Chapter 24 - Paul's roommate problems
Paul and Amy accompanied Suzanne and one of her ex-classmates from the art department to Central Wisconsin for three days just before the Spring semester started. They rented a camper for Amy and Paul to change and warm up in, as well as a snowmobile and skis as props. Only Paul knew how to ski, and not very well. No one knew how to use the snowmobile, but Suzanne's classmate read the instruction manual and figured out enough to be able to turn it on and move it into place. Suzanne had chosen a location was that was lovely, with woods to one side and a frozen meadow sloping off to the other side. It would be hard for her as a photographer to concentrate on the clothes, since she was more interested in the winter beauty of the location itself.
Suzanne was a professional, however. She focused on her task at hand, using an attractive location and an attractive young couple to make the most out of the clothes. The message she needed to send was clear; buy these clothes and you will look like this couple. Suddenly Suzanne understood Paul's objections to advertising. Essentially she was using her camera to lie and she did not feel good about that. However, like Paul, she needed this session, to build her resume more than anything else. She pushed her doubts aside and started shooting, her classmate helping her with the lighting and changing film in the cameras.
The shoot itself was both fun and grueling for Paul and Amy. Over a three-day period they tried on 100 combinations of clothing. Still, they enjoyed much of their time over the three days. They romped in the snow and had a chance to be totally immature. Several times Amy put on the skis and invariably fell over, Paul having to help her up. Once she lost her balance and fell on top of him. They both fell into the snow laughing, with Suzanne firing away with her camera. These shots were genuine. Amy and Paul were a real couple, having real fun.
Many of the photos went into newspaper ads as soon as Suzanne had them developed. As she thumbed through the Sunday paper the following weekend, it gave Amy a very strange feeling to see herself smiling under the word "Clearance".
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At the end of February Amy began her correspondence with Wendy. She wrote about her photo shoot with Paul, how she was doing in her classes, and her observations with the university in general. However, mostly she had questions, how was Wendy doing, how did she feel, what was her life like, what was living with Burnside like?
Wendy tried to answer directly and honestly. Talking about her life was easy. However, she was unsure about her feelings. She did not mention anything about guilt or gambling.
Wendy did have some surprises for Amy in her letters. Amy had expected that Burnside would punish her friend almost continuously when she left her at the professor's house in December. That turned out not to be how Burnside treated her. The only punishments were for specific offenses, and just three major punishments so far, the most recent one being a caning just two days before Amy's first letter.
Amy cringed when Wendy wrote her in detail about the whipping in January. She realized, however, that the experience had been a turning point in Wendy's life. She had been traumatized by that punishment, but, Amy was under the impression that Wendy was glad to have endured it. She certainly seemed more focused as a result of having had that experience.
In spite of the professor's harsh treatment, Wendy wrote mostly kind things about Burnside. She struggled to please her mistress. Pleasing Burnside was a difficult goal, but, with enough effort, one that could be achieved. Wendy's efforts to please the professor intensified her feelings about everything in her life, including the professor.
Amy could tell that Wendy already had changed, just two months into her five-month sentence. The changes were reflected in her art, but also in her writing. Wendy was very direct in what she had to say. There was a boldness in her letters that Amy had not seen before. For example, she was quite open about her sexual relationship with Burnside. The professor was bi-sexual, and had brought that out in Wendy. She now felt a passion for her mistress, a development that disturbed Amy. What if Wendy could not let go in May? What then?
Amy wrote long, caring, almost poetic letters to Wendy. She had so much to say to her friend, how much she missed her, how worried she was about her. Amy's letters meant a lot to Wendy, much more than she was ever able to express.
Wendy was both scared and excited when she read the following lines from Amy:
"I am so much looking forward to the end of March. I will get to see you, because Dr. Burnside wants you to start going out again, and she wants me to take you! We will spend time together, like before! And then you will have your life back!"
Wendy had mixed feelings. She badly wanted to spend time with Amy. She was not so sure she wanted her life back. She still hated who she had been before her internment and felt very comfortable surrendering herself to Burnside.
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Amy struggled through the semester loaded down with Burnside's work. There were term papers, monthly tests, the midterms, and general counseling. The students initially saw Amy as more approachable than either the professor or Lisa Campbell, since she was only a couple of years older than most of the other undergraduates. She actually was younger than some of the students in the classes, the ones who had started their studies late.
Amy still had an innocent look about her, which in reality was quite deceptive. Her young appearance and small size made the students under-estimate her, especially the fraternity guys. Amy had been hardened under the tutelage of the professor. She developed the same sharp eye for detail and the same ability to quickly judge how honest the person sitting in front of her was. She expected respect, and was quick to dismiss anyone who did not give it to her.
Burnside spent a long time with her student teaching her how to identify plagiarized papers. She taught Amy tricks she had picked up over her years of teaching. She shared her vast knowledge of where plagiarized papers came from and who was most likely to use which ones. Burnside showed Amy the websites containing plagiarized papers and other methods undergraduates had for cheating. Most of them Amy previously did not know about. However, there was one website with several papers, including a paper about the Marshall Plan, that Amy was painfully familiar with. With a touch of sarcasm Burnside noted "I think you remember this one."
Amy realized that Burnside had a real fixation on academic cheating. Burnside was an expert on the topic, but, as she explained, there was no point in writing any articles about it. The information changed from day to day and any article about academic cheating would be outdated before it went to publication. Still, every day Burnside's e-mail in-box was filled with requests for assistance or advice from other professors, and even university presidents.
"It's a pity, because there is a lot of good information out there. It's too bad that people are using that information not to learn or enhance their own work, but instead to avoid working. They're just lazy and want to stay ignorant."
Term papers were due the week before Mardi Gras. Amy graded a mass of assignments over a five day period. Paul sat with her helping her, but this time in a way that would not get Amy in trouble. As she completed the grading on each paper Paul proof-read Amy's work to make sure she stayed consistent. He separated any papers that deviated from the standards set by Burnside and by Amy's own criteria for grading, for her to re-grade. At first there were very few that needed to be revised, but as Amy became increasingly tired there were more. Paul's help became especially important after the fourth day, when Amy started to make mistakes due to lack of sleep. However, all he did was point out her mistakes. Paul was able to provide her with crucial assistance by doing so, but it was up to Amy to make the corrections.
Amy identified several suspect papers that she needed to check before returning to their authors. She separated them from the other papers. There were six altogether. Amy expected to find half of the originals herself, and would have to check with Burnside about the others.
On the fifth day Amy graded a paper that had language that was disturbingly familiar. The paper had been turned in by Paul's roommate, Alex. However the language in the paper was Paul's. Amy recognized the writing because she had read many things Paul had written, and was well aware that Paul had a very distinctive way of expressing his views. He used a lot of the professional jargon from his field, but also a lot of the language used by the Dependency School of International Development that he so admired. Amy decided not to ask her boyfriend about the paper. She would get the answers herself, and if need be, talk to Paul later.
Amy prepared one of the dreaded empty manila folders with a post-it note inside for Paul's roommate. In the classes Amy and Burnside passed out the graded papers and a total of five folders. Burnside had determined that one of the suspect papers had been honestly written, after checking the language from the student's midterm bluebook, which matched.
In class Amy approached Alex, holding the folder up in the air. She felt bad, because she did not know if Paul was involved in his roommate's paper. But as she handed the folder to Alex, she saw his face go pale. They exchanged looks, She let him know that she clearly was irritated by the uncomfortable situation he had placed her in. Amy took the folder back for a second, and wrote on the post-it note...
"See me before you go to Burnside."
