In-Class Research Exercise

1. Several crime statistics are available at the FBI's "Uniform Crime Report" Web site:
http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm.

At this site, you should be able to search for crime statistics by year.

Write a brief paragraph detailing the crime statistics for "Offenses Known" at Washington State University (Pullman campus) in 2006. How does WSU compare to other Washington universities?

Washington State University in Pullman, WA, had 23,544 students enrolled in 2006. Crime offenses known at WSU included 6 violent crimes, 4 forcible rapes, 2 aggravated assaults, 200 property crimes, 30 burglaries, 167 larceny-thefts, 3 motor vehicle thefts, 3 arson cases, and no murders or cases of robbery. WSU falls about mid-way between the other Washington universities on the known offenses crimes. The University of Washington has the most crimes and Eastern Washington University has the least (close to Evergreen State College, but this is a college).

2. Followthemoney.org is a Web site that allows you to track flow of money in state politics. Use the site to research and answer the following questions:

- Which Washington state house candidate and senate candidate received the most political donations in 2006? How much did each of them receive in total tracked donations for 2006?

Washington state house candidate Troy Kelley received the most political donations in 2006, an amount totaling $305,599.

Washington state senate candidate Christopher J. Marr received the most political donations in 2006, an amount totaling $565,880.

- For each of these candidates, what individual or organization was the largest donor (aside from their donations to themselves)? How much did they give?

For candidate Troy Kelley, the largest donor was the Washington State Democratic Party contributing $42,974.

For candidate Christopher J. Marr, the largest donor was the Washington State Democratic Party contributing $46,615.

- Use the same tool to investigate how donations play a role in politics. Use the "Explore" and then "Industry Influence" button to load in charts by each industry topic. What political party was the recipient of more donated money for anti-gun control regulations in Washington state in 2006? What political party received the most donated money for "women's issues" in Washington state over the past few years?

The political party that received more donated money for anti-gun control regulations in Washington state in 2006 was the Republican party (a donation totaling $72,000).

The political party that has received the most donated money for "women's issues" over the past few years has been the Democrats.

3. Use Google's Patent Search to find the patent application with the FIRST REFERENCES to these technologies:

* Digital Video Recorder

http://www.google.com/patents?id=TGeNAAAAEBAJ&dq=digital+video+recorder&as_psra=1

* Social Networking

http://www.google.com/patents?id=QMCGAAAAEBAJ&dq=social+networking&as_psra=1

* Automobile

http://www.google.com/patents?id=C_qEAAAAEBAJ&dq=automobile&as_psra=1

For your response, simply include the Web link to each patent filing. Please note that in your search results, you may need to sort by date.