Part 2 in process - Alpha Institute for Advanced Studies (AIAS)

contemptuous of the entire farce. John Adams (also appointed to tenure without competition)
made some remark that everyone thinks he is a Nobel Laureate, and was put down with false
authority by Jones. The latter uttered the one truth of the meeting, that he was not of Nobel Prize
quality, whatever that is. So the staff were treated like schoolboys by a chain smoker. All were
going to be set to work campaigning and scouring for students, never mind the quality, feel the
width. The Welsh language and Welsh culture were not present at the meeting, having been
deemed as not capable of attracting funds or sufficient student numbers. I felt hungry after this
gathering of the gods, got some fish and chips and went home to Borth.
The advantage of Room 262 was that it was right at the end of the corridor, a long way from
Jones, who could be ignored if the moon were not full. It was a long way from politics, a name
for professorial dog fights. After that one meeting I was never invited to another because an
edict came down from Olympus - the untenured are lepers, only those with random and
unearned tenure would be allowed to attend staff meetings of the EDCL. Scientific achievement
did not matter. Again this would be illegal today because it is a form of discrimination and
career blocking. In the case of a Government S.E.R.C. Advanced Fellow such as myself it was a
breach of contract. The Government’s clear intention was to tenure the Advanced Fellow. In the
case of a D. Sc. such as myself it was a breach of University Regulations, a Scientiae Doctor of
the University of Wales has an international reputation and holds a rank higher than full
professor. Any head of department in his right mind would value such talent and aportion jobs
according to talent, some for teaching, some for research. The gross corruption in the university
system in Wales was already apparent worldwide, not only in Britain. People were appointed to
lifelong jobs if and only if they were part of a small clique. After tenure, no matter how much of
a disaster they were, they were allowed to keep comfortable jobs and salaries, all paid by the
Government. The Welsh language and culture were not factors in the game. So the University
betrayed its origins utterly.
It was already obvious that Jones’ sole intention, regardless of any merit or
productivity, was to get me out of the EDCL, because otherwise he would be decapitated by
Purnell, by axe on a block near the pier, or if Purnell was in a good mood, by sword. It is
impossible to believe that a National University could ever be run in this way, and today it
would be a multiple breach of human rights, virtually every human right ever dreamed of. So I
decided to show what the group of Room 262 could do in the face of disgusting animosity. All
around us the island of civilization known as the EDCL was sinking. The planks were creaking
and the timbers shivering. Civilization needs confidence, stability and hope for the future, and
we had a lunatic in charge, Gaius Caligula had declared war on the sea and had read out his
edict on the promenade. The Roman Empire slowly began to collapse from madness and
decadence. The first sign of carnage was the sudden appearance of a deeply embittered Cecil
Monk right next door to Room 262. He had just retired and had given lifelong service to the
EDCL and had founded the spacious Soddy Laboratory for radiochemistry, but had been
savagely booted out by the ambitious J. O. Williams and stuffed into a small preparation room.
He had been allowed to continue to work at the EDCL, but was denied access to the
interminable boredom of staff meetings. He continued to write scientific papers from that small
room, which filled with smoke from his pipe. I think that J. O. was in turn booted out of part of
the Soddy by Jeremy Jones, who put Friedman to work on some apparatus that was never made