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.