to give offense and do appreciate the gesture. You are very kind.¡±

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    ¡°No, you are very kind, and we are very lucky to have you here,¡± she said, then shyly walked away, looking over her shoulder at him before she reached the door.

    He noticed the beautiful blonde still staring at him and smiling. He smiled back and headed for the front of the room. She was wearing simple blue jeans, a powder-blue cotton blouse and sneakers. But she still looked every inch the model¡ªtruly one of the most stunningly beautiful women he had ever seen.

    ¡°Thank you for a terrific lecture, Ms. Hunter. It was a pleasure to sit in your class today. Stop by when you have some time, and we¡¯ll have a chat. Nice work, though,¡± he said, as she smiled and thanked him for coming.

    Back at his office, Katie immediately locked on to the fact that he was carrying a giftwrapped package. ¡°Ooh,¡± she called out, ¡°your admirers are now buying you candy? Flowers soon to follow?¡±

    ¡°Oh, stop it,¡± he chided. It¡¯s just a book from a student.

    ¡°The Kama Sutra? Lady Chatterley''s Lover?¡± She offered wide-eyed and straight-faced.

    ¡°More likely Animal Farm or Lord of the Flies.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re such a romantic,¡± she said, batting her eyes at him, hands clasped under her chin.

    He opened the package and groaned. ¡°Oh, Lord.¡±

    Peeking around him she burst out with peals of laughter. It was Kahlil Gibran¡¯s The Prophet.

    Katie laughed until tears glistened in her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re going to ruin my mascara,¡± she said giggling while wiping under her eyes with both index fingers.

    ¡°It¡¯s not funny.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s pretty funny,¡± she said, adding ¡°Is this the first time an admirer has given you a copy of The Prophet?¡± she asked.

    ¡°No.¡± he answered dryly and truthfully, making her burst into peals of laughter again.

    ¡°Cut it out. It¡¯s not funny. The poor woman did not take the time and trouble to buy this book for your amusement.¡± Dan said, actually getting annoyed as he felt guilty about the student involved as well for absolutely no rational reason.

    ¡°No, and I¡¯m sure she didn¡¯t buy a copy of the single ¡°You¡¯re Having My Baby¡± for my amusement either, but you¡¯ll forgive me if I laugh when she gives it to you next week,¡± Katie added, sniffling, and giggling at the same time.

    ¡°Come on, Katie. I feel bad. I¡¯m sure she¡¯s a very nice person that does not deserve being laughed at.¡±

    ¡°All right, all right.¡± Katie said, composing herself. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be mean. It¡¯s just funny. Who does that?¡± she said.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just drop it.¡±

    ¡°I am sorry Dan. I was ribbing you before and then you actually get something clearly intended as a romantic gesture. You have to admit it¡¯s pretty funny. I¡¯m not laughing at the person, just the situation.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Dan said. ¡°I just feel really bad about it.¡±

    ¡°Well, Romeo, I guess you¡¯d better get used to it around here, at least. You seem to be building a fan club.¡±

    ¡°About that, what was your friend doing in Ms. Hunter¡¯s class?¡±

    ¡°Paula? She¡¯s in her class,¡± Katie said.

    ¡°Not Paula, your other friend, the gorgeous blonde.¡±

    ¡°Ooooh, gorgeous now, is she? Now I know your type,¡± she said, giggling again.

    ¡°I¡¯m serious. I thought you said she¡¯s not in that class and I did not see her last time.¡±

    ¡°And we both know you would have noticed her had she been there, since she¡¯s your type and all,¡± she said, looking at him sideways.¡±

    ¡°Stop needling me and tell me why she was there already.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re just too easy to get riled up. She was just auditing the class because she knew you¡¯d be there today from Paula and hoped she could see you teach again. So, did you disappoint my goooorgeous friend?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re impossible. And if you tell her I said she¡¯s gorgeous I¡¯ll . . .¡±

    ¡°What, spank me? Fire me? Pull my hair? Chase my boyfriends away?¡±

    ¡°No. I¡¯ll just be hurt and very disappointed in you¡± Dan replied, dead serious. She had no snarky response to that, and just looked him in the eyes for a while, head slightly tilted to the right.

    ¡°You know what¡¯s really funny, Katie? All kidding aside, I would have been walking on air ten years ago if I got any kind of attention from women.¡±

    ¡°Oh, poor you having to be all alone in your room crying into your pillow,¡± she snickered.

    ¡°I¡¯m serious. In my late teens all the parents of the girls I was interested in fell in love with me¡ªand even those of many of the girls I was markedly uninterested in, for that matter. The daughters all pretty much universally ignored me with very few exceptions involving impossible situations. Linda was one of the very few that was attracted to me and was not afraid to show it in very subtle ways. I hate to admit it but it¡¯s one of the things that attracted me to her the most¡ªher interest and genuine love for me¡ªnot being rejected.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s rather narcissistic of you¡± she said smiling.

    ¡°I¡¯m serious. There have been to date a handful of women I¡¯ve fallen head over heels in love with. Most of them with impossible situations involving distance, split loyalties, and other complications. It¡¯s like I¡¯m cursed in that way.¡±

    ¡°You must have been an ugly teenager,¡± she quipped, smiling.

    ¡°13-14 yeah, kind of. 15 and up, nope. I was in great shape¡ª900 sit-ups every day, worked with free weights, could take a punch in my gut without feeling it, and did many times. Nothing like what I look like today.¡±

    ¡°Your fans sure seem to find you appealing enough,¡± she said, smiling wryly.

    ¡°My fans, as you call them, are doubtless involved in some silly game or competition as to who can catch my eye and make a fool out of me.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t think so¡ªI¡¯d know that for a fact as I know two of the three players in that game pretty well.¡± She said that in a serious tone. ¡°Can I ask you a personal question?¡± She then added in the same serious tone.

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°Why have you been with your girlfriend so many years without getting married?¡±

    ¡°I love Linda very much. But it¡¯s complicated for reasons I won¡¯t get into.¡±

    ¡°Did you guys ever break up?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, once, for more than a year.¡±

    ¡°Why? If you don¡¯t mind telling me?¡±

    ¡°Because I fell in love with someone else.¡±

    ¡°You cheated? I find that hard to believe,¡± she said, looking at him sideways while wrinkling her nose at him.

    ¡°I did not cheat in the technical sense¡ªnothing happened. Not even a kiss. I just had stronger feelings for someone else than Linda.¡±

    ¡°You fell out of love?¡±

    ¡°Not fell out of love, no--just fell in love with someone else. I always loved and will always love Linda, no matter what.¡±

    ¡°How can you be in love with two people at once?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a question you need to answer for yourself.¡±

    ¡°There are many levels and layers of love. I have always been a hopeless romantic, but I¡¯ve never believed and don¡¯t believe today that there is just one perfect person for everyone. There are MANY perfect or near-perfect people for everyone, just as there are MANY absurd pairings that will drive couples to drink, to drugs, or simply to a life of endless misery. I know for a fact that there are at least a half dozen women I have known with whom I could be blissfully happy¡ªmore compatible with me than Linda¡ªand whom I believe I could have made very happy too, possibly much more so than Linda if we eventually marry which is almost inevitable.¡±

    ¡°Why inevitable?¡±

    ¡°Long, complicated story I am not willing to share. We love each other very much, are in love with each other and have been for a long time.¡±

    ¡°Then how come you fell in love with someone else?¡±

    ¡°What, you think I got enlightenment since the last two times you asked me the same question?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m serious, Dan.¡±

    ¡°Me too. I DO NOT KNOW.¡±

    ¡°So, what happens if you marry and then find someone else more perfect for you and you for her?¡±

    ¡°Nothing happens. I will marry for life. The oath matters to me, and not just because I¡¯m Catholic.¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯ll grin and bear it and not stray or divorce or find a reason to simply run away?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°How do you know.¡±

    ¡°I know. And if you knew me better, you would know that too.¡±

    ¡°What happens if you fall in love with someone else before you marry Linda?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t¡±

    ¡°What if?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°So, do you think you are ready to get married?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Were you ready to get married before to someone else had things been different?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Yes, as sure as I can be, though I¡¯ll never know for sure.¡±

    ¡°Without so much as kissing her?¡±

    ¡°Yes.

    ¡°You have a problem, boss.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    Just then, to Dan¡¯s great relief, someone knocked on the door.¡±

    Katie opened the door and Ms. Hunter walked in, asking, ¡°Is now a good time?¡±

    ¡°Perfect, Ms. Hunter. Please sit down.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to work in reception until 5:00 p.m. See you tomorrow, boss.¡±

    ¡°See you, Katie. And thanks for the free psychoanalysis,¡± he smiled ruefully.

    ¡°No prob. G¡¯night.¡± And she was gone.

 Chapter 34: Vanessa Hunter

    Dan discussed his observation with Ms. Hunter, noting the huge improvement across the board, then typed up his evaluation which did not note any significant need for improvement and featured praise for her preparation, rapport with students, class control, fielding of questions, and active effort to involve her students. He then printed out two copies, had Ms. Hunter review and sign them and asked her to add any comments she wished. She signed her copy and the file copy, and, in the comments, she simply wrote: ¡°Thank you for believing in me and for your support. It means more than you can know.¡±

    She left happy, and left Dan buoyed by her improvement, but pained by Katie¡¯s having forced him to look deep within himself in the dark places he did not wish to shed light on. After filing the evaluation, he turned his attention to his next most pressing task: staffing for the new program. He was adding a new program without removing an existing one, so he would have to either hire some part-time faculty members, ask for a new faculty line, which he knew would be a non-starter, or get his existing faculty to fill in. He would need basically coverage for three new classes every day, and six new classes when he expanded the program to two sections. Tomorrow he would need to speak to Marvin and sort this out. Meantime, he would work on a new help wanted ad in case a part time position was approved and would schedule a faculty meeting for the end of the week again. He needed to inform his faculty about the new program officially, though by now he was certain the news had spread to everyone via the grapevine, and he would use the opportunity to get a feel for the feasibility of faculty teaching additional classes. That would present a challenge as far as scheduling, but he would run it for the first time in the evening anyway as it would be an ideal time to attract individuals who might need job retraining but have day jobs already. It would be yet another busy week for him¡ªbut a challenge he welcomed.

    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    By the time he was done, it was past 9:00 p.m. yet again. He called Linda from the office to apologize for having to work late yet again and promising that he would leave earlier tomorrow and take her to dinner. She was disappointed but did her best to hide it. Five weeks in, there was no real letup in his workload, and she was beginning to ask both herself and him openly when this was going to end. As with even more important things than this, Dan did not know, but said ¡°soon,¡± hoping it to be true.

 Chapter 35: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

    The following day was uneventful. He worked late, but not as late as usual so that he could take Linda to dinner as he had promised. When he got to her home to pick her up, she surprised him by having cooked a wonderful dinner they shared with her parents. She simply did not want him to have to go out after a long day at work and was genuinely happy and content to have him at home. Her consideration and love touched Dan deeply. But he made her promise that they would have a nice dinner out on Saturday and Sunday as he wanted to show her off. She smiled and agreed for a nice weekend together doing the things they both loved to do, and visiting their favorite eateries in Astoria, Flushing, Bay Terrace or Rego Park.  He got home at a reasonable hour, just after 11:00 p.m., and had a relaxing night¡¯s sleep with pleasant dreams.

    The next day, Dan got to work a bit earlier than usual to post a notice by the time clock so that the faculty could read about a meeting scheduled for Friday at Noon when they punched in. By 9:00 a.m., he waited at the lobby for Marvin so that he could request an ad placement for part time faculty and discuss other related matters. When Marvin walked in a short time later, Dan rose from his seat to meet him and was surprised to hear Marvin say, ¡°It¡¯s good you¡¯re here, Dan. I need to talk to you first thing. Please come in,¡± then, turning to Taisha he said, ¡°Hold all my calls until I tell you otherwise. I don¡¯t want to be disturbed.¡± He then opened the door that led to the administrative wing of the school and held it for Dan, waving him through. Dan did as he was bid, wondering about Marvin¡¯s unusually serious demeanor. When they got to Marvin¡¯s office, again Marvin held the door open and waved him in as he turned on the lights. Dan sat in his usual spot across from Marvin¡¯s desk and waited for the other to put down his briefcase and sit at his desk.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on, Marvin?¡± Dan said. ¡°Is everything all right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. Everything¡¯s fine. I just need to talk to you about yesterday¡¯s meeting with the Melameds about certain matters that concern you.¡± He was still uncharacteristically serious and looking intently at Dan, who chose to say nothing and wait for whatever was coming.

    ¡°I was called to the home office yesterday mostly to discuss your future at PEMTI.¡± Marvin started after a short pause, still looking intently at Dan. ¡°The Melameds are very impressed with you, and they discussed the possibility of making a change.¡±

    ¡°That sounds ominous,¡± Dan said, eyes narrowing.

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s a good thing. They want you to take over the Manhattan school as their new director.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re joking, right? I¡¯ve been here for little more than a month and am still trying to understand my own job . . .¡±

    ¡°They are very serious. They want to turn over the school to you¡ªyou¡¯d report to them but would basically have autonomy to make any changes you want, put together your own team¡ªa free hand. You¡¯d be able to make changes in the other schools too. They have big plans for you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that, but what about their dean over there?¡±

    ¡°Howard? What about him?¡±

    ¡°Well, he¡¯s been with them for a significant number of years, he has enormous experience in the industry and he¡¯s second in command and the deans¡¯ dean, right?¡±

    ¡°I see where you¡¯re going Dan, but he¡¯s not going to get the job. In fact, he¡¯s gone as of the end of the week, although he doesn¡¯t know it yet.¡±

    ¡°But why?¡± Dan insisted. ¡°That makes no sense. They¡¯ll hire me and can their senior academic administrator to boot? I¡¯m flattered, but also concerned. That seems nuts to me as far as business decisions go. Put in someone completely untested and get rid of the senior most administrator they have now?¡±

    ¡°Look,¡± Marvin said, sighing, ¡°Let me be blunt. By doing what they thought to be impossible in a ridiculously short timeframe you proved the collective incompetence of the people they trusted to, well, effectively make them money.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re actually going to tell me that I¡¯m responsible for getting Howard canned?¡±

    ¡°Yes. And not just Howard. They love you but as to the rest of us, not so much. If you, a newbie, can do what they were told could not be done in a month with no previous experience, they want to know what the rest of us have been doing for years.¡±

    ¡°So, I do something good, and others get punished as a result?¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯ve got to admit you made all of us look bad.¡± Marvin actually presented Dan with a shadow of a smile.

    ¡°You¡¯re not going to tell me that you now have a problem too?¡±

    ¡°No, though they grilled me about why no one else had thought of this before when it was obvious to you walking in cold and with no experience. Fortunately for me, I got behind you from the start, so I get some of the credit for recognizing and supporting a good idea, albeit late. My defense was simply that, well, you¡¯re a genius and the rest of us did not see the opportunities that you immediately seized upon until you opened our eyes.¡± He actually gave a broad smile at that.

    ¡°Well, Marvin, my answer is thanks but no thanks.¡±

    ¡°You need to consider this, Dan. First of all, the economic rewards would be very significant¡ªthey wanted me to emphasize that. You can negotiate a really good deal.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not about money for me, Marvin. If it were, I¡¯d practice law¡ªthat at least would make my folks happy, and probably my girlfriend too¡ªseeing me finally become financially independent. My dad thinks I¡¯ve lost my mind, especially when I told him my salary and the hours I¡¯ve been keeping. He¡¯s probably right. But I need to make a difference in a way that satisfies me, not anyone else. For now, I like my job here. Being a proprietary school director, however well paid, is not what I want to do¡ªno offense.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m happy to hear you want to stay, but you should think about this at least until tomorrow. Talk to your folks, your girlfriend. Get some sound advice. And be aware that the Melameds don¡¯t take kindly to not getting their way.¡±

    This actually made Dan bristle. ¡°The Melameds can be as unhappy as they like. It is not my mission in life to bring them joy. I on the other hand am not at all happy about being the reason people get fired. You see, I actually believe that loyalty is something you earn, and should run two-ways. This is not the way to earn mine. Tell them thanks but no thanks. I¡¯m happy here with you as my boss and if they want to fire me for disloyalty, I¡¯ll be glad to take my ball and play a different game in a different court. No problem.¡±

    At this, Marvin seemed to relax, and his usual beatific smile returned. ¡°I was sure I¡¯d lose you,¡± he said.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know me very well. I will always work hard but will never ask ¡®how high?¡¯ when someone demands I jump.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind,¡± Marvin said. ¡°I¡¯ll call them to give them the bad news.¡±

    ¡°Fine,¡± said Dan, then pivoted to his own agenda. ¡°I need permission and funds to run an ad for instructors to teach the new courses. I¡¯d like a part time instructor for three classes a day who is experienced with WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3, and dBase III. I¡¯m going to have another faculty meeting on Friday to update the faculty on the new course approval and timeline for implementation, which is item 2 on my agenda with you for today. I¡¯ll ask if any of them are willing to teach these courses as overload. Though that¡¯s not ideal it could be a backup plan if the ad does not pan out. I¡¯ll also ask them, to tell any colleagues they may know who teach elsewhere and who have the necessary expertise.¡±

    ¡°Sound good, Dan. Send me a draft copy of the ad and I¡¯ll have it placed on the Sunday Times classified section.¡±

    ¡°Great. I¡¯ll get a copy to you sometime after lunch. Now about the time frame for running the new course, when do you think it can go live?¡±

    ¡°A week after you get the necessary coverage for the classes should be all right. They¡¯ll start advertising it as of tomorrow in some media outlets¡ªprint mostly for now.¡±

    ¡°They?¡± Dan asked, confused.

    ¡°Yeah, yesterday¡¯s meeting with me was mostly about you, but they had a separate meeting for all of the directors from the other five schools present for a launch of the new program that they are immediately going to port to all of the schools. A date has not been decided yet for the program¡¯s start, so they¡¯re doing an advertisement campaign on local radio, TV and in print for the next two weeks giving the local numbers for prospective students to call for more information with a Classes starting soon tag. They¡¯re going to emphasize the self-paced individualized instruction and the continuous rolling enrollment at a time that best suits each individual student.¡±

    ¡°They sure didn¡¯t waste any time.¡±

    ¡°No, they didn¡¯t,¡± Marvin replied, his beatific smile now back for good. ¡°First, they gave us all the stick: why does it take an outsider with no industry experience to do what the so-called experts they hand-picked could not do with all their collective experience, yada, yada, yada. And they also made it clear personnel changes would be coming as a result. Then came the carrot¡ªthe brand-new program shepherded in record time by their brilliant new dean.¡±

    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    ¡°Anything about the cost to the students yet?¡±

    ¡°I was hoping you would not ask as you won¡¯t like the answer. $4,000 for the three-month course. No attrition to worry about because of the rolling employment, only three classes a day instead of the usual four or five for most other programs, and effectively more than double the yield annually.¡±

    ¡°Are they out of their God damned minds?¡± Dan said, furious. ¡°I told you that a primary motivator for me was getting students training that would make them employable in decent-paying jobs as quickly as possible at the lowest possible cost. I envisioned $2,000 at the very most for the program¡ªstill a hell of a lot better yield at a lower cost in terms of faculty salaries and no attrition than anything you now run¡ªby far. $4,000 for a three-month certificate is insane!¡± He was really beside himself now, having gotten up from his seat and pacing back and forth in front of Marvin¡¯s desk as he vented.

    ¡°I knew you¡¯d be upset. But you¡¯ve got to understand, it¡¯s a business and the model is charge what the market will bear. They actually thought they could get more but wanted to make sure they could fill every seat and have students on a standby list for graduations and attrition that might occur if students drop out. I know how you feel, Dan, I really do. But understand you¡¯re doing future students a real service by providing meaningful training in a quarter of the time of some of our other programs and effectively at a lower cost so they can go right to work, start earning and still pay a fraction of what we charge for any of our other programs.¡±

    ¡°Nice job of putting lipstick on a pig, Marvin. But it still oinks, smells bad and I am not taking it to the prom.¡±

    ¡°Calm down, Dan. We do the best we can with what we have.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not good enough for me. And I¡¯m telling you in no uncertain terms, don¡¯t expect me to develop any additional programs. That is never happening. I¡¯ll do what I can to strengthen our existing programs and ensure students get a reasonable education as long as I¡¯m here, but that¡¯s as far as I¡¯ll go. They just pushed the ball and started it rolling down a slippery hill from which there no return.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear that, Dan. But please, calm down. When you see the benefits of what you¡¯ve accomplished, you¡¯ll feel differently. And I almost forgot. The Melameds asked me to extend their personal thanks and to invite you to take your girlfriend to a restaurant of your choice. Try to pay with a credit card and leave the standard 15% gratuity so they¡¯ll reimburse you. They want you to have a great celebratory dinner on them as a token of their gratitude.¡±

    ¡°Let me get this straight. I more than double their profits for all six schools and their gratitude is to send me to dinner at the restaurant of my choice?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not fair, Dan. They are offering you the directorship of their flagship school which would give you the chance to make the kinds of changes you want and a six-figure salary with additional significant performance bonuses. And they assume you will be thrilled to take it, which is not an unreasonable assumption on their part¡ªdon¡¯t ignore that.¡±

    ¡°With all due respect, Marvin¡ªand I realize you¡¯re in a tough spot here. The promotion was just an attempt to corral the goose that laid the golden egg. It was not about rewarding me. It was about using me to maximize their profits.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not fair, Dan. This is a business. You knew that going in. Both in their minds and in fact the Melameds are giving you a huge reward and a tremendous promotion despite the fact you¡¯ve been here an incredibly short time. It¡¯s not just the dinner, and you know it.¡±

    ¡°I get that. But you know it¡¯s not about the money for me. However, given that I am not interested in their generous offer, what chance is there that they will reward me in a different way if I just want to keep my job here?¡±

    ¡°My guess is the dinner is probably it,¡± Marvin said, sighing.

    ¡°That¡¯s my point. You can tell them from me that dinner is not necessary as I was just doing my job. But you need to know that I will not celebrate over steak, lobster and champagne my having unwittingly screwed a lot of people.¡± With that, he stormed out, leaving Marvin staring behind him, his usual smile no longer on his lips.

    When he got to his office, he was surprised to see Katie there, working on her computer. Then he remembered they were supposed to go to lunch today. He looked at his watch¡ªearly. Too bad. He called Bob and said ¡°Hey, ready for lunch? I¡¯m hungry and want to drive out to a favorite restaurant in Rego Park¡ªI¡¯ll drive.¡± Bob said he¡¯d meet them at reception and offered to get Marvin.

    ¡°No, I¡¯ve had all I want to see of Marvin for today¡ªlet¡¯s make it just you, Katie and me, all right? I¡¯ll explain at lunch. You didn¡¯t mention anything to him already, did you?¡±

    ¡°No, he just stuck his head in for a quick gossip after you left his office, but I frankly forgot about out lunch date for today¡ªat least as far as it concerned him.¡±

    ¡°Good. I¡¯ll take Marvin to lunch with us some another time¡ªI don¡¯t feel like hearing anything else he might have to say about anything today until I cool off. See you in a minute.¡±

    ¡°You ready,¡± he asked Katie who nodded and saved whatever she was working on and shut the computer down. ¡°Good to go, boss,¡± but you seem tense. Everything all right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll explain over lunch or on the way.¡±

    ¡°I have to stop in the conference room for a moment to check on something. I¡¯ll catch up with you¡ªgo meet Bob.¡± He then headed for the conference room and right for her time card which, as he suspected, she had not punched in. He punched in for her. Just let Marvin say anything about needing permission for the overtime. He¡¯d pay for lunch, but the Melameds would at least pay for her time. He was in no mood to have her taken advantage of along with everybody else¡ªespecially not her.

    He joined Bob and Katie at the reception area, and he asked Taisha and Paula who was helping her today with some correspondence ¡°Do you ladies like seafood?¡± they both looked at him and nodded, Taisha was especially enthusiastic in doing so. ¡°Well, don¡¯t have lunch if you brought it today. I¡¯ll bring you back a treat. Do you prefer red, white or green sauce?¡±

    ¡°Green?¡± Taisha asked, scrunching up her nose.

    ¡°Yeah, green sauce is garlic, onions and a lot of finely chopped parsley saut¨¦ed in olive oil. Red sauce is tomato-based, and white sauce is basically garlic and scallions based¡ªat least where we¡¯re going.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take red, thanks,¡± Taisha said still looking at him as though he had suggested roasted cockroaches with a side of fried fleas. ¡°What about you, Paula?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re gonna buy me lunch too?¡± she said, smiling.

    ¡°You bet. Celebrating lessons learned today.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take whatever you like,¡± she said, smiling broadly.

    ¡°Are you sure? I¡¯ll probably order the green sauce.¡±

    Taisha scrunched her nose again. ¡°But you may not like it if you haven¡¯t tried it before.¡±

    ¡°If you like it, I¡¯ll love it,¡± she said.

    ¡°Suit yourself, just don¡¯t throw it at me if you don¡¯t like it.¡± Dan said, laughing. ¡°We won¡¯t be back for a couple of hours¡ªgood food takes time,¡± he added. But it¡¯s worth it.

    With that, he led the way out. A couple of minutes later, they were walking up the garage stairs to his car. ¡°Second floor today¡ªno workout,¡± he said.

    Bob went for the seat behind Dan, as Katie got into the passenger seat, with him holding the door for her. No sooner had he put the car in reverse and started to pull out from his spot, Bob chimed in. ¡°So, I heard you turned down the Manhattan school directorship today.¡±

    ¡°I wish Marvin had not shared that,¡± he said as Katie looked at him serious, mouth half open.

    ¡°But, why? Are you nuts?¡± Bob insisted.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to talk about that¡ªnot even to Katie or you. I wanted to talk about what¡¯s bugging me today.¡±

    ¡°Fine, but still, why would you turn down the directorship? Do you know how much money those guys make¡ªincluding profit sharing and performance bonuses?¡±

    ¡°Money was not discussed and was not the issue. This was never about the money for me.¡±

    ¡°Still,¡± Bob insisted, ¡°You could have done a lot of good at the flagship school, Dan. Why would you turn it down?¡±

    ¡°For a number of reasons I don¡¯t want to get into. The important thing is I¡¯m happy here, in my current role, or at least I was,¡± he said, turning into traffic and driving for almost a quarter mile before being able to get into the left-most lane of Queens Boulevard for the U-turn needed to head back West towards Rego Park for the fifteen-minute ride to one of his and his girlfriend¡¯s favorite Spanish restaurants. I wanted to make a real difference to students and to my faculty, not manage an organization focused on the bottom line first and foremost.¡±

    ¡°Man, did you come to the wrong rodeo,¡± Bob quipped from the back, laughing.

    ¡°I developed the new program with the stated purpose of getting students real training that would get them decent jobs after just three months. I proposed a three-month program priced at $2,000 that would still bring more revenue than even our longest program at a far lower cost¡ªjust three classes a day instead of four or five. Today I learned they¡¯re doing a major launch at all six schools with heavy advertising starting tomorrow to fill all 20 seats for a start as quickly as I can get a new part time faculty member on board. And they¡¯re pricing the certificate at $4,000.¡± Bob whistled from the back seat. ¡°Katie¡¯s expression was still unchanged¡ªserious look, half open mouth.¡±

    ¡°People also lost their jobs because of me¡ªsomething I would not have foreseen in a million years of planning worst-case scenarios.¡±

    ¡°How do you mean,¡± Bob asked.

    ¡°The Melameds were pissed off that nobody had thought of doing this before, basically,¡± Dan said and Bob laughed out loud again, more loudly this time.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to discuss this with anyone¡ªnot even Marvin, Bob¡± he said, looking at Bob in the eye through the rear-view mirror. ¡°But I¡¯m really pissed off.¡±

    ¡°I wish I could say I was surprised,¡± said Bob, serious this time. ¡°But I¡¯m not.¡±

    ¡°I never thought I¡¯d be here forever. This is not a job with a career path I want. But I was hoping to get some experience in the field of education and move on to a small college or university downstream in an administrative position. But this seals it. I doubt I¡¯ll make it to a year. They¡¯ve completely taken the wind from my sails. And I told Marvin not to expect any new programs from me. That door is shut, glued and nailed.¡±

    ¡°What did Marvin say?¡± Bob asked

    ¡°I have no idea. I kind of flew off the handle and stormed out not waiting for or wanting a reply. Unfortunately, I subjected him to my anger unfairly, and I¡¯ll apologize tomorrow when I¡¯ve cooled down.¡±

    ¡°Geez,¡± Katie finally said, still serious and adding nothing else.

    ¡°I hope at least you¡¯ll get a nice fat bonus for lining the Melamed¡¯s pockets,¡± Bob said.

    Dan laughed bitterly before answering. ¡°They offered to pay for a nice meal for my girlfriend and for me at the restaurant of my choice¡ªeven suggested I pay and leave a tip with a credit card so I can be reimbursed including the usual 15% gratuity¡ªa token of their gratitude I believe is an exact quote,¡± Dan scoffed¡ªthen laughed genuinely.

    ¡°You¡¯re joking,¡± Katie said,¡± mouth open again, eyes wide.

    ¡°Nope.¡±

    ¡°Pay with your credit card today and get them to reimburse you.¡± Bob suggested.

    ¡°No. Today I am celebrating getting done what I was told was not possible with the people that helped make it possible. Having it paid for by the Melameds would not allow the food to go down. And I will take Marvin to lunch some other time since he also helped make it possible and I already feel guilty about not including him today because my temper got the better of me.¡±

    ¡°So, what are you going to do?¡± Bob asked.

    ¡°My job¡ªwhat I came to do. I just won¡¯t do it for long or as happily as I hoped¡ªmaybe a year, as leaving before is not in my best interest. I thought I could make a real difference. I was incredibly na?ve. But I can still make a minor difference¡ªleave things better than I found them.¡±

    ¡°Maybe they¡¯ll reconsider,¡± Katie offered.

    ¡°Reconsider what? Charging a reasonable price? Paying people better? Rehiring the people they¡¯re firing? No. I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    They rode the rest of the short trip in silence until they arrived at their location. Dan found parking on a side street without the need to feed a meter, and they walked the block and a half to the restaurant, still in silence.

 Chapter 36: Lunch with Katie and Bob

    When they arrived, Dan¡¯s mood visibly changed. The hostess greeted him warmly as soon as they walked in. ¡°Where¡¯s your better half today?¡± she asked Dan.

    ¡°Home missing me¡ªI hope.¡±

    ¡°You should not be neglecting that lovely lady. She won¡¯t wait forever you know.¡±

    ¡°Gee Mary, we¡¯ve only been dating for thirty or forty years. Can¡¯t rush into these things.¡±

    ¡°You know what they say about good things and those who wait too long,¡± she quipped as she walked them to a corner table in the busy restaurant despite the relatively early time or day for lunch, the pricey menu for the area, and the long wait time for food that the chef always prepared fresh. ¡°Your server will be with you shortly,¡± she said before going back to her station by the door to greet other guests.

    ¡°Good afternoon, lady and gentlemen,¡± an impeccably attired waiter said moments after Mary had left. What may I start you out with today?¡±

    ¡°You guys trust me to order appetizers?¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± both Katie and Bob answered as one.

    ¡°O.K. then. Let¡¯s have pulpo a la Gallega, gambas al ajillo, and chorizo al vino as starters for us to share, Pablo¡ªand tell chef we need to get to the office before midnight,¡± Dan quipped. ¡°Give us a minute to decide on the main course but bring a bottle of Cava while we look at the menu and I translate if needed.¡±

    ¡°Sure thing, Dan.¡± He said, handing them menus. But you know the menu is in English and Spanish, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but my friends only speak Swahili¡ªdon¡¯t let their light skin fool you.¡±

    ¡°Pablo grinned but said nothing.¡±

    ¡°All right, the dishes do have translations, but some may require some explanation. They have a nice menu of steaks, chops, fresh fish, seafood and even some terrific vegetarian dishes if either of you suffers that malady.¡± He smiled.

    ¡°Take a look and choose what you like. I¡¯ve tasted a lot of their dishes in the past¡ªbut I almost always have the cazuela de mariscos, which is mixed seafood¡ªShrimp, scallops, clams, mussels, octopus, and lobster in either white, green, or red sauce. The paella is also great here¡ªand they have several varieties from seafood, my favorite, or chicken, chorizo, clams, meat only, or snails. I can¡¯t speak as to the latter as I don¡¯t eat anything that leaves a slime trail as it goes. The steaks and fish are also terrific.¡±

    ¡°Katie and Bob looked over the menu, then said, almost in unison, ¡°What do you suggest?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d go with the cazuela or the paella if you want something typical from Spain.

    ¡°Sounds great, but so is anything else.¡±

    ¡°What about you, Katie?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to try what you¡¯re having.¡±

    ¡°Red, white or green sauce?¡±

    ¡°Whatever you¡¯re having, they both said.¡±

    ¡°How do you feel about garlic?¡± he asked, looking at both.

    ¡°Love it,¡± Bob said. Katie just looked at him with her head cocked, ¡°I¡¯m Italian, remember?¡±

    ¡°O.k. we¡¯re set then. I guarantee you will either love me forever or never, ever allow me to order for you again in the future¡ªthere¡¯s just no middle ground on this.¡±

    Bob and Katie both laughed, as Pablo came by with a bottle of bubbly, three champagne flutes and a large basket of steaming breads¡ªrolls and large slices of Italian and peasant bread.

    ¡°Your tapas will be out soon. Are you folks ready to order?¡± He asked.

    ¡°An easy order today, Pablo. We¡¯ll all have cazuela de mariscos en salsa verde. I¡¯ll also need two more to go¡ªone salsa verde and one salsa roja.

    ¡°Perfect. You know it will take approximately 45 minutes to prepare?¡±

    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Yes, chef has to go to Rockaway to dig up the clams himself and then go deep sea diving for the scallops and shrimp, and swing by the Coast of Maine for the lobster. The mussels and Octopus he buys from Pathmark just to prove he¡¯s a real eccentric.¡± Dan quipped.

    ¡°If he hears you, it will take three hours and you¡¯ll find sand in the clams,¡± Pablo said, while popping the cork and serving the chilled bubbly.

    ¡°No problem, we are playing hooky today and my teeth at least are already shot from eating here too often.¡±

    When he left, Dan lifted his glass and said, ¡°To new friends.¡±

    Bob and Katie clinked their glasses with his, and they drank the semi-dry white effervescent wine with pleasure. Fifteen minutes later, their tapas arrived.

    ¡°So, what did you order?¡± Bob asked.

    ¡°Prawns in garlic sauce, pork sausage fried with a wine reduction, and octopus like they have it in my neck of the woods¡ªGalician style which is basically boiled with extra virgin olive oil drizzled on top, salt and paprika. Nothing else.

    ¡°Are you trying to get me kicked out of the tribe?¡± Bob laughed.

    ¡°You forget, we¡¯ve been eating together for a while now¡ªI keep kosher better than you as far as the dietary laws go. Plus, you can eat the bread and the Kosher salt on the octopus and prawns and Katie and I will polish off the rest.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t give you the satisfaction,¡± Bob said chuckling.

    ¡°All kidding aside, I know that octopus in particular is not for everybody, but I ordered it in case you were willing to try it. I won¡¯t force it on you. The cazuela has it too, but you can put it aside,¡± Dan said. As it turns out, Katie and Bob both liked the octopus, and everything else. Dan contented himself mostly with dunking the fresh, crusty break on the remnants of the olive oil and garlic left on the plate of prawns¡ªhis favorite part of that particular tapa.

    Conversation carried them through the next half hour or so when their lunch was served¡ªsomewhat less than an hour from the time it was ordered.

    The food was, as always, delicious and Dan was gratified that both Bob and Katie seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. Another bottle of wine¡ªAlbari?o this time, the prized white wine from Dan¡¯s native Galicia. Dessert was brazo de gitana a rich dessert made from a very thin sheet of sponge-like cake imbued with chocolate liqueur, and layered with shaved almonds, almond paste, cr¨¨me fresh, chocolate, figs, and home-made peach preserves then rolled up and covered in melted chocolate frosting with curled shavings of dark chocolate on top. There were many variations on this dessert, but this restaurant¡¯s version was one of Dan¡¯s favorites. Cappuccino for Katie, a regular American coffee for Bob and a triple espresso for Dan rounded out their very satisfying lunch. Dan nearly finished his main course, with neither Bob nor Katie coming close to doing so.  Pablo brought the two dishes to go along with the check and told Dan that he had included two bottles of Coke and Orange Fanta with each of the meals with his complements.

    ¡°Bob and Katie wanted to split the bill, and when Dan would not hear it, both tried to grab for the check when it came, but the waiter who knew Dan and had been asked by him to bring him the check gave it to him in hand. He paid for the meal with his credit card and slipped a $100 bill folded in half along with his credit card in the leather bill case. Bob had insisted on at least leaving the tip, which Dan would not allow, nor would he tell him what it had cost, though Katie had noticed the tip he had left and was shaking her head.

    When the credit card and receipt were brought back for his signature, Pablo thanked Dan warmly and wished them a good day. Mary called after Dan asking him to send her regards to Linda, which he said he would convey. Twenty minutes later, they were back in the reception area. Dan gave Taisha and Paula each their food package which included large Tupperware plastic containers with aluminum foil wrapped silver-looking utensils that were actually made from plastic, still-hot bread wrapped in real linen napkins and the bottles of soda. ¡°I hope you enjoy your meals¡ªit is what we all had.¡± Dan noticed with a smile as the girls unwrapped their food that Pablo had even included two generous servings of the brazo de gitana in smaller Tupperware containers though he had neglected to ask for that when he had originally placed the order.

    Bob thanked Dan for the meal and headed for his office, while Katie followed Dan back to their office, walking beside him. ¡°I have to clock in, she said as they reached the hallway on the classroom side of the building.

    ¡°I already took care of it before we left.¡± Dan said. She opened her mouth to object but, thinking better of it, said nothing but ¡°thank you.¡±

    Back in their office Katie said, ¡°That was really a wonderful meal, Dan. Thank you.¡± Then she added, ¡°I am so sorry about the new program. I really am.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the way the cookie crumbles, kiddo,¡± he said with a resigned sigh. ¡°Hey, at least I have no guilt about the occasional three-hour lunch starting today,¡± he said wryly.

    ¡°I¡¯m sad for you, and also because I know you¡¯re not going to be here for long after today. I knew it was too good to last.¡±

    ¡°Hey, no matter where I go or when, we¡¯ll keep in touch, o.k.? I promise.¡± Yet another of too many promises Dan had made in good faith but would not keep.

    Katie went back to her filing, and Dan sat down at her desk to write the help wanted ad he had promised to get to Marvin after lunch. As soon as he had done that, he walked it to Marvin¡¯s office, put it on his desk and walked out without saying a word.

    At 5:00 o¡¯clock sharp, he left at the same time as Katie. He offered to drive her home, and she accepted the offer. They barely spoke on the way other than Katie giving him directions since he had not previously been to her house. After dropping her off, he went straight to Linda¡¯s house no longer fuming, but simply resigned to make the best of an imperfect situation.

    By 9:00 p.m., he was at home. He called his parents, spoke with them for about an hour saying nothing about today¡¯s events other than his pleasant lunch with colleagues, and went to bed at the reasonable time of 10:00 p.m. for once, skipping dinner as he was still stuffed from that day¡¯s lunch.

 Chapter 37: Paula and Marvin

    Friday Dan arrived at his office as usual before 9:00 a.m. He was surprised to see Paula standing by his door. ¡°I just wanted to tell you thanks for yesterday¡¯s lunch,¡± she said. ¡°I recognized the restaurant by the embroidered napkin. My boyfriend took me there for my birthday a couple of months ago. It¡¯s a really nice place and you didn¡¯t have to do that for Taisha and me. We both really appreciated that and wanted you to know.¡±

    ¡°Is your boyfriend from Spain also?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yes, from the same region as your family, Galicia. He¡¯s my uncle¡¯s driver.¡±

    Visions of body parts left under his covers joyously harvested by his compatriot with or without uncle¡¯s instructions flashed before Dan¡¯s eyes, causing him to smile at the absurdity of the image. He also wondered whether this was a strange yarn being weaved by a young girl¡¯s overactive imagination for his, what, amusement? To impress him? His smile broadened.

    I¡¯m glad you liked it,¡± he said. ¡°What did Taisha think of the green sauce?¡±

    ¡°She wanted to taste it after she saw it and caught the aroma. She loved it, and we actually shared each other¡¯s food. What was that desert?¡±

    ¡°Brazo de gitana¡ªa female-gypsy¡¯s arm, literally. Don¡¯t ask me why the strange name¡ªI¡¯ve no idea.¡±

    ¡°Gotta remember that for the next time he takes me there which will be soon if I have anything to say about it. Taisha said to tell you thanks too. She¡¯s out today¡ªher babysitter¡¯s sick and she had to stay home with her son.¡±

    You are both very welcome and I¡¯m really glad you both enjoyed the meal.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a really nice guy, you know that?¡± she said, getting up to leave.

    ¡°Is that why I keep finishing last at everything I do?¡± he quipped.

    ¡°Not in my book, Dean,¡± then added as she closed the door behind her, ¡°You live up to your last name.¡±

    Dan smiled, wondering if there was something in the water fountains at PEMTI that clouded the judgment of young women. As he was thinking this, he heard knocking at his door.

    ¡°Come in, it¡¯s unlocked,¡± he called out. It was Marvin.

    ¡°Good morning, Dan. I just wanted you to know that the classified ad for a part time instructor will be on Sunday¡¯s New York Times, as promised, he said, seating himself on one of the chairs in front of Dan¡¯s desk.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Marvin. I appreciate that. I¡¯ll start setting up interviews as applications start coming in next week.¡± Then, after a pause, he added, ¡°Listen, I¡¯ve been meaning to apologize for my unloading on you after our last meeting. That was neither fair nor professional of me. You are not the problem¡ªquite the contrary. I was and am upset at the Melameds, but not you. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    ¡°No need for that,¡± Marvin replied waving the apology off with a hand gesture. ¡°I understand how you feel. I was not looking forward to discussing their decision with you, especially on the tuition cost. I want you to know that I told Benjamin that you were very unhappy about the tuition issue but that I did not discuss that with you until after you¡¯d declined his offer to take on the directorship of the Manhattan school. I did not want him to link the two in his mind or know your feelings about not creating any additional programs as that would almost certainly result in your getting fired¡ªsomething I did not want for your sake or for mine as I¡¯d like to keep you around as long as I can.¡±

    ¡°I expect you did not share my actual reaction about the dinner offer either,¡± Dan laughed.

    ¡°I thought I¡¯d take a more diplomatic approach and said you appreciated the offer but found it unnecessary.¡±

    ¡°Just between us, did they actually think I¡¯d be either impressed or grateful for a free dinner after what they¡¯ve done with my program? Don¡¯t get me wrong, there was no expectation on my part of any kind as to a tangible reward¡ªthat¡¯s not why I did it, and you know that. A simple personal note of thanks or a phone call expressing their appreciation would have been terrific. But a dinner as my thanks delivered through a third party? Really? They don¡¯t see how that devalues what I did much more than doing nothing at all? ¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re used to dealing with people who are just glad to have and keep their jobs, Dan. They don¡¯t know how to deal with you. And, in fairness to them, I know they expected you to jump at the chance they offered you and probably meant the dinner also as a celebration of your promotion and new role.¡±

    ¡°I overreacted and thought of that too after I flew off the handle with you. Nevertheless, if they really treat people as though they need to be happy to have and keep their jobs, then they will only ever attract and keep people who are just glad to have a job.¡±

    Marvin made no response other than to try to change the subject. ¡°I wanted to speak to you today about going out with me next week to some hospitals and nursing homes. We need to secure some additional facilities in which to place our nursing assistant students for their required practicums. Marie has been very helpful in the past in working with our existing partners, but she gave me notice today that she¡¯s leaving after this class graduates in two weeks. She¡¯s taking maternity leave as she¡¯s due in about a month. That means you also need to interview for an RN to take over for the incoming class. I also put an ad in the Sunday Times for that, so expect to be busy over the next couple of weeks with recruiting. If you can¡¯t find someone by then, we can postpone the start of the next class for a week if needed, but more than that would cause . . . problems.¡±

    ¡°You mean the Melameds would be unhappy?¡± Dan gave a sardonic grin.

    ¡°No, they¡¯d be unhappy if we postpone for a week¡ªthey¡¯d go on the warpath if it goes beyond that. I know you don¡¯t care, but please help me out here. Unlike you, I don¡¯t have a law license to fall back and like and intend  to keep my job.¡± There was no irony in his words.

    ¡°All right, I¡¯ll get on it.¡±

    ¡°Great,¡± Marvin said, actually showing signs of relief. ¡°I knew I could count on you. You¡¯re terrific, do you know that?¡±

    ¡°So I keep hearing. Gotta work for that next dinner invitation and all.¡±

    Marvin did not respond, just got up and left, once again wearing his perpetual smile.

    ¡°This just keeps getting better,¡± Dan said out loud in a low voice once the door had closed, followed by a deep sigh.

 Chapter 38: Second Faculty Meeting

    At Noon, Dan headed for the conference room for his meeting, carrying copies of the minutes from the last meeting that Ms. Smith had previously given him. He did not have a formal agenda to hand out, though.

    A few minutes after noon, he began the meeting, with everyone in attendance. ¡°Good afternoon, everyone. This will be a brief meeting. I don¡¯t have a formal agenda today as I just wanted to share some information. Nevertheless, I¡¯d appreciate it if someone would take the minutes.

    Vanessa Hunter immediately raised her hand and said, ¡°I¡¯ll do it. I¡¯ll be glad to be the note taker from now on unless someone else wants to do it,¡± she offered.

    ¡°Thanks very much, Ms. Hunter. Any objection? Hearing none you are now our meeting Secretary for as long as you¡¯re willing to serve. I have the minutes from last meeting that Ms. Hunter was kind enough to prepare and will hand them out and give you a few minutes to review them before asking for a motion to approve them.¡± He passed out copies to his right and left as he said this which were quickly passed around and read. After a couple of minutes when everyone had appeared to finish reading the minutes, he continued. ¡°Are there any corrections, additions or changes anyone would like to recommend?¡± No one raised a hand. ¡°As there appear to be no corrections needed, can someone make a motion to approve?¡±

    Eric Jones raised his hand and said, ¡°So moved.¡±

    Homer Gashette then said, ¡°I second.¡±

    ¡°All in favor,¡± Dan asked. A chorus of ¡°aye¡± went around the table. ¡°Any opposed?¡± no response. ¡°The minutes are approved,¡± Dan said, then continued, ¡°As I said before, I just wanted to formally inform you that a new three-month certificate program titled Computerized Office Support Specialist has been approved and should go live in a couple of weeks. I have an ad in this Sunday Times for a part-time instructor experienced in WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3, and dBase III. I¡¯ll begin interviews probably by the end of next week. But I wanted to ask whether any of you would be willing to teach any of those courses¡ªDOS is also a part of the first module which is Word-processing using WordPerfect.¡±

    Three hands went up from Ms. Smith, Mr. Haddad, and Ms. Cole, three of his most experienced faculty in computer subjects. ¡°That¡¯s great. Stop by my office when you have a chance, and we can discuss your interest and availability. I should tell you that the first course will run at night starting at 5:00 p.m. If we can staff it in-house, that would be great. Either way, though, I¡¯ll still do the interviewing for part-time faculty as I will need coverage to ensure I have someone on standby for each period if one or more of our colleagues here takes on the additional responsibility when they would otherwise have a free period. And, yes, if you are willing to teach during what is scheduled as a free period, I would make sure you were compensated for the extra class.¡± He noticed a number of faculty members nodding. Also, if you know any colleagues you can recommend as potential substitutes, please encourage them to apply.

    ¡°That¡¯s great. So, when are you leaving us to take on the Directorship of the flagship Manhattan school?¡± Martha Washington chimed in without raising her hand in a loud voice dripping with sarcasm, causing some audible gasps from the group and all eyes to turn on Dan.

    ¡°Who told you I was leaving,¡± He asked.

    ¡°Heard it through the grapevine.¡± She answered in the same tone as before.

    ¡°Well, don¡¯t believe everything you hear, Ms. Washington,¡± then turning to the group again, he continued ¡°Any other business for today from the group?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like an answer, Dean Amor,¡± she insisted, emphasizing his title and name.

    ¡°Not that it¡¯s any of your concern, Ms. Washington. But I¡¯ll tell you since you seem intent on pursuing the issue. I am NOT going anywhere at this time.

    ¡°You mean you were not offered the job?¡±

    ¡°I mean what I said: I am not going anywhere. Whether or not I was offered any job, however, is still none of your concern,¡± Dan was having a tough time dealing with her inexplicable insolence but tried to not show it.

    ¡°And can you tell us what benefit you are going to derive from the new program that I happen to know is going to be launched at all of our sister schools with a big media campaign at the same time?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be happy to, Ms. Washington. I will have the satisfaction of knowing that our students will be able to get meaningful training in a three-month period that can get them support positions in thousands of companies across the tri-state area alone¡ªalbeit at a much higher cost than I recommended and would have liked.¡±

    ¡°I meant what financial benefits will you get from this miraculous new program you created.¡± Dan was seething now, and everyone present could see it, not only because of her insolence but because she clearly had connections in at least one of the other schools from a highly placed source¡ªprobably a dean or administrator who had been called on the carpet as one of the unintended consequences of his success at getting the new program approved.

    ¡°If you must know, Ms. Washington, the sole tangible benefit of my ¡°miraculous new program¡± as you chose to describe it that accrued to me was an invitation to a free dinner for my wife and myself at a restaurant of my choice. An invitation, for your further information, that I declined.¡± Then after a pause, he added, ¡°Is there anything further you¡¯d like to know as to the inaccuracy of your grapevine sources?¡±

    She glared at him but said nothing. He could not fathom what he could possibly have done to earn her ardent contempt¡ªother than simply being her dean. But, having had a mediocre evaluation she was on thin ice. And Dan would eventually fire her for insubordination months and mistreatment of students before his resignation.

    She reminded him of some of the idiots he had worked with summers during law school at the Pepsi Cola bottling company in Long Island City where his dad worked as a mechanic and, like all favored employees there, was able to get summer full-time work for his children. He had earned five times what a law internship would have paid him for the entire summer simply for throwing empty bottled on a conveyor belt at the bottling plant and was, for the summers, a card-carrying member of the Teamsters Union in that union shop. It was hard work, but that had never bothered Dan who needed the money to help defray his expenses to avoid graduating with more debt than necessary or taking more help from his generous but not wealthy parents. He had seen workers there literally throw parts of expensive equipment into the East River just to ¡°screw the man.¡± In effect, they only ¡°man¡± really screwed was him, as one of the parts purposely removed and tossed in the river in his presence from a large, free standing stapling gun he needed to assemble boxes for cases of two-liter sodas left  him having to use a hand-stapler that quickly caused blisters to form on his hand for nearly an entire summer. He detested unhappy, entitled people with no skills making at least ten times what they should have been making at the then-prevalent minimum wage, unhappy with their employer and willfully, gleefully sabotaging the plant just because they could. Same mindset as Ms. Washington, he suspected, with a visceral hatred of authority regardless of who occupied any position above them and happily tossing bombs indiscriminately just because they could, like some demented sociopath.

    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    ¡°If there is nothing else, then,¡± Dan continued, ¡°our meeting is adjourned. Thank you all for your attention.¡± With that, he walked out as a murmur rose behind him.

    He went back to his office to find Katie working at her computer. ¡°Hey boss,¡± she said as he walked in.

    ¡°What are you doing,¡± he asked, rather than returning the greeting.

    ¡°I¡¯m knitting you a sweater for Christmas. What does it look like I¡¯m doing?¡± She quipped with a wry smile and laugh.

    ¡°Go punch in, Katie. Now!¡±

    ¡°Geez, Mr. Grumpy pants, no sweater for you under the tree this Christmas,¡± she said smiling, but stopped working and leaned back on her chair, giving him an innocent look.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want you working without getting paid.¡± He said.

    ¡°How do you know I was working? Maybe I was writing my resignation letter,¡± she said with an angelic smile.

    ¡°Don¡¯t even joke about that. Not this week.¡±

    ¡°Gee, would you miss me?¡± she said, fluttering her eyelashes at him. He gave her a genuine annoyed frown, then burst laughing at her look of shock.

    ¡°All right, all right. I¡¯ll be a good girl and not start work until 1:01 p.m. after I punch in.¡±

    Dan shook his head as he headed to his chair, with a sheepish smile. She had a way of totally disarming him. And he could not be annoyed at her, even when she was actively and gleefully doing her very best to annoy him. No one had ever had that effect on him before and he didn¡¯t quite know what to make of it. What he did know is that he was both happy and relaxed around her, even if she was busy at work at her desk and he busy at his. He didn¡¯t know why and did not really want to know¡ªmaybe it was the water at PEMTI. If so, he¡¯d well ¡°better stop drinking it¡± he muttered, not meaning to speak out loud.

    ¡°Drink what?¡± she asked, puzzled.

    ¡°Oh nothing,¡± he said, ¡°I¡¯m just not all here today.¡±

    ¡°Hope you¡¯re not coming down with something,¡± she said, serious this time.

    ¡°Me too,¡± he answered, equally serious, while reaching  into his desk drawer for his calendar to see if he had any appointments for the afternoon or evenings. Just then, his phone rang. It was Paula, covering for Taisha at reception for the day. ¡°You have someone here to see you about an interview,¡± she said.

    ¡°I¡¯m not interviewing today¡ªthe ad hasn¡¯t even been published yet.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just a walk-in.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t do walk-in interviews. This isn¡¯t a used car dealership,¡± Dan answered, annoyed. ¡°Tell him to leave his resume with you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s her.¡± she said.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care if it¡¯s a cross-dressing chimp. I don¡¯t do walk-in interviews.¡±

    ¡°O.k., I¡¯ll tell her,¡± Paula said, hanging up the phone.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to see the cross-dressing chimp,¡± Katie chimed in while typing, not looking back.

    Dan shook his head but said nothing. Two minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Katie got up to open it. It was Paula.

    ¡°Here¡¯s the resume she dropped off,¡± she said. ¡°You should have interviewed her. She was very cute.¡±

    ¡°I already have cute. Don¡¯t need any more,¡± Paula smiled as Katie, back at her typing, dead panned ¡°Thank you, boss," without turning around.

    ¡°Not you.¡±

    ¡°Ouch,¡± Katie giggled.

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant . . .¡±

    ¡°Geez, Louise, make up your mind, will ya,¡± Katie again deadpanned with more giggling.

    ¡°You are all going to drive me crazy.¡±

    ¡°Here,¡± Paula said, handing him a sheet of paper. I have to get back to reception.

    ¡°Sorry I snapped at you on the phone Paula. Another tough day.¡± Oh, no worries. Although if it will make you feel any better you can always take me to dinner sometime,¡± she said grinning at him.

    ¡°Oh, go away. Better yet, shoot me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll bring my boyfriend¡¯s gun tomorrow,¡± Paula said heading for the door.

    ¡°I thought he was a driver for your uncle,¡± Dan said.

    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s a dangerous city.¡± With that, she walked out. Dan shook his head, ¡°definitely something in the water,¡± he thought.

    ¡°Are you also sorry you said I was not cute?¡± Katie ribbed him as she continued her work, not looking at him. ¡°You hurt my feelings.¡±

    ¡°I never said . . . You are very cute, dammit.¡± She giggled. ¡°You¡¯re just too easy to torture,¡± she said.

    ¡°And you, you . . . just go punch in now!¡± he said, leaving the office hurriedly as if he just remembered he was late for an appointment. He wasn¡¯t¡ªjust flustered. So, he decided to do a round of both floors to see that everything was as it should be. As he neared one of the classrooms, he noticed one of the sales reps, or ¡°admissions counselors¡± as they were euphemistically titled, with about five people in tow going into a classroom in session.

    ¡°Hey, what are you doing?¡± Dan asked the rep whose name he did not know before he could enter the classroom.

    ¡°I¡¯m doing a tour with prospective clients,¡± he said, adding ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t disturb a class in session by barging in with a group of people,¡± Dan said, not hiding his annoyance.

    ¡°Why not? How else can they see what¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°Why not is that I¡¯m telling you that you can¡¯t do that. As to how else can they can see what¡¯s going on, that¡¯s what the picture windows are for¡ªthat in itself is distracting enough.¡±

    ¡°Well, what if they have questions about the class?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s your job to answer them¡ªnot the faculty¡¯s job while they are engaged in lecturing.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Murphy will hear about this,¡± he said. Jack Murphy was the Marketing Director and the rep¡¯s direct supervisor.

    ¡°You can bet he will.¡± Dan promised.

    He then turned to the group and said, ¡°Welcome to PEMTI. I¡¯m sorry about this miscommunication. Enjoy the rest of the tour,¡± then walked on, leaving the angry sales rep behind.

    After completing his otherwise uneventful tour of both classroom floors, he went straight to the Marketing Manager¡¯s office to lay down the law about no classroom interruptions by sales representatives under any circumstance from this point on. A he approached the office, he could hear the sales rep loudly complaining about ¡°who the hell does he think he is¡± and Jack Murphy¡¯s prompt and equally loud response, ¡°He thinks he is your boss and mine and he¡¯s exactly right on both counts. Pull a stunt like that again and your done here.¡± And if Dean Amor talks to me about this, you¡¯re gone today.

    Hearing that, Dan walked back the way he had come, unseen. He had no intention of embarrassing the Marketing Director or pulling rank to discipline one of the latter¡¯s charges in front of him. Nor did he want the foolish sales rep to lose his job, unless he was too dense to take the lesson to heart and repeated it in which case, he¡¯d insist on his being fired. The message did not need to be delivered and Dan was glad of it.

    He was in a better mood when he got back to the office. And the rest of the day went without any further aggravation until he left around 9:00 p.m., after yet another long day.

 Chapter 39: A Relaxing Weekend with Linda and Friends

    Dan tried to make it up to Linda for his neglect during the week by spending the entire weekend with her. On Saturday they went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the city and spent the better part of the day there, including lunch at their very nice caf¨¦. Then they walked South on Fifth Avenue along Central Park to the start of the park, stopping along the way to enjoy the Frick Museum and finally the Lladr¨® Museum and Collector¡¯s Society on West 57<sup>th</sup> Street before going into Central Park for a long, leisurely stroll. On their way home by subway (Dan hated driving in the city¡ªa feeling that would only grow over time due to the ever-increasing perpetual gridlock and the ubiquitous traffic cameras whose primary purpose is collecting millions in fines for the city to squander along with its revenues from exorbitant sales taxes, income taxes, and real estate taxes), they got off at the Steinway Street stop on the G line and took a long stroll on one of Linda¡¯s favorite shopping areas in Queens, ending up at what was then their favorite full-service Italian restaurant, Villa Gaudio, and is now just a pizzeria. They had a wonderful meal¡ªVeal Parmesan for Dan and Lasagna for Linda with Asti Spumante, Linda¡¯s favorite bubbly--and then took a cab to her home, a five-minute cab ride away.

    Sunday, they spent the day at Dan¡¯s apartment lounging around as Dan prepared a meal for them and for their friends the Morells whom they invited for dinner. As always, the four of them enjoyed lively conversation, good food (Dan¡¯s own version of cazuela de mariscos en salsa verde), good wine and the insuperable pleasure of spending time together with friends who know each other so well that they transcend the bonds of friendship and of blood.

    The relaxing weekend behind him, Dan readied himself to face what he knew would be another long week. Monday and Tuesday he and Marvin visited four different nursing homes and a small hospital, trying to convince the administrators to allow their students to do practicums there supervised by their teacher. Although one might mistakenly believe that these health care institutions would welcome what amounts to free help, in fact they generally do not as a class of students can result in a significant disruption to what are always busy workplaces under the best of circumstances. Moreover, they pose serious insurance risks for the sponsoring institutions. To put it bluntly, nursing assistant students are a lot more trouble than they¡¯re worth. As a consequence, keeping existing relationships going requires significant time and effort, and securing new relationships when for any reason old ones are broken off is even more challenging. But Dan understood that it was a critically important task for him and for Marvin to be involved with in service of their students.

    By Wednesday, Dan had begun to receive a number of applications both from RNs for the nursing assistant teaching position and from individuals seeking the computer-related teaching position. At first, he was impressed by the good response to the ads. That lasted until he began to actually open and read envelopes and review their content. Some of the applications went right into the round file unread¡ªtwo handwritten resumes, one cover letter with apparent food stains, one with clear wine stains, and many after just a brief scanning due to glaring errors in grammar, punctuation, or formatting. He was astounded at the general incompetence and unprofessionalism of more than a third of the applicants. These people want to teach? He remembered the applicant who simply showed up and insisted on being interviewed. Her resume had also been hand written and gone into the wastepaper basket unread. Dan was anything but a snob and were he recruiting for unskilled labor he would patiently have read all resumes¡ªincluding the handwritten nearly illegible ones with spelling and grammatical errors¡ªwithout giving it a second thought. But professionals with a minimum of a baccalaureate degree (a master¡¯s degree was preferred but not required in the qualifications cited in the advertisement for the position) and prior teaching experience who would send in handwritten resumes or food- and wine-stained cover letters? He would not have believed that outside of a bad television comedy¡ªScrewy U or some such.

    The remaining pile of applications were as a group unimpressive. Many lacked the bare minimum of a cover letter and a simple one-page chronological or functional resume. He wondered what the applications for his position had been like and shook the thought off. He did not want to know. But he did eventually find six reasonable candidates that he could interview¡ªthree of them (two for the nursing position and one for the computer software teaching position) were actually very promising. So, he called all six and scheduled interviews for the following Monday, hoping to make offers and have acceptances before the end of that week.

    On Friday, he was pleased that all six candidates actually showed up at their appointed times, and also pleasantly surprised that he had two strong candidates and two backups that he could actually hire once all were interviewed. He invited his two top choices for the positions in question back for a second interview Wednesday¡ªand, with Marvin¡¯s approval, he made them employment offers¡ªthe computer processing instructor was told that she would be coming in at first as a stand-by candidate to cover classes when needed as a substitute for colleagues who had to miss work and also to teach the dBase III portion of the new program. Dan also mentioned that at least one additional section of the course was likely to be added in the near future and that at that time there was a possibility of the position becoming full-time with benefits, something that appealed to the applicant. The nursing instructor, a young man who had earned his RN just three years ago but had relevant teaching experience at a competing proprietary business school, was likewise offered the job and accepted.

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    Ms. Abigay Brown, the new computer processing instructor, was a thin, regal woman of perhaps 30 years of age with a charming Jamaican accent and genteel manner, whom he immediately liked. She had experience teaching an introduction to computer processing class at La Guardia Community College in Long Island City, and also working at a competing proprietary school in Brooklyn, where she lived. She was open to working full time at PEMTI and abandoning her part time position at the closer business school in Brooklyn. Dan thought himself lucky to be able to snap her up before his counterpart at the Brooklyn school could offer her a full-time position.

    The RN candidate, Mongo Okonkwo, was a very reserved, thin, and short African American young man, probably in his late 20s who showed up at the interview impeccably dressed in a dark pinstriped suit looking much more like a corporate lawyer than a nurse. His answers were short and to the point and he carried himself with an air of aloofness that Dan hoped was simply self-consciousness and nerves rather than arrogance. He conducted himself perfectly during both interviews and Dan was pleased to welcome him onboard, offering him the position, with Marvin¡¯s blessing, after his second interview.

    Both candidates were able to start work on the following Monday, so Dan was pleased that the new class would be able to begin as originally scheduled. The maximum number of applicants that could be enrolled at any one time given the limitations of their sole PC lab was 20, and that number was reached quickly the week after the media advertisements had. The same was true, according to Marvin, at all the sister schools. The program was expected to be a huge success.

    After the shakeup that occurred in the week following the approval of Dan¡¯s new program, several deans had lost their positions either through resignations or termination, including the ¡°senior dean¡± at the flagship school and two of the six directors. Dan had been awarded the unofficial title of ¡°senior dean¡± without the seniority and without any increased compensation. With it came the responsibility of training and mentoring the newly appointed deans and serving as a resource for the ones who had managed to keep their jobs. He had made it clear to Marvin¡ªagain he had not been contacted directly by either Melamed to ¡°communicate¡± his ascension in rank¡ªthat he was willing to take on the role for the good his colleagues and of their students, but that he had absolutely no intention of ever traveling to the other schools to do any mentoring, program reviews or anything else related to helping with or evaluating the other school¡¯s programs. They would need to travel to him for training and any other type of support required, but he would make himself available by phone at any time to help them in any way he could beyond any initial one or two days mentoring as had been done for him by Howard Green his first day at the Manhattan school. That was quickly agreed to, and Dan became the go-to person for the other deans, initially for an orientation to the popular new program, for all newly hired deans, and then as a general resource. He grew to like all of his PEMTI academic dean colleagues, two of whom, hired after the reorganization he had unintentionally caused, were his own age or younger.

    Two months after starting at PEMTI, he had been lionized, pissed off to the point of nearly quitting, ¡°promoted¡± without additional compensation to a new role as senior dean with additional responsibilities extending beyond his own school, and  beginning to once again have some real satisfaction from his job, though serious issues about what he viewed as an obsession with the bottom line and lackadaisical concern for the quality of the education provided to students was still grating on him and he knew that there was little he could do about it other than lead by example and support his own faculty and his peers at the other schools to the best of his ability, or leave.

    The week that the new program finally became a reality, and the first class began their three-month program, Marvin called Dan to his office telling him there was something he wanted to discuss. It was unusual for Marvin to summon him as he usually simply stopped by Dan¡¯s office just as Dan went to see him as needed, seldom checking to see if he was available or asking for an appointment. If he went by and Marvin had someone in the office, which was rare, he¡¯d just leave and return at another time. They had an excellent working relationship and respected one another which was very important to Dan who for the rest of his career refused to long serve under leadership he lost respect for or whose policies he could not work to change when they represented too much of a departure from what he considered reasonable¡ªseeds planted during his days at PEMTI.

 Chapter 40: Marvinéˆ¥æªš Support and Gene

    As he approached Marvin¡¯s office Dan hoped this was not another offer of a directorship, or just as bad, more work being piled on his shoulders, already sagging under their present load.

    ¡°Come in, come in,¡± Marvin motioned to Dan as soon as he spied him about to knock on his open door. Take a seat while I pour us some coffee.

    Dan did as he was bid, always happy for a cup of Marvin¡¯s excellent fresh-ground, personal coffee blends. He sniffed vanilla in the air with, what? Maybe a hint of caramel?¡±

    ¡°I know how hard you¡¯ve been working, Dan, and so do the Melameds.¡±

    ¡°Please, keep the Melameds out of it. I¡¯m frankly not interested in their appreciation for my hard work,¡± Dan interrupted, but quickly added in a more congenial tone, ¡°though I am grateful for your acknowledgment and support.¡±

    ¡°Hear me out, Dan.¡± Marvin continued, his perpetual smile put aside for the moment as he looked at him in a way that could be either concern or mild annoyance. ¡°I know you¡¯re still unhappy about the pricing for the new program and what you considered the Melamed¡¯s weak sign of appreciation,¡± Dan scoffed as Marvin put up both hands defensively and plowed on, ¡°And I know how hard you¡¯ve been working without complaining or pointing to the obvious fact that you¡¯re not paid to put in 12-hour days.¡±

    ¡°How would you know the time I put in,¡± Dan asked genuinely curious to know the answer.

    ¡°Some of the teachers who teach at night have brought it to my attention more than once. They¡¯re worried that you¡¯ll burn out.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve been checking on my hours with my faculty?¡± Dan asked, anger rising in him.

    ¡°No, Dan, you¡¯re not listening to me. Two of your teachers approached me with concerns for you. They like you and would like to keep you around and they talk to one another and know through the grapevine that you¡¯re almost always here before 9:00 a.m. and seldom leave before 9:00 p.m.¡±

    ¡°I take long lunch breaks,¡± Dan said, mollified.

    ¡°And you also take no lunch at all on many days. Bob¡¯s been mentioning that too. Look, I know you¡¯re not likely to stick around long, but I¡¯d like to extend that if I can. You know that none of your predecessors put in the time that you¡¯re putting in. If you were incompetent and taking up space in the office, I wouldn¡¯t be impressed if you slept there. But you¡¯re not. You¡¯ve gotten a lot accomplished and I¡¯m getting the feeling you¡¯re getting ready to move on and are trying to get all you can done before you go. I think it¡¯s a matter of pride with you¡ªa good thing, not a criticism. So, I¡¯d like you to take it easier¡ªgo home to your family at a reasonable time, or work late if you like, but also come in late. Take a day off once in a while. You know you¡¯re not on the clock.¡±

    Dan said nothing for a long moment, touched by what he knew to be genuine concern from a man he liked working for and who clearly was more in touch with what was going on at his school than he led on.

    ¡°I appreciate your concern, Marvin¡± he finally said. ¡°But there are still things that I need to do and I¡¯m not very good at delegating, even if I had someone to delegate to.¡± That was true, and something that would be an issue in all of his future administrative postings throughout his career to the consternation many times of his assistants, secretaries, and office managers. He was not a micro-manager. When he had a staff who had his confidence, he gave them a lot of freedom and all of his support¡ªoften ensuring they got credit where it mattered for work he himself had done without ever letting them know it. But he simply liked doing most delegable tasks himself, even when these were relatively unimportant and time consuming. That was a flaw he would never quite master.

    ¡°I just want you to think about ways of lessening your burden. Let me know what I can do in that regard. I am concerned about you.¡±

    ¡°All right, Marvin. I appreciate that. Let me give the matter some thought. I am tired, and work has been bleeding too much into my personal life. And, frankly, the reverse is also true. Let me just think about this and get back to you,¡± Dan said, then added, ¡°Is that all you wanted to talk to me about?¡±

    ¡°That was it. Please think about what I said.¡±

    ¡°I will. Thank you,¡± he said rising and taking the last sip of his coffee. ¡°I really do appreciate it.¡± He walked out of the office as Marvin¡¯s normal beatific smile replaced his serious expression. Dan was really touched by Marvin¡¯s concern. Before he got back to his own office, he had the seed of an idea germinating and beginning to take root.

    As soon as he got to the office, he called his best friend, Gene Leyans, and left him a message on his answering machine. ¡°Gene, it¡¯s Dan. I know we haven¡¯t spoken for a while, but there¡¯s something I¡¯d like to run by you. Give me a call either at work or at home¡ªI¡¯ll be here until about 9:00 tonight. It¡¯s important, though nothing is wrong, so please don¡¯t put this off for six months before getting back to me. Talk soon.¡± He hung up the phone with a wry grin. He and his best friend had a very strange and wonderful relationship. They were as close as identical twins in their ability to pretty much live in each other¡¯s heads¡ªknowing exactly how the other thought, how they felt, and what they valued. Yet they were total opposites in almost every way. Gene was a dyed in the wool old-fashioned Liberal who has been a delegate for the People¡¯s Party candidate for President while they were both at Queens College.  Dan was a life-long Republican with generally conservative views but liberal on many social issues. Gene was tall, black, and very handsome, while Dan was of average height and, though still in excellent physical shape, not the natural athlete that Gene was who could beat him at every sport from Tennis, to softball, and even video games. Rather than the competitiveness that real blood brothers might feel towards one another, the two genuinely took as much or greater pleasure in the other¡¯s major and minor accomplishments as they did in their own. They discussed politics constantly, often into the wee hours of the morning while Dan¡¯s parents still lived in the apartment Dan now occupied where Gene was often an overnight guest. And despite their diametrically opposed views on nearly every hot-button political issue from economic policy to the death penalty and everything in between, they always¡ª100 percent of the time¡ªcould reach a compromise on the most politically divisive issues of the day that both could live with. They played a sort of game trying to solve the great issues of the day and quipped that if they were co-dictators of the world, they would be able to fix them all.

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    The key to their unique friendship that would last for the rest of their lives through both personal triumphs and personal tragedies was a deep mutual love and inarguable acceptance and respect for each other¡¯s integrity. If Dan thought something was true and felt strongly about it, Gene could not dismiss it. And the same was true for Dan as to anything that Gene strongly believed in. Though their political ideologies would remain very different throughout their lives, that inalterable faith and respect for each other¡¯s views and each other¡¯s personal integrity would always help to temper their certainty in the righteousness of their own point of view. Both lamented on many occasions the inability of partisans in and out of political office to simply do what they themselves had always done, if not out of a deep abiding mutual respect at least out of simple common sense: try to understand the validity of an opposing point of view, and work to find common ground where divergent ideologies could converge, and compromise reached for the common good.

    Another very strange aspect to Gene and Dan¡¯s friendship is that they could go for months on end¡ªeven years on several occasions later in life¡ªwithout seeing, corresponding, or talking with one another. And yet, when one or the other initiated contact, they would pick up exactly where they last left off as though they had just had dinner together and a long conversation the night before. No one who knew them both ever understood that¡ªnot even Dan¡¯s girlfriend who had known Gene nearly as long as Dan himself through Dan¡¯s friendship with Gene from their Brooklyn Tech days through college when the three were inseparable. As Dan would say much later in life, ¡°If I never see Gene again for the rest of my life, it will make no difference: he will remain my best friend until I take my last breath.¡±

    At 6:00 p.m. that evening, Dan picked up the phone after one ring, delighted to hear his friend¡¯s voice on the other end. ¡°Hey Gene. Thanks for getting back to me quickly. I just wanted to run an idea that occurred to me today. Do you have some time now?¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± Gene said, ¡°I just got in and have nothing else to do other than eat dinner and watch C-Span. What¡¯s on your mind?¡±

    ¡°We haven¡¯t spoken in more than a month, but you have some idea of what I¡¯ve been doing at PEMTI, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, slumming,¡± his friend quipped.

    ¡°Well, my boss told me today I¡¯m working too many hours and need to slow down before I burn out.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound like the typical blood sucking corporate types you so admire,¡± Gene quipped again, laughing.

    ¡°He¡¯s actually a decent guy. Anyway, I was thinking I could use an assistant dean to work the evening shift. They won¡¯t go for a full-time position with benefits, but they might agree to a part-time position with full benefits, though the salary would kind of suck. Is that something you might consider?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re kidding right,¡± Gene retorted, laughing again.

    ¡°Hear me out. You know the concerns I expressed the last time we spoke, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Well things got worse for me since then as the new program I developed was approved.¡±

    ¡°Hey, congratulations, Dan. That¡¯s great. I know how hard you worked for it.¡± Gene enthusiastically interrupted.

    ¡°Yeah, well, there was a major wrinkle. They priced the three-month program at twice what I thought should be the outside cost and had suggested--$4,000 for a certificate program. It really ticked me off. Then they offered me the directorship at their flagship school which I turned down.¡±

    ¡°What, you turned it down? Why?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a school director¡ªI want to support faculty and strengthen programs for our students. What they¡¯ve been getting is sub-par. I want to leave the place significantly better than I found it when I move on.¡±

    ¡°Move on? You just got there.¡± Gene said, scoffing.

    ¡°You know this was supposed to be a stepping stone for me. I intended to get the experience, hopefully make a difference, then moving on to a traditional college¡ªmaybe a community college or four-year college, a logical next step. I just had to cut my teeth in academic administration first. I intended to be here two, three years at most and then move on with some experience under my belt. But now I have to accelerate that plan. I¡¯ll stick around for a year¡ªthat¡¯s not going to look great on my resume, but I can then apply from a position of some strength and hopefully get some traction. And I will have some real accomplishments on my resume and good work references too.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like a good plan. But what does that have to do with me?¡±

    ¡°I thought if I can bring you on, help get you some experience too, you can take over when I leave and then maybe follow a similar path yourself. You don¡¯t have any significant administrative experience at this point, and this could be an invaluable resume builder¡ªeven if you don¡¯t want to stay in the education field. I mean you¡¯re not thrilled with your present job, and there are limited opportunities for you there. Why not get some valuable experience even if you decide to keep your current job¡ªI can ask for a 6:00 ¨C 10:00 p.m. shift, or even 6:00 ¨C 9:00 p.m. M-F. If they don¡¯t go for benefits at a 20-hr. per week, I can sweeten the pot for them by suggesting starting a new Saturday program that you could also run and make your position full time. I guarantee you they¡¯d love that¡ªa weekend-only option for an intense three-class Saturday program that could get working people the retooling they need in under six months.

    ¡°Dan, I don¡¯t even have my B.S. completed.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but you have enough credits for a master¡¯s degree, albeit at the undergrad level only. The fact that Queens College would not accept all of your credits from NYU and Brooklyn College is irrelevant to me. You are an expert programmer and can run circles around any of my faculty and our IT guy at corporate.¡±

    The administrative position is interesting. And us working together would be an incredible plus.¡±

    ¡°Same here, Gene. Just think about it. I¡¯ll float the idea of an evening dean to my boss tomorrow and tell him I have someone in mind. Either way, though, I¡¯m going to go for this because I could use the extra help and I do want to train a good person to hopefully take over for me with my boss¡¯s approval. He¡¯s been very supportive, so I think I can make this fly¡ªespecially after today¡¯s discussion. And it will ease my guilt when I leave to know I will not abandon my boss or faculty here without a good replacement.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it and get back to you. Either way, let¡¯s get together this weekend. It¡¯s been too long.¡±

    ¡°Yeh, what else is new? Get back to me before the end of the week on what day works best for you¡ªno plans yet for the weekend other than getting together with Linda. Maybe the three of us can go somewhere. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Sounds great. Just like old times.¡±

    ¡°See you soon,¡± Dan said and ended the conversation when Gene made a similar reply.

 Chapter 41: More Headaches, and Christine

    The next day Dan made his proposal to Marvin for an evening dean and said he had someone in mind if benefits could be included with a 20 hour per week part time job. He held back the idea of Saturday classes in case the proposal was rejected and Gene expressed an interest. By 5:00 p.m., just as Katie was leaving for the day, Marvin went to see Dan in his office.

    ¡°Good news,¡± he said. ¡°The evening dean position is approved for 20 hours with full health benefits but no vacation time. I think two-week¡¯s vacation might be added depending on the person you have in mind and the salary¡ªthey told me the absolute cap would be $20,000.¡±

    ¡°Sounds great,¡± Dan said. Let me talk to my friend and get back to you. I¡¯ll see him this weekend. If he¡¯s not interested, we can put an ad in next week if that¡¯s o.k. with you.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good,¡± Marvin said and left.

    That weekend Dan and Gene got together early and by the end of the day, Gene had agreed to interview for the job. Dan asked him to submit a cover letter and resume as a formality which would be needed for the file. Ultimately, it would be up to Marvin whether to approve the position or not, with the lack of a degree the only possible stumbling block.

    A week later, Gene was interviewed by Dan and Marvin together and, after some back and forth with Dan, Marvin approved the hire.

    ¡°What do we do with the catalog? We can¡¯t have our degrees and list nothing for him¡± Marvin said.

    ¡°Sure, you can. Just let them, think it¡¯s an oversight. Or leave out all our degrees. Who cares? It¡¯s not an issue for State Ed unless he teaches, right? If it comes to that he can always get a degree through Regent¡¯s College [now Excelsior College] or SUNY Empire State College as he has more than 150 undergrad credits and can get anything else he needs as far as any missing distribution credits through credit by examination,¡± Dan said.

    Gene was hired and quit his current job shortly after accepting the PEMTI position. Like Dan, salary was of secondary importance to him, though it was the one aspect of their job that grated on them both. Dan was finally able to leave sometime between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. on most days, and Gene often came in early so that their time overlapped. Dan, Gene, and Katie would often be in the office together for an hour or so before her shift ended and, though she was Dan¡¯s secretary, she also did work for Gene from time to time, though he, like Dan, liked to do most of his own correspondence and record keeping himself. Over the following several months, the three of them became close, and Dan¡¯s own relationship with Linda slowly deteriorated¡ªhis fault, not hers¡ªdespite the greater freedom that Gene provided for him to spend more time with her by no longer requiring him to work unreasonably long hours. He nevertheless found himself growing apart from Linda and being drawn ever closer to Katie. As Gene and Katie also got to know one another and developed a friendly relationship, Dan became aware of irrational, unfounded and completely inappropriate incipient feelings of jealousy towards Katie¡ªsomething he had never felt for the closer, long-standing relationship between Gene, himself and Linda who had become close friends early on in Gene and Dan¡¯s friendship. The difference, perhaps, is that he knew without the shadow of a doubt Linda¡¯s unconditional love for him and had no such assurance about Katie. It was never a question about trust in Gene¡ªboth Gene and Dan would first cut off their right arm than pursue a woman the other loved. But that, of course, is irrelevant when the green-eyed monster decides to raise its ugly head.

    Recognizing finally the nature of his feelings for Katie, and not knowing what to do about them, he told Lisa. Her reaction was understandable¡ªanger and a feeling of betrayal that led to an immediate breakup that would last for more than a year before they would again even speak to one another and put a strain on their relationship that could never be fully overcome. Dan did not ¡°cheat¡± on Lisa insofar as there was no physical relationship involved with Katie, any more than with his prior similar situation. The idea that Dan could begin to fall in love with another woman was just too much to bear, and the fact that nothing had happened between them was irrelevant¡ªeasier to forgive a one-night stand in a moment of weakness than the betrayal of actually falling in love with someone else after a long-term, committed, monogamous relationship. Dan understood that. And he would have broken off the relationship even if Linda had not wanted to, feeling anger at himself, and conflicted by the situation¡ªnot for the first time.

    The following months were very difficult for Dan emotionally, though he did what he always did and would do for the rest of his life¡ªbury himself in work and try to plow on. Months later, just over nine months after starting work at PEMTI and nearly three months before resigning, some additional major issues arose adding to Dan¡¯s frustration and piling on the final straws that broke the camel¡¯s back.

    The first instance was an issue involving the nursing instructor he had personally hired, Mr. Okonkwo. Marvin received a frantic call from a nursing home administrator that sponsored their students about Mr. Okonkwo breaching patient confidentiality by distributing patient files to his students for review and discussion at the nursing home. That is, of course, a serious breach of protocol that the nursing home could not tolerate. And Marvin was informed all future practicums were being cancelled. Dan told Marvin he would immediately investigate and take appropriate action. He called the instructor into his office and asked him to explain what had transpired. The instructor was upset that he and the students had been kicked out of the nursing home but admitted that, yes, he had taken patient records from the facility¡¯s nursing office and distributed them to his students for a discussion of the various patients¡¯ ailments and their treatment. The instructor did not see anything wrong with his actions and apparently resented being asked about it. Dan fired him on the spot. This done, Marvin and Dan made an appointment to see the nursing home director in question and, in a difficult meeting, made assurances that nothing like that would ever happen again, informed him that the instructor had been dismissed, and eventually prevailed on him to allow students back for their practicums when a new Registered Nurse could be assigned to the class.

    The story, however, did not end there. As open and shut a case as this was for firing the instructor, he complained to the New York State Labor Department alleging that his civil rights had been violated under New York law, claiming that he was dismissed both because of his race (he was black) and because of his sexual orientation. Dan was well aware of both federal and New York State civil rights laws, including the fact that, unlike Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, New York Law at the time protected employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation as well as race, religion, color national origin and sex. The firing, however, had nothing whatever to do in whole or in part with any of the protected criteria. After all, Dan had hired the same faculty member months before over two white applicants he had also considered as finalists for the position, and he was obviously just as black now as then. And as to his sexual orientation, Dan had never asked, been told, nor cared in the least whether he was gay or straight. The individual was inarguably fired for cause and had zero evidence of any other contributing factor beyond his own imagination. Nevertheless, the incident was thoroughly investigated by the New York State Division of Human Rights which sent investigators to interview all faculty, reviewed the employment files, held hearings, and took more than six months to render the obvious decision that there was no discrimination involved in the firing. Dan was never questioned by anyone about this¡ªthe investigators went directly to the faculty, HR, and Marvin, and only Marvin had been called to testify at various hearings.

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    The second issue that arose, also funny in its absurdity in its own way, related to a routine site visit by the State Education Department regarding the certification of the existing courses. When Marvin received the notification and reviewed his files in preparation for the visit, he came across a snag that he wanted Dan to help correct and immediately headed to Dan¡¯s office.

    ¡°We have a problem,¡± he announced upon entering.

    ¡°What now,¡± Dan asked, sighing warily.

    ¡°We have an upcoming visit from SED, and we have to get our library in order.¡±

    Dan was genuinely confused by this and asked, ¡°Since when do we have a library?¡±

    ¡°I never showed you?¡± Marvin asked with an intensely serious face.

    ¡°No, this is the first I¡¯ve heard of it. Where are you hiding it if I may ask?¡±

    ¡°Come with me, I¡¯ll show you.¡± Saying that, he led the way down the hallway on the fourth floor just past Mr. Chang¡¯s office. He pointed at two metal doors and fished in his pocket for his key ring with the key.

    ¡°I always assumed this was a storage closet,¡± Dan said, still confused.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s our library. We¡¯re required to have one.¡± Marvin said, finding the small key and unlocking the double doors. Inside was, what Dan had suspected all along: a closet¡ªalbeit one with four deep shelves full of books piled in a helter-skelter manner and an old Encyclopedia Americana. Dan reached in and looked at some of the books at random. Almost all were desk copies or instructor¡¯s copies of current and past textbooks adopted for use in the various courses. There were also sundry magazines and some dusty paperback and hard cover Book Club editions of nondescript novels.

    ¡°You¡¯re joking, right?¡±

    ¡°No, Dan, this is serious. They¡¯ll be here in three weeks, and we have to have the library ready.¡±

    Dan groaned and cursed. ¡°What the hell am I supposed to do with this?¡±

    ¡°Get Katie and a work study student to organize these as best you can. We¡¯re supposed to have a lending library.¡±

    Dan nearly walked our then but managed to keep his cool. ¡°I¡¯ll do what I can, Marvin, but don¡¯t expect miracles.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s all I ask,¡± he said, and walked away, after leaving Dan the small key.

    Dan went back to the office where Katie was organizing and filing some of the papers on the ¡°out box¡± on his desk.

    ¡°You¡¯re not going to believe this,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t know whether to laugh hysterically or bang my head on the desk.

    ¡°I¡¯d go with option number one, Dan. I just straightened your desk,¡± she quipped, giving him a wry smile.

    ¡°Come with me,¡± he said, leading the way. ¡°We¡¯re going to our library.¡±

    ¡°We have a library, she said, a puzzled look on her face.¡±

    ¡°Of course, we do. Don¡¯t you know anything?¡± He told her in mock exasperation.

    He led her to the closet, opened it and said, ¡°See?¡±

    She looked at him then burst out laughing. ¡°You¡¯re joking, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s pretty much what I said five minutes ago. Sadly, I¡¯m not.¡±

    ¡°What are we supposed to do with it?¡±

    ¡°Organize it, catalog the books and I guess develop a system of sorts to make it appear to be a lending library.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re not pulling my leg,¡± she asked, looking at him sideways and giggling.

    ¡°I¡¯m as serious as the heart attack I¡¯m expecting at any moment.¡±

    ¡°Geez Louise.¡± She said, shaking her head.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the office to bang our heads on our respective desks,¡± Dan suggested, closing the closet, and locking it, though he knew not why.

    ¡°So, what do you want to do,¡± she asked as soon as they were back in the office.

    ¡°Quit.¡±

    ¡°No, really.¡±

    ¡°Really.¡±

    She just rolled her eyes. ¡°You keep saying that, but you¡¯ll never go,¡± she said.

    ¡°We can have a serious talk about that later,¡± he said. ¡°For now, let¡¯s see what we can do. Here¡¯s an idea, though I¡¯d welcome other suggestions. There¡¯s no way we can do any real organization. We have a site visit in three weeks and, to be frank, we both have other things to do. But obviously it can¡¯t stay the way it is. So, I suggest trying to organize the books into at most four or five rough categories and then simply alphabetize them by title. Forget about anything formal, like the Dewey Decimal System. Sound reasonable?¡±

    ¡°I guess,¡± she said.

    ¡°Then we can make an electronic catalog of the books we have, and jury rig some sort of system we could use if anyone wanted to borrow a book¡ªlike a sign-out sheet or some such. It¡¯s not like we¡¯re ever going to actually use the damned thing¡ªit¡¯s absurd if you look at the content, but at least we¡¯ll have something in place that is better organized.¡±

    ¡°And by we you mean moi, right?¡±

    You and Paula and maybe some other student worker. I don¡¯t want to pull you away from what you normally do. If you are willing, you can put in some overtime, come in early or stay late an hour a day or something like that. Or we can find work study students to help¡ªPaula, or maybe your friend Christine¡ªwhoever.¡±

    ¡°I can put in some overtime. Is an hour a day for a couple of weeks, ok?¡±

    ¡°Whatever you¡¯re willing to do.¡±

    ¡°Okey dokey.¡±

    ¡°I suggest first, taking out books of a type¡ªall computer books, for example, then Business English books, and so on and bringing them into the office to catalog. I suggest using dBase III to develop a very simple catalog system¡ªI can do that. I¡¯m thinking something super basic, like Title, Author, Genre, Copyright date and that¡¯s it. When we have the database completed, we can print out a listing of what we have alphabetized by Genre. And as each category is completed, we can put the books on the shelf, with a label in front of the shelf as to what the category is, and the books alphabetized by title. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°That could work. When do we start?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do the database now. How about the student workers? Do you want Christine to be made into one, or do we use Paula? Both?¡±

    ¡°Let me ask Christine. I think she¡¯d like working in the office. Will Mr. Lantz approve?

    ¡°He¡¯ll approve or I¡¯ll strangle him, throw him in the closet and forget the whole thing.¡±

    ¡°Gee, this is a new side of you I hadn¡¯t seen?¡±

    ¡°Stick around. Homicidal maniac is just the beginning of my personality development courtesy of PEMTI.¡±

    She smiled wryly. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to Christine during the class change. You talk to Mr. Lantz.¡±

    ¡°Done. Then I¡¯ll create the simple database for you and Christine to use.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯ll be happy to work with you,¡± Katie said with a blank expression, then added, ¡°How is Linda going to like your having two gorgeous women in the office?¡± She giggled.

    ¡°She won¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Hiding stuff, are we?¡±

    ¡°No, we¡¯re . . . not together anymore,¡± Dan said, his voice faltering.

    ¡°Huh? Why?

    ¡°Long story.¡±

    ¡°I have time¡ªworking overtime now, remember?¡± another wry smile.

    ¡°Some other time. Let me get on the computer to do the database¡ªjust ten minutes to set it up at most. Then I¡¯ll go talk to Marvin.

    ¡°O.k. she said,¡± looking at Dan who was purposely not looking at her with an unusually serious face.

    Just then the change of class bell rang, and she headed out to find Christine as Dan quickly set up a simple database and left it on the data entry screen for their use, then moved to his desk and dialed Marvin¡¯s extension.

    ¡°Hi Marvin, this is Dan,¡± he said when Marvin picked up the phone. ¡°I need your permission to give Katie five additional hours a week to help with the library¡ªand I¡¯d like to hire a new work study student, Christine Anderson and possibly also use Paula for an hour or two a day until the project gets completed. I assume that¡¯s fine with you?¡±

    ¡°Whatever you need, Dan. Thanks.¡± Marvin said and hung up the phone.

    No sooner had he done that, the door opened, and Katie walked in with Christine in tow.

    ¡°She¡¯ll do it, boss,¡± Katie said.

    ¡°Hello Dean Amor,¡± Christine said, looking at Dan. ¡°I¡¯ll be happy to help if you can use me.¡±

    ¡°Hi Christine,¡± Dan said smiling. ¡°I just got approval for you to get assigned to me as a work study student¡ªyou¡¯ll have to see Mr. Wiener in HR¡ªI¡¯ll give him a call when you¡¯re ready to go fill out the paperwork.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ready now¡ªI¡¯ll just go tell Ms. Hunter that I¡¯ll be a few minutes late for class. I know she¡¯ll be fine with it.¡±

    ¡°Great,¡± Dan said, ¡°I¡¯ll call him right now.¡± He then picked up the phone, dialed Bob¡¯s extension and told him he was sending Christine who was to be assigned to him as a work study student for an indefinite period of time.

    ¡°Sure thing, Dan,¡± Bob said, adding ¡°You lucky dog. How come you get all the pretty girls working for you. It¡¯s just not fair.¡± He then hung up the phone, chuckling.

    ¡°All set,¡± he said.

    ¡°So, when do you want me to start?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to interfere with your classes, how about after your last class? I¡¯m here until around six usually and Gene is here until ten, so you can work with him or with me.

    ¡°I¡¯m done around 4:00 p.m. Can I work from then on for two or three hours? I can start today.¡±

    ¡°Perfect Christine. I¡¯m really grateful for your help.¡±

    She gave him a smile that could light a small city and he noticed, not for the first or last time, how incredibly beautiful she was. ¡°Happy to do it¡ªanything you need.¡± She then walked out.

 Chapter 42: What Might Have Been (The Last Chapter)

    Dan wondered. If Christine had been assigned to him instead of Katie, would he be falling for her? Was he that emotionally unstable? He snickered bitterly. No, as attractive and almost painfully beautiful as Christine was, and as drawn to her as he certainly was physically, there was something very different, very special about Katie that had resonated with him from the first day he¡¯d met her. He could not say what, exactly. She was certainly not the raging beauty that Christine was, though she was a lovely young woman in her own right. She was not even as beautiful as his . . . as Lisa was, not even close in his eyes. And yet . . .

    ¡°What are you snickering at over there,¡± Katie asked. He¡¯d almost forgotten she was still in the office, sitting at her desk, looking at the data entry screen he¡¯d created.

    ¡°Just lost in my own thoughts,¡± he said.

    ¡°Thinking about Linda huh?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± He lied.

    ¡°You lie like a dog,¡± she said, then gave her trademark giggle, like the lovely tinkling of bells.

    ¡°So, you¡¯re a mind reader now?¡±

    ¡°No. But I don¡¯t need to be. You¡¯re easy to read.¡±

    ¡°As transparent as the wind and as vacuous as interstellar space,¡± he sighed.

    ¡°No. Just easy to read¡ªat least for me. You want to tell me what happened between you and Linda?¡±

    ¡°Nothing happened.¡±

    ¡°I bet.¡± She said, very serious but staring at the empty data entry screen rather than facing him. ¡°So,¡± she persisted, ¡°Whose idea was it? The breakup?¡±

    ¡°Hers,¡± Dan admitted. ¡°But I would have broken it off anyway.¡± He added.

    ¡°What did you do?¡±

    ¡°Nothing.¡±

    ¡°So after seven years she breaks it off for the second time for no reason?¡±

    ¡°She had a reason.¡±

    ¡°Which was?¡±

    ¡°None of your business.¡± He said, not unkindly.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± She asked in a low voice. That threw him for a loop. Did she know? She couldn¡¯t know. What did she mean by that? Was it just that she thought it her business because she was concerned? Wanted to help?

    ¡°Stop torturing me,¡± he thought but said nothing.

    ¡°Well?¡±

    ¡°What do you want from me, Katie? What possible difference does the reason make?¡±

    ¡°Just tell me.¡± She pleaded.

    ¡°You¡¯re the mind reader. Figure it out.¡±

    ¡°Is it the same problem as before?¡±

    There it was. She did know. He said nothing for long moments. Then he asked, ¡°What makes you say that?¡±

    ¡°Because a girl who sticks by you for seven years is not going to cut you lose over nothing,¡± she said, finally turning to face him. ¡°And you¡¯re not someone who would cheat on her, so it has to be that other thing.¡±

    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    ¡°What other thing?¡±

    ¡°You know. The same as before¡ªa worse betrayal. You love someone else.¡±

    Dan said nothing, his mind racing nowhere and everywhere at once.

    ¡°So, who is it?¡± She asked after a long pause.

    ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡±

    ¡°It matters who. Same person as before? That would be the best scenario.¡±

    ¡°No. And why would that be the best scenario?¡±

    ¡°Because it would make you less fickle.¡±

    And there it was. The truth. The unvarnished, terrible, painful, irrefutable truth.

    Tears welled up in his eyes as he could not mount an honest defense. They ran down both cheeks as she looked into his eyes with an almost unbearable sadness and pain.

    ¡°Are you fickle, Daniel?¡± She asked, head slightly tilted to her right.

    ¡°No. Maybe. I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Why did you fall out of love with that other woman the last time?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t fall out of love,¡± he said.

    ¡°Then why did you go back to Linda?¡±

    ¡°Because I love her, and the other situation was . . . impossible.¡±

    ¡°Why impossible? She didn¡¯t love you?¡±

    ¡°She loved me. But there are many types of love. I don¡¯t know how she loved me or if she could love me the way I loved her and did not pursue the matter until it was too late.¡±

    ¡°Because you were with Linda?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°But you loved this other person¡ªwere in love with her?¡±

    ¡°Yes, all right? Yes. I fell in love with someone else and chose to stay with Linda for a lot of reasons that are complicated and I¡¯m not going to go into.¡±

    ¡°What if you had it to do over again?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± he asked, stalling.

    ¡°What if you could go back before it was too late? What would you do?¡±

    ¡°I would break up with Linda and pursue that other person.¡±

    ¡°Even though you did not know how she loved you or how she could love you?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely.¡±

    ¡°How do you know?¡±

    ¡°Because you can¡¯t be in love with two people at the same time. You can love two people at the same time. You can lust after two people, or two hundred people at the same time. But you can¡¯t be in love with two people at the same time. So that means I love Linda¡ªvery, very much, much more than my own miserable life¡ªbut probably was not in love with her. There. Are you happy now?¡± His tears kept flowing freely from a mixture of powerful emotions quickly spinning out of control: guilt, fear, anger, regret, pain¡ªabove all, pain.

    ¡°Thought so.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± he asked, flicking his tears away with both thumbs simultaneously and struggling to regain control.

    ¡°You¡¯re not fickle.¡±

    ¡°Of course, I am¡ªwhat else do you call someone who twice falls in love with people outside of his committed, loving long-term relationship?¡±

    ¡°Lost. Sad. Immature. Stupid. Loyal. Probably a lot of other things, but not fickle. Not when you know you can¡¯t be in love with two people at once¡ªand you can¡¯t fall in love if you¡¯re already in love.¡ªreally in love¡± she said, still sadly, but not unkindly.

    ¡°So how does this other person feel about you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to try to find out, or do a repeat of Act I?¡±

    Before he could answer, there was a knock at the door. Now he knew how Coleridge must have felt when some idiot knocked on his door and made him completely lose the inspired flow to his Kubla Khan poem. Christine entered, reporting for work. Katie tactfully shooed her out the door to show her the ¡°library¡± they were to work with, leaving Dan alone for some 20 minutes before they returned carrying two piles of books. They had decided to start with the Business English tomes as it was a manageable pile. They alphabetized the pile, and Katie told Christine to go back and start working on finding all of the computer-related books and start alphabetizing them at the closet¡ªsomething that should take her at least a half hour. Meantime she would work with Dan to build the database.

    As Christine closed the door behind her, Katie asked, ¡°You all right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been better, but I¡¯ll live.¡±

    ¡°So did you lust after the first person?¡±

    ¡°Not in the way you mean. I¡¯ve lusted after a lot of women. Maybe someday I¡¯ll tell you about a recent subway ride I had.¡± He laughed, but it came out a whimper. ¡°Sex is wonderful, and I like it at least as much as the next guy. I was very attracted to her and of course found her physically attractive but did not lust after her. I¡¯d never confuse lust with love.¡±

    ¡°What about this new person?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Same answer.¡±

    ¡°So, are you going to go for Act II?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the mind reader, you tell me.¡±

    ¡°All right. Come here a minute.¡±

    He got up and went to stand before her. She looked into his eyes for a long time, then put her arms around his neck, got on her tippy toes, pulled him towards her and gave him a long, soft, lingering kiss. He put his arms around her, holding tight for a long, long moment that he hoped would last a lifetime.

 Epilogue

    This should have been the happy ending were this a fairy tale. But it isn¡¯t, and it wasn¡¯t. Over the next several months, Dan struggled to make sense of Katie¡¯s feelings for him. Shortly after that fateful day when he had allowed her to know his feelings for her, and saw her respond in kind, she seemed to pull back from him. She went on vacation for two weeks and, at a time before cell phones, did not contact him until her return to work. He in turn had to travel to Spain to accompany his dad on business for two weeks shortly after that. When he returned, she spoke of her plans to move out of state. She seemed conflicted but would not explain the reasons for what appeared to be a change of heart, but only at times. He did not think she was playing games with him and knew there had to be a good reason for her change but could not fathom what it was. And she would not tell him. He was very much in love with someone with whom he would share no physical intimacy beyond a single kiss and had no idea as to what had turned her away from him. Perhaps she had never really felt anything close to what he did for her. Perhaps guilt about Linda and Dan¡¯s breakup had affected her¡ªthough there was no rational reason for it. She had done nothing wrong¡ªhad never pursued Dan or expressly encouraged his feelings for her. Perhaps she had second thoughts about starting a serious relationship with her boss, though she could easily have been reassigned so as not to report to or even work with Dan had a romance blossomed beyond its mere acknowledgment. Perhaps she feared for the future¡ªor for Dan¡¯s constancy, fearing he might fall in love with yet another third party and break her heart. Perhaps loyalty to a friend who might also have had feelings for Dan, something he suspected for a time but would never know, influenced her. Perhaps she simply had a case of buyer¡¯s remorse. Or perhaps she had her own conflicted feelings about someone else Dan was completely unaware of. Dan would never know for the simple reason that she refused to tell him while continuing to give him mixed signals.

    Confused and reeling from an emotional rollercoaster that had derailed at its zenith and was still freefalling to its inevitable crash landing, Katie¡¯s mixed signals proved to be the final straw for him. He began to plan his exit strategy in earnest and made it known to Katie and to his best friend, Gene, that he would look for another job. He updated his resume and applied for several administrative and college teaching positions, went on several interviews, and accepted an offer two months later for an assistant dean¡¯s position with limited teaching responsibilities at a small privately owned not-for-profit college in also in New York City. He gave formal notice. Katie and Gene did the same around the same time¡ªcoordinating their exit to coincide with Dan¡¯s. Christine graduated shortly after Dan¡¯s, Katie¡¯s, and Gene¡¯s exits. Dan helped recruit and train a new dean when Gene told him that he was not interested in staying after Dan left. A veteran academic with a Ph.D. and an impressive resume was hired and Dan spent his last days assisting him to make the transition.

    The SED visit happened without any problems¡ªfake lending library and all. And within a week of leaving, Dan began getting messages from a number of his former faculty with requests for references and some just to say they missed him. Ironically, Dan was not even allowed the satisfaction of knowing that after all the hard work and personal heartbreak at least his legacy would live on to benefit students and his successors long after he had departed. Although he had left the school in much better condition than he had found it, with two new computer labs and a program that provided graduates good jobs in just three months of study, six months after Dan¡¯s departure, PEMTI declared bankruptcy and closed all six branches. The reason? Student loan default rates exceeded 50 percent and guaranteed student loans were no longer available to PEMTI students. TAP and PELL grants were also pulled. The result after that was inevitable.

    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    Not long after leaving PEMTI, Dan saw Katie one last time. In his frustration and pain, he was unusually cold towards her and did his best to ignore her, not out of spite and certainly not because he was no longer in love with her, but out of pain, disappointment, self-protection and anger at no longer being able to spend time with her every day as before in those innocent days before and after he fell in love with her, when all was still right in his world and hers. Like many other things, that is something that Dan would regret long after the heartbreak more of less mended, leaving behind one more scar that would fade in time but never fully heal.

    Dan, Gene, and Bob got together for a time some weekends for breakfast or lunch near PEMTI while the school remained open, and Bob still worked there and lived just blocks away. But that too fizzled soon enough. Dan genuinely missed the year-long regular lunches with Bob who had become a good friend. But those meetings also caused him great pain, primarily in that they reminded him of Katie, his loss, and of Linda¡¯s loss as well, and of the pain he had caused her. Emotionally letting go of people he truly loved is something Dan had not mastered and would never master for the remainder of his life. It was an Achilles heel that would cause not his death by a poisoned arrow, but a life never free of heartache and pain.

    Shortly before leaving PEMTI, he would write and give to Katie a sonnet written for her. He found a copy he had made and kept for himself that would remain hidden among his personal effects including old photographs and other pieces of long-ago shattered dreams for more than 30 years. He no longer remembered the exact words but found upon reading them once more with old fresh eyes that his old wounds could still bleed and water dormant seeds buried in faded scars that would blossom a bittersweet harvest of suppressed memories. It read as follows in faded ink from Dan¡¯s own hand:

    Sonnet to C. R. - 1988

    I tried so hard to share my love with you,

    To make you see the dream I saw so clear,

    Yet you could not believe my words were true,

    Could not let go of your consuming fear.

    I waited hoping for some subtle change,

    Ignoring every sign it would not come,

    Until the dream was clearly out of range,

    And hope, an evanescent shadow, gone.

    The emptiness I feel knows no regret,

    So do not weep for me, sweetest of friends,

    Each fleeting moment shared I''ll not forget,

    I know what love is now, and how it ends.

    The love I felt will live while I take breath,

    The dream I''ll carry with me to my death.

    Dan went on to other administrative roles beyond the assistant dean position at the small private college after leaving PEMTI. He would serve as a division dean, and twice as department chair at other institutions. He would also twice reach the rank of tenured full professor at both a public and a private university. A year after their breakup, He and Linda would reconcile, and not much later marry. Marvin and Bob would attend their simple wedding. Gene would be his best man. But for Linda and Dan, their relationship would never be the same.

    Alas, Dan would find to his great consternation throughout his otherwise successful and fulfilling academic career, that the more things change, the more they remain the same. But this is a story for another day and perhaps another novel¡ªone in which our battered but still idealistic if perhaps less na?ve lawyer/administrator/professor continues to learn some painful lessons about higher education and about life on the long, uphill road to enlightenment.

    End

 Other Books and Select Academic Articles by the Author

    <div>

    Books Published

    ? Hire Lernin¡¯: An Idealist¡¯s Quest Through the Realm of for-Profit Education</a> Published through Create Space and Amazon Direct Publishing (February 2021).

    ? A Primer on Immigration Law and Compliance</a>, Textbook Media, 2020 (text, test bank, instructor¡¯s manual)

    ? Echoes of the Mind''s Eye: 13 Speculative Fiction Short Stories</a> Published through Create Space and Amazon Direct Publishing (November 2020).

    ? Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems, Volume 2</a> Published through Create Space and Amazon Direct Publishing (December 2020).

    ? Business Law: An Introduction 3e</a>, Textbook Media, 2019 (text, test bank, instructor¡¯s manual)

    ? Business Law and the Legal Environment of Business 3e</a>, Textbook Media 2017 (text, test bank, instructor¡¯s manual)

    ? Copyright Law: A Practical Guide</a> Published through Create Space and Amazon Direct Publishing (Spring 2018).

    ? Mindscapes: 10 Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction Short Stories (audiobook)</a> Audible (August 2014).

    ? Intellectual Property Law: A Practical Guide to Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks and Trade Secrets</a>, published through Create Space and Amazon Direct Publishing (Summer 2014).

    ? Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems </a> published through Create Space and Amazon Direct Publishing (July 2011).

    ? Business Law: An Introduction 2e, Textbook Media, 2011 (text, test bank, instructor¡¯s manual)

    ? Business Law and the Legal Environment of Business 2e, Textbook Media 2010 (text, test bank, instructor¡¯s manual)

    ? Free and Low-Cost Software for the PC, McFarland & Company 2000

    ? Legal Environment of Business, Prentice Hall 1997 (text, test bank and instructor¡¯s resource manual)

    ? Case and Resource Material for the Legal Environment of Business, Prentice Hall 1997

    ? Business Law: An Introduction, Richard D. Irwin / Mirror Press 1993 (text, test bank and instructor¡¯s resource manual)

    ? Free and User Supported Software for the IBM PC: A Resource Guide for Libraries and Individuals, McFarland & Company 1990 (co-authored with Kenneth J. Ansley

    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    <hr>

    Published Articles in Refereed Journals and Law Reviews

    ? L¨®pez, V. D., Why Foreign-Born Residents Fall Prey to Unscrupulous Notaries Public and What Should Be Done to Prevent It, North East Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 44, Article 1, 1-34 (2024).

    ? L¨®pez, V. D., Avoiding the Legal Landmines Attendant to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Form I-9 Compliance, North East Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 42, Article 2, 24-45 (2022).

    ? L¨®pez, V. D., Mandatory Arbitration Clauses in Consumer Contracts: A Legally Permissible Means of Denying Consumers the Constitutional Right to Litigate Contract Disputes in Court and the Right to Trial by Jury. North East Journal of Legal Studies: Vol. 40, Article 1 (Spring 2020).

    ? L¨®pez, V. D., Maccarrone, E. T. Non-Lawyer Judges Presiding Over Criminal Trials: Constitutionally Permissible Injustice? Wake Forest Journal of Law & Policy Vol. 10 at 1 (2019).

    ? L¨®pez, V. D., Maccarrone, E. T. Should Emergency Good Deeds Go Unpunished? An Analysis of the Good Samaritan Statutes of the United States, Rutgers Law Record, Vol. 45, 105-144 (2018).

    ? L¨®pez, V. D., When Lenders Can Legally Provide Loans with Effective Interest Rates Above 1,000 Percent, is it Time for Congress to Consider a Federal Interest Cap on Consumer Loans? Notre Dame Journal of Legislation, Vol. 42, Issue 1 (2016).

    ? L¨®pez, V. D., Maccarrone, E. T. Traffic Enforcement by Camera: Privacy and Due Process in the Age of Big Brother Law Journal for Social Justice (Sandra Day O¡¯Connor College of Law, Arizona State University), Vol 5 (Spring 2015).

    ? Maccarrone, E. T., L¨®pez, V. D., Medical Malpractice Limitations for New York Infants - Time for a Change of Time? 34 Buff. Pub. Int. L.J. 99 (2016).

    ? L¨®pez, V. D., Maccarrone, E. T. Leading the World in the Wrong Direction: Is it Time for the U.S. to Adopt the World Standard Loser Pays Rule in Civil Litigation? North East Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 32, 1-20 (Spring 2014).

    ? L¨®pez, V. D., Dealing with Uninvited and Unwelcomed Guests: A Survey or Current State Legislative Efforts to Control Illegal Immigration within Their Borders International Journal of Public Law and Policy, Vol. 3, No. 1, (2013) (Geneva, Switzerland).

    ? L¨®pez, V. D., Unauthorized Practice of Law in the U.S.: a Survey and Brief Analysis of the Law, North East Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 26 (Fall 2011)

    ? L¨®pez, V. D., Principled Leadership: Finding Common Ground among Divergent Philosophies University of Botswana Law Journal, Vol. 11 (December 2010)

    ? L¨®pez, V. D., State Homestead Exemptions and Bankruptcy Law: Is it Time for Congress to Close the Loophole? Rutgers Business Law Journal, Vol. 7 (Spring 2010).

    ? Illegal Immigration: Economic, Social and Ethical Implications, North East Journal of Legal Studies Vol. 22 (Spring 2009)

    ? L¨®pez, V. D., Legislating Relief for the High Cost of College Textbooks: A Brief Analysis of the Current Law and its Implication for Students, Faculty and the Publishing Industry Journal of Legal Studies in Business, Vol. 15 (2009)