The Eleven O'clock Appointment
Pre-series: circa 1980
Disclaimer: No… of course not… what were you thinking
Feedback: like hot chocolate on a snowy day in May ( and yes that's what's going on here!)
AN/ inspired by Josh's offhand comment in Isaac and Ishmael… and thanks to Cathy and Annemarie who I think were the first ones to suggest Josh Chris and Mike all went to school together.
The phone rings and he answers it.
"Yes Kathy?"
"Your eleven o'clock is here, sir."
"Well let them stew for a few minutes before you let them in."
He can hear the conspiratorial smile in her voice as she answers, "Will do."
She's filling in from the temp pool while his admin assistant is on holiday, but he likes her sense of humor.
In the outer office she places the phone back in its cradle and turns to the two young men, "Have a seat boys. He'll be with you in a moment."
"Ah-kay… um.. you don't know what this is about do you? We were just told to make this appointment… but not why."
"I really can't say."
He smiles a warm dimpled smile, surreptitiously checks the name tag pinned to her sweater and says "Can't, or won't Kathy?"
He's really a very attractive young man, and she smiles back at him before replying, "I really don't know."
"So…" he leans casually against her desk, "Where's Sandra?"
His friend sits nervously in one of the chairs, pleating the fabric of his shirt sleeve."Who cares? Let's just sit and wait."
She looks at them both, one tidy and nervous, wiping his damp palms on his jeans, and staring at the clock, the other slouching against her desk, familiarly looking the photos of her niece and nephew. "Sandra's on holiday," she proffers, "I'm just filling in."
He grins at her again in his boyish way. "So, can you at least tell us if this is bad or good.. 'cause honestly, I don't think Chris here is up to the strain, do you? I mean look at the guy…he's a wreck with anxiety."
"Shut up Josh."
"C'mon Kathy." He reaches out and touches her hand, "Give us a heads up."
She looks up into his warm brown eyes, but before she can answer the phone rings.
"Send them in."
"The Dean will see you now. You can go in."
"So Chris," he says, with his hand on the doorknob, "just let me do the talking, huh."
"Josh, I don't.."
"Trust me, man. When have I ever steered you wrong?"
"Well, ah.."
"I mean when it mattered, Chris… When it mattered…"
He opens the door, and they enter the inner office.
"Ah my good friends, Mr. Lyman, and Mr. Wick," the Dean says in a falsely cheery tone, "Have a seat." He gestures to the chairs in front of the desk. He looks from one to another, leans his elbows on the desk and steeples his hands. "So gentlemen… which one of you is the Latin scholar?"
"Sir?" The voice leaps an octave.
"I'm not sure what you mean, sir."
"Oh, I think you do." He reaches into a drawer, pulls out several essays, and lays them down in a fan across the top of the desk. "How exactly do you explain this?"
The tile pages are similar, all for different courses, but all by the same author.. He lifts the first one. "For American Government 90: 'Election Boundaries in the 1930's and their effect on the Hoover presidency' by Aurum Piscis. A little high toned for a freshman don't you think Mr. Lyman?" He drops the essay in front of Josh."And let's see…'Napoleonic Communication Theory', for European History 98, by Aurum Piscis." He drops that essay in front of Chris. "Yours I believe Mr. Wick." He lifts the third essay, "Ah yes, and my own personal favorite, 'Farmed Carp in Central Thailand' for Marine Vertebrate Zoology 1065, also by Aurum Piscis. All I may add exceeding ly well written." He places the third essay in front of Josh, and then looks from one to the other expectantly. "Well gentlemen… I am waiting."
The silence fills the room. Josh, for once has nothing to say.
The dean clears his throat. "It was Mr. Lyman that, shall I say, blew the gaff."
Chris whips his head to look accusingly at Josh who shrugs; his eyes wide and innocent.
"Me, sir?"
"Well, you and your somewhat flamboyant and belligerent writing style. One of the courses in which our friend Aurum was enrolled shares the same T.A. with your American Constitution course, Mr. Lyman. Let us say he became suspicious while grading essays, and as a result we did some of what I like to call 'forensic grading'. Our attempts to contact Ms. Piscis led us to your fraternity gentlemen." He smiles, but not in a reassuring way. "Now, I'm not going to lay out for you step by step how we determined the two of you were involved, and I know that there's at least one, perhaps two more of you… Either of you know a Michael Casper?"
"Um… his name is familiar… I think he might be in the Applied Math program."
"And somewhat out of my jurisdiction…Hmm, well… as we all know, a bird in the hand … or shall I say a fish in the net…"
Chris shuffles in his chair.
"Was there something you wanted to say Mr. Wick?"
Josh shoots a dagger of a glance at him and Chris subsides.
"Ah no..I guess not…"
And you Mr. Lyman… anything to say about these... or any of the three courses from last semester? I must say the 85% in Gender Issues and Women's Studies came as a bit of a surprise… would you care to enlighten me?"
"Not really at this point, sir."
"You gentlemen understand that this is considered plagiarism."
Chris's head shoots up. "What?"
"No, no no no!…" Josh protests, "There's nothing copied here! .. I mean…it's original work!" he runs his hand through his russet brown hair leaving it standing frantically in all directions.
The Dean reaches for the academic calendar, and flips it open to a bookmarked page. "Academic Dishonesty ;" he reads, "Plagiarism and Collaboration …All homework assignments, projects, lab reports, papers, and examinations submitted to a course are expected to be the student's own work. Students should always take great care to distinguish their own ideas and knowledge from information derived from sources. The term "sources" includes not only primary and secondary material published in print, but also information and opinions gained directly from other people." He looks back up at the two young men in front of him. They are clearly becoming more and more agitated. Josh is practically bouncing out of his chair; Chris is gripping the armrests with whitened knuckles.
"But that's my point," sputters Josh, "These are valid original works. They are cited properly…"
"But as Aurum Piscis does not exist.."
"Well, she does actually…".
"Shut up Chris…"
The dean fixes his stare on Chris. "Mr. Wick?"
"She's my goldfish," he mutters.
Josh looks up to the ceiling and heaves a huge sigh. "Way to go Einstein."
"So then, one can assume that she is not the sole author, you should pardon the pun, of these papers, or in fact of any of the work presented in these courses."
"Well, technically, no," argues Josh, "but really if you want to allege plagiarism shouldn't it be the goldfish? I mean certainly neither of us submitted any work other than our own. I think I'm fairly conversant with the rules of the college, and…"
"Mr. Lyman, I see your future as a litigator spread out here before us, but as edifying as your argument might be, and your reputation as a persuasive speaker goes before you here, I believe that your research lacked some depth. To wit:" and he looks back down at the book and reads, "The amount of collaboration with others that is permitted in the completion of assignments can vary, depending upon the policy set by the head of the course. Students must assume that collaboration in the completion of assignments is prohibited unless explicitly permitted by the instructor. Students must acknowledge any collaboration and its extent in all submitted work."
"Well, technically there was no actual collaboration. I mean, only one of us wrote the work for any given class."
The dean looks up at the nineteen year old.. "The rules of academic integrity are not built upon the shifting sands of political vagaries Mr. Lyman. This is a clear case of misconduct."
Josh opens his mouth, but closes it again without a word.
The silence stretches to a thin thread.
"What's going to happen?" Chris blurts out, "Oh man, my father's going to kill me."
"Well, normally you would be asked to withdraw."
Chris groans, putting his head in his hands."
Josh catches it. "Normally?" he asks.
The dean sighs. "I am also painfully aware of what I can only refer to as the caprice of the Registrar's Office that allowed this chicanery, not to mention the instructors from the past semester who failed to identify this hoax….as a result, gentlemen, here is what I propose."
"We'll take the deal," says Chris quickly.
Josh turn on him, "Will you shut up!"
The dean hides his amusement by looking out the window behind him. He clears his throat and turns back. Chris sits sullenly, looking at the carpet. Josh leans forward eagerly.
"This file will remain with me. I will not at this point send it forward. I regret to say that the ebullient Ms. Piscis will not be joining us here at Harvard for her sophomore year. No doubt she has transferred to Bryn Mawr or Smith, or perhaps she has simply dropped out to support her persuasive young boyfriend as he completes law school. Nevertheless.. she will not return." He looks from one to the other. They both nod in agreement. "Now here are my expectations. You are both intelligent and, dare I say ingenious young men, who were on my honor roll in your freshman year, but not, I regret to say, this year. You are currently on my watch list, and I assure you this is not a list to aspire to. I expect outstanding work from both of you in the next two years, both in academics and extracurricular activities. Find yourself something useful that will occupy your time and energy gentlemen. If there is a repeat performance of this kind of deception in any way, shape or form, and if it even smells like one of you, this folder will go to the Provost and Vice President Academic. If on the other hand, you clean up your act and direct your considerable creative skills in more productive directions, then this folder will be your graduation gift. Do I make myself clear?"
"Absolutely, sir."
"Yes sir."
"Good. Then we have an understanding. This meeting, and this breach of policy will not be discussed. If I hear of this from any other source you will be held accountable." He closes the folder, and puts it back in the drawer. "Good afternoon gentlemen."
"Ah, thank you sir."
The two get up to leave, but at the door Josh turns to say, "Sir, I was wondering.."
"Yes Mr. Lyman?"
"Could I actually see the grading sheet on the Election Boundaries paper?"
"Get out Mr. Lyman."
"Yes sir. And thank you sir."