Death of the Ayn Rand Scholar by Gray Cavender (classic literature list txt) 📕

“Yes, I did.”

“Does Linda…Lt. Timms, want me to do this?”

“No, she won’t be at all happy. She thinks you’re doing a really good job right where you are. For now, this is just talk.” He stopped walking and again looked directly at her.

“Look, Jillian, here’s the thing…I am working the Neely case, and you’re right, Larry Gruber is filing his retirement papers. And, during the hand-off of the case, I had occasion to talk with the Chief. She asked me what I thought about you, and I told her…pretty much what I’ve said to you today: a woman, soon-to be-with a graduate degree, a research background in the university AND at Tempe PD, smart and determined, and apparently with good instinct…I mean, it’s all there.”

He hesitated and smiled. “Besides, Charnell Tate speaks highly of you, and that’s a strong recommendation.”

Jillian laughed, and said, “Thank you Charnell.”

Mimicking a New York City accent, Wes said, “Forget about it.”

Over the next few weeks, Jillian talked this over with her parents, with Carolyn Patek, and with her friends, Felicia Hurtado and Eileen Kaplan. Her parents were concerned about a possible and unexpected career change and also about potential danger. They didn’t dwell on this, but Jillian could tell that they’d obviously been talking about it…she’d lived with them for much of her life and saw their occasional looks at each other. Even so, they encouraged her to do what she wanted to do. Her dad understood about the salary and the lack of graduate student funding for her at ASU, but emphasized (again) that they would help her with the cost of graduate school.

Carolyn also understood the part about salary and benefits. She’d been proactive in securing what funding she could for Jillian, but knew that it wasn’t remotely enough. On the positive side, she thought that the research position might facilitate more interviews with women officers, maybe even women detectives. Carolyn expressed one concern…that the job might slow down the writing, and delay graduation, but, at the same time, she noted that Jillian had always been focused, had always met deadlines.

Felicia, who worked in a women’s shelter, was very positive about the possibilities in the job. She said something that reminded Jillian of what Wes Webb had said that day down by the Town Lake…that she could do the job in a way that would be sensitive to issues for women and people of color. Felicia had been a Justice Studies major—she and Jillian were in several undergrad classes together—and she had essentially designed her own degree in terms of her area of interest. She had taken domestic violence and related classes across the university…in Justice Studies, but also in Women and Gender Studies, and in Social Work. Her undergrad honors thesis had been a needs assessment of women’s shelters in the Valley. After graduation, she went to work for a shelter as a counsellor, but also as a grants person to secure additional funding to fill the very needs that she’d identified in her thesis. Felicia’s advice to Jillian about the job: “go for it.”

Eileen majored in Education with a social studies specialization. She’d taken several Justice Studies courses (with Jillian) to augment her social studies credential, and they’d often studied together. Eileen now taught Social Studies at Tempe High, a nice irony because she’d graduated from there…she often proudly wore a Buffalos sweatshirt (the school mascot). She told Jillian that her main goals as a high school teacher were to better educate high school students in the social sciences, and to create ‘little feminists.’ She was frustrated when high school girls said they weren’t feminists, but rather than just lecture them, Eileen employed other strategies. For example, she created a science fiction club for interested students—she happily accepted boys, but actively recruited girls. She had them read Ursula Le Guin, Octavia Butler, and of course Margaret Atwood. They even went as a club to see the women’s Ghostbusters film and also Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel. Eileen also encouraged Jillian to take the job. She told her, “Given your research interests AND your politics, this will put you at ‘ground zero.’ You can make a difference.”

Once Jillian made her decision—she decided to do it—Wes offered a number of tips about surviving the academy. Because she was a grad student, he always referred to these as Police Academy 101. He also introduced her to other detectives. Some enjoyed a lot of dark humor about what she was facing, but others offered helpful advice, including comments about specific instructors. Several grad student peers seriously suggested that she change research topics and do an ethnography on “doing the police academy.” Jillian mentioned this to Carolyn who made a face and said, “Really?”

After Jillian graduated from the academy, Chief McCaslin invited her to come by her office to officially welcome her to the Tempe PD…now as a sworn officer, a detective. She did mention her recollection of Jillian’s last visit. The Chief then did Jillian a favor: she said that eventually, after a break-in period in property crimes, she’d assigned her to work with Wes Webb in Homicide. Thus began a mentorship and a friendship.

The pizza was great and, better yet, there was plenty for leftovers.

After dinner and clean-up, Jillian went to her office, switched on the IPAD, and googled tapestries. Several sites listed vendors, but she skipped these and went to directly to a Wiki entry, which contained more than she wanted to know about how tapestries were made, and what made them unusual...they were ‘weft-facing,’ which meant that their threads were hidden, and they were mainly from France and Belgium…apparently the ones from Brussels, the Flemish tapestries, were primo. She scrolled quickly through this info, and also through discussions of wool, linen, and cotton materials, although Jillian looked away from her screen and tried to recall the one behind President Davidos’ desk. ”Definitely not linen…wool…maybe,” she thought.

Then, back to her screen. Tapestries were considered to be textile art, and