Mythology 101 Read Online Free PDF Page B

are not dumb, but not academically inclined, just to go and offer themselves for professional sports teams. Like theater auditions. As it is, this is the way the system works. Why should the academically inclined, for whom this campus really exists, suffer for the ten or so who will go on to earn six-figure salaries in pro ball?”
    Rick poked him sharply in the ribs from behind with his toe, and Keith clamped his jaw shut, remembering too late that Rick was a P.E. major, and had hopes of one of those big breaks. “What Mr. Wizard here means, of course,” growled Rick, “is that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. To coin a phrase.”
    “Where have I heard that before?” Carl asked sarcastically. “What you’re saying is that the athletes don’t deserve a good place to practice their skills. I disagree with you! You do need a particular place to do gymnastics or play football. The gym is too small. The pools leak. The lights are bad, and there aren’t enough of them. The old building needs to be replaced, and a modern one with good lights, good floors, good plumbing, has to be built.”
    “Aha,” Keith crowed triumphantly, jumping up. “Old? You call a gymnasium only twelve years old, old? Gillington Library is a hundred and fourteen. It had a minor face lift in the forties, when there was a lot of new construction here, but not a thing since. Haven’t you ever heard the floor creak when you were looking for a book in the stacks, and wondered if it was going to collapse under you? Those of you who’ve been in the stacks for books, that is. The rest of you won’t care if the building moves,” a mischievously deferential bow to Rick, who had mentioned a quiet corner he and his girlfriend frequented. Dodging a kick this time, he went on. “If they ever have to make emergency structural repairs to Gillington in the middle of mid-terms, you’ll wish you had voted to renovate it. You can prevent that disaster by voting for the reconstruction now.”
    Recognizing the need to rally newly awakened support, Rick swallowed his pride and exclaimed, “Think about it. I’m studying business, for the years after I don’t want to play soccer anymore.”
    “Or can’t,” Carl put in.
    “Watch it, Mueller,” Rick snapped, becoming serious. Carl acceded sullenly to the warning and fell silent.
    “Where would the new library be built?” Francine Daubiner wanted to know. She was one of the undecided.
    “The Dean says that it would be built on the foundations of the old one, just as the Sports Center would go up where the P.E. building is now.” Keith had all the facts handy in his notebook. “Neither one could cost more than three million dollars, nor less than one million. Dean Rolands insisted on a reasonable range for the project. The other structure would follow in three to six years, depending on need and availability of cash.”
    “Part of that money would go for several computer terminals,” Venita said, after examining the list Keith had submitted to the secretary. “Sounds like they’ve got some other projects tucked in there.”
    “All part of information retrieval,” Keith pointed out cheerily. “So, why don’t we make it offic …”
    “Okay,” Lloyd stood up, cutting him off. “We don’t have enough people here for the vote, so it’ll have to wait. In two weeks, we’ll have a mandatory meeting, full Student Senate, and finalize what our recommendation to the Dean’s Council will be, and who gets to take it there.” Everyone groaned. “Now come on. Is there any other business? No? Well, then, I declare this meeting adjourned.…”
    “Seconded,” Carl said, still glaring at Keith, but warily, because Rick was looming behind the skinny student. The gavel fell, and the room cleared quickly.
    ***

Chapter 4
    Ludlow heard a banging sound coming from the little cluster of administrative offices at the head of the hall. His eyes narrowed and he stopped swabbing the floor to