[comp.edu] Bricks In The Wall

patth@dasys1.UUCP (Patt Haring) (08/02/87)

                        Bricks In The Wall
                        by M.D. Roccatani

     The first week on the job was great.  I felt, in varying
degrees, useful, productive, contributing, and even important.  I
suppose I especially felt important, but I wasn't immodest about
it.  After all, I hadn't sought out the gig.  Junior college
enrollment was up in the remedial classes and I had a master's
degree.  So here I was.  It was easy. 

     Actually, a friend had got me in, an old girl friend who
taught part time and whose classes had bulged beyond her ability
to manage them (she was very cute and the word got around).  She
had told her boss she knew someone, her boss had called, and here
I was. 

     It was the beginning of the second week of class and we, the
class and I, were still feeling each other out.  "It alludes to
an incident in the Bible," I said in an almost hurt way when no
one in the class had understood my meaning.  "Well, let me give
you a clue," I went on.  "Who was it that tore down the walls of
Jericho?"

     The room was dead quiet.  All eyes were noncommittal,
averted. 

     "Who tore down the walls of Jericho?" I said it again as I
looked over the list of names.  "Raul," I looked up.  "Raul
Segovia. Do you know?" 

     The young lad straightened himself in his seat, looked
around the room, pondered the question, and then answered. 

     "I don't know who did it," he said defensively.  "And if I
did know who did it, I wouldn't tell you."  He spoke courageously
now, "I wouldn't snitch on anybody!" 

     The bell rang, saving both Raul and me.  As I walked to my
next class deep in Biblical thought, I chanced to bump into one
of my full-time colleagues, a large woman in her forties who had
introduced herself at the department meeting as Mrs. McGowen.

     "Good morning, Robert. How are the classes?"  she asked, her
voice full of friendliness. 

     "Fine!" I said.  I looked away as I thought again about
Raul.

     "What is it?"  she asked. 

     "Nothing, really," I said.  But she pursued the point, so I
told her about the incident with Raul. "When I asked him who tore
down the walls of Jericho, he said that he didn't know, that it
wasn't he who had done it, and that he wouldn't tell me anyway,
even if he did know who did it." 

     "Well," she seemed genuinely surprised.  "You know, I
believe I had Raul last semester.  Yes, I'm sure of it." 

     I described him, and she confirmed she had had Raul last
semester.  She said she was shocked to hear his name mentioned in
conjunction with any act of vandalism. 

     "I'm sure there's been some mistake," she said.  "He didn't
strike me at all as someone who would do anything like that." 

     She was quite distraught when we parted.  I was confused,
but I was late for my next class so I hurried on. 

     While the students wrote a process paragraph, I thought
about Raul and Mrs. McGowen. After class I decided to put off
some paperwork until tomorrow and leave directly for home and
sanctuary.  But I ran into the head of the department, Mrs.
Kellerman, on my way to the parking lot. 

     "Why hello, Robert." She was quite genial.  "I'm glad I
bumped into you, dear.  Dean Smith needs you to sign the payment
voucher.  Could you go up to his office, before you leave today,
dear?"  I noted that she said "dear" a lot. 

     "Of course," I said.  "I'll go up right now." 

     "Wonderful. How's it going?  How do you like teaching?"  She
sounded sincere, so I answered her sincerely: I said I liked it. 

     "But a funny thing happened today in my essay class," I
added. 

     "Oh? What was that?"  she asked. 

     "Well, we were discussing something, I forget now what it
was, and I asked the class if they knew who tore down the walls
of Jericho."

     "Yes?" She seemed eager to help. 

     "And one of the students, his name is Raul Segovia, answered
that he hadn't done it, and that even if he knew who did, he
wouldn't tell me or anyone else.  He said he wouldn't snitch on
anybody." 

     She looked puzzled.  "I know Raul," she said.  "I know him
well.  He was in my 121 class two semesters ago.  Yes, and I know
something else, too: if he said he didn't do it, he didn't do
it!"  She tried to sound reassuring.  "He's not the type to lie
about that kind of thing." 

     I was lost in thought as I made my way across campus to the
Administration Building. The Office of Instruction was on the 6th
floor and I opted for the stairway.  As I climbed the stairs, I
pondered my students, the walls of Jericho, my colleagues in the
ivory tower, and the much talked about crisis in education.  I
began to get depressed. 

     "Hello, Mr. Smith." I walked into the office of the dean of
instruction and shook hands with Hal Smith.

     "Hello, Robert," he was also quite genial.  "How's it
going?" 

     I avoided telling him about the Raul incident, but after the
business was concluded, Dean Smith again asked me how my classes
were. 

     "Fine," I said.  "Except, well, a funny thing happened
today." 

     "What's that?"  he asked. 

     "Well, I asked a student of mine in my morning class if he
knew who tore down the walls of Jericho and he said he didn't do
it and he didn't know who did, and that even if he did know, he
wouldn't tell me because he wouldn't snitch on anyone."  Once I
got started, I couldn't hold back.  "I told Mrs. McGowen and
later Mrs. Kellerman about it, and they both spoke up for him. 
They both said they knew the student and, if he said he didn't do
it, they were both sure he hadn't." 

     A look of astonishment grew on the dean's face.  "I'm sorry,
Robert, and embarrassed."  His face got red.  He slammed a fist
down on the polished mahogany desk and stood up violently. 

     "Listen," he said intently, "you just tell me where that
wall was and I'll get Maintenance on it first thing in the
morning." 


-- 
Patt Haring                       UUCP:    ..cmcl2!phri!dasys1!patth
Big Electric Cat                  Compu$erve: 76566,2510
New York, NY, USA                 MCI Mail: 306-1255;  GEnie: PHaring