University of Washington Engineering College 1970s
The University of Washington Engineering College has some unusual classrooms. As best as I can recall, this one lecture hall gave the illusion of being inside a castle turret. The professor had a circular or elliptical space at the bottom of the lecture hall. The student section had an entrance on the upper floor, and the lowest row of seats was slightly above the professor’s head. There was no access between the stage and the student section.
The student seating was on a steep slope, and the stairs were narrow and difficult to navigate. The classroom could hold 200-300 students, but my class was closer to 100. Students typically filled in the seats from top to bottom because the stairs were difficult to navigate, even without heavy backpacks.
Stinky Student
The sound echoed from the student section down to the professor’s stage. How did we know this? Because the professor complained frequently and demanded that the students stop moving. But that was never going to happen. The stinky student had an extremely nauseous body odor.
The stinky student would come to class just before it started, or he would be late. He would find a seat he liked, and then the seat shuffle started. The students closest to the smelly one would move first, and as his odor reached the next round of students, they would move. Usually, about 20 students would move away from the smell, so they didn’t lose their lunch all over the students below them.
If the stinky student had been late, he would move again to try to get near another student where he could find out what he missed. His move started the migration of students again. And the professor would start yelling again, telling us to stop changing seats.
Mandatory Engineering Course
Unfortunately, this was a mandatory course taught once a year. There were no options other than sticking it out. But with all the noise from students moving around, we couldn’t hear the professor. I should have dropped the class anyway.
The professor was also an advisor, so he knew many students in the class. We all told him about the stinky student, but he didn’t believe us.
Engineering College Professor Learns a Lesson
One day, the stinky student sat just above the professor’s stage in the bottom row. We all waited in our seats at the very top. It didn’t take long before we saw the effects of the stinky student on the professor. The professor turned his back on us, coughing. We watched him try to find a place on his little stage out of the vile odor. He tried to teach and find a safe place to breathe. After all his declarations that the smell “couldn’t be that bad,” we couldn’t help but smile as he learned the truth.
After about 10 minutes, the professor dismissed the class because he was unwell. As we piled out into the hallway, spontaneous laughter erupted. We felt vindicated, but it was a lost quarter because we didn’t learn what we needed.
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