Part 12 (1/2)

Esther persisted, ”Have you seen the other evaluations? I mean the ones that are believed to be authentic student feedbacks?”

Here Dean Broadhurst intentionally contradicted Lyle's testimony.

”No. The student comments are summarized by the department secretaries and I see the summaries. There is also a summary of the positive and negative comments and a summary of the numerical evaluation.”

Jane looked at Henry to see his reaction. She remembered that Lyle had testified that all the SmurFFs were given to, and reviewed by, the dean.

Perhaps, Sam Broadhurst thought to himself, it is all I can do for her.

The panel has the information, if they choose to hear it. If there was manipulation of the evaluation process, it wasn't a product of five 'suspicious' ones out of some two hundred that were considered valid.

Statistically, the evidence stunk and he knew it. He also knew a lot more. Two of his children had gone through the medical school when Diana taught in the radiology laboratory.

The dean remembered the many occasions he had seen fit to compliment Trenchant on her teaching, saying that he was giving her this critique first-hand from one or the other of his children.

Perhaps, thought the dean, if witchcraft was the real charge, the panel would insist that it be proven.

Or maybe not. The administration appeared to be out for blood and he was sure that Lyle was still licking the wounds of a few short months ago. . .

He had Lyle on the carpet. He had summarily called him down to his office to read him the riot act.

”Here are the letters I've received from three top publishers of medical texts. Each one of them protests the plagiarism that a medical student told them your people have committed in preparing course material.

”I went to the radiology lab after I received the first letter and talked to some students. Although no one wanted to admit to contacting the publishers, they did show me the areas in their manual and notes that had been copied directly from different texts without citation.

”They also showed me the notebooks filled with diagrams that had been copied from a published atlas. Again, nowhere in the book was there any mention of, or credit given, to the source.

h.e.l.l, your guys didn't even get permission to photograph the material!”

The dean continued telling Lyle that quite a sum of money would have to change hands with the publishers to keep this thing quiet.

”It must be her,” Lyle whined when he could get a word in.

”She must have put the students up to writing the publishers.”

The dean knew who he meant. Lyle was a chronic complainer.

”Did Trenchant put your boys up to plagiarism too?” ridiculed the dean. ”I understood from you that she was no longer in the radiology course.”

”She's not, but the students from previous years have told this year's students about her and they all go to her when they don't understand something.

”She's really a menace to Randy and Ian. One day she even got a cla.s.sroom and held a review just before an exam.

I got wind of it and sent Ann Biggot to audit. Ann said that most of the radiology cla.s.s showed up. The students told Ann afterwards that they had been the ones to ask for the review.

”Now you know how that must have hurt Ian's feelings. His reviews were only attended by a handful of the students and no one came to Randy's.”

”You should be able to handle a situation like that.

Tell her to stop it if you think it undermines your faculty.”

Lyle was not a happy camper. He left, enraged. As soon as he reached his office, he called for Ian.

”Ian, I know you've got a lecture in a few minutes so I'll be brief. After the lecture, I want you to tell the students that they must not consult Diana anymore because she is not involved in teaching radiology and is much too busy to be bothered.

Also, you lay it on the line about your job. You tell them that unless your critiques improve, you are out. Work on their feelings.

Most of the students like you and would hate to have you lose your job on account of them.