Chapter 7Lawson Hall is an octagonal building constructed with the familiar orange brick, plate glass, brushed aluminum doors, and pebbly aggregate entrances that were popular in the 60’s and 70’s. The lecture auditoriums are arrayed around a central core like spokes on a half wheel. I decided to start my fourth attempt at passing Algebra One by putting myself into a mathematical mood, observing that I was sitting in the 8th seat of the 15th row of room 115, with my back to the Communications Building across the street, which was to the west, about 270 degrees on the compass.
The teaching assistant standing eight rows below me was lit up by the miniature spotlights embedded in the ceiling, as if he were on the set of a game show. Mr. Fader was somewhere in his late twenties, but prob
