friday, february 8, 1980
daily nebraskan
page 5
Prisoners trying to re-enter society via UNL
By Lori Merryman
He is a prisoner sentenced to life. His daily decisions do
notfcven include turning the lights off and on.
After nine years in prison he wants to contribute to
society. -
He and prison authorities believe he is ready to become
a part of society again and an educational release program
is to help him. He will become a UNL student.
The man is fictional, but the story is similar to that of
about 40 other prisoners who since 1971 have been placed
back into everyday life through a UNL educational release
program.
nierer are now three UNL students who are on
educational release, Don Payne, assistant director of
admissions in Undergraduate Advising, said.
Gene Hruza, education coordinator for the Department
of Correctional Service, said work release and educational
release programs form what are called post-care programs
in the prisons.
'Re -integration
Post-care programs are part of a trend in prison reform
that emphasizes "reintegration," Payne said. The theory
behind prison operation has gone from revenge to
restraint to reform and now is changing to re-integration,
Payne said.
Instead of the eye-for-an-eye principle, importance is
placed on what the prisoner can become, Payne said.
Payne has worked closely with the prisoners in the
program since it started.
Continued from Page 4
It seems to me that the only way abortion will ever
pass from the scene is if there are enough alternate means
of preventing or dealing with the unwanted pregnancies to
make it the least desirable option. Right how it too often
appears to be the only option for someone confronted
with the awesome problem of unwanted pregnancy. A wo
man with unwanted pregnancy is a woman who needs
help, and too few pro-life groups seem to offer any. Only
Birthright seems to be taking the commendable positive
steps of offering emergency help and counseling for
women in this situation.
The alternative of having a child and raising it or
putting it up for adoption are obviously very difficult
options, requiring considerable courage; but as. in all
things, the moral thing to do is not always the expedient
thing. Women facing this awesome decision to take re
sponsibility need our help, love and support, What they
most certainly do not need is having people chant slogans,
wave signs and distribute grisly booklets on abortion.
I would especially like to suggest to those who, like
myself, consider themselves Christians, that it is your obli
gation in love to lend aid to groups such as Birthright,
who seek positive steps toward making abortion unneces
sary, instead of simply chanting or waving signs. More
over, the tide of unwanted pregnancies might abate if you
had the courage to teach your children an honest, morally
sound view of human sexuality and how it works. If you
cant hack that, perhaps your church ought to be provid
ing this education.
But if you won't do any of these positive things, then
you may just as well keep your silence.
Paul Marxhausen
Senior
Carta,
You're the best thing
hat ever happened to me.
Vince P.
that
My Darling-
I love you because you can
make love up to one time a
night! . . '
Bob
CocSotbd Fend-
.Gtap2chzrofbcerjoronly$l with
yourNdzcsha gams ticket stub and
a food purchase, (gams days only)
Mill r wJL.
jufaOpax ti3 10 pm Sun-Thur
"It is beautiful and fantastic,' he said of educational
release. "It puts a lot of hope in the lives of men who have
wasted many years in prison. All these people have a lot
to give, and they now have the chance to do it.'
Janet Krause, with the Counseling Center in Seaton
Hall, was involved with the educational release program
during its first three years at UNL.
She said the program is an important turn in prison re
form. "I value the human being and giving them a second
chance so they can become productive citizens in the
community ," she said.
Wrong path
. As an example she described one prisoner who wanted
'Ho reach young people who might be going down the
wrong path." The prisoner worked with kids who played
hooky from school.
"They (prisoners) have done something painful they
have to live with," Krause said. "They want to compen
sate for it, even though they can't repay their debt. They
want to be a part."
Money must be available for the program. The partici
pants pay for their room and board, their clothes, tuition
and books, Hruza said.
Sometimes it is money the prisoner has saved. In many
cases the prisoner receives a grant, and there have been
students who have paid costs through work-study arrange,
ments.he said.
Hruza said he believes in "man and his ability to
change," and that the Department of Correctional
Services is developing programs to go along with that idea.
Road to release
For a prisoner to become eligible for post -care
programs he must be under minimum security. His appli
cation first goes to his "team classification committee,"
on which he is an equal and with which he works every
day, Hruza said.
The committee makes a recommendation for or against
educational release and a prison official denies or approves
the recommendation.
The recommendation is then given to the state Parole
Board, Hruza said, and the Director of Corrections makes
the final decision,
Hruza said educational release prisoners live in centers
near their campus. The centers are staffed by people from
correctional services.
Lincoln's Newest
-CAR-WASH
North 27th & Vine
(behind Chubbyville)
. "
Give Your Valentine
a Message of Love
A Hallmark Valentine tells someone special that you
care. It says exactly what you feel, beautifully and
thoughtfully. Hallmark Valentines. When you care
enough to send the very best.
j) i960 HaHmaifc Card Inc.
Monday-Friday. 8-5 30. Saturday, 95:30
12th & R Streets in Lincoln Center
Payne said the prisoners are treated like any other
students on campus, and don't like to be considered
different. The release program initially was administered
quietly to protect the prisoners from outside criticism, he
added.
Not hiding
They're not trying to hide anything," Payne said.
'They just want a fair chance. The prisoners will be the
first ones to tell you they're on educational release. And
they'll tell you what they did if you ask.
. The program has been criticized. Payne told of one
mother who complained when she heard her daughter's
classmate was a two-time murderer on educational release.
Actually, Payne said, the lifers are "the best risks of
all."
Adjusting from prison life to university life is eased
somewhat by advisers and counselors.
Prisoners have to be accounted for at all times and are
limited to certain university activities.
Wants no stigma
Payne said he "would like to see the time come when
those in the program could become a part of the univer
sity community without any stigma attached."
They (the prisoners) "are not as much a part of the
university as I would like to see," he said.
Full integration into the college community, Payne
said, would include living in on-campus housing instead of
in centers under surveillance.
a
1 TR AVT TTS M 0 F F E R
ElRlEHllTEjNhEPASL
DE F E nTsTT V E 0 Rjl V E R
il A A A s 1 1 A A i "T AAA
idas'ceciI '"gig
JLJLj!LAlI sTT e t e
s 1 e 1 n oraJteete "rTeTo
i R E P A I R MAN
SlAlR G A S S 0 Z II s E 1 1 1 F
5 - it! 4 A ! e 1 1 A 1
P t ;S ill S " R 0 21
L1I oL llllt t j ji x i
reckiesTsdrTving
"tj, 1 A I o j A u A A A I E
isIa t 7"r"1jT e a r n Tl
in.
ii
fell
ii
I
j
3
Jlfi
JOHN COLLINS, seminarian
"My name is John Collins. I'm a
seminarian. I had tho idea of being a
priest for a long time boforo I did
anything about it. I was too scared of
my feelings.
"But I finally took the plunge end
it's tho best thing I over did. It wasn't
a shot in tho dark. Friends holped.
Talking to seminarians helped. And
prayor was tho biggest help''
Porhaps you, liko John, novo
thought about the priesthood or
religious lifo but novor roally looked
into it.
How about looking into it now?
I
- Mail Coupon Tcdayl
j Please send information on:
j Diocesan Priestt Religious Priests
Brothers Nuns Lay Ministries
j
ss
-71
I
Address
j City
.State
.ZIP
j VOCATIONS COMMITTEESUPREME COUNCIL
New Haven. CT 08607 V
,r "J
ii
ii
i re-
4
