The Lessons Ch. 08

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Theresa found the ejaculation experiments during Mr. Peters' class to be very engaging, as well as instructive, and she had suggested to Alan that they might conduct some follow-up studies on their own time. Alan and Theresa had previously collaborated on a number of laboratory studies, including an exploration for fossils in the mining ravine bordering campus, a study of the effect of heat on the germination of spores, and a mapping of the X-25 constellation during an eclipse. Their joint studies were quite varied but always effectual.

Theresa had not previously considered capitalizing on the fact of their mutually complementary sexes to conduct studies of human sexual functioning. In all honesty, she was not herself an active sexual person. She was well past her own puberty but was entirely naive as to her sexuality or the sexual functioning of males. However, the experience in Mr. Peters' class, along with the subsequent microscopic study of Alan's sperm in Miss Harding's biology class, had awoken within her an appreciation of the potential value of conducting further studies. She knew that many of the other students were probably involved sexually with members of the opposite sex, but she doubted that any of them were approaching the topic in a particularly objective, scientific manner. It was unlikely that their experiments were proving to be efficacious.

She was happy to learn that Alan was receptive to the idea. He did not, however, share her enthusiasm of first reviewing their planned studies with their biology professor, Miss Harding. Alan suggested that they did not want to come across as too naive or lame. He noted that neither of them had any credible background in this area, and their hopes of gaining strong letters of recommendation from Miss Harding might be compromised if they approached her with embarrassingly inept proposals. He suggested that they first engage in some pilot studies, and when they were sufficiently confident of their proposal they could then submit their plans for her review. Theresa couldn't understand why he would be adverse to obtaining an initial peer review from a respected authority, but she did agree that Miss Harding's letters of recommendation were quite important to their ultimate career aspirations, and it wouldn't hurt to become more familiar with the topic prior to obtaining her expert guidance.

Alan did agree to at least conduct the studies at Theresa's home. Theresa still lived with her parents, as did most of the students attending Templeton Community College. Her parents were delighted to have her living at home. They saved thereby the considerable expense of funding her lodging, they enjoyed her company, and they were able to provide continued supervision of her social life, which was frankly minimal. Theresa would have preferred to obtain her own apartment, but in exchange for keeping her original bedroom they turned an adjoining room into her own private study and agreed to fund it with any laboratory equipment (within reason) that she would need. Alan had visited her "lab" (as she liked to call it) a number of times. He had to admit that it was quite impressive. No other student at Templeton had anything like it.

Alan arrived at the designated time of 7:30PM. Theresa's parents greeted him at the door. "Hello Mr.