Review of public budgeting and financial management

User charge is an alternative option to privatizing public service provision. But its use as a policy instrument, compared with that of asset sales or contracting out, for instance, is less researched and documented. This paper tries to fill the gap. By contrasting the experiences of employing user charge for two public services in Hong Kong with diametrically opposing results, this paper offers preliminary conclusions on several lessons, which governments, in their drive toward improved efficiency, can learn in commercializing their trading activities. Implications to public policy making are also suggested. These include: the user-pays principle has to be applied equitably, the public service market has to remain depoliticized, the management has to be transformed to behave more entrepreneurially, and the users have to be educated.     

Reviews and commentary

Lifting bob Woodward's veil

Bob Woodward : VEIL : The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981–1987 Simon &; Schuster, New York, 1987, 543 p., $21.95.

His “Cover” Is Undercover

Steve Posner: Israel Undercover: Secret Warfare &; Hidden Diplomacy in the Middle East Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, N.Y., 1987, 350 p., $17.95.

Democracy and Intelligence: An Uneasy Compatibility

Stephen J. Cimbala, ed.: Intelligence and Intelligence Policy in a Democratic Society Transnational Publishers, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., 262 p., $37.50.

A Much‐Needed Primer

Herbert E. Meyer: R eal‐ World In teltigence. Weidenfeld &; Nicolson, New York, 1987, 102 p., $14.95.

Agee Finds Two Friends

Jonathan Bloch and Patrick Fitzgerald (introduction by Philip Agee): British Intelligence and Covert Action Brandon Book Publishers Ltd., Kerry, Ireland, 1983, 284 p., PB, $9.95.

Questionable Secrets‐Questionable Sources

Fabrizio Calviand Olivier Schmidt: Intelligences secretes — Annales de l'espionnage Hachette, Paris, 1988, 309 p., 148 Fr. fr.

Scaling the Wall

Vladimir Solovyov and Elena Klepikova: Behind the High Kremlin Walls Dodd, Mead, New York, 1986, 248 p., $17.95.

The USSR As a Counterintelligence State

John J. Dziak: Chekisty: A History of the KGB Heath/Lexington Books, Lexington, Mass., 1988, 234 p., $17.95.     

Effect of storage temperature on endogenous GHB levels in urine

Because gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) is an endogenous substance present in the body and is rapidly eliminated after ingestion, toxicologists investigating drug-facilitated sexual assault cases are often asked to differentiate between endogenous and exogenous levels of GHB in urine samples.This study was designed to determine the effects of storage temperature on endogenous GHB levels in urine. Specifically, it was designed to ascertain whether endogenous levels can be elevated to a range considered indicative of GHB ingestion.Urine specimens from two subjects that had not been administered exogenous GHB were collected during a 24h period and individually pooled. The pooled specimens were separated into standard sample cups and divided into three storage groups: room temperature ( approximately 25 degrees C), refrigerated (5 degrees C), and frozen (-10 degrees C). Additionally, some specimens were put through numerous freeze/thaw cycles to mimic situations that may occur if multiple laboratories analyze the same specimen. Periodic analysis of the samples revealed increases in the levels of endogenous GHB over a 6-month period. The greatest increase (up to 404%) was observed in the samples maintained at room temperature. The refrigerated specimens showed increases of 140-208%, while the frozen specimens showed smaller changes (88-116%). The specimens subjected to multiple freeze/thaw cycles mirrored specimens that had been thawed only once. None of the stored urine specimens demonstrated increases in GHB concentrations that would be consistent with exogenous GHB ingestion.     

When Scientists Deceive: Applying the Federal Regulations

Deception is a useful methodological device for studying attitudes and behavior, but deceptive studies fail to fulfill the informed consent requirements in the U.S. federal regulations. This means that before they can be approved by Institutional Review Boards, they must satisfy the four regulatory conditions for a waiver or alteration of these requirements. To illustrate our interpretation, we apply the conditions to a recent study that used deception to show that subjects judged the same wine as more enjoyable when they believed it had a higher price.     

Student perceptions of hate crimes

Estimates indicate hate crimes are a growing concern in the United States. This paper addresses how criminal justice students perceive victims of hate crimes. Survey findings show subjects are less likely to define certain groups of people as victims of hate crimes. Suggestions are made as to how criminal justice departments can heighten awareness of hate crime victims, multiculturalism, and gender diversity among criminal justice students.