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BSTRACT: The 15 federal-state interagency river basin studies (designated as Type 2 or Level B in the planning program of the Water Resources Council) of the 1960's brought together in each of the study regions, in many cases for the fist time, state and federal water resources agencies, and afforded an opportunity for coordination. Examination of the studies, however, reveals that many organizational problems remain to be solved in preparing truly comprehensive plans that effectively integrate and balance the diverse values held by study participants and concerned citizens. Burgeoning changes in state and federal laws, in planning concepts, and in public attitudes influenced the studies. Increased interest in the environment and greater emphasis on a multiple objective approach to planning for example, had significant effect. The type of organization used for carrying out these studies was a coordinating committee with one of the agencies - in most cases, the Corps of Engineers, - serving as lead agency. Some of the observed weaknesses of this arrangement were the lack of an effective mechanism for screening individual agency project proposals; unbalanced participation of agencies - for example, construction vs. non-construction, state vs. federal; agency representatives without sufficient delegated authority; insufficient control of the planning organization over individual agency participation and punctuality; and lack of emphasis on plan formulation and public participation. Suggested improvements, some of which are already being implemented in more recent studies include centralized planning staff and funding, formalized work agreements, a dynamic and continuous planning process with mechanisms for monitoring technological and social changes and evaluating planning effectiveness, planning guidelines and evaluative criteria, and a formalized training program for planners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Penn Jersey Transportation Study was created to prepare a plan and program for transportation improvement in the nine-county Camden-Philadelphia-Trenton metropolitan region. The former Executive Director of this million-dollar-a-year planning program reflects on key policy issues that had to be settled during the first three years, as well as the administrative problems of organizing, stating, financing, directing, and designing research for the complex set of studies. From the outset, it was recognized that the scope of the recommendations had to include not only all forms of intra-regional transportation, but associated land use patterns as well. The PJ program also aimed at creating such governmental organizations as might be necessary to conduct a continuous planning process and transportation improvement program in future years. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Philadelphia is in competition with New York City and Baltimore in staking a claim for the water resources it will need in the next half century and beyond. A new governmental organization having a delegation of both state and federal powers for continuous planning and for unified management and control of the water resources of the entire Delaware River Basin has been proposed; and a federal-state compact for its establishment is being negotiated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents the author's comments on Walter Williams' paper entitled "The Social Security and Pension Fund Systems: Their Place in the American Value Structure." Two sets of changes have played a major part in the collectivization of retirement arrangements. First, an increasingly large fraction of the population is situated in larger urban communities instead of on the farm or where some support is to be had from the land. Second, making provision for life in retirement requires greater and more continuous planning than ever before. The conclusion by Professor Williams that more and more people are being insulated against unemployment, premature death, poor health, and so forth, and against pressures to consume by compulsory payroll deductions is, of course, not a new observation. As Professor Williams suggests, the employee is likely to become more and more insulated during the decades ahead. It is important to consider in somewhat more detail the reasons for this movement toward evening-out total income through the lifespan, rather than leaving it concentrated within the working years.

The article reports on national economic planning in France--which critics refer to as a form of central planning and advocates refer to as a market survey that provides information for making business decisions. Characteristics of the French plan include: a statement of social and economic objectives in a framework of business activities; planning commissions which offer information and advice and review target goals; and methods for implementing action and enforcing compliance. Data shows executives' perception of how much the national plan influences their decision making. Statistics show the occupational groupings of commission members. Positive effects such as dynamism and harmonization are mentioned, as well as the negative impact on competition.

The article focuses on the outlook for general management in the United States. General managers are responsible for resource allocation, organizational efficiency, and achievement of organizational goals. Eleven characteristics of the general management process include setting objectives, solving problems, observing trends, and analyzing information. Diagrams illustrate the management, implementation, control, extrapolative, and entrepreneurial cycles, which are discussed along with the characteristics of each cycle's administrator. Four trends that will produce organizational change, including a behavioral perspective of the firm, are mentioned, as well as change in decision-making strategy and training of executives.

This study utilizes a planning and control model abstracted from the conceptual framework of general management knowledge to test the relative efficiency of administrators in three educational service organizations. The hypothesis that subordinates' perceptions of administrators' relative proficiency will be a function of the administrators' education, training, experience, and conscious use of management techniques appears to be substantiated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article, the author presents his own definition of a Management Information System (MIS) and discusses the ramifications and complications of a MIS. An introduction to MIS appears in the November, 1968 "Datamation" in an article by Terrance Hanold, titled, "A President's View of MIS" and subtitled, "Get Involved." The author feels that the article is worth quoting because it points out that advancements in computer systems, for the most part, can no longer be justified on the savings in clerical effort, but must be justified by management's use of those systems. In a two-part article in the September-November issues of Computer Decisions titled: "Next in MIS: 'Data Managed' Systems Design," P.D. Walker and S.D. Catalano discuss the integrated needs of general management for information in decision making. Details related to the interplay between information concerning development, manufacturing, marketing, service and finance and information concerning products, organization, personnel and cash flow are discussed.

A number of concepts and conditions in current city planning are questioned: the grand master plan delusion; planning after the fact; intermittent master planning; the illusion of complete study; avoiding the critical problems; trying to do everything; sematic confusion; conflicts of role and organization; unrealistic derivation of goals and objectives; failure of city planning in the general public interest; deficiencies of planning personnel; inadequacies of theory and research; underestimating fundamental difficulties of the city planning endeavor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization requires organization. Rapid urbanization without planning results in chaos. Industrialization and population explosion are two major factors resulting in rapid and uncontrolled rate of urban growth. In coming decades, the projected rate of urbanization especially in developing countries is of such a magnitude that unless major effort and collaboration are made to study and tackle this problem, the eventual extent of added human misery will be difficult to measure. To meet the challenge of the impending urban crisis, urgent effort will have to be made to establish basic planning criteria especially in developing countries. Whether these planning criteria can be universally applicable, will have to be carefully examined. Governments will need to be more aware of urban problems and take appropriate action for implementation. Multidisciplinary approach will be essential in the attempt to achieve suitable and acceptable solutions for a planned urban environment. International initiative and co-operation will be required to activate research programmes and to provide for more effective utilization of the limited expert knowledge available. Public participation in the planning process must be encouraged. With great effort and sufficient goodwill, it may just be possible to meet the challenge of the impending urban crisis in coming decades.

Water and related land resources management is clearly a major area within the total scope of the new environmental management envisioned by the new conservation-not to mention the new regional economic development of the Public Works and Economic Development Act, and the new focus upon the coastal zone of the National Council on Marine Resources and Engineering Development. As a public function in substantial part water and related land resources management has been with people since the founding of the republic and several of that management's present basic concepts are the product of the traditional conservation movement. Opportunities for complementarily of action, acting like a centripetal force, provide incentive for use of related resources for two or more purposes jointly because benefits can often be obtained at less cost than if their fulfillment were achieved separately. Because conflict breeds inaction that is detrimental to most interests, there is incentive to compromise to reach agreement.

The article describes the use of instructional television in Washington County, Maryland school system. The Washington County Closed Circuit Educational Television Project had its origin, as many social ventures do, as an incidental emergence, during a meeting of school officials at which future building plans were discussed. The group, composed of board of education and staff members, while contemplating plans for a new senior high school, recognized the need to provide for future program innovations. It was casually suggested that facilities for television be included. The discussion that followed aroused so much interest that it was mutually agreed to investigate this medium thoroughly.

This article focuses on the psychological study which applied interdisciplinary therapeutic camp for maladjusted children in the U.S. The author discusses the research design and methodology. Guidelines on the selection of the participant camper are rigid whereas educational background on psychology and related fields is the only basis for the selection of camp counselors. The author contends that the camping program constitutes the main component of the activity and that it provides a balance of self-activity, cabin-group activity, and camp-wide activity. Student cabin counselors are guided and assisted by therapeutic staff, people experienced in handling disturbed youth. Advantages and disadvantages of therapeutic camping are cited.