Dr. Richard Hill had just finished his latest "SummerTime" talk before the group gathered at the mid- town library. The three dozen or so members of the audience seemed suitably satisfied with his lecture, and the Q&A period had included some thoughtful questions and comments. "Not bad at all," he thought to himself, "maybe I'm finally attracting a more open minded audience."
It was July, and Dr. Hill had just finished his third presentation on investigating the paranormal. He was scheduled to give two more, at different locations, before the start of the fall semester at the university.
His summer work load was light, so he had agreed to speak to six different groups about the shoddy and unscientific work being passed off as "a genuine search for truth" by paranormal groups being popularized in the media. He began teaching a course on the subject at the university during the past year, and the response had been overwhelming. So many students had tried to sign up to take the course as an elective, that it was capped at seventy- five, and the classroom had to be moved to the auditorium.
Towards the end of the spring session, he was approached by the Head of the Dept., with an offer to give off campus talks on the topic to interested groups during the summer.
He had been reluctant at first, but Dr. Barnes was able to convince him that it would benefit the Philosophy Dept. "We can never have too many undergraduate majors, and the publicity might convince students who are undeclared to sign on with us."
"...and...," he continued, "...a two- hundred dollar fee per event is not chump change."
Hill had finally agreed, but with the stipulation that he would have sole control over content, and that he could cut any meeting short if the audience was rude, disrespectful, or overtly hostile. He was forty- eight yrs old, and had gained tenure just a few years ago. There was no reason to place himself at the mercy of some out of control Anti- Government/Science nut case.
End PT 1.
Date- 8/20/2014.
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