-- BEGIN EXCERPT

The interview is part of an exercise designed to prevent suicide among teen-agers. The girl and some 200 other students at the school, all of whose names are kept confidential, are undergoing a computer analysis of their mental health. The computer program, a project of researchers at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, is designed to sniff out deep-rooted psychiatric troubles that might otherwise go unnoticed in teen-agers.

.

"To all intents and purposes, it seems to do it just as well as a psychiatrist," said Dr. David Shaffer, director of child and adolescent psychiatry at Columbia and a principal developer of the computerized interview.

.

William Ruane, an investment adviser who heads the Sequoia Fund, has become an important benefactor of the diagnostic project. He has donated some $8 million.

-- END EXCERPT