Outlines serious concerns about the state of the mental health field and proposes some steps individuals and organizations can take to improve mental health care and to advance the mental health field. Invites reader response to the issues discussed. (MCF)

This study attempts to understand educational priorities through an investigation of budget choices made by 46 Oregon school districts. Two-thirds of the sample districts did not experience stringent fiscal constraint; the remainder showed budget allocation patterns favoring instruction at the expense of administrative and other areas. Includes 20…

A University of Kansas study provides an empirical base for examining the effects of resource decline. The study sought to answer the question: What are the structural aspects of the university that increase or decrease its ability to adapt when resources decline? (MLW)

An interpretation of the dollar dimension of medical progress, the role of nonmonetary factors in the equation, and suggestions for public policy are presented. Medical leadership must help formulate recommendations aimed at reductions in medical school enrollments, fee schedules for physicians, costly technology, etc. (MLW)

From analysis of data from 579 school districts it is concluded that financial ratios have the ability to forecast fiscal distress a year in advance. Liquidity ratios and salary and fringe benefit ratios were found to be strong forecasters, while per pupil expenditure data had little predictive value. (MJL)

In the view of the ACE Commission on Academic Affairs, the recently adopted revision of Regulation 4 ("Termination of Appointments") of the AAUP do not provide reliable guidance regarding (1) the definition of financial exigency, (2) rule-setting for institutional behavior, and (3) other provisions included in the regulation that could…

The response of courts to terminations resulting from a financial crisis threatening a school is analyzed. That response depends, in part, on whether the teacher is asserting the infringement of a constitutional right, such as freedom of expression, or the deprivation without due process of the law of a property interest, such as a statutory or…

A financial analysis is presented that is based on cost experiences of over 2,000 institutions, covering the period 1972 through 1974. Institutions were rated as healthy, relatively healthy, neutral, relatively unhealthy, and unhealthy. Twenty-five percent fell into the healthy category; 14 percent, into the unhealthy category. (LBH)

This study examines the impact of the Asian financial crisis on children in Indonesia. Data from four rounds of the 100 Villages Survey are used to examine changes in school attendance rates, child labor force participation, and health status. These data cover over 120 households in each of 100 villages around Indonesia and were collected prior to…

This report describes efforts by Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, to address the problem of inadequate faculty salaries by developing and implementing a "profit-sharing" plan that adjusts the faculty salary pool in relation to changes in the institution's financial well-being. It notes that faculty-administration relations at…

The 1997-98 Asian financial crisis and its aftermath have brought to light a number of crucial economic lessons. This curriculum unit focuses on some of the purported causes of the crisis, the workings of the International Monetary Fund, and the general nature of economies affected by financial turmoil. Lesson 1, "A Story of Boom and Bust in…

In an effort to avoid the financial cutbacks being experienced by guidance departments in many school districts, the author suggests several means of keeping school board members aware of the importance of guidance functions. (RWP)

Article is a statement by Senator Walter F. Mondale, a Democrat from Minnesota, on the evaluation of social programs and a serious appraisal of social policy for the nation's children and their families. (Author/RK)

Describes some of the basic types and patterns of social constraints on intergroup relations research; the essay is organized into four broad patterns of constraints: (1) theoretical, ideological and professional; (2) occupational and situational; (3) governmental, institutional and monetary; and, (4) positive constraints. (Author/JM)

The complexity of what is involved in the rational planning of higher education is apparent only when the problems of allocation of resources between higher education and other economic activities are considered jointly with those relating to internal efficiency. (Author)