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Surveys reports from a panel of students, professors, staff members and community leaders and from a consultant, on the question of initiating a football program at the University of South Florida, a 32,000-student member of the state system. While the university committee said Yes to the president's questions, the consultant offered several possibilities. Benefits; Drain on resources; Competition; Risks.

Describes what it is like for some researchers to physically move their laboratories from one institution to another. Expense in installing scientists; Moving a variety of expensive equipment, samples from experiments, computers, books and lab manuals; Glass test tubes and cooling towers; Central Transportation Systems, a Texas-based moving company; Lost research time; Refrigeration units and electrical outlets; Packing, planning, possibilities and consequences.

Describes the Corporate Football Foundation, brainchild of two businessmen who owned teams in the now-defunct Minor League Football System, that would serve as a training ground for professional athletes or as an alternative for those who are not college bound. The league is searching for corporate sponsors for eight to twelve teams. Required educational program; Comments from foundation commissioner, John Ralston; Several hurdles; Failed leagues; Possible copout for students.

Details a survey conducted by H. Trent MacKay, University of California at Davis medical school, which found the number of hospital-training programs that routinely teach future obstetricians and gynecologists how to perform abortions is dwindling. Survey released at the annual meeting of the National Abortion Federation; Statistics on abortion training as a routine part of residency; Pressure from local communities on institutions; Accreditation guidelines; Patients' needs.

Explores what effects changes in Major League Baseball's amateur draft will have on college baseball and the athletes who play it. Controversy over the changes; Charges that new rules reduce an athlete's bargaining power for higher signing bonuses and salaries; New rules discussed with National Collegiate Athletic Association and Major League Players Association, but not college coaches; Comments from William A. Murray, director of operations for Major League Baseball.

Addresses errors in a report from the American Institutes for Research (`The Chronicle,' Feb. 19, 1992) paid for by the National Collegiate Athletic Association which led authors Robert J. Rossi and Eric L. Lang to criticize reform efforts of the NCAA unfairly. Plans for a revised report; Programming error affected conclusions; Scholastic Aptitude Test can be used as a reliable predictor; Results of the new analysis.

Focuses on the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri, Columbia, the oldest in the country and now one of the leaders in moving journalism education toward the 21st century. The students use IBM personal computers; Linked with one another on a network; News bureaus in Jefferson City, Mo., and Washington by modem; Catching up with changes in advertising, news, publishing and public relations; Dilemmas that accompany change; Development of the network; Comments.

Surveys the athletics program at the University of New Hampshire, the third college since 1990 to respond to the threat of a lawsuit by reversing a decision to drop a women's athletic team. Comments from Judith L. Ray, director for women's athletics, concerning their gender-equity self-study; Reinstatement of women's tennis this spring; Background of the case; Negotiations; Ensuring equity in the future.

Considers an address by Frank L. Morris, graduate dean at Morgan State University, which charged American universities with favoring foreign graduate students over American minority students, particularly blacks, in awarding money for doctoral study. Spurred by Morris' report, a group of black-college administrators has started to lobby federal legislators on the subject. Criticisms of his study; Morris' statistics; Contact point for copies of the report.

Focuses on public policy, long regarded as a stepchild of political science, economics and business, a field that is still in flux and still meets with resistance from scholars in more traditional disciplines. Broadening the definition; Struggleto find the right mix of scholarly and applied work associated with policy making; Pressure on the government in the direction of more rational, analytic methodology in decision making; Comments and criticisms.

Considers the seventh report in a series paid for by the National Collegiate Athletic Association and prepared by the American Institutes for Research which examined the academic performance of athletes in Division I institutions and the factors that might have influenced their performance. The study criticizes two of the NCAA's reform efforts; The NCAA questions the conclusions of the report; Data from the National Study of Intercollegiate Athletics; Raising academic standards.

Comments on the book `In Pursuit of the Ph.D.,' by William G. Bowen (president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation) and Neil L. Rudenstine (president of Harvard University), which may be the most comprehensive look at doctoral education in the arts and sciences ever undertaken. Basis of the study; Completion rates for arts and sciences versus professional schools; Improving the effectiveness of current programs; Forms of financial aid; Faculty-student interaction.

Considers the sexual-harassment lawsuit filed by Jean Y. Jew (involving charges dating back to 1973) which was settled in her favor by a federal court last August. Case serving as a lightning rod for faculty concerns about the way the university handles professors' grievances; Raising awareness of the issues of sexual harassment; Mishandling of the case by the university not extraordinary; Clear guidelines issued; Divisions and cynicism.

Reports that the Vatican last week released a 25-page document prohibiting public dissent by Roman Catholic theologians on official church teachings, even those not considered infallible. Continuing effort to tighten discipline in the church; Oath of fidelity to church teachings; Rev. Charles E. Curran; Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

Considers a report from Rice University's Faculty Council Committee on Athletics, which stressed the inescapable trade-off between high academic standards and high athletic performance. Other details of the report; Trustees' support for Rice's continued membership in Division I-A.

Profiles Mark A. Prelas, University of Missouri, who was recently treated to unprecedented tours of top-secret weapons laboratories in Russia, and who plans to help Russian scientists make contact with researchers and businesses in the West. The purpose of his trip; His work in ion-driven lasers; Tours of Chelyabinsk-70 and Arzamas-16, two self-sustaining, closed cities; Address by Yuly Khariton, one of the founders of the Soviet atomic program; Joint laser physics project.

Outlines the sex-discrimination suit filed last week in federal district court in Rhode Island by nine Brown women against Brown University, alleging the university has discriminated against women in its athletics programs. It seeks reinstatement of varsity women's gymnastics and volleyball teams, and an order requiring equal athletics opportunities for women and men. Comments from Robert A. Reichley, Brown's executive vice-president; Results of other lawsuits.

Reveals that Loyola Marymount University has agreed to settle the wrongful death suit brought by the family of basketball player Hank Gathers, who collapsed on the court during a game in March, 1990, and was pronounced dead within two hours. The university has agreed to pay $855,000 to Mr. Gathers' estate; Payment of $545,000 to Lucille Gathers, the player's mother; Two counts of negligence are still pending; Other details of the lawsuit.

Profiles writer, former refugee and Duke University professor Ariel Dorfman, whose latest play `Death and the Maiden,' was a smash hit in London, and opened on Broadway last month starring Glenn Close, Richard Dreyfuss and Gene Hackman. Comments by Dorfman on his main objectives; His 1981 novel `Widows'; A life shaped by exile and defiance; His work at Duke; The new play; His work at the University of Chile.

Considers computer-assisted reporting, focusing on the Missouri Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting, University of Missouri, Columbia, whose growing electronic library of state and federal government files includes a data base from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of 1.8 million health and safety inspections from 1972 through 1990. Other records stored; Brainchild of Elliot G. Jaspin; Ground-breaking projects moving the technology forward; Comments.

Summarizes a report from a panel at Rice University which found intercollegiate sports have operated millions of dollars in the red in recent years and have lowered the institution's academic standards. The report also said academic standards andgraduation rates for Rice athletes were `far higher' than those of other universities in Rice's athletic conference. Detailed financial picture of the athletics program; Honor Code violations.

Announces the women's volleyball team at the California State University, Fullerton, has won a temporary restraining order to stop the unviersity from eliminating it. Volleyball coach, Jim Huffman, requested the injunction; Reported violations of California Education Code, the state constitution and Title IX.

Outlines legislation pending in Mississippi and Kansas that would force the National Collegiate Athletic Association to give accused athletes, coaches and universities rights similar to those now enjoyed by criminal defendants. NCAA officials aregearing up for a hearing of a lawsuit on the issue in Nevada; Comments by Richard D. Schultz, the NCAA's executive director, on pending due-process bills.

Focuses on the 14 month investigation by the Education Department of Brooklyn College of the City University of New York which found the college has discriminted against its female athletes and coaches in such areas as scheduling of games, assignment of coaches, the provision of sports equipment and recruitment. The Department sent a `Violation-Corrected Letter' spelling out assurances made by the college concerning working toward complete compliance. Complaint filed.

Highlights changes at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government from its inception through the tenure of Graham Allison, the school's dean from 1977 to 1989, a period of explosive growth and rise in reputation. Criticisms the school is home for former policy makers who often have no academic credentials; Charting the future under current dean, Albert Carnesale; Possible consolidation of the public policy curriculum; Comments.

Announces the resignation of Dan Walbolt, vice-president of the University of Soth Florida, following the release of a report which found university officials had given special treatment to former basketball player, Marvin Taylor, who was accusedof assaulting a female student. Mr. Walbolt lifted the suspension against Mr. Taylor saying the woman had retracted her accusations. He later acknowledged the woman had not recanted. Further consideration of the report.

Considers a report from a special panel investigating the University of South Florida's handling of rape charges against former star basketball player, Marvin Taylor. The report found the university treated the alleged victim unfairly in order tomaintain Taylor's eligibility. Endorsement of several changes recommended by university President Francis T. Borkowski; Background of the incident; Other details of the report.

Profiles Wanda Franz, tenured professor of developmental psychology at West Virginia University, who is currently president of the National Right To Life Committee, the nation's largest anti-abortion group. Attempt to separate her private interests from her teaching and scholarship; History of involvement in the right-to-life movement; Round of events to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision, `Roe v. Wade'; The Pennsylvania case; Comments and criticisms.

Reports that Charles Mullin Jr., of the American Arbitration Association, has found Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania has violated its faculty-union contract by saddling professors with overloaded classes and not offering them extra pay. The state system of higher education has filed an appeal. Grievance filed against the university in 1989.

Comments on the petition being circulated by a coalition of local bookstores which accuses 17 professors at the University of California at Berkeley of attempting to suppress free speech. The professors wrote a letter to eight bookstores alleging some of the proceeds from a fund-raising speech by Noam Chomsky went to organizations sympathetic to Yasser Arafat and his Palestine Liberation Organization, and condemning the bookstores for sponsoring the event.

Announces the resignation of Abraham P. Ordover, head of the litigation program at Emory's law school, following the filing of four new complaints of sexual harassment against him. Faculty panel clearing of previous complaints and reprimand for creating an environment that some students found to be intimidating; Reexamination of Emory University's policy for handling sexual-harassment complaints.

Discusses the reopening of an Emory University investigation into charges of sexual harassment brought by female students against law professor Abraham P. Ordover. Last month a faculty committee cleared Ordover of complaints brought by more thana dozen female students, but concluded he had engaged in inappropriate behavior, levied a formal reprimand and required he seek counseling; Further complaints brought; Appointment of another faculty panel.

Reports that the University of Detroit Mercy (a Roman Catholic institution) will reinstate Robert V. Roesser, dismissed when he refused to pay faculty-union fees because he disagreed with the union's pro-choice position on abortion. The university will also compensate Roesser for wages lost since his dismissal in 1984.

Announces the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ending a seven-year dispute, will release some confidential tenure review materials to the public. David F. Noble has agreed to drop a lawsuit filed against MIT and will get neither tenure nor damages.

Reports that a California state court has ordered the University of California at Berkeley to turn over confidential peer-review materials to Jenny C. Harrison, former professor of mathematics, who has sued the university claiming she was discriminated against when she was denied tenure. Victory for faculty members; Confidentiality; US Supreme Court decision.

Reports that the public policy course `Human Abilities and Public Policy' taught at the University of Denver has prompted campus debate over the limits of academic freedom. Examination of the explosive issues of how personality and intelligence traits can be inherited and measured, and whether differences in such traits should affect social policies. Contention that the scholars are racists; Faculty and student rallies.