Professor Sigmond had just finished taking roll. He was an older man in his early sixties and quite severe looking (he had a nose in the shape of a tomahawk). Even though this was only the second class of the summer session, he had already demonstrated that he would not tolerate any nonsense from the students. He looked down at his roll sheet and asked, "Mr. Osfeld, why do you think Marie Antoinette was so hated?"
Without the least bit of hesitation, Stephen answered, "I don't know."
"What do you mean, you don't know? I'm asking for an opinion," Professor Sigmond asked getting ready to cut Stephen into shreds. He hated students that couldn't even form their own opinions about the material.
"No. You're asking for speculation. We haven't been presented with enough information on which to form an opinion," Stephen said while he nudged the textbook in a dismissive fashion. The entire class tensed up when Stephen gave his answer. They were sure that he was about to be put through the meat grinder.
Rather surprised by Stephen's answer, Professor Sigmond asked, "What information are we missing?"
"Quite a bit. All the book has given us is a few newspaper reports, some quotations that were attributed to her that were never uttered by her, and a repetition of speculations by other authors," Stephen said.
"Interesting. Please continue," Professor Sigmond said with a smile. It was hard to tell if he was smiling because he actually liked the answer or a great opportunity to crush a student was at hand. All eyes in the classroom turned to watch Stephen.
"Who hated her? Were there motives beyond a visceral negative emotional reaction to the woman? If so, what were those motives? Was she actually working in opposition to their plans? Was she being used as a pawn in a grander game? What behaviors did she exhibit that contributed to her being hated?" Stephen said. "There are a hundred more questions that I would need to answer before hazarding an opinion on why she was so hated."
"Are the answers to your questions in the textbook?"
Stephen answered, "No."
All eyes in the classroom turned to Professor Sigmond to see his reaction to Stephen's answer. They were surprised when he said, "You sounded like a historian there."
"Thank you," Stephen said.
"However, I am sure that there are some who would object to you saying that the book presented a repetition of speculations," Professor Sigmond said.
"Really? I noticed when I read that section that there were no attributions to the sources from which those statements originated. There was no justification for those statements given in the book. To me that speaks of intellectual laziness and reduces the significance of the judgments made from expert opinion to author speculation," Stephen said.
"Very good," Professor Sigmond said. He reached into his pocket and removed his pen. He wrote down an A for the final grade for the class next to Stephen's name. He felt that his answer was worth an A. It was his opinion that his job was to teach students how to think about history and to form opinions based upon knowledge rather than repeating trite answers given by others.
He turned to the class and said, "I hope that you noticed a few key points of our young colleague's observations. First, understanding the situation goes beyond reading a few sources. You have to investigate the full context in which the events occurred. This involves asking and answering many questions beyond the primary question.
"Second, even when reading an article one has to take care in distinguishing whether something is a verifiable fact, a scholarly opinion, or a commonly repeated popular speculation. This is particularly true when dealing with sources such as newspapers, memoirs, and popular books. I shall not even mention the internet.
"Third, the statements that individuals make are colored by their attitudes. When someone writes that so and so did such and such and that it was a horrible thing, you have to ask why they say that. It is not sufficient to know what they said, but why they said it. Motives should be suspect.
"It is unfortunate that I chose to ask my question of Mr. Osfeld so early in the class since his answer has effectively cut off further discussion of the material I wanted to cover. Instead of assigning a paper on Marie Antoinette, I'm going to ask you to write a paper about the influence of the Fourth Estate in the French Revolution. It will be due next class."
The whole class groaned. One of the students looked at Stephen and said, "Thanks a lot. I was ready to write a paper about Marie Antoinette."
The class continued for another hour and forty five minutes. At the end of class, Professor Sigmond said, "Class is dismissed. Mr. Osfeld, would you mind staying after class for minute?"
"Sure," Stephen answered. He made his way up to the front of the class.
Once the classroom was empty, Professor Sigmond asked, "What is a common mistake that modern people make when looking at the past?"
"Making judgments based on today's attitudes rather than on the attitudes of the time," Stephen answered.
"Yes," Professor Sigmond said. He smiled and said, "I don't think there is any need for you to come to the rest of the classes."
"Thank you," Stephen said.
"However, I will need some sort of artifact from you to justify giving you an A in the class. I would like you to write a paper on a proper approach to understanding history."
"Sure. When do you want it?" Stephen asked thinking that it would be a relatively easy assignment.
"By the end of the semester," Professor Sigmond answered.
"Alright," Stephen said. Given that amount of time he figured that the expectations would be pretty high regarding the paper.
"You wouldn't happen to be a history major, would you?"
"No. I'm a political science major with a minor in physics," Stephen answered.
"That is an interesting choice of major and minor. Why did you choose that?"
Stephen answered, "Magus recommended it. He said it would ease my studies when I went into law."
Professor Sigmond frowned and said, "I didn't realize that you were one of the students who utilized the services of Magus."
"I'm not a client. I work for him," Stephen said.
"Oh," Professor Sigmond said impressed. "I'm pleased to learn that you aren't one of those students who have gone to him in the hopes of forcing a professor into giving them an A."
"Magus would never force a professor into giving someone an A," Stephen said.
"I know that," Professor Sigmond said with a smile. "I think a lot of students discovered that over the past school year. I think it is a particularly cheap lesson at only ten dollars."
He started packing up his lecture materials and then paused. He said, "There is an interesting little book that came out a couple of days ago. It is titled, 'My Grandmother.' It is basically the life of a common woman as seen through the eyes of her grandson. I was thinking of assigning it to the class as an extra credit project. You might want to read it. In a way, it will be a very novel source for a future historian who wants to understand modern times."
"I edited it," Stephen said.
"Really?" Professor Sigmond said. "You might mention that to your English professor."
"I'll do that," Stephen said.
Professor Sigmond picked up his material and said, "I look forward to reading your paper."
Stephen walked out of the classroom thinking about the conversation with his professor. He hadn't gone five steps when the most attractive woman in the class approached him. In point of fact, she was one of the most attractive women on the entire campus. She took a second to pose seductively before she said, "Hello, I'm Amber Pennington."
"Hello," Stephen said taking a step backwards.
Amber took a step closer and said, "You really showed Professor Sigmond up."
Taking a step backwards, Stephen replied, "I don't think so. I thought it was an amiable discussion consistent with the professor student relationship. He asked questions, I answered them, and he commented on the quality of my answers. There was no showing up anyone."
Taking a step closer, Amber said, "Well, I was wondering if you would like to be my study partner."
"No," Stephen answered taking a step backwards.
Rather surprised at the flat refusal, Amber took a step forward and batted her eyelashes. She said, "You might want to reconsider. I think we'll have fun studying together."
"Not interested," Stephen answered taking another step backwards. He wondered if he was going to end up walking backwards out of the building.
Amber stared at him for a second and then took a step forward. She said, "We can study in my dorm room. My roommate is out most of the time."
Taking another step backwards, Stephen said, "I'm really not interested."
Amber took another step forward and asked, "Are you gay?"
"No. I am not gay," Stephen said while taking another step backward. Deciding that it was time to end the conversation, he said, "I like women a lot. You, however, are not my type."
Amber spun around and walked off without another comment. It had been the first time in her life that a man had ever refused her anything and she wasn't sure quite what to make of it. She wanted to find a mirror to see if she had developed a sudden bad case of acne or something.
Stephen noticed a young woman a little ways down the hallway looking sad. She was dressed in loose jeans and an oversized sweatshirt. He stopped by her and said, "You look a little upset. Are you okay?"
"I'm just a little upset that she beat me to you," the woman said with a trace of bitterness in her voice.
"What do you mean?" Stephen asked.
The woman said, "Every class that I have with Amber, she grabs the smartest guy in the room to be her study partner. I just don't stand a chance of getting a decent study partner around her."
"Professor Sigmond gave me a special assignment. However, I wouldn't mind helping you through the class," Stephen said.
The woman said, "Aren't you already Amber's study partner?"
"No," Stephen answered.
"Why not? She's pretty and usually insinuates that she'll put out," the woman said.
"She's a user. She would take all she could and give back as little as possible. I doubt one of her study partners has even gotten a hand job out of helping her despite her suggestions to the contrary," Stephen said.
"Oh."
He looked at the woman and said, "On the other hand, I think that you are really interested in being a study partner with someone. I believe that you would contribute significantly in that context. I'm sure that in your past classes you've helped drag some mediocre student up a grade or two. Am I wrong?"
"No," the woman answered rather surprised by his statements.
Stephen reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a business card. He wrote the address of the house on the back along with his cell phone number. He handed it to her and said, "Give me a call this evening and we'll decide when and where would be a good place to meet."
"Great."
"By the way, my name is Stephen."
"I'm Mel."
"Nice to meet you Mel," Stephen said.
"Nice to meet you Stephen," Mel said.
"I have to get to work, I'll talk to you later," Stephen said.
"Okay," Mel said. She watched him walk off and sighed, "A man who values brains over beauty; be still my beating heart!"
Returning to Solutions Incorporated, Stephen walked into the office and saw a woman seated at the receptionist's desk. She definitely wasn't Claudia. Frowning, he noticed the woman had a rather ugly black eye. He asked, "Who are you?"
"I'm Irene. I'm the receptionist."
"Where's Claudia?" Stephen asked.
Irene frowned while trying to remember names and then answered, "Magus said something about her going to work for Evan."
"You mean Igor?" Stephen asked.
"Yes," Irene said.
"That makes sense," Stephen said. He smiled and said, "I'm Stephen and I work here too."
Magus came out of his office and said, "Hello Titus. I see that you've met Irene."
"Yes, I was just introducing myself," Stephen said.
"It is going to be so nice to have someone working here with whom we can feel comfortable around," Magus said with a happy smile.
"Indeed," Stephen said.
"So how was school today?" Magus asked.
"Pretty good. I have to write a paper on a proper approach to understanding history," Stephen answered.
"You should be able to do that in your sleep," Magus said.
Stephen said, "I think that my professor has rather high expectations."
"He's not the only one. I'd like to read your paper when you're done writing it," Magus said.
"I'll give you a copy."
"Anything else interesting happen?"
"I met a girl," Stephen said.
"Is she plain looking?"
"Yes. She's quite plain and even dresses to minimize her feminine charms," Stephen said proudly. He earned a blank look from Irene.
"I'm glad to hear that."
"She doesn't even wear makeup."
"Excellent," Magus said beaming like a proud father.
Stephen said, "Timmy's book is on the market."
"I know. I sent a basket of fruit to Timmy congratulating him on becoming a published author. I would have sent flowers, but a young man like him wouldn't appreciate it," Magus said.
"I should do something," Stephen said.
"Yes, you should," Magus replied. He turned to Irene and said, "That box behind you is for Stephen."
Irene picked up the box and set it on the desk. Stephen looked at the box and asked, "What is it?"
"The publisher sent you copies of the book," Magus answered. "Don't look so surprised. You are listed as the editor."
"I didn't know they would send me copies of it," Stephen said looking at the box with pleasure. He was kind of proud of the accomplishment that the box represented.
"Don't forget, you'll be getting royalties too," Magus said. "You can use the money from the book to pay for dates with your girlfriend."
Not wanting to get into too much detail about Mel until he had details worth sharing and of a kind that was appropriate for sharing publically, Stephen asked, "What is on the agenda today?"
"I think you should spend a little more time looking over my past cases," Magus said. "You still have a lot to learn."
"I know," Stephen said.
"Let's get to work," Magus said. "There's too much to do and too little time to do it in."
Stephen picked up the box and headed towards his office. He heard Magus say, "Irene, you might consider decorating this office. It is a little plain."
Stephen noticed the flowers on his desk. He smiled and said, "Nice."