1 4 4 D O C U M E N T 1 3 4 J A N U A R Y 1 9 2 8 If, however, there were agreement in principle and the personal matter too would be somehow cleared up, the next step would be to call a meeting of the Board of Governors by the end of May and then to decide the matter officially.[8] Your pres- ence at such a meeting would not be required, but it seems important to me that Mr. Felix Warburg participate. I should very much want him, as he will remain in Europe until the end of May, to meet you once more before the meeting. It will surely be possible to discuss all particulars once the main issue is clarified. I thank you once more sincerely for your detailed letter, which, I believe, will really advance the matter. With best regards to you and yours, I remain, yours, Translators’ note: Based on translation from The Letters and Papers of Chaim Weizmann, Vol. 13, Series A (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Books, 1978), pp. 350–352. 134. To Alex Baerwald[1] Berlin, 18 January 1928 Dear Mr. Baerwald, I read your letter with a mixture of pleasure and pain. Pleasure because of the witty style, and pain because of the desperate financial situation of the technical school.[2] Dear Mr. Baerwald, I hate to turn you down, but here I cannot do otherwise.[3] Not only have I had quite enough of the chaotic hubbub of academia, but I have also heard about the remarkable way in which Mr. Biram was thrown out, and about the conflict that arose over the proposal to make the technical school into a university.[4] I consider the latter ludicrously quixotic and I have no desire to take part in the corresponding squabble. Thus it looks as if the lack of clear conception and distribution of competence and responsibility that characterizes the university also prevails in the technical school. Incidentally, you are greatly mistaken regard- ing the grandiose effects that can be achieved among smart Jews with the help of my shopworn name. I am most pleased that you yourself have found satisfying work in Palestine and that your activity at the technical school is leading to such good results.[5] If you were the permanent head of the technical school, I would have no reservations about joining the advisory board. Best regards to you and your wife,[6] your A. Einstein