The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • A15

MAIN1111-A-A -Composite Proof 0:07 0:00 ASSOCIATED PRESS Washington Urged on by the U.S. government, Canadian officials are cracking down on companies, pharmacists and physicians within their borders who help U.S. citizens get cheaper prescription drugs. But complex jurisdictional issues guarantee that the enforcement be quick or simple. Although the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration has escalated threats to shut down companies exporting drugs to America, FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan said recently that there are automatic mechanisms set up between our have to have those he said. have to work together to identify where our laws match up and where they More than 1 million Americans reportedly order much cheaper drugs from Canada every year. Cash-strapped U.S. cities and states are exploring ways to save money by allowing their workers to buy the drugs, and members of Congress are pressuring the FDA to find ways to sanction the cross-border purchases. High-level U.S.

and Canadian health officials have met several times in recent weeks to coordinate an attack on the booming Internet pharmacy trade. But the FDA has no jurisdiction in Canada, and its counterpart, Health Canada, has only broad authority over drug safety issues. Instead, most direct enforcement over pharmacists and doctors co-signing and filling prescriptions for U.S. patients falls to separate organizations in each Canadian province, where regulations vary. challenge is, the practice taking place is illegal in the U.S.

and the U.S. has enforcement problems, but in Canada the activity of the pharmacists follows the letter of the said Jeff Poston, executive director of the Canadian Pharmacists Association. have that many legal or policy levers to play with at the Medical organizations in Canada oppose the Internet trade but acknowledge that enforcement is tricky. Canada targets cheap drugs to U.S. Internet export worries officials ON AJC.COM Data on HOPE scholarships and SAT scores for Georgia high schools, links to related Web sites, and parts one and two of this series.

started flowing into state coffers, and he remembers folks beating a path to his Capitol office begging for money. it came in with such a bang, we had the money and it was a feeding Hooks said. Technology During the first few years of the lottery, proceeds paid for the state to put satellite dishes at about 2,000 k-12 schools, colleges and technical schools to beam programming into classrooms. Lottery money also paid for security fences for the dishes and computer equipment. Within a year of the first appropriation, there were complaints that new computers were being left in their boxes, unused at schools, in part because teachers been trained to use them.

The satellite dishes were derided as the lawn and official state and some experts thought they were the wrong technology at a time when not enough quality programming was available. Office of Planning and Budget officials said the funding stopped for new campuses after the 1999-2000 school year because schools no longer asked for the dishes. Most were using the Internet instead. technology piece was probably not well thought said Richard Skinner, who once ran online university and is now president of Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia. think it made a serious dent in education.

It was more symbolic than anything But Bailey Mitchell, executive director of technology services in Forsyth County schools, said the dishes helped make some classes, such as foreign languages, available in schools that afford to hire teachers in those subjects. Construction boom The lottery poured more than $900 million into construction projects, although some of the money go to schools. More than $50 million went for the Georgia Public Broadcasting and Georgia Centers for Advanced Telecommunications Technology buildings near Georgia Tech. The Georgia Public Broadcasting building, with 227,000 square feet of studios, suites and meeting rooms, was considered one of the most technologically advanced facilities of its kind in the nation when it opened in August 1997. At its entrance is a cavernous, three-story skylight atrium, which can be used for public and private receptions.

always thought we overspent on the GPTV said Rep. Larry Walker (D- Perry), who was House majority leader during the 1990s and a key figure in developing state budgets. too lavish, too fine. The first time I saw it, I was At the same time, Miller received pressure from officials in fast-growing school systems to spend excess lottery money building schools. Although that had not been mentioned much in the campaign to pass the lottery, the law allowed for spending on a bureaucratic euphemism for construction and other spending.

So legislators passed a law setting up a new fund to help build schools in fast-growing systems. But lawmakers from rural, slow-growth counties want to lose out, so they wrote the law to define fast-growing systems as those with any student enrollment growth over the previous three years. In a few cases, districts that saw enrollment decline in one or two of the previous three years became eligible for the money because their count grew by a few students in one year. The law was changed after that fact was reported in the media, but not before millions had been spent. Local projects cash in Local projects, pushed by individual legislators or county delegations, got a share of the lottery loot, too.

Fort Discovery, an interactive science museum along the Savannah River, was touted by Augusta civic leaders as an important piece of the riverfront revitalization effort. The legislative delegation, which included then- House Speaker Pro Tempore Jack Connell and future Senate Majority Leader Charles Walker, was among the best in the state at bringing home money for local projects. For Fort Discovery, it came from the lottery: $10 million to get the museum up and running budgeted in fiscal 1996 and $2.5 million in later years. Another $3.8 million was allocated for renovating the old Capitol building and the Mansion in Milledgeville in fiscal 1996. Four years later, lawmakers approved another $1.8 million to complete the old Capitol renovations on the campus of Georgia Military College, long a favorite of legislative leaders.

a beautiful place and history, but now that running out of money, we have to look back at said Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs). needed to put money About $3.2 million went for Internet portals and infrastructure at the University of Georgia School of Law in fiscal 2001. Then-Gov. Roy Barnes and ex-House Speaker Tom Murphy attended the law school.

Another $1.3 million went for an interactive exhibit at the Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins, represented by Larry Walker and Perdue when he was in the Senate. Some of the money even went for HOPE grants to prison inmates. During his reelection campaign in 1994, Miller found private colleges had given hundreds of the grants to prisoners. Miller, who put a stop to the practice, said the schools were making a racket out of Some of those who were around at the start of the lottery argue state officials have saved extra money for HOPE and pre- kindergarten even if they spent it on the GPTV building and other projects. think we were like every other said Mike Vollmer, the first HOPE director.

you have additional income, not going to save all your additional Miller said saving the money was unrealistic at a time when lawmakers thought struck oil. had the money and these were some worthwhile Miller said. the atmosphere that existed then, you just salt it Staff writer Nancy Badertscher contributed to this article. From preceding page HANNANS Staff Lawmakers allocated about $5 million in lottery funds for renovations to the old Capitol building, including the House Chamber (above) on the campus of Georgia Military College. CHUCK BLEVINS Staff how every dollar of total income generated by the lottery over a 10-year period ending June 30, 2002, was divided: Prizes: 53 cents Operating expenses: 13 cents State treasury: 34 cents Capital outlay: 4 cents Remained and rolled over: 2 cents LOTTERY INCOME USE Source: State of Georgia Pr Pr e-k: 1 e-k: 1 0 cents 0 cents 8 cents 8 cents Other pr Other pr ogr ogr ams: ams: 9 cents 9 cents Pre-k: 10 cents Other programs: 9 cents Note: Numbers have been rounded.

and grants, public institutions only. 8 cents THE SERIES SUNDAY: HOPE scholarship program has outgrown its lottery funding. MONDAY: Most high school graduates qualify for HOPE, but have a tough time hanging onto it in college. TODAY: Almost $1.8 billion that could have gone for HOPE scholarships has been spent on other projects. RMAIN1111OA15FMAIN1111OA15 4 Star 15A 15A RR RR BlueRedYellowBlack Blue RedYellowBlack A15 4 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday, Nov.

11, 2003 Proposals that have been presented to the HOPE commission for review and how much money could be saved: Eliminate payments for mandatory fees: $70.1 million Eliminate payments for book expenses: $55.5 million Eliminate payments for mandatory fees and book expenses: $125.6 million Phase out add-on scholarships (special scholarships for teachers, engineering students at Mercer University, dependents of public safety workers killed in the line of duty, students at Georgia Military College): $4.7 million Eliminate payments for mandatory fees for every student who qualify for federal need-based Pell Grant: $47.6 million Change the high school GPA requirement to a 3.0: $34.3 million Add an SAT score requirement of 1000 or higher: $44.3 million Require a minimum GPA of 3.0 and an SAT score of at least 1000: $55.7 million HOW TO TRIM HOPE Note: These figures are estimated annual savings for the state budget year 2004-2005. Combining some options would result in lower total savings than the sum of the individual cuts. Source: Carl Vinson Institute, UGA.