seriously, I am losing my sanity. seriously.

We needed the rain but not the storm. It was horrid going to work. Lightening and buckets of rain coming down so I-65 was flooded by hospital curve downtown and I had to go through water higher than my tires and pray the car didn't stop. It was as scared as I'd been in a long time. Luckily the sun was out by time to go home.

If I get one more damn group assignment WITH A DIFFERENT GROUP, I'm going to go jump off a bridge. I have to make 2 powerpoint presentations with two different groups, each of them TWENTY people. that is just logisitically impossible. i hate it.

We had to do immunizations today and the girl that did me hit bone on her first IM. Seriously, it wasn't even close to my deltoid, and I think she hit part of my clavical. now, I thought the SQ sucked, but when she hit that bone, pain went shooting done my arm all the way to my fingertips. and it still hurts. she must have hit a nerve.

I wonder if I can sue the school if I have permanent nerve damage.

sometimes it is so hard to remember the big picture when I have so much crap to do. Print out pictures for the board, read articles that I'm not going to be tested on, make powerpoint slides that don't mean anything, get cookies, send out emails to people who don't want to read them, meet with advisors who don't want to meet with you, give presentations to crowds that don't care, moderators bobbing their heads at you because you've gone 12 secs over... Big picture: I want to be happy.

Did you know the poverty level for a family of 4 is 21 thousand. Medicaid coverage goes out to people who are 200% above poverty (if the woman is pregnant). There is legislature currently that is suggesting that Medicaid coverage goes out to persons who are 400% above poverty.

This would mean a family of 4 who brings in $84,000 a year would still quailify for government assistance.

If you want to make 7 people instantaneously cry, come into our class unannounced, use a random number generator to select 7 people out of 94 to be forced to move to Louisville for all 10 of their APPE rotations.

2 of the 7 are married. 1 is planning their wedding in July.

there was no consideration for marriage status, children, or mortgages. It would have been "unfair" to the single people.

I almost threw up waiting for those numbers to pop up on the screen.

it was horrible. so horrible.

Today is Kentucky Kids Day and we had a band at school playing 60s hits for the last hour and a half of school. The auditorium was rocking and rolling. Earlier each grade had an hour to play; they had a rock wall to climb, bouncy slides, a dunking booth with the counslers, all sorts of games like you find at fun raiser picnics and popcorn--all for free. The kids were so nice while they were having a lot of fun. It was great.

I'm sleepy.

and I have too much crap to do.

where did all the hours in the day go?

I went to help out at the Diabetes Family Fun day today and my forearms got burnt. I put sun block on my face, but not my arms, and you can tell. Jeremy came the last hour and helped to break down the event, which was really nice of him. there was a lot of things for the kids to do and I think they had alot of fun. I got another free T-shirt out of it. I have a ton of free t-shirts

Then I came home and took a nap. being outside in the sun for 6 hours is tiring. today was the first day of Autumn and it was freakin 90 degrees out. isn't that crazy.

I wish that I had gotten more done this weekend. time just flies.

I have to work next Friday AND Saturday night. I don't know how that worked out. I guess it is all good. even if I just work 4.5 hours, my paycheck is still $50, which is much more than we spend extra every week on "fun stuff". I should be getting a big check sometime soon too because I need retro pay from back in June. I'm suppose to be getting $14 an hour, but I've been getting 11.50. they did change it to $13 at the beginning of the month, but that is still wrong. the distict manager is taking care of it though and he even called me last week to tell me that he hadn't forgotten about it.

This time next year, we will have the Passat paid off. that'll be weird having an extra $300 a month. Right now our goal is to save up money because I want to travel dammit before I have to be grownup and work a real job.

Prof. accused of sharing licensure exam questions
Quality of University not in doubt
KRISTEN COULTER
Issue date: 8/30/07 Section: News


A University pharmacy professor is a defendant in a federal court case, in which he is accused of collecting and disseminating pharmacy test questions to students, according to court documents obtained by The Red & Black.

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy filed the case Aug. 3 against the Board of Regents and Flynn Warren Jr., citing copyright infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of contract, according to the documents.

NABP has investigated Warren twice for these allegations.

The North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination and Georgia Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination are tests required to obtain a license to practice pharmacy. The NAPLEX is used by all 50 states' boards of pharmacy, and the MPJE "combines federal and state specific law items to serve as the state law examination in 46 participating jurisdictions," according to a NABP news release.

At an Aug. 23 meeting, the executive committee of NABP decided to suspend all administrations of the NAPLEX and the Georgia MPJE beginning Aug. 25 and will not administer the test nationwide.

NABF said in the news release it has not decided when to reinstate the test.

"I cannot comment on this, given the current investigation," said University Provost Arnett Mace Wednesday afternoon.

Warren, who was reached at his home Wednesday evening, also refused to comment.

The College of Pharmacy referred calls to Tom Jackson, the associate vice president for public affairs. Jackson wrote Wednesday in an e-mail, "parties have been ordered by the court not to comment on the matter while it is in litigation."

While he would not comment on the investigation, George Francisco, associate dean of the College of Pharmacy, said Warren has taught the board review course at the University "for several years." Francisco said the class lasts three days and is available to both University pharmacy students and students at other institutions.

Warren is accused of copyright infringement because NABP owns the copyrights on the exam questions. Court papers say he asked students to memorize NAPLEX test questions and share them with him. He collected the tests' contents and created a review packet.

Warren is faced with these accusations because he was never "granted a license ... to copy, sell, distribute, prepare derivative works from, or otherwise offered to transfer the ownership of the copyrights of the NABP Examination Questions, to which NABP has exclusive rights," the court papers read.

Warren is accused of misappropriation of trade secrets because: "the NABP Examination Questions are original lists of questions containing technical information used for evaluating the competency of a candidate in the field of pharmacy," and the questions "derive economic and evaluative value from not being generally known and not being readily ascertainable by proper means," according to the documents.

The breach of contract charge stems from a 1995 settlement agreement, in which Warren and the University said they will "cease and desist for profit or otherwise from all past, present and future copying, transcribing or other infringing use of NABP copyrighted materials, including but not limited to patient profiles, sample questions, or other copyrighted information."

Francisco said he was unaware of the 1995 settlement, and the pharmacy school was not monitoring Warren's classes.

Last year, the BOR offered to pay $40 million for an addition to the College of Pharmacy.

Professors at other schools exposed exam study guide

According to a biography on the University's Web site, Warren has been a pharmacy faculty member since 1985. Before his July 1 retirement, he was a clinical professor and the college's assistant dean for student affairs.

Though he retired last month, Warren still is teaching elective classes for the pharmacy school, Francisco said.

This case arose after Warren offered an annual exam review course at Samford University.

Alan Ray Spies, an assistant pharmacy professor at Samford, said in an affidavit that he learned Warren was giving NAPLEX questions to students. Spies said he first found out this information in May 2007.

"Specifically, I learned that Mr. Warren's course materials include, among others, a series of questions, some 2,700 in number, that appear to be very similar, if not verbatim, to questions asked on the NAPLEX," Spies said in the affidavit.

Spies said he talked with some of his students about Warren's course in the affidavit.

"It soon became apparent to me that individuals who had just taken the exam were sending Mr. Warren questions which he in turn was forwarding to students who had not yet taken the NAPLEX."

Spies said he sent the information he found in an e-mail to Steven Pray, a pharmacy professor at Southwestern Oklahoma State University.

In his affidavit, Pray discussed his view of the importance of exam security for the NAPLEX.

"The knowledge base required to become a competent pharmacist is vast, taught via hundreds of hours of lectures, laboratories, and practical experiences," Pray said.

In the affidavit, Pray also discussed his thoughts about the extensive consequences for the exam if the questions have been compromised.

"A loss of hundreds or thousands of items, as it appears, has occurred through the activities of Mr. Warren, will force NABP to endure a loss of millions of dollars and will necessitate a radical overhauling of the examination pool," he said. "If this is required, the nation's pharmacy graduates cannot be licensed until a new, uncompromised NAPLEX can be created."

As he further researched the issue, Pray said in the affidavit that he found an online forum where students discussed Warren's course.

"This Web site also discussed an individual named 'Flynn,' who offered a review course and notes on passing the NAPLEX," Pray said in the document. "One correspondent on the Web site suggested that prospective examinees review the comments sent to 'Flynn' by other students, and another provided his address at the University of Georgia."

Pray declined Wednesday to speak for attribution about the case with The Red & Black.

Professionals feared news would 'impair confidence'

According to court documents, Pray sent the information to Carmen Catizone, executive director of NBAP.

In his affidavit, Catizone said Kerri Hochgesang, a lawyer for NABP, bought Warren's course materials on July 31. In her affidavit, she stated, "a true and correct copy of my payment receipt from the 'UGA Pharmacy Cont ED, Pharmacy Building' for the course materials" was given to her for $100.

According to Catizone, the materials contained at least three PDF files. On the NAPLEX REVIEW 2007 disc included in the materials, the files were labeled "NAPLEX MATERIAL PART 2, 2006 INFO FOR NAPLEX, and NAPLEX SAMPLE TEST W ANSWERS."

Catizone reported his analysis of this material "revealed at least 633 'sample' questions contained in Warren's 'review course' and/or were made available by Mr. Warren to candidates who gave him their e-mail addresses."

He also discussed his concerns about the value of the test if the allegations against Warren are true.

"The extent of the forgoing breach in the confidentiality of NAPLEX exam questions calls into serious question the integrity of the exam," Catizone said in the affidavit.

Efforts to reach Catizone Wednesday were unsuccessful.

According to an Aug. 6 NABP news release, "United States' Marshals seized materials and computers from the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy and the offices and home of Flynn Warren, Jr."

"NABP is disappointed and appalled that the

public trust and health were victimized, the security of the NAPLEX and MPJE breached, and the integrity of the licensure process compromised," Catizone said in the news release.

On Aug. 3, NABP motioned to file the case under seal, citing potential public panic as a result of the case.

"If the facts of this case are covered in the media or are otherwise publicly available, there is a significant chance that the confidence of the general public in pharmacists and the dispensation of pharmaceuticals will be impaired," NABP stated in the document.

"This case involved copyright infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets in highly confidential testing materials used in the licensure of pharmacists in many jurisdictions, and reproduction of the testing materials is required in order for Plaintiff to prove its case. Making this information publicly available will further compromise the licensure of pharmacists."

Warren filed a motion to stay Aug. 21, citing a lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

On Aug. 27, the court "provided the parties with a limited opportunity to conduct discovery related solely to the jurisdiction issue," according to court documents.

The court also stated, "there have been no final factual determinations by the court and no findings of liability on behalf of any defendant. Furthermore, the court has made no findings that would question the quality of education provided by the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy."


- Alexis Garrobo, Juanita Cousins and
Brian Hughes contributed to this report.

Here is a picture of the line at the ticket counter with 2 ticket agents.

Here's another cool picture I took during sunset while walking around the French Quarter.

Customer complaint letter I sent to Delta

To Whom It may Concern,

On Friday, 9/14 I was traveling from New Orleans to Lexington, KY with a connecting flight in Atlanta and would like to share my Delta experience with you. What began as a routine trip quickly changed upon learning all flights into Atlanta were delayed due to the remnants of hurricane Humberto making its way across Atlanta. I want to note I was not informed of this when I checked in at the ticket counter. Now I'm a reasonable person and was not upset by the onset of delays. My complaints stem from how Delta handled the ensuing situation and the customer service my fellow travelers and I experienced as a result. Assuming my 6:30pm flight from New Orleans was delayed and my 10:20pm flight from Atlanta took off on time, I would miss my connecting flight. I asked two different ticket agents and neither offered me any assistance. I called the Delta help line and the information I received there said my flight was still scheduled to depart at 10:30pm. So as a precaution, I moved up to an earlier flight that was also delayed and boarded the flight around 5:15pm. For unexplained reasons, the plane did not take off for another two hours. Upon landing in Atlanta around 10pm, I saw my flight had indeed been delayed until 11:50pm, but another flight from earlier in the day had not departed yet, so I ran over to the gate to see if the flight had any seats left. I ran into a colleague of mine at the gate who had been at the airport since 2pm, and she was very agitated. She said the departure time for this flight had been pushed back several times without any explanation. As this flight was completely full, I headed back to the terminal with my original flight to wait it out. By the time I reached my gate, the other flight had been cancelled and my flight had been pushed back to 12:30am. Because of all the delays, the airport was in chaos. I waited in line for 45 minutes at the Delta service desk to inquire about my flight, because I suspected it may be cancelled, though I wasn't sure why at the time. The Delta associate told me my flight would not be cancelled. However, my departure time kept getting pushed back. By 12:15am, my posted departure time was 2:50am!!! I couldn't believe this to be true, but it was clearly posted. The Delta associates at the gate were too busy to ask because they were dealing with another flight cancellation that involved them deboarding an entire plane that would have been en route to Pensacola, FL. This flight was cancelled because it would be landing after 12am, which is against the local noise ordinances. Finally after the angry passengers from this flight were clear of the gate, the associate at my gate informed us the flight to Lexington was cancelled without any further explanation or direction except to head to the ticket counter to rebook. It turned out, after some persistent inquiries from several passengers, that both of the flights to Lexington were cancelled due to staffing issues as some of the crew members timed out. I don't understand why that was allowed to happen. If you know a staff member is going to time out, it seems that actions could be taken to call in someone, especially at the largest Delta hub. Furthermore, I don't understand why it took so long to let us know the flight had been cancelled, when it was probably known well in advance there would not be a crew available. This would have been much more conducive to your guests making the best of the situation instead of them sitting at a gate for multiple hours and becoming increasingly agitated as their flight departures kept getting pushed back without explanation. When I arrived at the ticket counter I was greeted by a line several hundred people long and only two ticket agents. Just when it seemed the situation couldn't get worse, it did. On a side note, my colleague that I ran into from the earlier flight to Lexington had rented a car and drove 7 hours to Lexington rather than waiting in this line. She same to this decision after the line hadn’t moved for an hour. Unfortunately she didn’t have my cell phone number, so I was stuck in Atlanta. I wouldn't get out of this line for 3 1/2 hours. I called the Delta help line again and waited to talk to a person so I could see about being on one of the early flights out of Atlanta, and was promptly informed the airport had locked down all of the flights to Lexington, that I couldn’t be helped over the phone, and my only option was to wait in line. Other people in line around me were being told they would be lucky to get on a late afternoon or evening flight. I called back again and this time the agent told me I had been booked on an 11:15am flight with no explanation how this happened, but I wasn’t complaining. Not when a lady next to me, who was a Sky Miles member was booked on a Sunday flight because her flight had originated with Continental and the agent on the phone refused to help her. I decided it would be pointless to leave this line without a boarding pass and would wait it out. After waiting in line about an hour 3 people near me decided to rent a car and drive back to Lexington. They told me they were on the 6am flight, so I promptly called Delta and talked to the only helpful person I encountered during the whole experience. She rebooked me to the 6am flight with no difficulties. I asked her if the flights had ever been locked down so she wouldn’t have been able to do this, and she said no that was untrue and asked why I thought that was the case. Now that I’m on the early flight, I’m worried I won’t make it through this line in time because it is going very slowly. Around 3am, one of the two ticket agents got up to leave and unsurprisingly, guests in line were very vocally complaining. She actually said to the 300+ people in line that she was tired and had been here all day. At this point I’m worried the situation is about to turn ugly as there were some very angry people who were tired of being treated like cattle and being kept completely in the dark about their flight situations. Consequently, the agent went back to her desk and security came over to keep an eye on the crowd. It wasn’t too long after this incident that additional ticket agents arrived and the line started moving. I finally received my boarding pass and was very thankful since several people around me were still on afternoon flights. There was still one more surprise though. After the flight had boarded the first couple of zones, the Delta associate at the gate informed the remaining passengers that she was very sorry because most of us were from cancelled flights but this flight was short a pilot and would be delayed until a pilot could be called in. The only positive I see in this, though only in retrospect, is at least I was accurately informed of the situation. After a one hour and fifteen delay, the flight departed and I arrived in Lexington without further incident.
I realize I went into lengthy detail about my experience, but I want to truly convey what an utter failure Delta’s customer service was during this entire situation. To me the worst aspect of the situation is the poor communication from Delta associates. It seemed like no one was in charge and the associates were left to fend for themselves, and as a result did whatever they could to keep guests from getting their faces. In this case that meant waiting to the last possible moment before informing guests of flight cancellations. Even though my flight cancellation was entirely Delta’s fault as was the ensuing scenario, no compensation was ever offered. In the future, I am very unlikely to use Delta ever again until I feel that a repeat of this situation will not happen. Delays due to uncontrollable circumstances are completely acceptable, but poor customer service is never acceptable, and I will only give my money to organizations that have great customer service.

Zippy is SOOOOOOO gay....

it's not going to stop until you wise up...


my waitress knew that sour cream has gelatin in it last night.


off to the Farmer's market

I'm sleepy.

Florida police officers piss me off.

I got a B on Therapeutics and that makes me sad.

I have to work on Friday night.

It is so awkward when I don't like someone and they know I don't like them.

Jeremy made me giggle tonight. I could tell you what about, but then I would have to kill you.

7 layers cookies are the AWESOME.

I was pretty productive tonight. you should be proud of me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGHdeEXH7js

this is really pretty

Happy Anniversary!!!!!!

we got frozen lemon;lime stuff in a can. not so much. that stuff is DISGUSTING.

well, three tests down. I only had one today and that was at 3:30 so I had all day to study for it. I didn't plan it too well though because I really needed another hour. I ended up saying up all night on Thrusday, minus a quick 2 hour nap. I got out of my last test at 5, and of course that means I didn't get home until almost 6 because Lexington traffic sucks. And I was going to go to sleep until I had to pick Jeremy up at the airport at midnight. But then his flight was delayed. and then it was delayed even more. by that point, I was waking up every hour to call him and see if he was getting ready to board. around 2 in the morning, Delta was kind enough to finally announce that the flight was cancelled. he then had to spend the night at the airport because he was hoping that he would get the 6 am flight into Lexington. of course, even that was delayed so he actually didn't get in from Alanta until almost 9 this morning. poor guy.

I think that Kentucky may actually beat Louisville. that's pretty cool.

I think I will be up all night tonight. I don't know what happened. I didn't have a good night on Monday, and I had to work last night, so I'll blame that. Granted, going to Gatlinburg didn't help me, but I needed Gatlinburg.

the poor dogs have been so neglected because I've been busy studying and Jeremy is out of town. and they had to go to the vet yesterday. I know Zippy is pissed about it.

I'm currently in New Orleans for a training class, and am very ready to return home. But in the meantime, here are a few pictures. I miss you Virginia!

hhaszp[py bjkrfthnfdsayh mon@Q!


(that's Happy Birthday mom! according to Turtle)

Pictures (some from a long time ago)

http://louisville.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2061598&l=105c1&id=38301363 2004-2007
http://louisville.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2083126&l=5b3a5&id=38301363 2007
http://louisville.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2083118&l=3f03e&id=38301363 Wedding
http://louisville.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2083122&l=9e9d3&id=38301363 Wedding
http://louisville.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2079411&l=e6562&id=38301363 ASK
http://louisville.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2065959&l=09cd5&id=38301363 ASK
http://louisville.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044999&l=e41e1&id=38301363 Amanda's Wedding
http://louisville.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044997&l=b44af&id=38301363 Amanda's Wedding
http://louisville.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044993&l=04628&id=38301363 Amanda's Wedding

Finally. the sodium bicarbonate is in. NO more baking soda. That stuff is nasty. Don't know what I'm talking about? Ask Virginia what an alternate for sodium bicarbonate is. She's the best almost pharmacist I know.

I don't like the fact that my friend's world is falling apart and I feel myself being drawn into it. Especially when i can't really decide if I really am her friend or not.

those pictures of the boys are so cute!

after the fifth time that my butt fell asleep from studying so much today, I have decided to take a break. I've worked pretty consistently, but haven't gotten as much done as I would have liked.

I just gave the cats exactly one tablespoonful of wet cat food, so hopefully that will not go and yack all over the house like they usually do.

Monday, Jeremy is leaving for New Orleans to go to a training class, and he won't be back until Friday night at like midnight. that makes me sad. I have blocks starting on Friday too.

Last night I had to work until 10 and on wednesday I have to work from 3:30 until 8. And I get out of class at 3 on Wednesday and I have to go pick Maybe, Perhaps, and Zippy up at the vet before than because I think they shut down at 7. that makes me sad too.

Tomorrow, CVS is wining and dining all the interns at Tony Roma's. Apparently we get our meal paid for inclusing alcohol. there is like 30 people going, so I can't imagine the bill. I haven't ever been there, so I hope they have something vegetarian and virgin daiquries. I just looked at the menu... no veggie meals, so I will just get a salad and an appetizer, and maybe some side items. I won't eat very much tomorrow so that I'll have room:)

Jacob No. 27 and AJ No.15 both won their football games today. They were so cute.

we made it home safely, although it took an hour longer to get out of Gatlinburg than we wanted. We did the chimney top trail again. it took 50ish minutes on the way up and 40 minutes on the way down, but we actually trail ran that a bit. My butt is sore. I'm going to the gym in my hour break, but I am just going to walk about the track and loosen up.

I really wanted a good night's sleep, but our stupid neighbors let their dogs out at 5 this morning to bark. it was ridiculous and rude. I strongly dilike them. In what world is that ok? Our dogs aren't angels, and we know that. That's why if they start barking, we immediately bring them back into the house. our neighbors suck.

So, we decided that Knoxville is a cool city.

We hiked 11.2 miles in 3 hours and 50 minutes at Cades Cove, and to say the least we were tired. We went to dinner at this awesome resturant called The Tomato Head and it was wonderful. And I think between Jeremy and I we drank like 8 glasses of water. We are sort of stinky now, so we need to shower in a bit.

We got some good pictures. I'll post them once we get back into Lexington.

Tomorrow we are getting up early to go eat breakfast at the Pancake Pantry, and then we are hiking the chimney top trial, then into Gatlinburg to look around and get some hot sauce, and then we will be on our way home.

We won't be able to get the pups until Tuesday morning, and then Perhaps have to go straight to the vet to get her teeth cleaned. I'm sad that I won't be able to see them until I get home from school, which won't be until after 5.

We sure have eaten well this weekend. I wish I was able to get more homework done though.

we made it here ok, and we made it past the speed track with out any issues too!

this time tomorrow, I will be in Knoxville, sleeping peacefully.

Today was a pretty long day at school. We had the same professor lecture to us for 4 hours straight and it was pretty bad. very tiring. But, i was able to get a significant amount done during lunch and after class I headed over to the Johnson Center and biked 25 miles. It took longer than I thought, but I really need to let off some steam. WE had our first class meeting concerning rotations for 4th year and it make this huge knot in the pit of my stomach. Basically, there is going to be a lottery, and I could potentially have to live in Louisville or Owensboro completely for the next year. I think I would have to go to the Dean or something if that happened. I can't image being away from Jeremy for that long. If I don't get those, I will be entered into the state wide pool, which means we don't get any preference of where we go, just anywhere in the state. I'm really freaked out about having to leave Jeremy. I don't want to leave Lexington. it makes me sad. I also don't want to do an hour commute every day with the way gas prices are. Jeremy and I may have to change cars for a bit just because his car has such better gas mileage than mine. I guess there is no point in worrying about it now but I am.