He said he must "ignore the pursuit of mice and focus our acquisition efforts on much bigger game."

As director, Rice would head an acquisition effort that grew the special collections to over a million items before he stepped down in 1986.

But the intensity of Pakistan's nuclear acquisition effort did enlarge the market.

The acquisition effort has raised the company's valuation out of delisting range.

Another source close to the acquisition effort said that no definite proposal had been made.

The Board has already voted to commit $2 million to the acquisition effort, and the state has promised $4 million more.

The legislators have given what they called their "partners" in the acquisition effort until Oct. 15 to demonstrate a commitment to the condemnation process.

In the ensuing years the program has transitioned from an intensive development effort to a more classical acquisition effort.

But the four managing partners decided a year ago that they needed to better focus their acquisition efforts.

Substantial acquisition efforts could not resume until the mid-1960s.