A survey shows that officials at universities with big-time sports programs intend to reduce their spending on athletics, but are reluctant to make cuts in football and basketball. The National Collegiate Athletic Association is proposing only a few rule changes for their special convention in June. (MLW)

World Bank recommendations calling on developing countries to shift some of their higher-education funds to elementary and secondary education have prompted opposition from leaders of the International Association of Universities. (MLW)

Surveys of students in a number of colleges and universities reveal a variety of attitudes and levels of knowledge about acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). (MSE)

A panel of prominent physicists has challenged the military's contention that laser or particle-beam weapons for the Strategic Defense Initiative could be developed by the early 1990s. (MSE)

Hundreds of researchers around the world are rushing to produce new ceramic materials that lose all resistance to electricity, causing a volume of publications that is pressing the limits of communication, causing innovation in the procedures of scientific publication, and creating concern about credit for discoveries. (MSE)

Academic and research-oriented psychologists are discontinuing membership in the American Psychological Association in increasing numbers, feeling it no longer serves thir interests. Major reorganization of the association to stem polarization is being considered. (MSE)

Faculty in some disciplines are hired at and continue to earn larger salaries than those in other fields, with salaries becoming compressed in the junior ranks. The high-earning disciplines vary by institution type. (MSE)

A survey found the most selective colleges were most likely to require or recommend student ownership of microcomputers, specify the brand, offer purchase discounts, and have a low ratio of students, faculty, and staff to each microcomputer. It also gathered information on microcomputer ownership, access, software, assistance, and illegal use.…

Data for administrators in 61 secondary administrative positions are given for universities, four-year colleges, public two-year colleges, and all institutions as a group. (MSE)

Salary data gathered from 261 public and 478 private institutions are presented by rank (professor, associate professor, assistant professor, new assistant professor, and instructor) for 47 disciplines. (MSE)

A Department of Education study suggests that academic achievement is a more important factor than family income in determining whether or not blacks will attend college, removing support from the argument that a shortage af federal student aid is discouraging black enrollment. (MSE)

Chapman College has returned from near financial collapse by renovating the campus, repaying a $4-million debt, raising its endowment from $700,000 to $25 million, recruiting new faculty, linking salaries to performance, initiating other personnel changes, and developing new programs and facilities. (MSE)

With aggressive development and marketing, the University of Texas now has top-ranked women's athletic teams and an admirable academic record among its athletes. (MSE)

Colleges are appointing senior-level people to handle public relations. Concerns about the public's skepticism include: setbacks in Congress, attacks on moneymaking operations, academic quality, dissatisfaction of employers, cynicism about college sports, anxieties about cost, competition for resources, scandals, etc. (MLW)

Support for an end to foreign investment in South Africa and a call to outsiders to sever all ties with institutions that serve the apartheid system was advocated by the leader of the African National Congress. (MLW)