At 8:20 am Toshiaki parked his car at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences. The lot was still more than half empty. Briefcase in hand, he got out of the car and locked it. He looked up indifferently at the Pharmaceutical Center. Rising six stories high, the building was steeped in somber gray beneath the cloudy sky. In the entrance lobby, Toshiaki changed into a pair of sterile sandals, then took the elevator to the fifth floor. Double doors opened to reveal a corridor extending in both directions. Far back to the right was the lecture hall where he taught his course on Advanced Methods in Biofunctional Sciences. It appeared that most of the students and other staff members had yet to arrive, for not a sound could be heard. However, late mornings were not unusual. The other organic science courses were quite different, entire staffs assembling and seminars beginning at 8 am. Toshiaki’s course was an exception in that they wasted no time on finding fault with their students’ time management skills.
