Dean Warner Intrigues - 6. Indiana University (IU), Bloomington, IN

Chapter 6 Indiana University (IU), Bloomington, IN

John picked up Dean and his mom at half past nine in the morning on Thursday. Dean's mom climbed in the back of the stylish 2007 Cadillac CTS and said, “I'm taking a nap, wake me when we get there” as she buckled her seat belt and leaned back on the leather seat. John told Dean it would take about an hour and a half to an hour and three-quarters to get to the campus in Bloomington. The two young men discussed Dean's new-found wealth, what courses he wanted to ask about (as Dean had scrutinized the fall catalog for IU), and the weather which was typically hot for July. OnStar provided turn by turn directions and Dean paid attention to the route as he knew he may well be driving it himself in the next month.

He had decided to keep his old car for at least another year and see how expenses went. If he could save enough, he might order a new car and pay cash. He had looked at the cost of tuition, books and dorm fees as well as the various meal plans and realized that while his ten thousand monthly income sounded very generous, that much of it would be spent on schooling and living expenses. He explained all this to John and he advised Dean to at least have the Corolla looked at by a dealer to make sure it was in good mechanical condition with good tires and to have it serviced. The route from their hometown to Bloomington was mostly over state or county roads. While it was only about 60 miles away, it could be a two hour trip or longer if the weather was bad and the roads were icy. It was mostly through pretty farm country typical of that part of Indiana.

They continued to discuss Dean's plan and John asked him if he was interested in joining a fraternity? Dean confided to John that he was a fairly solitary individual and he could not picture himself joining a fraternity. He indicated he wanted to live in a dorm and see what it was like to be on his own as he had always lived with his mom. He explained he was looking forward to campus life, but was not a party type guy and in fact only rarely dated. He indicated that with working and going to school his time had been booked and he was looking forward to being able to spend some more time studying and having some time to socialize a bit. John asked Dean if he planned on participating in any intramural sports and Dean quickly said no and blushed. John noticed and gave Dean an inquiring look and Dean blushed harder and said “later.” John let it drop and they talked about John's experiences at the school just a few years prior. Dean then asked John if he was married or had a special lady in his life and it was John's turn to blush as he shook his head no. “Later” he said.

Bloomington was a much bigger town than their town and Dean was amazed. He had been to Terre Haute several times and even Indianapolis a couple of times and they were much bigger, but this was plenty big enough and he realized he would have to get used to the traffic and all the people if he was going to actually live here. John drove him to the campus administration building where Dean's appointment with a faculty academic advisor was scheduled for eleven o'clock. They had plenty of time so John pointed out the student building with the soaring clock tower, and some of the main buildings of the school of Business Administration. Dean was at the office of the advisor exactly five minutes prior to his appointment and the secretary was pleased. “Good you are on time. Dr. Peterson doesn't like to be kept waiting.” She called the professor and told him that his eleven o'clock appointment was there and listened and then hung up the phone as she rose from her desk and asked Dean to follow her.

John and his mother did not go in with Dean per Dean's request. John had Dean put his cell phone number into his cell phone and told Dean to call it when he was finished. John then drove Debbie to a little cafe just off campus which offered coffee, rolls and baked goods.

Forrest Peterson, MBA, PhD. was the vice-chairman and associate Dean of the Kelley School of Business. He didn't personally counsel many students but he also served on the Alumni committee and the law firm of Trask and Fitchley had six IU alumni and was affiliated with several other firms that had attorneys with ties to IU. He had personal conversations with John Trask, Jr. about Dean Warner's situation and he had reviewed the transcripts, his SAT scores and financial information provided on the enrollment application. Dean's acceptance was guaranteed but his continued presence on the campus as a student would depend entirely on him and the progress he demonstrated in class.

Dean would be admitted as a second semester sophomore because his community college had not provided all the courses IU required. Several preliminary schedules were developed and ready for Dean's perusal and of course Dr. Peterson could tweak those depending on Dean's preferences. He was glad the student was prompt and the young man looked good but a little apprehensive. He was dressed in a pair of khaki colored Dockers with a dress shirt and sport coat with no tie. He shook hands with the young man and showed him to a seat and explained the various options he had to present and asked Dean to peruse them and see if any suited him and met with his approval.

Dean immediately discarded two of them but looked closer at the other two and then turned to his advisor and asked: “I saw in the catalog a course on managing web based businesses, would that fit into this schedule?” As he slid across one of the proposed schedules. Dr. Peterson, looked at it and noted that with the required physical education course this schedule was already for 16 credit hours and adding the one Dean suggested would take it to 19 hours, which was more than he wanted him to take for his first semester there. He checked the class times and availability and then suggested that Dean could take that course in place of one of the other business courses which was offered every semester and could be taken at any time. Dean looked at his schedule and said, “well let's make it so!”

Dr. Peterson was elated that Dean was pleasant and easy to work with and his course schedule was selected and its status changed from preliminary to finalized and the computer accepted it. Dr. Peterson's printer started spitting out all kinds of papers including required book list, supply list, course outlines, orientation information and when it was finished Dean had about forty pages of information. Then Dr. Peterson said we are making good time and I have time to help you with getting a dorm assignment. I talked with John Trask Jr and he told me to get you into a male dorm which was fairly new or newly renovated.

Do you want a private room or do you want a room in a four man pod with a shared living area and a semi-private shared bathroom? The single bedrooms with a study desk surround the shared living area and there are two bathrooms, one between each set of bedrooms. With that he pulled out a brochure showing the layouts. Dean asked about the price differential and the cost of a fully private room with its own separate bathroom was significantly steeper than the four man pod. The private rooms had built in desks, closets, the bed with storage underneath and also room for a dresser as well as a small couch and a TV with an area off the bathroom for a fridge and microwave.

Dean was torn, he valued his privacy but wanted a dorm experience to see how he got along with others. He then asked, “if I choose the four man pod what are the chances that there will be a private room available for the semester starting in January? Dr. Peterson laughed and said, “very good! But don't try the private room first and then try to get into a four man pod at that time because it will be impossible.” Many of the people who choose a private room, find their expenses are such that they need to cut them by the second semester and they start looking for cheaper alternatives. The four man pods are always in high demand at that time.” With that information Dean decided and asked to be assigned to a four man pod. In July, there really were not many of those available but one had been reserved in case that was Dean's choice and Dr. Peterson was glad of his personal conversation with John Trask, Jr. With that all selected and confirmed, Dr. Peterson looked at his screen and hit the print button and then handed Dean another piece of paper. You need to take this to the cashier in the front lobby of this building and pay your dorm reservation and first tuition payment fees within 24 hours otherwise, what we have done today will revert to preliminary instead of confirmed. Dean looked at the total at the bottom of the page and experienced a little nausea. It said that $4,789.76 was due now. A no interest fee schedule for remaining payments was also attached.

He still would have to buy books, buy into a meal program and see about what he would need to get to furnish his dorm. It looked like money would have to be moved from his saving account to the checking. He thanked Dr. Peterson and left his office and headed downstairs to the lobby of the building where he found a cashier's window and was glad that no one was waiting in line. As he approached a young guy stuck his hand through the window and took the paper from Dean. He saw the look on Dean's face and said, “yeah it's a lot, but be glad you were not a week later, because then you would be facing late registration fees as well!” Dean pulled out his debit card and handed it over.

He exited the building and called John Trask III, who answered the call before the second ring was done. He had a whole packet of papers in a folder as well as his all important receipt, class schedule, dorm contract and card key for the dorm that would work on and after Friday, August 10, 2007. He still had to see about getting a meal contract, buying his books and supplies and a dozen other questions he had for John.

While Dean was occupied, John had sat and described the campus to Debbie and she looked dreamy eyed picturing her son Dean on campus while they had some coffee and a muffin. She had noticed the gay rainbow sticker on the window of the cafe as they entered and she noted that many of the occupants were same sexed pairs but did not know if any or all were couples. So she asked John what he thought. He looked around and noted some were holding hands, others were looking right into each others eyes and most of the others seemed busy with conversations. He replied that he thought it was about a mix of 20-30 percent couples with the rest just enjoying a late morning snack. Debbie then asked, “do you think Dean will fit in here?”

John replied, “if you are asking if Dean is gay, I have no idea. If you are asking if this is a gay friendly campus, the answer is yes.” They talked of other features of the campus and shortly thereafter, John's phone rang and he answered it at once.

They met Dean in front of the building a short time later and John drove to the campus bookstore. He asked Dean for his book list and supply list and they perused it. Dean said, I only have about eight hundred left in my checking account. “Don't worry about it” replied John, “our corporate Visa account will handle it. Your trust also covers books and incidental supplies under a separate provision so it will be billed separately.” Together they were efficient shoppers, quickly finding what they needed and marking it off the list as they loaded a cart. The total was $2367.35 and it was put on the law firms corporate Visa. They loaded the stuff into John's trunk and Dean mentioned that it was a shame to haul all this stuff home and then have to haul it back in a couple of weeks. John said, “we don't” and drove them to an on-campus locker storage facility where lockers could be rented by the week, month, semester or year. A 2 foot wide locker by 30 inches deep and 45 inches tall rented for $10 per month and Dean paid for one and got the key from the attendant. They grabbed a cart there and wheeled it out to the car and proceeded to unload all but 2 texts that Dean wanted to peruse into the cart and loaded the stuff into the locker.

Once they were back in the car, John suggested they go to his favorite on campus dining facility so they could try out the food and see if that was where Dean wanted to purchase his meal plan. Dean pulled out his papers and looked up his dorm and showed it to John, and said “only if it is relatively close to my dorm!” It was and they headed there next. Because of the large student resident population, the U had several on-campus food venues which offered the I-Bucks meal plans for the semester. The one John took them to was in a newer area of the campus development and it did not offer the cheapest meals on campus. It did offer more variety and more items cooked on site rather than centrally prepared and sent to the various dining halls. Debbie and Dean were impressed with the selection available even during the summer session. They made their choices with a few suggestions from John who also loaded up a tray and followed him to the cashier where he presented his corporate Visa and told the cashier he was paying for all three dinners.

Dean picked up a fees schedule at the check out and perused it after they found a table in a quiet corner and began to eat. The food was restaurant quality and they all enjoyed a good lunch. Dean was impressed over selections available even during the summer session when there were fewer students.

The fee schedule had several options. John looked at Dean studying the options and suggested that since there are like twenty-nine different on campus places to eat, and off campus was the whole the town of Bloomington, that Dean not lock himself in to just eating on campus. Debbie told Dean, you don't eat more than 45 meals a month at home and with you being less than 2 hours away, I expect you to come home at least 3 times a month. John took Dean and signed him up for a meal plan.

They headed out to the car and John drove around a little more to orient Dean some more to the campus and showed them where I. M. Pei’s IU Art Museum was, and then they headed home. Dean was sort of overwhelmed by how many things there were to consider and all the options available. He was the exhausted one on the drive back home.

TBC