Rose walked west, across the quandrangle, past the statue of William Marsh Rice, toward Fondren library. It was late in spring semester and here, in Houston, late May meant death-dealing humidity. To be honest, for the first time in her life Rose was in deep panic. She was experiencing panic of a sort that she had never before experienced in her life. Life for her had always been wrapped up in the mantra of academic excellence. Academic studies were for her what football was for the brain-damaged bozos that made up the vast majority of her upper middle class high school class-mates. Grades were for Rose a blood sport wherein the ruling class rode upon and thrashed the plebians that God placed on the earth for the pleasure and edification of their betters. That was how and why Rose ended up at Rice University, undoubtedly the best school in the South.

However, after two years of college, life was no longer so simple. Library Science seemed a safe major. And for the first two years it was - good grades, easy A's. Certainly Rose never had to take Integral Calculus or Organic Chemistry. Life for Rose had been easy until the last month or so.
Then something had changed. And the something was Dr. Zimmerman. Or as they referred to her, "Dr. Zimmerwoman" or "Dr. Zimmerbitch". They even called her things fouler than that. Dr. Zimmerman, Chair of the Dept. of Library Science, had changed Rose's life.