Fenwick brightened. "He's working on that, though! I told you that in answer to the question in the application. Bill, I wish you'd come down and see that boy. The things he can do with crystals would absolutely knock your hat off. He can stack them just like a kid stacking building blocks--crystals that nobody else has ever been able to manipulate so far. And the electrical characteristics of some of them--you wouldn't believe the transistors he's been able to build!" "John," said Baker patiently. "The head of the physics department in any institution receiving a grant must have a Ph. D. degree. That is one absolutely minimum requirement." "You mean we've got to wait until George finishes his work for his degree before we get the grant? That puts us in kind of a predicament because the work that we hoped to have George do under the grant would contribute towards his degree. Can't you put it through on the basis that he'll have his degree just as soon as the present series of experiments is completed?" Baker wiped his forehead and looked down at his hands on the desk. "I said this is _one_ minimum requirement. There are others, John." "Oh, what else are we lacking?" Fenwick looked crestfallen for the first time. "I may as well be blunt," said Baker. "There is no conceivable way in which Clearwater College can be issued a research grant for _anything_--and especially not for basic research in any field of physical science." * * * * * Fenwick just stared at him for a minute as if he couldn't believe what he had heard, although it was the thing he had expected to hear since the moment he sat down. He seemed deflated when he finally spoke. "I don't think it was the intent of the Congressional Act that made these funds available," he said, "that only the big, plush outfits should get all the gravy. There are plenty of smaller schools just like Clearwater who have first rate talent in their science departments. It isn't fair to freeze us out completely--and I don't think it's completely legal, either." "Clearwater is not being frozen out. Size has nothing to do with the question of whether an institution receives a grant from NBSD or not." "When did you last give a grant to a college like Clearwater?" "I am afraid we have never given a grant to a college--like Clearwater," said Baker carefully. Fenwick's face began to grow more ruddy. "Then will you tell me just what is the matter with Clearwater, that we can't get any Government research contract when every other Tom, Dick, and Harry outfit in the country can?" "I didn't state my case in exactly those terms, John, but I'll be glad to explain the basis on which we judge the qualifications of an institution to receive a grant from us."