Bulletin Spring‧Summer 1993

functions with associated pathological changes in the brain. Clinical manifestations include failing o f memory, loss of language ability, cognitive degeneration, and signs of disease in one or more areas of the brain. He pointed out that dementia was very common among old people in the Western countries and there were many causes of the disease . He then went on to discuss the characteristic s of the slow viruses, how they cause pathological changes in the brain, and how amyloid, an abnormal extracellular protein found in patients wit h immune disorders and chronic infections, are pathogenetically linked to Alzheimer's disease, a common form of dementia in old people. Recent Economic Deve l opmen t s , the Clinton Admi n i s t r a t i on and Bus i ness Educa t i on Deve l opmen t in the United States The second lecture was presented by the Faculty of Business Administration on 18th February. Prof. Lester C. Thurow from the Sloan School of Management of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was invited to give a public lecture entitled 'Recent Economic Developments, the Clinton Administration and Business Education Development in the United States'. Prof. Thurow, a leading economist whose expertise lies in public finance, macroeconomics and income distribution, was economic advise r to former US President Lyndon Johnson, and until recently dean of the Sloan School of Management at MIT. In his lecture, Prof. Thurow pointe d out that global economic development would depend on the economic recovery of th e United States. He was supportive of President Clinton's comprehensive pla n to twist the US economy from consumption to investment but cautioned that its success would hinge on several factors, including the reduction of Japan's enormous trade surplus with the US. He forecast that 'brain power' industries such as robots, telecommunication, and biotechnology would dominate the future US economy and suggested that the US government should invest in business education to increase productivity and maintain competitiveness. Teamwork and esprit de corps, he said, were work ethics tha t should be stressed. The Decline of the Donn i sh Domi n i on The Faculty of Education organized the third 30th anniversary lecture on 10th March. Prof. Albert Halsey, emeritus professor of social and administrative studies at Oxford, spoke on The Decline of the Donnish Dominion'. Prof. Albert Halsey attributed the declinin g status of British academics to the democratization of education. The Britis h don, he said, was a legacy of the medieval days when he belonged to a gentlemanly class, part of a close-knit fellowship born of the Church. The drastic expansion of the number of university teaching posts i n recent decades had resulted in a deterioration of the class conditions of intellectual labour — loss of status, decline in autonomy and worsening workin g conditions. He analysed the underlying causes, discussed ways to reform Britis h higher education, and put forward the US model as a possible solution. A major builder of an influential research method that relate s social stratification to educational attainment, Prof. Halsey was former adviser 30TH ANNIVERSARY 3