 How does the Dean feel about Caswell?
Wilton Caswell, Ph.D., was head of my Sociology Department, and right then he was mad enough to chew nails. He bit off each word with great restraint: "Sociology is the study of social institutions, Mr. Halloway." He had a book in his hand and I was expecting him to throw it, but he spoke instead: "This department's analysis of institutional accretion, by the use of open system mathematics, has been recognized as an outstanding and valuable contribution to—" The words were impressive, whatever they meant, but this still didn't sound like anything that would pull in money. "Please, Professor Caswell! Washington, the New Deal and the present Administration are somewhat touchy subjects to the men I have to deal with. They consider its value debatable, if you know what I mean. If they got the idea that sociology professors are giving advice and guidance—No, we have to stick to brass tacks and leave Washington out of this. "Fundamental research doesn't show immediate effects, Mr. Halloway, but its value is recognized." Such simple questions as, 'Is there a way a holder of authority in this organization can use the power available to him to increase his power?' provide the key. But it still could not be handled until the complex questions of interacting motives and long-range accumulations of minor effects could somehow be simplified and formulated. "By these formulations, it is possible to determine automatically the amount of growth and period of life of any organization. Its monetary support is not in the hands of those who personally benefit by its governmental activities, but, instead, in the hands of those who would personally lose by any extension and encroachment of its authority on their own. They have to be convinced that by, 'furtherance of research into human ills,' he meant that the money should go to research fellowships for postgraduate biologists at the university, rather than to a medical foundation." I shook hands and left him standing there, sure of his place in the progress of science and the respect of his colleagues, yet seething inside because I, the president and dean, had boorishly demanded that he produce something tangible. As far as I was concerned, a department had to support itself or be cut down to what student tuition pays for, which is a handful of over-crowded courses taught by an assistant lecturer.
 The Dean views Caswell as a friend and co-conspirator.
 The Dean despises Caswell and wants to fire him.  The Dean views Caswell as a friend and co-conspirator.  The Dean thinks Caswell is a stuck-up intellectual.  The Dean is irritated by Caswell's superiority complex.