After searching three years for his son, Gerald Murphy finally met him only hours before the 21-year-old was sentenced to life in prison for murder. Murphy said he was a college student in 1967 when his girlfriend became pregnant and gave the child up for adoption. ``Today was the first time I made any physical contact with him _ to reach out and shake Murphy on Monday, after the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court sentenced Michael Gregory Woods to life in prison without parole. Woods was convicted of first-degree murder Jan. 19. ``What a tragic thing this is. I fehis hand,'' saidel deprived in a sense, but I'm glad I answered the question of what happened to him,'' Murphy said. On July 2, Woods shot and killed Michael Boyd, a 25-year-old National Security Agency employee. Boyd's wife Jody claimed her husband beat her and their three children. She asked Woods, a friend of hers, to kill her husband. In return, she promised to give him and his two teen-age conspirators her husband's $25,000 life insurance, according to court testimony. Michael Woods was the first man in Maryland to receive the life-in-prison- without-parole sentence. It went into effect July 1, the day before the murder. Murphy, 46, who has a wife and three children in California, flew from his home in Loworkbooks and sandwiches in an increasing number of school backpacks each day. It is a pill, no bigger than button candy, prescribed to help hyperactive youngsters get through their multiplication tables, spelling tests and geography lessons. Some parents describe Ritalin as a godsend, but its success may be leading to its excess. As many as 1 million children may take the drug, and happy results encourage more doctors to prescribe it, sometimes with less triumphant results. AM-R Is for Ritalin II, an AP Extra by Fred Bayles and Scott McCartney for Tuesday AMs, April 5, will move as b0484-b0485. With: AM-Ritalin and Tom, a personal look by AP Writer Strat Douthat, whose son takes Ritalin, b0486. AM-Ritalin-Expert Advice, what parents should ask, b0487. DETROIT _ Her school principal had urged her mother to make the four-hour drive from rural northern Michigan. Now 11-year-old Chrissie sat in a windowless office where a psychologist peppered her with questions. The morning would end with doctors at the Attention Deficit Disorder Clinic of Children's Hospital telling Chrissie her baffling problems at home and in school would mean treatment with the stimulant Ritalin. AM-R Is for Ritalin III-Clinic, an AP Extra by Lee Mitgang for Wednesday AMs, April 6, will move as b0488. WEST BIRMINGHAM, Mich. _ One pupil takes the drug Ritalin to calm his hyperactivity and help him pay attention. The teachers challenges a visitor to guess who. Chris was the obvious choice. The third-grader fidgeted in his chair, got up several times to sharpen his pencil, drummed his fingers, asked questions repeatedly and never seemed to hear the answers. The guess was wrong. The child on Ritalin was a slender boy with flaming red hair who calmly sailed through a reading comprehension quiz and listened attentively to a lesson on homonyms. AM-R Is for Ritalin III-School, an AP Extra by Lee Mitgang for Wednesday AMs, April 6, will move as b0489. With: AM-Ritalin-Utah, a look at the state with the highest Ritalin consumption, b0490. WARSAW, Poland _ A curious new program is going out over Poland's state radio every Monday morning. It's called ``The West Speaks,'' and it is composed entirely of excerpts of Polish-language broadcasts by Radio Free Europe, the Voice of America, the British Broadcasting Corp. and other Western radio stations. AM-Poland-Radio, for Friday AMs, April 8, moving as b0475