Patrol Commander Chris Tennant of the Pullman Police said that it is also not irregular for police to monitor events posted on Facebook. Because it is public information, police departments can search to see when and where the party is occurring.

Tennant said sometimes if the party looks like it is going to be an especially large, the police department will contact the host beforehand and advise them on the laws and answer any questions they might have.

“We don’t get brownie points for making a lot of arrests,” Tennant said. “Our job is to keep the neighborhood safe, the noise level down and the party under control.”

After police make the first contact, sometimes an officer will drive by the party when it is being held, just to make sure everything is ok.

The WSU Police department functions in a similar manner.  Lieutenant Steve Hansen of the WSU Police said if an event is found on Facebook a call might be made to make sure it’s being handled safely and correctly.

“If the event is occurring in the city, the Pullman Police department will handle that situation,” he said. “But if it’s occurring at WSU, we’ll most likely make the initial contact with the host of the party.”

Like the city’s police department, WSU Police may schedule a drive-by to make sure the party is under control.  However, this is done even without initial contact with the host being made.

“Sometimes if we haven’t had time to make the initial contact, we’ll still do a drive by at that address which can sometimes lead to arrests,” he said.  “But that doesn’t happen very often.”

In Moscow, police officials only monitor Facebook profile pages in the event of a serious crime.

Detective Scot Gleason of the Moscow Police Department gave the example of a rape or sexual assault, the suspect of which may attempt to contact the victim.

“If the suspect tries to reconnect with the victim, the police department can then go onto Facebook and capture that,” he said.

Gleason said that while Facebook is not used extensively in regards to partying, some monitoring of events is done.

“If we notice that certain apartment complex or certain neighborhood is having a lot of parties, we will bring it to their attention,” Gleason said. “But we’re not out to stop people from having fun.”

The number one thing that the Moscow Police Department stresses is no under-age drinking, he said.

Information Systems at the Moscow Police Department restrict certain websites like Facebook that inhibit police officials from casually skimming or snooping.  Gleason said if something needs to be investigated via Facebook, police officials have to contact Information Services and provide a reason why.

“Facebook is privatized,” he said.  “You have to request people as friends to view their profile and their activity, so there has to be a good reason for the police to investigate someone’s profile.”

Once Information Services OKs the reasoning, they will open the filter for the needed site and allow a detective to use it.

Craigslist and MySpace, however, are not equally confidential, which means anyone can see events posted as public.

“Seeing an event on Craigslist is just like receiving a flier,” he said. “It’s public information, so everyone can view it.”

Student organizations are often careful with the content they put up on Facebook or other sites in case they are viewed by employers, police or college admissions officials.

At the Center for Fraternity and Sorority Life at WSU, Director Anita Cory often warns students in Greek Chapters to be cautious of what they post on Facebook.

“Putting things on Facebook is like putting your picture in the newspaper,” she said. “Students have to be aware of their privacy settings.”

Cory said that professionalism in this technological age is a common topic at leadership meetings for Greek Life.  She said because employers can potentially look at the pictures people put up and the statuses they write, it is important to be appropriate.

“Everyone hears stories where someone puts up a status that says: ‘Called in sick, having a great day at the beach!’ and they are fired the next day,” she said.

Cory said she often finds inappropriate statuses or pictures when they appear in the news feed on her own Facebook.  When she sees this, she often contacts the person to let them know.

But because the site is a free speech medium, she said, students often get upset when she warns them about their content on Facebook.

“I’ll just tell the person that their Facebook is probably not presenting an image that they want to be presenting,” she said. “Not a lot of people know that police officers and potential employers use site like this to check up on people.”

Gleason said that online sources such as Facebook and Craigslist have certainly aided in investigations, but that outside evidence gathering is still needed.

“Using online sources gets us on the right track,” he said. “But we still have to do old-fashioned police work to put the rest of the case together.”

Police aren’t the only ones using networking sites like Facebook at work. Rental agencies may use condemning pictures they see to monitor potential rent violations at their complexes.

“It’s kind of funny because you might just be browsing through your friends and see that someone has a pet in a complex that is pet-free,” DABCO property manager Philip said.  Philip asked that only his first name be used in conjunction with this information.  “But DABCO doesn’t actively monitor Facebook in order to find something wrong.”

Philip said that if a property manager sees a violation via Facebook, like a tenant having a cat in pet-free apartment, they might advise a resident manger on location to keep their eyes open at that certain apartment.

“We are really strict about pet violations because people expect to move in to a place where there has never been a pet before,” he said. “We have to enforce that rule.”

However, Philip said that although this kind of action does happen, it is rare.

Sources:

Philip (last name anonymous by request)
Property Manager
DABCO
509-334-6266

Chris Tennant
Pullman Police
Patrol Commander
509-334-0802

Anita Cory
Director of Center for Fraternity and Sorority Life
WSU
509-335-5433
corey@wsu.edu

Steve Hansen
WSU Police
Lieutenant
509-335-8548

Scot Gleason
Detective
Moscow Police Department
208-883-7054

http://tamupd.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/bryan-police-department-launches-facebook-page/

http://unstructuredlibertynetworks.wordpress.com/2009/05/13/167/

Patrol Commander Chris Tennant of the Pullman Police said that it is also not uncommon for police to monitor events posted on Facebook. Because it is public information, police departments can search to see when and where the party is occurring.

Tennant said sometimes if the party looks like it is going to be an especially large, the police department will contact the host beforehand and advise them on the laws and answer any questions they might have.

“We don’t get brownie points for making a lot of arrests,” Tennant said. “Our job is to keep the neighborhood safe, the noise level down and the party under control.”

In Moscow, police officials only monitor Facebook profile pages in the event of a serious crime.

Detective Scot Gleason of the Moscow Police Department gave the example of a rape or sexual assault, the suspect of which may attempt to contact the victim.

“If the suspect tries to reconnect with the victim, the police department can then go onto Facebook and capture that,” he said.

Gleason said that while Facebook is not used extensively in regards to partying, some monitoring of events is done.

“If we notice that certain apartment complex or certain neighborhood is having a lot of parties, we will bring it to their attention,” Gleason said. “But we’re not out to stop people from having fun.”

The number one thing that the Moscow Police Department stresses is no under-age drinking, he said.

Information Systems at the Moscow Police Department restrict certain websites like Facebook that inhibit police officials from casually skimming or snooping. Gleason said if something needs to be investigated via Facebook, police officials have to document their reasoning.

“Facebook is privatized,” he said. “You have to request people as friends to view their profile and their activity, so there has to be a good reason for the police to investigate someone’s profile.”

Craigslist and MySpace, however, are not equally confidential, which means anyone can see events posted as public.

“Seeing an event on Craigslist is just like receiving a flier,” he said. “It’s public information, so everyone can view it.”

Gleason said that online sources such as Facebook and Craigslist have certainly aided in investigations, but that outside evidence gathering is still needed.

“Using online sources gets us on the right track,” he said. “But we still have to do old-fashioned police work to put the rest of the case together.”

Patrol Commander Chris Tennant of the Pullman Police said that it is also not irregular for police to monitor events posted on Facebook. Because it is public information, police departments can search to see when and where the party is occurring.

• Rental Agencies
o To monitor if there is a violation of apartment conditions

• Police Departments
o Monitoring parties

• Counseling Center
o Grad schools

My proposal is to write a story that will investigate the way in which businesses— specifically police departments—use online sources such as Facebook, Myspace, and Google to aid in their work.

So far, my research has led me to the following information:

• The Pullman Police Department often uses Facebook to find a picture of a potential suspect in a case.

• This police department also uses Facebook and Google to find any background information on a particular person, including birthday, hometown, and year in school.

• The police department regularly monitors Facebook events that are especially popular, and may even call the administrator of that event prior to its date to inform the person of neighborhood regulations.

• Law enforcement may schedule a drive-by the night of the event to ensure that everything is under control.

With this information and anticipated follow-up information, I will to be able to answer the following questions:

•  How many students have received calls from the police department before a party, and what was the end result?

•  Do students know that law enforcement is using social networking sites to gain information about parties and people?

•  To what extent do law enforcement use such sites?  Is there protocol or procedures to monitoring online sources?

•  What other organizations use sites like these in their work?

I believe this will be an involved story on a pertinent topic.  It will shed light on the growth of social networking sites and their increased use in other areas besides recreational communication.  The story can be put into a local setting–college settings such as Pullman and Moscow–but also has widespread importance and interest.

Multimedia:  http://www.spokesman.com/soundslides/2009/nov/13/adderall/

“Generally the hospital is not a place where patients come to concentrate,” said Dirk Fredekind, fourth-year Pharmacy student at Washington State University.  “Adderall is used more for a long term basis, whereas the hospital treats patients in the short term.”

Fredekind, a Pharmacy intern at Pullman Regional Hospital, said he has never seen anyone come into the hospital looking specifically for Adderall.

Fredekind said the lowest dose an individual could take of Adderall is 10 milligrams, and can range up to 20 milligrams.  The amount a person should take is typically individualized, and differs from person to person.

Adderall prescriptions come in two types: regular or immediate release, and extended release, he said.  Regular release is taken twice a day, and lasts from three to four hours, while the extended release only needs to be taken once a day, and lasts about seven hours.

“For the extended release, it’s like taking a little bit at a time all day long, so the patient can concentrate for a whole day,” he said. “With the immediate release, the patient gets a spike of concentration.”

He said during the peak concentration of either prescription types is when the largest amount of the drug would be found in a patient’s blood.  After 24 hours of taking the drug, 70 percent of the drug is completely eliminated from the patient’s system.

“Amphetamines stay in a patient’s system the longest because that is what allows them to concentrate,” he said.

It’s the amphetamines that turn up in drug tests, said Stacy Aggabao, director of Pullman Regional Hospital’s Emergency Department. But since amphetamine’s can come from a range of drugs, it is difficult for the ER to specifically know if it’s Adderall.

But drug tests are rarely administered in the ER.

“A drug test is only administered if the patient doesn’t look quiet right or is showing behavioral differences,” Aggabao said. “These differences can be very subtle or very dramatic.”

The drug test is a urine screen test, which Aggabao said determines if a patient taken marijuana or other narcotics, PCP, barbiturates, etc.  Things like aspirin, Tylenol and drugs with lithium in them don’t show up on the test, she said.

Aggabao said the patients they see at the ER are usually a mixture of patients with alcohol poisoning as well as patients who have taken both drugs and alcohol.

{not sure where to put this:}
Even at the lowest dose, a person can see negative side effects.

“The side effects are individual specific,” Fredekind said. “But within 30 minutes of taking the pill, a person will experience all side effects, both good and bad.”

Aggabao said that since Adderall is essentially a type of speed, the negative side effects can mimic a panic attack, with increased heart rate and blood pressure.  She said that she has yet to see an alcohol or drug related death in her 13 years of nursing. (check number.)

Aggabao said that when patients have been drinking alcohol with power drinks, the effects are very similar to if the patient mixed alcohol with their drinking.

“Power drinks act like a stimulant like Adderall does, and alcohol acts as the depressant,” Aggabao said. “The results are hard to distinguish.”

She said it’s hard to know the difference unless the patient specifically tells them.

“It depends on the person whether or not they will say how much they have drank or what they have taken with their alcohol,” she said. “Some are more sharing than others.

Adderall usage is even hard to oversee at a state level.  Cathy Williams, Pharmacist Consultant at the Washington State Board of Pharmacy said it is nearly impossible for the Department of Health to track the amount of prescription drugs filled statewide.

“The only way for us to develop a comprehensive list of prescription drug usage would be to have a monitoring program,” she said. “The preparatory work was being done to develop that, but it had to be pulled back.”

The preparatory work included a contract between The Washington State Department of Health and the Washington State Pharmacy Association, but implementation was cut short by legislature because of budget cuts.

The program would have been a database which would include all prescription drug records from pharmacies across the state of Washington, said Jeff Rochon, chief executive officer for the Washington State Pharmacy Association.  The list could be viewed by users, pharmacists and law enforcement with special access.

“It would allow the state to monitor the use of prescriptions drugs as well as control the substances themselves,” he said.

The program received state funding (find out how much) for implementation, but ended up being cut from the state budget because of the poor economic environment, Rochon said.

“The legislature was concerned where the money would come from,” he said. “But efforts are underway to revive the program.”

Rochon said the idea will be developed further and brought back to legislature at the next session.

(The next Washington State Pharmacy Association meeting is this Friday in Marysville’ meeting is with Attorney General McKenna.)

“This is an important piece of work,” Rochon said. “We want to be able to monitor any kind of medical and safety concerns.”

“A drug test is only administered if the patient doesn’t look quiet right or is showing behavioral differences,” said Stacy Aggababo, director of Pullman Regional Hospital ‘s Emergency Department. “These differences can be very subtle or very dramatic.”

The drug test is a urine screen test, which Aggababo said shows if a patient has taken marijuana or other narcotics, PCP, barbiturates, etc.  Things like aspirin, Tylenol and drugs with lithium in them don’t show up on the test, she said.  She also said that to find traces of drugs like roofies, the test is sent out to the state lab (find out where) and usually when the results are in, the drug is out of the patient’s system.

Aggababo said the patients they see at the ER are usually a mixture of patients with alcohol poisoning as well as patients who have taken both drugs and alcohol.

Aggababo said that when patients have been drinking alcohol with power drinks, the effects are very similar to if the patient mixed alcohol with their drinking.

“Power drinks act like a stimulant like Adderall does, and alcohol acts as the depressant,” Aggababo said.”The results are hard to distinguish.”

She said it’s hard to know the difference unless the patient specifically tells them.

“It depends on the person whether or not they will say how much they have drank or what they have taken with their alcohol,” she said. “Some are more sharing than others.”

{Follow up questions:

1.  Do patients suffer legal repercussions if they are found to have abused drugs with alcohol?

2.  How many patients have admitted to taking Adderall with alcohol?

3.  Is there any one test that will find if Adderall is in someone’s system compared to power drinks?

Aggababo agreed to go on camera for a video interview on November 3rd at 8am at the Hospital.}

*   *   *

For Nicholas Cone, senior economics major at Washington State University, the need for help with his attention span came at an early age.

“I was diagnosed when I was six years old,” Cone said. “I went to the hospital for other problems I was having and the doctor noticed problems with my attention span.”

Cone was told he suffered from over-focusing, a form of ADHD which causes an inability to multitask.

At six he was put on medication (find out exactly which kind, he forgot) but stopped taking it from 2nd grade until 4th grade, when he was enrolled in smaller classes with more focus. Cone said he moved into normal classes from 5th grade on, but kept receiving comments from his teachers about his ‘daydreaming’.

“They would say it was like I was physically there but not mentally,” he said.

In his junior year of high school, Cone started to take Adderall (he said he has taken 3 different drugs for ADHD, but can’t remember all their names. He’s going to find out and get back to me.)

Cone took one Adderall a day before school started, and never carried it on campus.

While he said he saw a difference in his attention span, he wouldn’t call it a positive one.

“It was almost the same as guzzling an energy drink and then coming down later and feeling like crap,” he said. “The focus I had for about four hours wasn’t worth feeling sick when it was over.”

Cone said he stayed on Adderall for a few weeks until he and his parents and doctor agreed it wasn’t working.

Cone no longer takes medication for his disorder, instead, he said he finds that it’s better for his to drink a caffeinated drink in order to remain focused.

“That helps me to control the dosage and avoid a crash,” he said.

Though Cone is no longer on medication, he still has the option to receive benefits from the Disability Resource Center at WSU, which offers aid for those with disorders like himself.

Cone said for this first year at WSU, he was given time and a half on exams, and could sit in a quiet room at the DRC.

“I just had to have proof from my doctor that I had a disorder,” he said.

For a while Cone said the extended time and quieter room helped him, but eventually the process to complete the paperwork to do so became too much.

“I would have to complete the paperwork at the beginning of each semester, talk to my teachers, and get their approval, etc.,” Cone said. “Then sometimes the extended test-time would interfere with another class that I had, and I just decided that it was too much of a hassle.”

Cone said he hasn’t noticed a change or drop in his grades, but that if he did, he would probably use the DRC again. (double check what he said on this).

{Other info:

*  The DRC offers: alternative test taking: quieter rooms, private rooms, low distraction, extended time

*  Needs to see: documentation from a health care professional who treated the patient, description of limitations, description of progress, diagnostic statement (full clinical description), professional recommendations.  (The last two are not required but are suggested.)