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

of the one in English, arranged in almost the same way. She remembered what the Professor’s colleague AND former lover, David Roberts, had said about her always having everything in its place. She paused and wondered…they’d been intimate…he looked strong enough…but then he had been forthcoming about their romance and their break-up.

Then, it was on to the photos she’d taken in the BAC office. She swished through her batch quickly to get to the BAC bookcase photos. There were three bookcases in Ross-Blakley and two in BAC. Again, she had good close-ups.

No surprise, the BAC books appeared to be titles that were more relevant to business and the economy. Although Jillian had heard of a few of these authors, she again relied on Google searches. There were books by notable economists and philosophers like Becker and Sowell, and of course several by Friedman. There was a section of books that either critiqued regulation or extolled the virtues of de-regulation…including Professor Roberts’ book. Jillian smiled when she thought of the set of polar opposites that must be in Ian Naremore’s office.

Jillian saw two books that she quickly recognized: John Rawls, A Theory of Justice, which she’d read in undergraduate Justice Theory, and its successor, Justice As Fairness: A Restatement, which she’d read in grad Justice Theory. Jillian wondered what Professor Siemens would have thought about Rawls. From her recollection of Rawls’ ideas, she assumed that they’d disagree. She also noted that there were no books by Iris Marion Young on these shelves.

After Jillian finished reviewing the photos, she looked away from the IPAD and let her thoughts wander…revisiting the day…especially coffee with Grace Wilson. She smiled at first—they’d had a nice visit—but that soon gave way to more serious thoughts…Grace’s info about Professor Keefer’s promotion, and then the story about Professor Siemens insulting Professor Gilroy at a faculty meeting…just last month, so those insults must still be fresh on his mind.

Jillian also thought of Grace’s question about her shift to ASU PD. She hoped that she hadn’t been too abrupt in her answer…actually, her non-answer…to Grace.

After coffee with Grace and on the walk back to HQ, Jillian had consciously tamped-down thoughts about Grace’s question. It’d seemed more important, more immediate, to focus on the ‘tidbits’ about Keefer and Gilroy, and to mentally organize the info so she could brief Wes. But now…

Wes had been a good sounding board when the possibility of a job-change first came up. Actually, it was more than that…Al had contacted Wes when the position at ASU PD had been approved…even before it was officially announced.

At the time, Jillian had put her papers forward for a promotion to sergeant at Tempe PD. Although Wes had encouraged her to do so and had helped her prepare for the written exam part, Jillian had been nervous. Even now, sprawled comfortably in the study in her condo, she remembered how queasy she’d felt: butterflies in the stomach, wondering, no worrying if other detectives were criticizing her behind her back.

Her worry…that she was moving too fast through the police hierarchy…or that she’d be perceived as being too much of a careerist, of going for promotion to sergeant too soon…after only a few years. The department could easily delay a promotion on those grounds.

Sure, she’d helped close some high-profile cases, and she was proud of that, but there’d been whispers that attributed her successes to Wes. Of course, there was such talk that would undercut a woman’s successes. While there wasn’t overt sexism in the department—Chief McCaslin and Lieutenant Timms were visible exemplars of successful women—still, it was a male-dominated military-type organization, and Jillian knew that in such a setting, gender, read woman, was always there…lurking…in the shadows.

If she’d been a man, that speed of trajectory might have prompted some finger-wagging, but plenty of others would just attribute it to an ‘eyes on the prize focus.’ Some would even try to connect, to ride along on the coat-tails of a hard-charger. Jillian knew this business about how women in organizations were perceived, as opposed to men, from courses she’d taken, including Carolyn’s course…and also from her own research. But now she was living it.

But, there was more. She worried about the new regulation—OK it wasn’t new, it was just being enforced more—that anyone who was promoted, no matter their current assignment or their rank, had to work for a time on patrol. Same with all new hires…they had to start on patrol. Although that reg had existed when Jillian had become a detective, exceptions were more commonplace then…she and Wes were examples. But now, for a variety of reasons, exceptions were rare. Jillian’s friend who worked in the Public Information Division was being promoted to lieutenant, no less, but even so, it was patrol for her. And, for her own variety of reasons, Jillian didn’t want to be a patrol officer, and she feared that if this preference became known, that, too, would generate opposition and hurt her chances for promotion.

Maybe she hadn’t been a basket case, but all of this stuff weighed on her. And, amid all this uncertainty—would she get promoted, would she have to spend time on patrol—enter a sure thing: ASU offered her a promotion—literally, a double promotion—without any bureaucratic requirements, no exam, no boards, no patrol assignment…nothing…a promotion…free and clear.

What’s more, Al actively had recruited her. He was effective, too, in part, because he’d had a good promotion when he left Tempe for ASU PD and understood the draw, and in part (she suspected), because Wes had shared all sorts of ‘insider’ information about Jillian with him. She didn’t begrudge this…Wes genuinely wanted to help her career advancement. Taken together, these ‘pushes’ to move to ASU outweighed the ‘pulls’ to stay at Tempe PD.

Jillian realized the irony that her concern about being perceived (negatively) as a careerist was reified by her acceptance, enthusiastically, of a guaranteed promotion…yes, she admitted to herself, she liked being Detective Sergeant Jillian Warne…she liked the way it sounded.

She also had to admit