Untitled Document

Monday, April 23, 2007

NOTE ON FORMATTING: When stories are transferred from the Web, certain punctuation marks and other marks in this report don't carry over and result in symbols and other formatting errors. To see or print the story in full without these translation errors, simply click on "full story" at the end of each item."

Total Clips: 8

	Date	Outlet
EU ambassador to visit state students, leaders	04/23/2007	Birmingham News
Formosan termites on the move	04/22/2007	Montgomery Advertiser
'Aviation for Kids'	04/22/2007	Opelika-Auburn News
VT tragedy raises security issues	04/22/2007	Opelika-Auburn News
Visitors see an 'operation'	04/21/2007	Opelika-Auburn News
Report on Rx errors draws fire	04/21/2007	Chain Drug Review
Auburn faculty aims to clarify role	04/21/2007	Chain Drug Review
AU Students Wear Maroon And Orange For Virginia Tech	04/20/2007	WTVM-TV


EU ambassador to visit state students, leaders 04/23/2007 Birmingham News THOMAS SPENCER		Return to Top
The European Union's ambassador to the United States, John Bruton, will make a three-day visit to Alabama this week speaking with students and with business and political leaders about EU and U.S. economic and political issues. A former prime minister of Ireland, Bruton represents the single-market, single-currency political and economic alliance formed by 25 countries in Europe. With the expected addition of Bulgaria and Romania this year, the EU will have a population of half a billion people. 'The $3 trillion EU-U.S. transatlantic economy represents the largest, most integrated and longest-lasting economic relationship in the world and the transatlantic partnership is the most important driver of global economic growth, trade and prosperity,' Bruton said in announcing the visit. 'Together the European Union and the United States represent only 10 percent of the world's population, yet account for roughly 40 percent of global trade and 60 percent of GDP (gross domestic product).' Bruton will speak today to 1,000 students at Homewood High School and will tour the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Tuesday morning he'll speak to the Birmingham Business Leaders Breakfast at the Marriott Grandview, hosted by the Samford University School of Business. After which, he'll head to Vance to tour the Mercedes plant. He also will be visiting Montgomery to meet with Gov. Bob Riley and later with Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom. Wednesday, Bruton will discuss the EU's position on the death penalty at a Montgomery breakfast hosted by the Equal Justice Institute, a private, nonprofit organization that provides legal representation to indigent defendants. He also will travel to Auburn University to speak to students there. The ambassador's visit has been spearheaded by The Gaffey Group, an Atlanta-based economic development organization. E-mail tspencer@bhamnews.com
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Formosan termites on the move 04/22/2007 Montgomery Advertiser Cosby Woodruff		Return to Top
Formosan termite experts have good news and bad news for homeowners who fear the invasive pest. The bad news is the termites grow in larger colonies, eat more than native termites and have been spotted in Montgomery County. The good news is normal termite treatments will kill the Formosan variety, meaning costly special treatments are not needed, and that so far the termite's spotting in Montgomery appears to have been an isolated case, said Xing Ping Hu, an entomologist at Auburn University. Formosan termites, native to southern Asia, invaded the U.S. via cargo ships. They entered through New Orleans, where they have caused widespread damage. The termite is well established through much of Florida, parts of Georgia and South Carolina and along the Gulf Coast. Fears rose that the termites would travel in hurricane debris after the storms of 2004 and 2005, but Hu said those fears have not materialized on a large scale. That doesn't mean the pest is not spreading. Hu said it is more of a case of when rather than if the Formosan termite will feast on wood in the tri-county area. "That possibility is very high," she said. "We have seen it in 14 counties in Alabama, and actually have one isolated case in Montgomery County." Auburn researchers have found evidence of the pest in 14 counties, but the Alabama Cooperative Education System lists only four counties -- Jackson, Lee, Mobile and Baldwin -- as sites where the termite is established. Hu said many homeowners unwittingly bring the termite to their home, often when working on landscaping projects. "We see them in railroad ties," she said. "Many of the cases we see are all from railroad ties." She said the railroad ties are infested, then replaced by the railroad company. The rotten ties, often full of termites, show up at landscape supply outlets and are taken home with the unwanted hitchhikers along for the ride. Once established, the invasive pest presents a daunting challenge. "Formosan termites tend to be the most destructive pests," Hu said. "It causes the most damage and is harder to control." Hu said it isn't harder to control once a colony is located, but locating the colony can be a challenge. Formosan termites most often build colonies underground, as do native termites, but the Formosan variety can build its colony above ground as well. Rotten, hollow trees can be filled with Formosan termites, Hu said, but the biggest threat is when the colony moves into the home. Colonies are found in attics, most often if moisture is present. Hu said overflowing gutters which back up into the wood around an attic present an inviting environment for Formosan termites. A typical Formosan termite colony is much larger than a native termite colony, Hu said. Maybe 200,000 or so native termites will live in a colony, but up to 10 million Formosan termites will live in a colony. That many termites will eat more and forage over a much wider area, Hu said. Termites from a Formosan colony may forage over several acres, making it harder to find and destroy the colony.
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'Aviation for Kids' 04/22/2007 Opelika-Auburn News Beverly Harvey		Return to Top
Twelve-year-old Andrew Hiltbrand achieved two milestones in his young life Saturday morning - his first ride in an airplane and his first time flying an airplane. "I kind of like did a little nose dive," Andrew said of his brief piloting experience flying over the Auburn area. Andrew was one of 18 kids ages 9 to 12 to participate in the Auburn University Outreach Program Office's first "Aviation for Kids - From the Ground Up," a one-day course offered by the Aviation and Supply Chain Management Department. "We wanted to give the youngsters a chance to try something that they normally wouldn't try," said Bonnie Stauffer, associate director of the Outreach Program Office. The AU aviation program is designed to get kids interested in flying airplanes. Students participated in several activities to help get them hooked on airplanes. First, they attended a brief class at Auburn University that allowed them to use a computer program to view the cockpits and "fly" a variety of airplanes - from Cessna 172's to the Stealth bomber. Next, they competed in a contest to see who could build and fly the fastest paper airplane. The winners got to choose where they sat during their flights on Cessna 172's, which was the final portion of the program. Andrew Hiltbrand flew a paper airplane based on a design he created - and he won. That's when he got the chance to call dibs on the front seat of the Cessna for his first airplane flight. His brother, Jacob, 10, also participated in the AU aviation program and was a passenger during Andrew's maiden flight. Both boys are from Cumming, Ga. Their grandmother, Patsy Carter, who works at the university, signed them up for the course as soon as she found about it. Several of the students such as Kathryn Humphries, 11, who attends Opelika Middle School, and Emily Hicks, 9, who attends Cary Woods Elementary, have parents and grandparents who are pilots. Emily's grandfather, Jack Willingham, used to fly a Cessna over Mexico and Central America during the 1970s. Her mother, Kathy Hicks, flew solo on her 16th birthday - the youngest anyone is able to fly alone, Willingham said. Emily said she's also become interested in learning how to fly an airplane. If students such as Emily choose to pursue a career in aviation, Dr. Randy Johnson, a pilot and assistant professor of aviation and supply chain management at AU, said they have several options. After meeting the proper requirements, they can start off as flight instructors, then pursue a career as a professional pilot, first for a regional airline then a major carrier. They also could choose to become a pilot for the armed forces. In fact, they could land a job anywhere in the aerospace industry - including with NASA, Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board, Johnson said. Johnson and Stauffer both expressed a desire to offer the aviation program again on a regular basis. Johnson said he would like to see it offered more than once a year. bharvey@oanow.com \| 737-2546
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VT tragedy raises security issues 04/22/2007 Opelika-Auburn News Amy Weaver		Return to Top
The tragic events of Monday on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute have gotten people wondering how universities across the nation react in emergency situations. Did Virginia Tech do it wrong? Could it have been prevented? Who's next? Some have been quick to criticize VT officials and law enforcement for not locking down the campus after Cho Seung-Hui killed two people in a residence hall. Authorities later learned the 23-year-old student went home to change clothes and reload his weapons before going to an academic building where he took the lives of 30 more people, as well as his own. He also injured 29 people. Other criticism centers on how the university relied on mass e-mails to reach students about the attacks. Based on evidence that the shooter left the residence hall, the first e-mail simply urged students "to be cautious" and check the school Web site for more information. A second e-mail, referencing a gunman loose on campus, was sent after the second attack, after Cho was dead. About 28,000 students attend Virginia Tech, with the vast majority living off campus. Those students arriving for classes Monday morning likely didn't know what was happening. They would become a part of the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history and the worst act of civilian violence ever. Similarly, a vast majority of the 23,547 students who attend Auburn University live off campus. Neither Capt. Tom Stofer with the Auburn Police Division or Mike Clardy with the Office of Communications and Marketing at AU, would criticize any officials connected with Monday's massacre. Stofer and Clardy agree officials in Blacksburg, Va. executed a plan the best way they knew how. It could have just as easily happened at Auburn, they say. As much as safety is a priority and Auburn wants to be proactive in emergency situations, there is no way of knowing if their plans will work. A response team of city, county and university officials has meet several times this week to review existing procedures, specifically for an active shooter and, as Stofer said, possibly make improvements or changes, not because of what was or wasn't done at Virginia Tech, but rather what this group thinks would work best on Auburn's campus. The group has procedures for a number of emergencies, including severe weather and an incident on gameday. "Sometimes it takes a tragedy (to talk about it), but we want to make sure we are comfortable with how we would respond to any emergency," said Stofer. "You can be thrown a curve ball." Auburn and Virginia Tech are both land grant institutions. Virginia Tech is comprised of more than 100 buildings spread out over 2,600 acres. Auburn has 375 buildings on 1,840 acres. Responses then on such campuses to a similar emergency have to be different. Communication A 1990 federal law requires colleges and universities to notify students in a timely manner about any ongoing threat. Clardy said e-mail is a "primary source" to communicate to students, and communication in an emergency situation is "critical." But it's not the only tool. Messages can be posted on Auburn's Web site or on the LED signs on Tiger Transit. Messages can be sent to every campus phone number. The digital weather siren by Jordan-Hare Stadium, the public address system in the stadium and the fire alarm system throughout campus can be used to convey a voice message. By working with Lee County EMA, Clardy said messages could be sent to the weather radio located on each floor in every building. The people who monitor them can then share the message with the rest of the floor. Police officers can even drive through campus and talk with the PA system in their cars. Text messaging is the latest technological advancement to be utilized by colleges. Fresno State in California is considering a cell phone message system that students could join. Montclair State University in New Jersey started giving all incoming freshmen special cell phones equipped with Global Positioning System last year. They can receive campus-alert text messages and can contact campus police at the push of a button. Clardy said Auburn is aware of RAVE Wireless, a company that works with universities across the country to provide alerts through mobile phones. "It certainly is an option we would look into," he said. Student reaction While sophomore Hannah Whatley donated blood this week at the American Red Cross Spring Blood Drive on campus, she didn't think e-mails would be "very effective" to communicate an emergency situation to students. E-mail is popular, but she said not everybody checks it every morning. She thought radio would be better, especially for drivers, as well as messages on The Weather Channel. Freshman Kyle Niemann admitted he liked the idea of text messages but could see the drawbacks. How does a university manage cell phone numbers of 23,000 students? But he thought Facebook, a social networking Web site, would be even better because it is extremely popular at Auburn. Junior Justin Davis thinks the tornado siren would be best. At least that way it would get everybody's attention and is a universal signal to stay inside, he said. All blood collected during the drive was going to Blacksburg, a fact Whatley didn't know when she gave for the first time. Niemann didn't know either, but it gave him even further justification for donating. Not only is he AB-negative, one of the rarest blood types, but he said donating is a way to "help the troops and anyone who needs blood." Monday’s attack hit home for Niemann, who has friends from his native Marietta, Ga., who attend VT. He said they all posted updates through Facebook on Monday about their status. "They are all OK though, thank God," Niemann said. Counseling Since Monday's attacks, information has emerged that Cho was a disturbed, possibly depressed, young man. Nikki Giovanni, the professor emeritus who shared a poem during Tuesday's convocation, almost quit her job over Cho. She reportedly found his poetry intimidating and his behavior menacing. Creative Writing Director Lucinda Roy removed him from that class and taught him personally. She too found his writings disturbing and referred him to the school's counseling service, but he would not go. He did go to a mental health facility in 2005 on police orders after a number of stalking incidents. Auburn's Dean of Students Johnny Green said Student Counseling Services jumped into action on Monday to remind students here that they exist if they need to talk about the shootings or seek counseling at any time throughout the year. He called their response "critical" for Auburn students, especially those from Virginia. Green said he personally sent e-mails to all those students, many of which opted to go home and be with family at this time. In the halls Auburn's Director of Student Housing Kim Trupp said hall directors and residence hall advisers are trained to deal with all sorts of emergencies, including severe weather, bomb threats and drunken residents, as well as what to do with students who exhibit high-risk behavior. There isn't specific protocol on what to do if a shooter enters a residence hall here, however, she said they know the best thing to do is call 911. RA's are never told to put themselves in harm's way. Ryan Clark, an RA at Virginia Tech, was reportedly killed after he rushed to investigate what was going on West Ambler Johnston Residence Hall and came upon the gunman. If an RA suspects a student may pose a threat to themselves or others, Trupp said they are trained to contact a superior in the resident life office. They should not counsel or diagnosis. Rather, it is the job of school officials to determine how to deal. Trupp said it is a difficult task because there is a fine line between a student's right to privacy and the safety of the greater population. Based on Monday's events, Trupp said her staff would look at "how we can be more inclusive in the information we provide in our training." Safety Stofer said there are a number of cops patrolling campus at any one time, via squad cars as well as bicycles. He said they focus on certain areas during special events and in certain situations, but try to provide an equal amount of safety throughout as if it were a city of its own. At night, he said more attention is giving to the residence hall areas without detracting from other parts of campus. Auburn does provide 20 emergency blue lights throughout campus. With the push of a button, Clardy said law enforcement is notified. The communication works like a speaker phone in the sense that the person doesn't need to stand at the light to talk, but in the vicinity. Police would respond to the site of the activated light. Clardy said university officials are considering using additional technology, such as surveillance cameras, specifically around the residence halls, to prevent incidents and further promote safety. aweaver@oanow.com \| 737-2534
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Visitors see an 'operation' 04/21/2007 Opelika-Auburn News Beverly Harvey		Return to Top
The patient lay quietly on the operating table Saturday morning as two students from the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine worked hard to reattach all four of his limbs. He had waited six years for this procedure. His owner, Stephanie Grant, 9, and her family brought him all the way from Loxley to have it done. "You have to listen to him, because this is a pretty lengthy surgery," second-year vet student Tiffany Howard told Stephanie, who stood at the young patient’s side. Howard and fellow student, Brandon Stapleton, made sure they had the right needle for the major surgery. After all, it isn't every day they operate on teddy bears. The fuzzy patient missing both arms and legs was one of two stuffed teddy bears Stephanie and her family brought to have repaired at the "teddy bear surgery" available at the College of Veterinary Medicine 30th annual open house. In fact, a long line of people stood inside the anatomy lab at Greene Hall waiting to have their teddy bears repaired or to watch someone else's bear get mended back to health. The veterinary medicine students used the same techniques on the stuffed animals that they use on real animals. "Although, admittedly, this is a little less risky and a little less serious," said Stapleton, a senior, as he worked to reattach a leg on Stephanie's bear. "Hemorrhage control is a lot easier," he added, laughing. Also in the lab, open house attendees were able to listen to a dog's heartbeat or view a canine's insides through the wonders of ultrasound technology. Second-year student Cynthia Swindell and first-year student David Upchurch volunteered their dogs to serve as patients for the ultrasound demonstrations. The technology is typically used as a noninvasive way to view an animal's heart or other organs for signs of illness or disease. The anatomy lab and the adjacent hallway were lined with skeletons of various animals - a dolphin, llama, horse, camel, ostrich. Microscopes sat on tables in the lab offering a view of a number of specimens from horse blood to sections of a rabbit's eye. Outside Greene Hall, open house visitors could watch dogs maneuver their way through an agility course or herd sheep. The youngest visitors enjoyed getting up close to furry barn animals such as a sheep, goat and miniature horse in the petting zoo. At the large animal barn, visitors could interact with displays to see how they stack up to various breeds of horses - from Shetland ponies to Clydesdales - in terms of height and foot size. Matt Armbrester, mobile dairy classroom instructor for the Alabama Dairy Farmers association, gave cow milking demonstrations with a mechanical milking machine and provided information about the nutrients and production of dairy products. "I'll spend more time talking to the parents than the kids" after the show, Armbrester said before he began his first presentation. Open house visitors could grab a grilled burger or ice cream as they watched the parades of the various breeds of horses and dogs. In addition, the event offered various fun activities such as a football toss and a ring toss. The vet school open house also provided a chance for high school and college students to tour the college's facilities and to speak with counselors about how to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. bharvey@oanow.com \| 737-2546
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Report on Rx errors draws fire 04/21/2007 Chain Drug Review		Return to Top
NEW YORK — Chain drug retailers and industry advocates have challenged a segment on the ABC television news program "20/20" that investigated the possibility of "an unreported epidemic of pharmacy errors at this country's fast-growing chain drug stores." An undercover investigation by the show found a 22% error rate in 100 prescriptions filled at drug chains. Among the errors found were pills dispensed in incorrect quantities, incorrect or missing instructions on labels and one instance where the pharmacy staff failed to put a childproof cap on a medication for bipolar disorder. The probe, results of which were aired on March 30, also found that 17 of 25 pharmacists failed to warn patients of a potentially dangerous interaction between aspirin and the blood thinner Coumadin. And only 27 of 100 pharmacists filling new prescriptions offered counseling without prompting. Industry advocates note that a much more extensive study conducted a few years ago by the Auburn University pharmacy school — which also designed the "20/20" investigation — found an error rate of just 1.7%. The earlier study examined 4,000 prescriptions. On the show Mary Ann Wagner, senior vice president of policy and pharmacy regulatory affairs at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, stated, "Patient safety is our No. 1 concern. ... The chains consider one error too many." After the show aired a Walgreen Co. spokesman said, "We're greatly disappointed that the ABC report left out all of the efforts the chain drug store industry makes to prevent errors, along with our educational efforts encouraging patients to become more knowledgeable about their medications. "One of the best solutions our industry has to prevent errors is electronic prescribing, which Walgreens invented more than 15 years ago. As an industry, we're pushing for more and more doctors to adopt this technology for patient safety." In a letter to "20/20" sent before the segment aired, CVS Corp. vice president of pharmacy operations Mitch Betses noted that the chain has designed and invested millions of dollars in a comprehensive quality-assurance program to enhance patient safety. CVS is constantly examining and implementing quality advances, he added, citing a new process matching bar coding on manufacturers' packages to the bar code on a patient's prescription receipt, computer enhancements for final verification of prescriptions, and CVS' push for adoption of e-prescribing. At Rite Aid Corp. all prescriptions are scanned "so exactly what the doctor prescribed is always up on the computer screen during the dispensing process," says a statement sent to "20/20." The system shows a colored image of the pill being dispensed so that the pharmacist can compare the medication in the bottle to the medication on the screen. Also, Rite Aid's system runs a drug-utilization review against hundreds of thousands of other prescription drugs, over-thecounter remedies, and vitamins and herbal supplements to look for possible dangerous interactions. If one is found the pharmacist informs the physician immediately. It was acknowledged on "20/20" that no one during the course of the investigation filled a script with the wrong medicine. The fact that all the prescriptions had the right drug was "glossed over," notes the April 5 newsletter of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices. The significant clinical components of the prescriptions investigated — "the right drug, right dose and right patient" — appeared correct, but details were not forthcoming on the show, the newsletter points out. On the show "20/20" correspondent Brian Ross says that the 22% error rate was "a huge disappointment" for Auburn professors. "I'd hoped things were better," professor Ken Barker remarks during the segment. "But there is still a major problem there." Professor Betsy Flynn says on the show that she hopes pharmacists will see the results "as a wake-up call" and recognize "how serious this problem is and how widespread it appears to be." The segment shows a CVS pharmacist in New York City chasing a patient outside in the cold to offer counseling, but he is presented as an exception. Ross says most of the pharmacies his team investigated misled actors playing patients "into signing away the right to counseling." With few exceptions, the actors were not told that their signatures acknowledging receipt of a prescription were also being used to waive the right to counseling. "Any incident you may have observed where a customer was not provided an offer to counsel is unacceptable to us," states CVS' Betses. "And we will take immediate steps to reinforce our policy on this issue." The Rite Aid statement says: "We don’t get many complaints about lack of counseling, but if we do we go into the store and retrain pharmacy staff." Auburn department head Bruce Berger says on the segment that pharmacy technicians may be unwittingly undercutting the law. One case presented on the show is that of a woman who had a prescription for 1-mg pills of a blood thinner filled with 10-mg pills. The woman suffered a stroke and died this year. The woman's lawyer says on the show that the error was made by a high school student. Many scripts are not filled by pharmacists, but by technicians who are often high school students, Ross suggests. While never saying so, the ABC report suggests that these students do not receive any training for their positions as technicians. The Walgreens spokesman notes that the chain has the only pharmacy technician-training program certified by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and that Walgreens employs more certified pharmacy technicians than any other company. For its part, Rite Aid stresses that it trains its technicians in the retailer’s seven-point quality-assurance checklist. The Walgreens spokesman says the company’s greatest fear is that such a report as the one by "20/20" will scare some patients away from using lifesaving medications.
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Auburn faculty aims to clarify role 04/21/2007 Chain Drug Review		Return to Top
Auburn faculty aims to clarify role AUBURN, Ala. The portrayal on 20/20 of community pharmacy as error-ridden lacked balance, according to the professors who designed the test of prescription-dispensing accuracy used for the television show. What was aired was a classic case of journalism telling a story out of context, says R. Lee Evans, dean of the Auburn University James I. Harrison School of Pharmacy. Members of the schools faculty designed the 20/20 investigation of pharmacies, which found 22 errors in 100 prescriptions. Safety measures have clearly been effective at minimizing the risk of errors, notes professor Elizabeth Flynn. She adds that ABC taped many examples of good counseling that were not presented on the show. At the same time Flynn says that the order-entry environment at pharmacies remains problematic and that labeling errors should be reduced by minimizing staff interruptions. She also calls for studies of pharmacist placement for counseling frequency and prescription inspection. Professor Bruce Berger notes that serious systemic woes have led to the kinds of problems presented on the segment. Faculty members told 20/20 interviewers about such problems as increased demand for prescriptions, the pharmacist shortage and pressure from patients with a fastfood mentality about medications, he comments. The show omitted mention of such factors. At the same time reimbursement cuts have increased pressure to dispense more scripts to maintain profits, and there is inadequate compensation for counseling, Berger says. If a harmful prescription is caught and not dispensed to the patient there is no compensation, he says. Incentives do not focus on providing the patient the most appropriate care. The professors note that the schools Center for Pharmacy Operations and Designs was contacted by ABC in November. Center staffers said the issue of dispensing errors was complex and subject to serious misinterpretation without the involvement of research pharmacists. They reached an agreement giving Auburn the responsibility for identifying errors and evaluating counseling, and the right to publish its part of the study, which it will do in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association. Flynn was assigned to direct the project. Faculty members at the Auburn pharmacy school stress that the center had no control over the information ABC presented. One hundred pharmacies in Atlanta; Tampa, Fla.; and New York were selected at random, based on chain market shares. Actors presented a new prescription for one of the study drugs (Coumadin, Toprol XL, Depakote ER, Novolog Mix 70/30 insulin or Lantus insulin). The actors attempted to purchase aspirin when they picked up Coumadin, and Sudafed PE with Toprol XL. Hidden cameras taped the results. Of the dispensing errors there were 16 wrong instructions, five wrong quantities and one unauthorized drug. Three of the errors were judged by two clinical pharmacists to have a risk for patient harm. The instructions on a Coumadin prescription read, Take one tablet by mouth daily as needed, instead of Take one tablet by mouth every day and as directed. The second significant error was for a Depakote ER prescription that was dispensed without a childproof cap. The third was on a label for Novolog Mix 70/30 insulin where the instructions were cut off. The label read, Inject 15 units subcutaneously 15 minutes before breakfast, and 15 units 15 minutes, leaving off before dinner. Aspirin was purchased without any warning from the pharmacy staff with 17 of 25 Coumadin prescriptions. These two medications can be used together safely only if the patients blood work is monitored closely for adjustments in Coumadin dosing. Sudafed PE was purchased without warning with 23 of 24 Toprol XL prescriptions. There is a precaution concerning the use of Sudafed PE in patients who have uncontrolled hypertension. The lack of warning about the potentially harmful interactions was alarming and should be addressed, say the professors. Of 27 instances of counseling, six were initiated by the pharmacist with 21 coming after the pharmacist asked if the patient had any questions. There were 16 additional cases where patients stimulated counseling by asking what they were signing. There was no counseling on 57 prescriptions. When counseling occurred three to four topics were typically covered. Patients with new prescriptions are required to receive verbal information on as many as 14 topics by regulation.
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AU Students Wear Maroon And Orange For Virginia Tech 04/20/2007 WTVM-TV Brock Parker		Return to Top
Students all across the nation wore orange and maroon today in memory of the victims at Virginia Tech. The colors could be seen all around Auburn University. One student said she went to high school with victims Erin Peterson and Reema Samaha, and she's wearing the colors for them. "I wasn't good friends with them, but I did have a couple of classes with them. It was very upsetting because what if I went to Virginia Tech instead of here, and would I have been affected. I'm okay now," said Carmen Jones, a freshman at AU. Virginia Tech killer Seung-Hui Cho also went to her high school, but she didn't know him. There will be a vigil for the victims of Virginia Tech at Auburn Friday night. It starts at 9:00 p.m. CDT on the lawn in front of Samford Hall.
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