def obtain_users(check = nil)
      admin = Admin.select(user_select_fields)
      admin = admin.where( 'id = :p OR email = :p2 OR username = :p3', { p: check.to_i, p2: check.to_s, p3: check.to_s} ).first if !check.blank?
      admin
    end
def obtain_users(check = nil)
      admin = Admin.select(user_select_fields)
      admin = admin.where( 'id = :p OR email = :p2 OR username = :p3', { p: check.to_i, p2: check.to_s, p3: check.to_s} ).first if !check.blank?
      admin
    end
returns the users (this is used mainly internally to retrieve the data for above functions)
 Params:
 +check+:: ID, email, or username of the user record - if this is nil it will return all users