Higbee: Teaching with Bill Lynn

By Walter Higbee, Journal columnist | Thursday, March 22, 2007

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I taught at Black Hills State College/University for about 30 years with one of the nicest fellows you will ever meet. His name is Dr. Bill Lynn, who headed the counseling center and taught classes in psychology.

Bill often taught in a classroom directly across from my office. If he left the door open, which he often did, I could hear him lecturing away to impressionable young juniors and seniors. He taught a course called Abnormal Psychology, which I often tried to listen in on because of its interesting content.

The course had to do with forms of mental illness which afflicted people. If I listened carefully, I could hear Bill lecturing away about severe depression, delusional thinking, schizophrenia and paranoia.

One day while listening to Bill, I came up with a great idea. I approached Bill after the class and discussed the idea with him. I said to Bill, "Bill, you know that it's usually better to demonstrate something than to merely talk about it. How would it be if, instead of lecturing about it, you had an actual paranoid person visit your class?"

Bill had an idea what I had in mind and he said, "And I suppose you will be the paranoid person, right?" I agreed and told him that the next class period he should be prepared to greet a full-blown paranoid at his door. We rehearsed paranoid behavior a little. Such people are highly suspicious, delusional in their thinking, and great believers in conspiracies.

The next class period, about halfway through, I appeared at Bill's classroom door, carrying a pencil and a clipboard. Bill let me in and I explained that I had to check something. I went about the room, examining the ceiling fixtures. Then I explained to Bill and his students what I was doing. I said, "You see these fire alarms there? They are not really fire alarms. They are microphones and they are put there by the administration so they can monitor our lectures! Not only that, but they are directed to the governor's office so he can listen in on us."

I then made some marks on my clipboard and said, "I have been visiting other classrooms, and I have found microphones there. This is a widespread violation of our rights!"

Of course, Bill Lynn went right along with the ruse nicely. Some of the students were visibly alarmed at my behavior and a few were smiling in recognition that they were "being had."

At this point, I may have gone a little too far. I spotted a student wearing a Harley-Davidson shirt. I announced to the class, "I have learned that the Harley-Davidson Company is a part of this vast conspiracy to monitor college professors' lectures." Most of the students then smiled and giggled at this monstrosity. At this point, I left the room, but not before glancing at the ceiling fixtures one more time.

After class, I checked with Bill Lynn to see how it had gone. Bill agreed that it had been a good lesson and then said, "I think you made a believer out of one student. After you left he said, 'You know, a lot of what that fellow said is true!'"

Walter Higbee is a retired college educator living in Spearfish. Write him at the Rapid City Journal, Box 450, Rapid City, SD 57709.