Pubdate: Mon, 31 Jul 2006
Source: Des Moines Register (IA)
Copyright: 2006 The Des Moines Register.
Contact:  http://desmoinesregister.com/index.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/123
Author: Clark Kaufmann

ISU DEFENDS STUDY OF ROCK IN PREVENTION

A university review finds no improprieties in the $298,000 
examination of Rock In Prevention.

Iowa State University officials say there is no evidence to support 
"any allegations of improprieties" pertaining to the university's 
study of Rock In Prevention.

That conclusion is contained in a 2005 report from the university's 
Internal Review Board. The university publicly disclosed a portion of 
the report last week but kept most of the document confidential.

The board investigated the school's handling of a $298,000 
taxpayer-financed study of Rock In Prevention after an August 2005 
Des Moines Register article raised questions about ties between Rock 
In Prevention and the university researchers who were being paid to 
study the program's effectiveness.

The Register reported that one of the two lead researchers on the 
study was an honorary board member at Rock In Prevention and was 
instrumental in redesigning the program that he then evaluated for 
the university. The other lead researcher owned a company that was 
paid more than $3,000 for construction work at Rock In Prevention 
offices. A third researcher was a former employee of Rock In Prevention.

In its final report, the Internal Review Board says that it could 
find "no evidence to support any of the allegations of improprieties 
that were reported in an article in The Des Moines Register."

But the report goes on to say that the board asked lead researcher 
Jerry Stubben to resign from the Rock In Prevention board due to "a 
potential conflict of interest."

The report also confirms that a former Rock In Prevention employee 
was used to gather data for the university's study of the program. 
That represented "non-compliance" with approved protocols, the board said.

And the report says "the number of ties" between Rock In Prevention 
and the university "does suggest concerns about an appearance of 
conflict of interest."

None of the other issues raised in the Register's articles are 
mentioned in the publicly disclosed portion of the board's report. 
Spokesman John McCarroll said the detailed findings of the report 
will not be made public because they relate to "personnel" information.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman