On Saturday I write fiction. (And, I have said before, I’m going to keep writing fiction until I get it right). Personally, I think I’ve had some good moments but not many of those good moments, and not enough!!!
(Update. I was listening to a Great Books Podcast about writing today. I tend to be a start-and-see-where-it-goes, writer. But, after listening today, I did a quick outline. I’m excited about where this story is going - but it is going to take several weeks to build to the climax. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean my writing is better, but I do have a PLAN!!!)
I’m writing about Daniel Jackson, who at age 14 in 1980 made a home computer in his parent’s basement in Bloomington, Illinois. Soon friends and neighbors wanted a personal computer and Daniel and his family made a company - DJ Computers. (Think of Michael Dell as a similar story). They got cheap space in State Farm Insurance in Bloomington. The business kept growing, they built a bigger building and became a key player in the PC business. Daniel was not involved in the day-to-day operations anymore and focused on his “hobby” new and exciting things with computers.
He made it through high school and selected Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana for his college degree.
*****
Daniel was by most high school standards a star. He had been on several television shows - Good Morning America, 60 Minutes, and even the Tonight Show. His picture had been in Time Magazine, and (of course), in PC Computing Magazine and others.
But, as a bit of a technology geek, Daniel wasn’t a social person except for his close friends (and he didn’t have many close friends. He ran cross-country (like his parents had done in high school and college) and his close friends were also runners. He wanted to avoid the limelight.
Purdue was the major engineering and technical university in Indiana. Daniel was hoping he could get an education without being a celebrity.
His counselor, Dr. Emily Frazee advised him to lay low and stay out of the limelight. She suggested that either he go by Dan or maybe even his middle name of Will (not quite Wilfred like his dad). He opted for “Dan” Jackson. It was a common enough name and he could laugh it off and not lie and say something like “funny coincidence - a famous computer guy and me with the same name - ha ha”. His parents agreed.
To help with being more normal, he grew his hair longer, grew a beard, and got contact lenses. He thought about getting a tattoo, but he really didn’t want one (yet), and that wouldn’t necessarily give him any more anonymity. He also had his hair colored to be more of a ‘dirty blonde’ rather than his standard brown hair. In most of his pictures, he was wearing a polo shirt (maybe even a shirt with a disk jockey on it for DJ Computers), so he opted for a different wardrobe of more drab colors, plaids, and jeans. Anything to fit in on a campus of 40,000. There were a few students from Bloomington High School that went to Purdue. He’d survive, he thought.
And, without lying, if he was asked if he was from Bloomington, he could honestly say he was from Michigan as he was born there while Mom was working on her doctorate from the University of Michigan in Physics.
*****
Dan went for orientation days towards the end of July. There were tours of the campus, meeting with an advisor to select classes, and some ice-breaking activities.
He met up with some pretty similar kids. As a premier engineering school, many of the other students were gifted in math and science. Dan thought it would be kind of a ‘nerd school’, and that was alright with him. In his orientation group, he met Kelley Dickenson, a nursing student (or, really a ‘pre-nursing’ student), Matt Porell, a computer science major, and Shirley Hess, a bioengineering major. They exchanged e-mail addresses and became online friends for the rest of the summer.
As part of the orientation, they got a coupon for a free ice cream cone at Pappy's Sweet Shop in Purdue Memorial Union. Over dinner, Kelley, Matt, Shirley, and Dan talked about their backgrounds. Dan tried to hide his background. He talked about running cross-country. Matt had played some volleyball, and Kelley and Shirley had been band kids in high school. They ended dinner with an ice cream cone. It was time to leave high school behind, find new friends, and start a new life.
Matt Porell laughed and said, “Hey, you’re not the Daniel Jackson of DJ Computer fame are you?”
Dan laughed it off, “Yes, I’m a billionaire and I just bought Purdue University. Just a common name. I did get one of those DJ Computers for my room, but I’m just Dan Brown from Michigan.”
It didn’t totally close the door, but he was trying to divert the attention of being a celebrity.
*****
Incoming freshman students had to take a math placement test in math. For Dan as a potential physics (or computer engineering) major, if he got a high enough score, he could take the Introduction to College Physics with Calculus; and if not, he would take the Introduction to College Physics with College Algebra course. He scored high enough to take calculus-based physics.
The advisor commented that Dan had gotten one of the highest scores on the math placement test. Dan smiled and said, “Wow, that’s great”. He didn’t mention that his mother was a physics professor at the University of Illinois or that he loved his math courses. He tested into Calculus II and selected the College Physics with Calculus course. He also had to take Freshman Composition which he dreaded, Micro Economics, and Introduction to Business. He figured he would do okay in the physics and calculus classes but would have to work on the three non-science courses. The Introduction to Business course might be easy for somebody who had started his own business. His uncle Steve had suggested the microeconomics class with supply and demand, supply chain, pricing models, and raising money.
The freshman orientation went well and other than the one question, nobody else questioned Dan Jackson as being Daniel Jackson of personal computer fame.
He came home with at least three new friends, class assignments, textbooks, and a feeling of success. Yes, he was, at least on paper, a millionaire, but he was going to be, “just Dan Jackson, college freshman”, and that was going to be okay with him!!
*****
Dan had been assigned to a room on the fifth floor of Hawkins Hall. It was a huge dormitory with mostly freshmen men. He had a roommate, Karl Sieverding from Muncie, Indiana.
The Department of Student Housing had sent out a letter to all incoming students with rules and regulations, and also had included his roommate’s name and phone number. On the day that Dan got the letter, he called Karl and then planned out what each was bringing.
Dan offered to bring a television and a popcorn maker. Karl would bring a mini-refrigerator. They seemed to be compatible. Karl was going to be an electronic-engineer major and they found out they would be in the same calculus class.
*****
Move-in day was Thursday, August 25, 1988. There was a crew at the dormitory to help the new students move in. Even though it was the end of faculty orientation week at the University of Illinois, Beth Jackson took the day off to help move her own child into Hawkins Hall. Will Jackson also took the day off. They managed to pack pretty much everything into their Astro Van. They had taken the back seat out and one of the middle seats. Dan had four cardboard boxes of clothes. There were a few summer things and mostly fall clothes. Dan would be home for Thanksgiving and they could hold off on the winter coats until then.
There was his DJ Computer in the original box and monitor, a smaller boombox, and miscellaneous other things. Dad kidded and said that when he moved into college thirty years before, he had two suitcases and a typewriter.
*****
Karl and Dan had opted for a loft bunk bed arrangement to use less floor space. The residence hall staff rented loft beds for $50 for the year and had them all ready set up in the room. Dan had taken the lower bunk and Karl the upper bunk. Beth and Will met Karl’s parents, Bruce and Connie from Muncie. They had agreed to go to lunch together after getting all the stuff into the boys’ room. Bruce Sieverding was the head of utilities for the city of Muncie, and Connie was a high school math teacher. They laughed that the two boys had very similar parents and plans. (Of course, Beth and Will didn’t mention that Dan was really Daniel Jackson, founder of DJ Computers).
****
Friday, August 26th, was a day to unpack and to find your classrooms until the evening when there was a freshman-only picnic and party at the Purdue Student Union.
Dan didn’t date much in high school but went with his roommate Karl to the party. He found Shirley Hess and her roommate, Patty Collins. He was a little surprised and embarrassed when Shirley ran up and hugged him.
Shirley said, “Dan, I’m glad to see you”. She gushed and Dad blushed.
Shirley introduced Dan to Patty, and Dan introduced his roommate Karl to Shirley and Patty. Out of a freshman class of about 15,000 to meet somebody he knew was a surprise. Shirley and Patty were at First Street Towers, just off State Street, the main drag of campus. Dan was realizing that Hawkins Hall, the dorm he and Karl were in, was not very close to the other dorms. After the party (which ended at the early hour of 10:00 p.m.), Dan and Karl walked Shirley and Patty back to First Street Towers. Shirley gave Dan a quick peck on the cheek and a hug.
Shirley said, “I hope to see you soon!”.
Dan agreed, but inwardly was wondering if Shirley wanted to be more than friends? Was he going to have a girlfriend from his first day at college? He did know that Purdue was about 60% male and 40% female. Maybe Shirley was just trying to work against the odds?
*****
With maybe his first day ever to be totally on his own, Dan did a ten-mile run on Saturday. It was good being out and running. He had a walkman cassette player and was listening to movie theme songs - including Rocky (Eye of the Tiger, Going to Fly Now), Star Wars, Shaft, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Each room had a phone and the students could call for free on campus most students had phone credit cards to call home. Dan had decided not to call home until Monday evening, August 29th, after the first day of class. But, he wanted so much to call - just with that new feeling in his stomach - I’m the founder of a major computer company, and I’m at a campus on my own.
Karl asked Dan if he wanted to go to church on Sunday. Karl passed on the invitation and instead went running again. By Sunday afternoon, the campus was busy with sophomore, junior, and senior students moving in.
*****
Finally, it was Monday morning - class day!!! Karl and Dan were up early, showered, had a quick breakfast at Hawkins Hall, and headed across campus to the Math Building for Calculus class. Because most of the engineering and science classes and labs needed math, the calculus classes were at 8:00 or 9:00. They were surprised that the class was in an auditorium with about 75 seats. Dan wanted to sit towards the front to see and hear better, but when Dr. Garrett arrived with two graduate assistants, they arranged the students alphabetically by last name. So, Dan Jackson ended up in the middle row, and Karl Sieverding was three rows behind him.
And once the students were arranged, Dr. Garrett started out at 500 miles per hour. He covered all of college algebra, and about half of Calculus I class in the remaining time. He assigned chapters 1 and 2 in the textbook - and dismissed the class.
“Whew - the first of many, many classes”, thought Dan. Karl had another class right away, but Dan had a free hour, so went to the library and started on the calculus assignment.
That afternoon, Dan had the lecture for Calculus-Based Physics. And, the class started with pretty much the same concepts that were covered in the calculus class that morning and in the assignment, he worked on. Maybe this was going to work out.
*****
On Saturday, September 3rd, 1988, Dan, his roommate, Karl, and about 55,000 friends were at Ross-Ade Stadium to watch the Purdue Boilermakers play Bowling Green State University. It was the Labor Day weekend, but Dan’s parents had suggested that Dan stay at Purdue until at least the middle of October. Like most of the Purdue fans, he had on a black and gold t-shirt, or to be precise, a Boilermaker Gold and Smokestack Black t-shirt. (Karl had insisted that Dan wear a Purdue shirt to the game).
As they got closer to the stadium, they pass through a parking lot with cars with trunks open, shade awnings over portable grills, the smell of bratwurst roasting, and everybody with a can (or bottle) of beer in their hand. Karl said the fans were “tailgating”. There were radios and boomboxes blaring throughout the parking lot.
There were some people with Greek letters on their shirts. Karl said they were fraternity groups. There were both current college students and older people - may be alumni Dan thought in those groups.
It seemed like the line getting into the student section was half a mile long. The ticket takers for the student section had to verify that the student ticket holders were really students. Purdue had problems with students buying tickets for $10 and selling their tickets for more. It wasn’t a problem today as the Boilermakers were expected to roll over the Bowling Green Falcons. But for Big Ten games (especially Ohio State and Michigan) students could pocket $100 for scalping tickets. The ticket takers were also on the lookout for alcohol being smuggled into the game. But the vast amount of alcohol being smuggled into the game was in the stomach of students from pre-game parties and tailgating.
But, the line moved quickly, and soon Dan, Karl, and the students were in the student section. It was quite a sight. Dan, who wasn’t much of a football fan, since the cross-country team was generally out running during the high school football games, was amazed at the rowdiness of the student crowd.
The term boilermaker had two meanings in this game. Purdue as the State of Indiana’s premier engineering school had graduates who made the huge locomotive boilers on steam trains of the early railroad era - thus the “boiler makers”. But in colloquial terms, a boilermaker drink was a glass of beer with a shot of whiskey dropped in - a potent alcoholic concoction.
Dan didn’t drink alcohol. His parents didn’t have alcohol in the house. His grandmother had been an active member of the WCTU - Women’s Christian Temperance Union that had advocated for prohibition in the early 1900s. But, a lot of students did drink alcohol and some drank frequently and to excess - and they were the rowdiest of the group.
Six guys were in the front row of the student section without shirts. Each one seemed to be selected because of very hairy chests. And of these students, each one had a huge letter that spelled out P-U-R-D-U-E. Today, the weather was hot, but wait until the November games. These guys would be freezing.
The Purdue football team came out of the field. The crowd stood and cheered. The Purdue band played Hail Purdue and some of the crowd sang along. They had tried to teach the song in the freshman orientation - but Dan wasn’t much of a singer and didn’t quite catch on.
The Bowling Green team came on the field, and the student section booed. Dan wasn’t quite sure why the crowd booed, but they did.
The teams warmed up and the band played and the crowd cheered. Cheerleaders in skimpy outfits were in front of the crowd trying to get them to cheer. Dan thought this was real pageantry.
When the teams ran off to their locker rooms for some last-minute plans, the Purdue band took the field. Purdue had the largest bass drum in the world - so they claimed - although the University of Texas claimed their bass drum was the biggest. Karl leaned over and told Dan the drum was called “Big Bertha”.
About six people down the row from Dan and Karl, a student puked - probably too much alcohol and some friends escorted him out of the row and probably out of the stadium.
They had the coin toss, Purdue received the ball first, and the game was on. There weren’t many fans for Bowling Green, and the ones that were there were about 1/100th as loud as the Purdue crowd. The fans screamed for the good plays and booed for the bad plays. Purdue did get a couple of first downs and then had to punt the ball. Bowling Green had a first down, and then a Purdue player intercepted a pass. Purdue got close, but didn’t score a touchdown and kicked a field goal.
Dan hadn’t been much of a football fan, but being a college student at a Big-Ten university, you almost had to become one. He asked Karl about some penalties, why the clock kept running at times, and why it stopped at times. He was making an effort.
By the second quarter with Purdue leading 3 to 0, Dan started to know when to cheer and when not to cheer. At half-time, the score was Purdue 10 and Bowling Green 3.
Dan was enthralled by the half-time show by the Purdue Band. They high-stepped their way around the field making shapes and words. It seemed like Big Bertha was the main focus and the drummers moving it rotated it as well as hit it loud enough to sound ‘boom’.
There were huge scoreboards on both ends of the field and they flashed various messages from time to time. When Purdue got close to the goal and the crowd was cheering, the message was LOUDER - urging the Purdue fans to yell and encourage their team to score. Once when Bowling Green had the ball, the scoreboard flashed a picture of a picket fence with the letters DE in front. Dan asked Karl what that meant - and Karl said “Defense”.
It was quite a theatrical show with about 57,000 participants (plus the teams, scoreboard, referees, and cheerleaders).
By the middle of the fourth quarter with Purdue leading Bowling Green State University by a score of 31 to 13, some of the students started to leave. Dan asked Karl why the students were leaving. He said that Bowling Green didn’t have a chance of winning and the students were going someplace to party more. Dan thought that was funny - the students were there to see their team win, why didn’t they stay and watch the Boilermakers win?
The final score was Purdue 38 and Bowling Green 13 on a late touchdown in the last minute.
As Dan and Karl left he saw Shirley and some of the students from his classes, including his physics lab partner, Linda Watson. He said ‘hi’ to some of the students he recognized. Karl warned Dan to be careful of pickpockets in the crowd - they would bump into people and get billfolds out of their pockets. Dan realized that although he was a millionaire in terms of starting his own computer company, he was pretty naive to lots of things.
As they walked back across campus, they stopped at Pappy's Sweet Shop in the student union. Shirley was there with her roommate and the four of them grabbed a table. Shirley’s roommate was Kendra, a black student from Chicago who seemed real nice. She was a pre-med freshman student.
*****
Back in Hawkins Hall, Dan got back into his homework. He had finished one week at college. He wanted to make good grades - it would be expected of him. If he didn’t he could picture the media - “Wunderkind Computer Developer, Daniel Jackson Flunks out of College”.
*****************
End of part III
I have many exciting things for Daniel Jackson in the next few episodes. I’m excited about this story. (You don’t have to be …)
LOVE WINS
LOVE TRANSFORMS
KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, MARCH 4, 2023
