Creating a Binary Policy in Austria

In 1993, the Government of Austria passed legislation establishing a 'binary policy' in higher education. A new accrediting body the Fachhochschulrat was created, empowered to accredit vocationally oriented courses in any institution seeking to offer them. Institutions meeting certain conditions will be entitled to seek designation as Fachhochschulen. The policy marks an important departure from the traditionally highly regulated and centralized system of policymaking in Austria. The article offers an analysis of the factors leading to the policy and analyses the implications for the future. It draws on the author's experience as a member of a team of examiners from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) undertaking a policy review of Austrian higher education, and points to lessons for Austria from the United Kingdom's experience over the last 25 years.     

Publisher and author partnerships: a changing landscape

This article discusses the changing relationships of authors and publishers, the current trends and challenges they face, and the direction of these relationships in the future. As the STM publishing industry finds itself in the midst of significant technological and economic changes, this article provides background to these changes and looks at the key elements, including open access business development, institutional repository trends, and emerging public financing policies in the future.     

中国入世与传媒创新(提纲)

１．WTO与中国：挑战和机遇并存近年来，中国已崛起为世界上发展最快的大国。预期２００２年的GDP将增长７．５～８个百分点。以欧洲的视角来看，中国社会正受益于一大批受过高等教育的技艺精湛的人才，他们不畏变革，勇于创新，乐于接受新技术。在这片土地上，变革被真正地看作一个坚实的文化特征，这或许得益于古老的亚洲传统哲学。中国将接受入世的挑战。这或许是漫长和艰难的过程，但终将使中国在市场经验中受益。中国入世将为世界大国注入重要内容。２．WTO与中国传媒产业中国传媒业对世界的开放将是中国在今后的数年里面临的最大…     

CONCERN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: A CROSS-NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Data from the International Social Survey Program indicate considerablevariation in the desire of respondents for increased spendingon the environment in Australia, Austria, Great Britain, theUnited States, and West Germany. This paper explores this variationwith the following objectives: (1) to determine the extent towhich the social bases of environmental concern are consistentacross nations; (2) to determine how the issue of the environmenthas been politicized in the five industrialized nations, focusingon the association of Old Leftist concerns and environmentalconcern; and (3) to determine the extent to which the socialbases of environmental concern can explain the cross-nationalvariation. The study usesa regression analysis, testing variablesrepresenting the social bases of environmental concern frompast research in the United States, a scale representing commitmentto the platform of the Old Left, and dummy variables for eachcountry. The results show that the social bases of environmentalconcern are the same in the five countries studied, includinga consistent positive association of Old Leftism with environmentalconcern. However, substantial variation between countries inthe overall level of concern remains. Potential sources of theremaining variation are examined.