BUSINESS SEGMENTS (Narrative) (Details) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Aug. 31, 2016 USD ($) segments	Aug. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Number of reporting segments \| segments	5
Total assets	$ 3,130,869	$ 3,439,951
Discontinued operations
Total assets	$ 6,800	$ 31,500	$ 151,100

Number of operating segments. An operating segment is a component of an enterprise: (a) that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses (including revenues and expenses relating to transactions with other components of the same enterprise), (b) whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the enterprise's chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance, and (c) for which discrete financial information is available. An operating segment may engage in business activities for which it has yet to earn revenues, for example, start-up operations may be operating segments before earning revenues.

No definition available.

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Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration