Play@YSDC

David Rittenhouse Laboratory, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania
2:25 PM - Wednesday, July 16, 1969
Professor Anthony Scott was in his classroom in David Rittenhouse Lab, lecturing for Calculus II. It was the summer session, and thus not as busy as during the spring and fall semesters, but there were still dozens of students enrolled in his class. Calculus was always an important course for a number of majors in the sciences, especially physics. A good number of students had skipped today's lecture, as the weather today was nice, but it would cost them in the end when it came time to study for exams. Many of the students that were present were getting antsy since the lecture was due to end in five minutes and they were anxious to leave, but they were still well-behaved.

Anthony was also distracted, as his cousin and namesake had called him the night before and told him that he was worried about his daughter Kathleen. She was a graduate assistant in the Law department, and her father was apopleptic about her constant acts of rebellion. Lately she had started dating another graduate assistant who was not only fifteen years her senior, she was a woman as well! Her parents were utterly scandalized.

Anthony wrapped up his lecture and dismissed the class.
"Remember folks just because this is Calculus II doesn't mean you can forget Calc I, refresh yourselves on the double integrals before the exam; and look over the next section on infinite series i hope to cover that next class. As always if you have any questions, come by my office I should be there till 5:00 tonight. Now go enjoy the nice weather. See you guys next class."

OOC,Anthony will wait at the front of the class gathering his things till all of the students have left, giving them a chance to ask questions.

Professor Anthony Scott did not have to tell his students twice. Some of them had already put their books and papers away, and the rest rapidly followed suit. None of them stopped to ask any questions, as they all wanted to enjoy what was left of the bright summer day and were grateful to get out a little early. Within a couple of minutes, the lecture hall was deserted.

Anthony had finished gathering his own things by 2:30, when class would normally have ended. As he was about to leave, two people came to the door. One was an attractive woman in her thirties, slim and with long, dark hair. Just behind her was a man in a wheelchair, about thirty years old. "Professor Scott?" asked the woman. "I'm Assistant Professor Nancy Remington, and this is Jerome Padgett. We work for Dr. Gregory Anderson over in the School of Medicine. We were hoping to talk to his son Brian, but I see everyone has already left. Was he in class today?"

OOC,[b]Anthony[/b], roll Idea.

"Let me think...No I don't recall seeing Brian today. It could be the lure of today's weather was just to much for him to resist."
Stopping to think a moment Anthony remembers seeing Brian around campus with a girl.
"Now that i think about it I do believe that he has a girlfriend... What was her name? Miss Walters,... yes, Mary Walters. He could be with her."
"I can check with the secretary to find out which dorm she's in."
Anthony walks towards the door and gestures down the hall.
" It's just down the hall here."

"That would be very helpful. Thank you, Professor Scott."

Jerome goes with Anthony down the hall to check with the secretary.

Nancy accompanied Professor Scott and Jerome to the Math department's main office down the hall. Estelle, the tall, blonde secretary, was busy typing at her desk.

"Hi," said Nancy. "I'm Assistant Professor Nancy Remington."

Estelle smiled. "My typewriter's a Remington too," she said. "Maybe you're related."

Nancy chuckled politely. "We're trying to find a student named Brian Anderson who's enrolled in Professor Scott's Calculus II class. Or possibly his girlfriend, Mary Walters. Do you have an address for her?"

"We don't have that information here. You'd have to check with the Registrar's Office."

"Please, could you call them and ask? It's important that we find out quickly, and I wouldn't want to inconvenience my friend here by having to take a trip down there." Nancy indicated Jerome.

"Well...I don't know. I'm very busy."

OOC,Either of you may roll Credit Rating or Fast Talk to try to convince her. [b]Nancy[/b] will have a chance too even if you both fail.

"Please?" said Nancy, giving her best smile.

"No offense, but I don't know you from Adam," said Estelle, her fingers racing across her typewriter's keyboard. "Look, I have a ton of paperwork to do for the department head, and I have to get it all done by five."

OOC,[b]Jerome[/b], you still haven't tried a Fast Talk roll. You may do so now if you wish.

"Estelle, this is very important, and time may be of the essence," begins Jerome. By the time he finishes, she is convinced.

"Well, since you put it that way..." said Estelle, smiling at Jerome. She picked up the phone on her desk and dialed the Registrar's number. After a moment's pause, she spoke into the mouthpiece. "Hello, Rita, this is Estelle over in the Math Department. I need to locate a Miss Mary Walters and a Mr. Brian Anderson. It's important. Do you have an address on them, or better yet know what classes they're in today?" A minute passed. "Okay, thanks, Rita. You're a peach!" She hung up. "Miss Walters has a history class at 4:00 in Logan Hall, room 202. There's plenty of time to get there before class starts. She lives in the girls' dorms, in room 87. Brian Anderson lives in the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house. He's in the same history class as Miss Walters, too."

"Thank you," said Nancy. "If he skipped this class, I wouldn't count on him being at the other one, but Mary Walters might be there."

"Thank you," replies Jerome, "you've been a real help to us."

After a moment, he says to Professor Scott,
"I suppose we'll head over to the history class next. We have plenty of time. Professor, did you ever notice anything about Brian's other interests than Calculus II? I understand that he was just one of your many students, but I probably know even less about him than you do."

"I'm sure I can, Mr. Anderson," Anthony says,"but lets walk and talk and let good Ms. Estelle get back to work. Thank you again, Estelle."

"Any time, Professor," said Estelle as Nancy, Anthony, and Jerome left her office and returned to the hall.

Anthony Scott,I was going to ask you to roll Psychology to see what you know about [b]Brian[/b], so I'll count that as your Psychology roll - and it's a very good success. [b]Brian Anderson[/b] is not a good student. He isn't all that bright, and he doesn't put out much effort. He often skips lectures, as he has today, and he is barely scraping by with a low C average. In fact, he has had to repeat Calculus II this summer because he failed it in the spring semester. He also seems to be a very troubled and disturbed young man, and one that probably uses drugs judging by his behavior.

"Let's enjoy the day," said Anthony as they headed towards the door, "and I'll tell what I can about Brian."
As they walked out into the afternoon, Scott told them what he could about Mr. Anderson's son.
"Brian isn't really doing well in my classes, in fact this is the second time that he has had to enroll in my course. I really do believe he could make it through my course with a decent grade if he would only apply himself. He just really seems to be having motivation issues, he's just not trying. If he would just come to class he'd be fin but it seems like he would rather skip -- like today. And..."
"and...well... I think Brian might be involved in other thins as well. He always seems troubled and distracted when I do see him. He just doesn't seem like he's doing well, I think he may be involved with drugs."
"I'm sorry to paint such a dreary picture of your son, Mr. Anderson. I just think that he is a troubled young man and just needs someone to talk to him, and set him on the right path."

"I'm sorry for the confusion - I'm Jerome Padgett, one of Dr. Anderson's colleagues. He's back at our laboratory. I appreciate your honesty about my coworker's son. While I respect Dr. Anderson a great deal, we share worries about Brian, and what you have told me will help me to try to help him."

"We have well over an hour before that history class starts," said Nancy. "We might as well make some use of the intervening time. We could check out the frat house where Brian lives, or go to Mary's dorm and see if she's in. We could also report back to Dr. Anderson with what we've found so far and get his input."

"We shouldn't go back to Dr. Anderson until we have something definitive to tell him. I think going to the see if he is at the frat house might be a good bet. For all we know he could have been there all this time, and if not, someone else might know where he is."

"Well if you would like, I can show you the way to the frat house. I am curious about what Brian has been up to today," says Dr. Scott, "The frat house it over this way." Anthony points in in the direction of the fraternity house's location.