Multimedia Reporting (Fred-Musser)

In November a UCLA student was stunned with a taser at a library after not being able to produce a student ID. In October a St. Louis teen died after being shot with a stun gun and in March a special-ed student in Wichita was stunned after refusing to go to in-school suspension.

Despite these recent controversies about the use of tasers and other electroshock guns, more police departments are using the weapons.

Tasers and Taser International, which makes the brand the stun guns are synonymous with, have recently come under fire after several deaths and serious injuries caused by their products. But KU public safety officers stand by the weapons.

“KU Public Safety officers carry tasers for their own protection. The officers go through extended training on when to use the weapons and only use them when it is absolutely necessary,” Robert Blevins, KU Public Safety officer said.

Police officers all over Lawrence currently carry tasers with them. In addition to KU Public Safety officers, Lawrence Police officers and Kansas Highway Patrol officers currently also carry tasers with them.

The U.S. Department of Defense classifies tasers as “non-lethal” weapons but says this does not mean the weapons can not cause death but rather that it is not intended to be fatal.

In a report by The Arizona Republic the newspaper cited 73 deaths following a police taser shock from September 1999 to October 2004.

Of the 73 cases, medical examiners found eight cases where tasers were a cause, a contributing factor or could not be ruled out as the cause of death. Some cases stated pre-existing cardiovascular or other medical conditions to be a contributing factor with a taser as the direct cause. Several deaths also occurred from injuries sustained in struggles, such as head injuries from falling to the ground after being tasered.

In only 18 of these 73 cases were tasers said to not be a factor in the death.

Another danger existing with tasers is the possibility the subjects could light on fire when shocked by the weapons.

Tasers, like other electrical devices, can ignite when exposed to flammable liquids or fumes. One main concern is the use of tasers around CS gas, the gas commonly used for riot control.

Researchers in Britain tested the effects by spraying CS gas over the clothes over seven mannequins.

Tasers were then fired at the mannequins and in two of the seven trials, “the flames produced were severe and engulfed the top half of the mannequin, including the head.”

Police departments across the country are instructed to never use their tasers in a place where it could be flammable and to always be cautious when using the weapon.

“Our policy is to only use a taser when it is absolutely necessary,” Blevins said. “Officers must use their own judgment and if a suspect is putting up enough of a fight using a taser is the safest way to subdue them.”

Several states across the country, including Kansas, have recently allowed police officers in schools to carry tasers. This ruling has led to many protests from students who fear the dangers tasers can bring.

In early March, according to The NewStandard, students at Wichita West High School delivered letters to their school safety directors, their principal and the police department asking questions and raising concerns about the use of tasers in their school. The students received no answers and their protests increased when just days later police officers tasered a special ed student, 15-year-old, Jarrett McConnell, when he refused to go to in-school detention.

In November, protests began at UCLA after police tasered an Iranian-American student (Youtube.com video of the incident) , Mostafa Tabatabainejad, when he could not produce a student ID in UCLA’s Powell Library. Eyewitnesses of the event say Tabatabeinejad had gotten up to leave the library when police grabbed his arm and tasered him. Tabatabeinejad has filed a civil rights suit against the UCLA police officers.

Despite these events some students still feel it is necessary for police officers in schools to carry tasers.

Kevin Coggins, Lenexa, sophomore, went to a high school where the police officers carried tasers.

“It’s just another safety device for the police. To me the people who are worried about the tasers are the ones who might do something wrong. As long as the police are trained properly there is no reason they can’t carry them. It’s certainly better than being shot with a gun.”

In a recent article by The Toronto Star, police claim, “about 4,000 lives have been saved across the continent in the past seven years via the lesser evil of electroshock darts, although this figure is difficult to substantiate.”

The tasers often save the lives of police officers as well. Taser International’s website shows facts from the Phoenix Police Department that the use of tasers from 2002 to 2003 went from 71 to 164. During this same time period the number of officer-involved shootings went from 15 to 8.

Numbers nationally show that tasers save lives more than they cause deaths.

"Tasers are a safer option for not just police officers but for citizens as well," Blevins said.

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Some of the most rare and controversial plants in the world are available closer to Lawrence than many think.

The Web site bouncingbearbontanicals.com and its home store, Persephone’s Journey, located at 1103 Massachusetts St., specialize in selling rare plants to customers all over the world. The store features plants and spices from all seven continents, many of which are highly sought after for their medicinal or agricultural value. However, two of the store’s most popular items, salvia divinorum and amanita muscaria, are very controversial psychedelic drugs that can both be legally found online and at the store.

Salvia divinorum, commonly referred to as salvia, is a psychedelic plant currently legal in all states except Delaware, Louisiana and Missouri. Saliva can be ingested by either eating the leaves of the plant or by crushing them up and smoking them.

Amanita muscaria is a type of mushroom more commonly known as a fly agaric. Fly agarics are the mushrooms commonly scene in popular culture. The mushrooms, which have a red and white spotted appearance, are seen in both Alice in Wonderland and Super Mario Brothers.

Fly agarics are illegal if sold for human consumption but Jon Sloan, Bouncing Bear Botanicals president, is quick to point out that his’ store sells the mushrooms for other reasons.

“It could be used for consumption, but of course, that’s not what we sell it for. It’s also a natural pesticide used in organic farming. Fly agarics do have a lot of interest in them, they are an intriguing mushroom,” Sloan said.

Persephone’s Journey clearly labels all of their fly agaric mushrooms as not for human consumption and by making a purchase online users are agreeing to a disclaimer saying they will not consume the product.

“We don’t advocate eating it,” Brad Miller, co-owner, said. “People ask but we don’t even go there. I know some of the stuff can be poisonous but I’m not a doctor and I’m not going to tell people what it will do. I’m just a merchant.”

Despite the product warnings many customers still use the products to get high. Jeff, a KU student, who asked that his real name not be used, has bought fly agaric mushrooms from Persephone’s Journey and said that his experience with the mushrooms was very different from any other experience with psychedelic drugs.

“When you trip on the mushrooms, you make them into a tea and then about 45 minutes to an hour later you get really tired and you pass out and go to sleep. While you’re sleeping you totally go into a tripped-out, crazy dream state and you emerge from it about two hours later but you are still semi in the dream world. It’s like you’re flying and you can do anything. I think that they are still legal and under the radar because you really can’t do anything on them, like drive. You can’t go anywhere, there is no way.” Jeff said.

The Lawrence Police department is aware of possible effects of fly agaric mushrooms but since it is not illegal they cannot stop the sale of the mushrooms.

Many people believe the sale of the fly agaric mushrooms should not be regulated, even the sale for human consumption. The effects of the mushrooms are usually small and not life threatening.

Research from North Carolina State University about the mushrooms said, “patient appears to be intoxicated, hallucinations, drowsiness, vomiting, nausea, stomach pains, diarrhea, muscle spasms, hypotension, agitation. Some symptoms may appear in a few minutes to several hours following ingestion. Most symptoms are gone in 24 hours. The few deaths reported are in very young, old chronically ill individuals who were severely poisoned.”

Mike Power writes about taking the drugs in his blog, mikepower.net, and said, “effects include giggling fits and intensification of colors, lights and sounds.”

Miller wishes the focus on his business wasn’t always about the psychedelic plants he sells.

“It’s part of my business and I’m certainly interested in the effects of plants. That’s why I’m in this business. Its what I love. But we sell lots of other things as well,” Miller said.

Miller and Sloan started their website six years ago in Miller’s apartment in Wichita. Sloan said they started the business as a hobby and never envisioned it growing to what it is today. In addition to the plants from around the world the store also sells jewelry made by hand from indigenous tribes in South America. Sloan credits the growth of the business to nothing more than luck.

“Once we started the Web site many of our customers and the people who sell to us just found us. In Argentina we work with villages and basically our business single-handedly supports these 10 families just by buying little things from them. I think it’s the coolest part of our business,” Sloan said.

The global market of business has many benefits for the company.

“We have shipped to at least 15 different countries and we do about 40 to 50 shipments every day. On our biggest day we did around 250 shipments,” Sloan said. “On average we make about $2,500 a day in gross sales.”

The money does not always come in easily. Many of the products are from other countries and they must go through U.S. Customs before being available for sale.

“Shipping is difficult with any herb business, but we have had problems with them destroying stuff. Stuff isn’t always marked correctly because of the tribes we get it from and all the languages,” Sloan said.

We had an $8,000 shipment that they even admitted afterwards was a mistake. We filled out all of their paperwork and called up a month later and they said ‘Oh, that got incinerated, sorry.’ There’s no repercussion. There’s nothing we can do. We’re just out that money. It’s real annoying. In the last few years we’ve been out of about $30,000.”

Despite these bumps in the road Persephone’s Journey continues to grow. The business is always looking at new products to bring in for customers.

“We take suggestions from customers who come in but mainly it’s just anything I like or interests me. I just bring it in and assume somebody else will be interested as well,” Sloan said.

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Researchers at the University of Kansas School of Medicine have released a study that could lead to increased enrollment in the school.

The study, which was published in the September version of Academic Medicine, compares the performance of students admitted to the school from the main list to students admitted from the alternate list. Results show that the difference in performance between students from the two lists is not very significant.

“The study in a nutshell says that there are a relatively large number of students out there who have the potential to succeed in medical school but are not admitted because class sizes are too small,” Dr. Glen Cox, Vice Dean of the School of Medicine and co-author of the study said.

Cox and five of his colleagues put together the study after the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) reported in 2005 that the United States is headed toward a physician shortage (Registration required to view article). In an attempt to counteract the expected shortage the AAMC recommended that United States medical schools increase their enrollment by 15 percent over the next ten years.

The shortage is expected to affect the entire country but Kansas is one state that could experience a larger than average shortage of physicians.

“The Academy of Family Physicians published its findings and for the state of Kansas. It was estimated that we need to have roughly 240 more family physicians by the year 2020,” Cox said. “Also, keep in mind that a large number of physicians will be retiring in that time. So the state of Kansas alone will need anywhere from 480 to 700 new physicians.”

The study was designed to test the effects of increasing the enrollment to the School of Medicine. Students looking to go into medicine at the University of Kansas are currently selected by a 15 member selection committee that grades applicants on things like MCAT scores, previous GPAs, course work, letters of recommendation, interviews and personal statements just to name a few.

Cox estimated that the school has anywhere from 1,600 to 2,000 applicants each year and ends up bringing in about 300 for interviews. The students who come in for interviews are scored in each category and then ranked by their overall score. The first 175 applicants in rank are put on the main list while the remaining students are put on the alternate list in case a main list student has a change of heart.

“There is usually a large difference between people in the top 50 of the main list and the people on the alternate list, but in terms of someone ranked 100 to 175 and someone on the alternate list there isn’t that much difference in the selection process,” Cox said.

Cox and his colleagues found that of the 1,188 students admitted to the School of Medicine from 1997 to 2005, 1,024 students were accepted from the main list and 164 students came from the alternate list. They studied the performance of these main list and alternate list students by comparing basic science and clinical science GPAs as well as the students scores on the Step 1 and Step 2 CK tests, two tests that all students must pass before graduating from med school.

When the results were compiled it was found that once the students were in the School of Medicine the list they were on did not ultimately determine their performance in the school. The mean scores of students on the main list were above the mean of students on the alternate list on all tests. However, the standard deviation for all the tests was high enough to render the difference insignificant.

The results of this study have given the School of Medicine confidence to raise enrollment without fear of deteriorating performance and loss of prestige within the school. The possibility of increased enrollment would come as a relief to students currently working to get into medical school.

“The School of Medicine is extremely competitive so any increase in enrollment would help,” Nate Lata, Lenexa, junior said. “I’m not sure if the increase would effect me or not but it can’t hurt.”

The problem now facing the School of Medicine is finding a way to facilitate an increased enrollment.

“If we decided to go along with the guideline of admitting 15 percent more students we would be out of small group space and out of lecture hall space very quickly,” Cox said.

“We hope to have some proposals in front of the policy makers by early 2007. If we are going to increase medical school class size that’s still several years away because of the building, refurbishing and recruitment that will need to be done.”

Cox knows there is more work to be done but sees the results of his study as an important step.

“The main point is that now we know we have enough capable students if we admit more from the alternate list. The first step in dealing with the expected shortage will be getting people to fill those positions. Now we need to find a way to educate them.”

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