Handed in by Precisely 12:00

¶ … handed in by precisely 12:00 noon, or a "F" will be marked for the course grade. Kim's husband Arnold becomes jealous and suspicious of Kim's college life due to his friend's teasing, creating emotional stress at home. Despite this, Kim manages to complete the paper a day ahead of time, and heads to the bus stop to go to Professor Freud and hand it in. Her friends from school drive by and take her partying with them instead, and Kim doesn't arrive home until late. In the morning, she is unable to get the car keys from her angry husband, and has little time to make it to school to hand in the paper. A phone call to Professor's Freud's secretary makes Kim decide she has enough time to take the bus and be only a little late, and she hands in the paper at 12:15. Professor Freud gives Kim an "F," taking the primary responsibility for the act, while Phillip -- Arnold's friend -- bears absolutely no responsibility for Kim's grade.

Professor Freud, as the final arbiter of the grade, absolutely bears the greatest responsibility for Kim's grade in this instance. It is true that Kim could have made better choices at several points in the story, and she bears a lot of responsibility, too. Professor Freud's secretary is also slightly at fault, for having told Kim that being a little late shouldn't be a problem. It is Professor Freud's policy that makes the grade for the entire class dependent on a single deadline, which is certainly extreme even if it is within the bounds of her discretion. That is, though Professor Freud is not responsible in any way for he paper being late, she is entirely responsible for giving Kim an "F" in the course. There are always real human problems that might prevent someone from making a deadline, including car trouble, sick children, and a plethora of other issues that might arise and that are completely uncontrollable. Though Kim could have made better choices in getting her paper in on time, Professor Freud should not have a policy that completely disregards an entire course's worth of performance for one deadline.

Philip, Arnold's friend, has the least amount of responsibility in this scenario. Cindy, Kim's friend, is also partially responsible for failing to take Kim home when she repeatedly asked. In addition, her husband bears a fair share of the responsibility for refusing to hand over the car keys. Phillip, however, was only involved in increasing Arnold's insecurities about his wife. Arnold could just as easily have trusted his wife, or spoken to her more honestly and calmly about his insecurities, but it was not Phillip's responsibility to make Arnold feel secure. Phillip also had nothing to do with the paper being late in any sort of direct way, and thus he bears the least responsibility for the issue of the grade.