A report prepared by an academic commission under the auspices of the International Council on the Future of the University found Italian university life characterized by a chaotic admissions system, inadequate physical facilities, deeply polarized faculties, poorly worked-out career structures for teachers, and high student-teacher ratios. (MLW)

A fantasy of the future is described, when the gains go not to the most qualified but to the most affluent, when college admissions seek to match supply with demand. The "product" higher education wishes to produce and the objectives of the admissions process are considered. (MLW)

The politics of petrodollars stands high on the list of academic concerns as universities wrestle with the ethics of accepting profitable Middle Eastern research and teaching contracts. Implications of the issues involved--political repression, discrimination, student selection, curriculum control--are addressed. (LBH)

Despite its planned, centrally directed economy, Russia has not been able to tailor its university system to its manpower needs. Peculiarities in the Russian system, including the method for planning enrollments, stiff competition for university acceptance, and application regulations, are discussed. (JMD)

A critical look is taken of the comparatively recent practice of awarding college credit for life or work experience. It is suggested that the life-experience approach to "respectability" combines academic snobbery and elitism with pragmatism due to the fear of declining enrollments and subsequent job loss. (LBH)