***** Vol.3 Chap.32 Anxious waiting *****
While Frank was quite confident before he walked into the hearing, now he was not so sure about the outcome.
In hindsight, he should have put everyone’s name on the paper, but he had his reasons. Besides, it was too irksome and tiresome to do that for every paper. His desire was for every person to establish themselves as experts in their own field.
He felt he really had done nothing wrong, but was truly bothered. The outcome of committee meetings was highly unpredictable. Usually, the decision sided with the most outspoken person in the group. So, if the outspoken one was for him, the case could be dismissed. If the outspoken one was against him, then the case would go for a formal hearing.
Not that he had anything to hide, but it was a waste of energy and time and resources that he dreaded if the case progressed to a formal hearing. Besides, if there was a way to salvage the relationship between him and JB, he would still like to pursue a more peaceful solution.
He moseyed back to his office to pick up the mail. Again, all the secretaries looked busy, but he knew they were dying to find out about the outcome. So did he. He peeked into the Department Chair’s office but the Chair was out. Happy about that since there was nothing to report, anyway.
He ducked into his office, and for once, he closed the door. He really did not want to see or talk to anyone. Neither did he have the heart to work on anything. He just passed the time staring out the window where a slight wind was blowing. A few students hurrying around the quad trying to make it to the late afternoon classes.
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He recalled Mark’s cyber creatures. He wondered if he was a ‘good’ creature or an ‘evil’ one. Good ones always lost while evil ones won. Hmm. The whole complaint seemed like an encounter between a ‘good’ creature or an ‘evil’ one.
No. That cannot be. Life is more complicated than that!
He waited for the phone call.
He stared at the phone. Then he glanced outside the window. He stood up and paced around his office.
Nothing.
He sat down and did some soul searching but came up blank as he really did not understand why JB was making such a big deal about having her name on a few papers. She herself had generated a lot of papers as well.
Shaking his head, he paced around some more.
It seemed like ages before the phone finally rang. He noted that the time was close to six in the evening. The deliberations must have taken over two hours. He hesitated slightly as he picked up the phone.
“Dr. Abdulcizi?”
“Yes.”
“This is Dr. Summer. I thought I would call to let you know about the committee’s decisions.”
“Yes?”
“The committee has decided not to pursue any further actions if you agree to add a reference in the contested papers mentioning Dr. Smith’s name. I believe this can be done by sending a correction to the editor of the journal. Do you have any problem with that?”
“Of course not.”
“Good, we have already talked to Dr. Smith, and he has agreed not to pursue the matter if you do so.”
“I have no problem with that.”
“Great, it is always nice to have things resolved without a formal hearing.”
“I bet it took some doing to convince Dr. Smith?”
“Well…the important thing is that she finally agreed.”
“Thank you so much for your help and the work of the committee.”
“No problem at all. It was a pleasure. If you have no further questions, then I will leave you with your work.”
“Again, thank you.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
Frank was not happy with the committee’s decisions, but was relieved that it was now over. He was not pleased with what the committee had asked him to do, but he was tired of all the fighting. So, he packed up a few things to work on for the evening and headed out of his office. He wanted to go see JB, but decided not to do so when he was halfway there. He turned around and headed to the faculty club for dinner instead.