One of the most satisfying educational experiences for Professor Michael Maher happened this summer when he taught managerial accounting to 66 Czechoslovakian students in Prague. Recently he returned to the UC Davis Graduate School of Management after spending a month at the newly formed U.S. Business School in Prague, enlightening students on how free-market economies work. "The ideological swing from communism to capitalism is a very hard concept to teach," says Maher. "The students have no perception of western economics, since they grew up in a system where prices and wages were fixed by authorities." The students selected for the first classes are unlike what you find in many American business schools -- most are a decade older than American business students and have advanced degrees -- yet they have no understanding of stocks and bonds, privately owned assets, or marketing techniques. The Czech students are fascinated with every detail on how free-market economies function, says Maher. "The knowledge gap is so great that it will take several more years before American businesses can develop corporate relations with Czechoslovakian enterprises," he says. Maher was among visiting professors from 16 American business schools, who traveled to Prague under the auspices of the Czechoslavakia Technical University and the Rochester Institute of Technology.