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Thursday, August 30, 2007 I The Red & Black
Juanita Cousins | Editor in Chief
editor@ ratuib.com
Matthew Grayson Managing Editor
me@ randb.com
JoAnn Anderson | Opinions Editor
opinions@randb.com
Our Take
Majority opinions of The Red & Black’s editorial board
Sickening standard
Pharmacy professor accused of selling
exams shame on everyone involved.
Today, we hang our heads in shame.
The Board of Regents and University phar
macy professor Flynn Warren Jr. are defendants
in a civil federal court case filed Aug. 3, that
accuses Warren of collecting and selling phar
macy test questions.
According to court documents, Warren
asked students taking his North American
Pharmacist Licensure Examination prep class
to memorize test questions and e-mail them to
him. Warren later collected the questions and
organized them into a study packet.
Future students then paid the University
SIOO to take the optional “Pharmacy Board
Review” course and were given the study pack
et containing the question set.
“A comparison of only a portion of Defendant
Warren’s materials with (National Association
of Boards of Pharmacy) Examination Questions
revealed that at least 150 questions are verba
tim, nearly verbatim or substantially similar,” a
court document reads.
Saturday, NABP officials suspended the
NAPLEX examination in the state of Georgia.
This is more than a major embarrassment to
the University System of Georgia and our phar
macy school.
It raises the question, “Are ethics, integrity
and academic honesty truly valued by The
National Association of Boards of Pharmacy,
Warren and this University as well as its phar
macy students past, present and future?”
The blanket of blame warms them all.
NABP, which boasts to enforce “uniform
standards for the purpose of protecting the
public health” in its mission statement, failed
to follow through with a man they knew had a
history of wreaking havoc.
In 1995, NABP accused Warren of compiling
and selling NAPLEX test questions to students.
Warren signed a contract promising to “cease
and desist.” However, NABP has failed to moni
tor Warren’s actions for the past 12 years.
NABP officials need look no further than
their own spreadsheet of NAPLEX test scores
for every pharmacy school in the nation. The
document, available at www.nabp.net/ftpfiles/
bulletins/schoolpassrates.pdf, showed our
University consistently excelled with 100 per
cent pass rates and near-perfect scores.
We too shake our heads at lead University
administrators who had knowledge of this civil
case for nearly a month yet failed to inform
University pharmacy students. Academic rigor?
Our stomachs ache too much from laughing to
address those implications.
Warren, you’ve frustrated us, too. In some
twisted way, you might have thought you were
ensuring your students a brighter future, but
thanks to you, their diplomas may wind up
worth little more than the paper on which
they’re printed.
We also are disappointed in the students who
allegedly memorized and recited test questions.
What were you thinking as you jeopardized
your careers, the University and the entire
pharmacy profession in the process?
We feel for the hundreds of undergradu
ate students who came to the University with
hopes of healing the masses with medicine.
What will become of the pre-pharmacy stu
dents and the many other students statewide
hoping to take the national exam? Will the
Board of Regents reconsider the S4O million
it recently gave the University’s pharmacy
school? We’re guessing yes.
Next time we need a prescription filled, we’re
running background checks. Georgian pharma
cists need not apply.
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Opinions expressed m The Red A Black other than unsigned editonaJs are the opinions of the writers of signed columns
and not necessarily those of The Red dhd Black Publishing Company Inc. Al rights reserved Reprints by permission of the
editors.
Editorial board members include Juanita Cousins, Matt Grayson, Bill Richards, JoAnn Anderson.
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Opinions
Organic food not pesticide-free
Alex Berry’s Aug. 21
column, “Organic
a healthier alterna
tive” is rife with misinfor
mation. A previous arti
cle by Jennifer Jackson
(“Locally grown options
make for good eatin’,” on
Aug. 20) rightly advocated
sustainable produce, but
also presented misinfor
mation on organic agri
culture. Asa graduate
student studying biotech
nology and agriculture, I
feel ethically obligated to
point out the errors in the
article and column.
First, looking on
the National Organic
Program’s Web site, one
quickly finds the “USDA
makes no claims that
organically produced food
is safer or more nutritious
than conventionally pro
duced food.”
Secondly, in Jackson’s
article, she wrote that
“organic food means
less chemicals are used.”
Wrong. Nowhere in the
guidelines for organic
agriculture written in the
USDA’s National Organic
Program (www.ams.usda.
gov/nop) does it imply
organic agriculture uses
less chemicals than mod
em agriculture. Organic
agriculture is not pesti
cide-free by any means. It
is limited to using natu
rally occurring pesticides,
rather than synthetic
ones.
Furthermore, organic
agriculture may use syn
thetic chemicals when
a natural version is not
available. Approved chem
icals to be used in organ
ics can be found at www.
ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/
standards/Listßeg.html.
This list includes such
chemicals as sulfur diox
ide gas commonly used
to kill rats by blocking
nerve receptors and cop-
Mailbox
E-mail and letters from our readers
Fashion column is so last season
My heart skipped a
beat Monday when I saw
the fashion column in
The Red & Black could
no longer soil a good day.
Even so, the way Emily
Samuels sarcastically bid
us adieu still managed to
irk me.
The attention she
claimed her column gar
nered was not because
her articles were contro
versial. It was because
they were just terrible.
I never understood
why you devoted space to
a column reporting that
the little black dress was
making a comeback when
it is notorious for never
going out of style. And
the mustaches and skinny
jeans for guys? Really?
Whenever her writing had
any ounce of accuracy, it
was months too late to
be considered relevant.
“Loyal fashionistas” knew
better.
Frankly, I was tired of
what felt like unoriginal,
regurgitated ideas ripped
off from a 6-month-old
issue of Vogue. What
would’ve come next? As
fashion magazine editor
Miranda Priestly from
“The Devil Wears Prada”
would say, “Florals for
spring? Groundbreaking.”
YARA FIGUEROA
Junior, Macon
Journalism
Benjamin Martin
▲
“Organic agriculture
is not pesticide-free ...
it is limited to using
naturally occurring
pesticides. ”
per sulfate, which is toxic
to aquatic life and has
long term persistence in
the environment, making
it potentially more dan
gerous in comparison to
many of the commonly
used pesticides in modem
agriculture that readily
breakdown in the environ
ment and pose low toxic
ity to non-target pests.
Basically, as the list
states, if “the substance
cannot be produced from
a natural source and
there are no organic sub
stitutes,” it will often be
approved for organic pro
duction.
Berry’s column provid
ed more blatant fallacies
such as, “use of pesticides
... significantly contributes
to male infertility, breast
and prostate cancer and
miscarriages in women.”
Where is the data to sup
port these assertions of
significant increases?
Testimonials do not count
as scientific data, and we
are in college to learn the
difference.
Finally, both Jackson
and Berry focus on the
idea that “local” some-
E-MAILING US
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Textbook prices
anger faculty, too
(In response to Stacy
S. Skelly’s Aug. 27 letter
“Publishers’ book costs
justified”), publishers
are constantly work
ing to maximize profits
in many different ways.
The method of bundling
instructional materials is
currently in vogue.
I have no wish to use
the extensive —and
expensive multime
dia materials that were
offered to me. Similarly
useless is the separate
instructor’s edition of the
book God help you if
your calculus instructor
needs a book of answers.
The sentiment in
Skelly’s letter: “it is
important that the texts
... be as current as pos
sible” seems phrased so
as to be hard to disagree
with, but I can do so
without qualms: today’s
calculus textbooks look
virtually identical to the
textbook I used to learn
calculus in 1992. One year,
Red&Black
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
ESTABLISHED 1111, INDEPENDENT !•••
how means non-industrial,
fresher and organic, while
these terms have nothing
to do with being locally
grown and can apply to
food from anywhere.
Jackson alludes to indus
trial farms being primar
ily concerned with prof
its. I would be shocked
to find any local farmers
not concerned with profit
margins, just as any other
farmer.
Likewise, even indus
trial farms must mind
the environment, as the
adoption of practices that
damage the environment
lead to loss of soil fertil
ity and increased costs of
production.
Ultimately, Berry is
right in that agricultur
al pesticides have been
abused at times, which is
why all farmers organic
or otherwise, are striving
to reduce pesticide use.
That is why today’s
agriculture is going high
tech precision delivery
techniques apply pes
ticides only when and
where needed. Integrated
Pest Management uses
advanced communication
networks to monitor pests
and diseases, and avoiding
control measures unless
an economic threshold is
reached.
Finally, biotechnol
ogy is making the use of
pesticides unnecessary,
while promoting the use of
agricultural practices that
save soil, water and fuel.
Asa result, food does not
need to be expensive to be
environmentally friendly
or healthy. As Dwight D.
Eisenhower said, “Farming
looks easy when your plow
is a pencil...”
Benjamin Martin is
a graduate student
from Snellvile
studying agronomy.
I taught from a textbook
that was the latest edi
tion of the very book I
had learned from, and
it was similar enough to
cause flashbacks except
that the ordering of cer
tain sections had been
changed.
Studies done show
instructors throughout
the physical sciences and
in economics think that
the curriculum has not
changed enough in recent
years to warrant new
introductory textbooks.
To the students, I say,
take heart the faculty
are angry, too. Academics
all over the world are furi
ous at the rising cost of
journals which make
textbooks look cheap
with the last year having
seen boycotts of pres
tigious journals, entire
editorial boards resigning,
and so forth.
The current state of
affairs will not endure,
and the future is entirely
free with online access
to instructional mate
rials. To those who
doubt that the future
is coming, try googling
“OpenCourseWare,” or
for a free online calculus
textbook “Strang cal
culus.”
PETE L. CLARK
Associate Professor
Mathematics
Michael Arndt
▲
Go ahead,
guys cry
at the cinema
Like most people,
I have always
enjoyed mov
ies. Movies provide the
means to transcend
our daily existence and
become part of a grand
story, even if only for a
short period of time.
In college, likely due
to skull rattling hang
overs and the conve
nience of OnDemand, I
have become more of a
movie enthusiast and I
will discuss a category of
movies which was non
existent for me prior
to college, the Guy Cry
Movie.
Of course, I had seen
many of the movies on
the Guy Cry list before
college, but their previ
ous categorization was
less, hmm ... what’s the
word? Effeminate.
Following the para
digm of my non-crying
father, they were Make-
Your-Neck-Hair-Stand-
Up Movies or Gives-
Ya-Chills Movies. My
pubescent high school
days, riddled with acne,
voice cracks and unfor
tunately timed erections
—■ changing classes was
apparently quite arous
ing needn’t the addi
tional ridicule of admit
ted crying.
However, around two
years ago, my reticence
vanished and as of yet
is showing no signs of
returning. I am not
entirely sure of the exact
reason for its disappear
ance but am guessing it
was either the instability
of an emotional hang
over or growing aware
ness and sympathy for
those less fortunate, or
perhaps some combina
tion of the two.
Regardless of the
reason, “Remember the
Titans” made me cry
sophomore year. After
the team had worked so
hard to overcome the
racial tensions, a car
accident happens oh,
the depravity. Is there
any justice in this world?
The next broad cat
egory of Guy Cry Movies
would be those pertain
ing to social justice.
Stories revolving around
inner city school teach
ers and their struggling
classes ensure tears.
The world can be a bet
ter place sob. What
selfless leaders sob.
There aren’t any victims
in the classroom sob,
sob.
Examples of this type
of movie are “Dangerous
Minds,” “Freedom
Writers” and “Lean on
Me.” If those movies
don’t elicit tears, I am
unsure anything will.
How unfortunate for
you.
Tears, regardless of
their cause, are good
for your soul. As author
Jane Austen warns,
these emotions must
be balanced with other
activities.
After all, it is easy to
imagine remaining in
bed all day, every day if
you surrounded yourself
with only the local news
(rape, rape, murder,
rape, rape) and news
from Darfur.
However, the other
extreme of not having
any swings of emotion
will force your life to feel
less like a roller coaster
and more like a tum
less, boringly flat, one
way highway. When the
moment comes, I hope
you stop clinching your
back teeth and swal
lowing hard. Let it out
cry.
—Michael Arndt is
an alumnus from
Snellville with a
degree in history.