Report: Prisons to be less crowded
■ Gov. Nelson announced
that by the year 2000, more
resources should exist.
By Josh Funk
Senior staff writer
Nebraska prisons will be less
crowded by the year 2000, according
to a pnson population study released
Tuesday.
Gov. Ben Nelson attributed the
decline in projected prison popula
tion to the construction of new facili
ties and stiffer crime control mea
sures.
“The forecast shows we’ll have
the resources needed beyond 2000,”
Nelson said.
The most recent study, completed
in July 1996, projected the state
prison population at 4,419 inmates in
I
the year 2000.
But with some changes in legisla
tion and crime rates, this year’s pro
jections put the 2000 prison popula
tion at 3,707.
Nebraska’s crime and growth,
rates have leveled off in recent years,
and the Legislature has changed
some sentencing laws, all of which
contributed to fewer inmates, Nelson
'said.
Nebraska prisons are now operat
ing at 146 percent of their designed
capacity, Nelson said.
And if this year’s projections hold
true, Nebraska’s prisons will be down
to 112 percent of their designed
capacity by 2001.
Steve King, Department of
Corrections research and planning
director, said prisons usually operate
20 to 40 percent above their design
capacities at an occupational capaci
ty level.
I
Prison capacity has been
increased over the past few years with
the addition of two new housing units
at the state penitentiary and more
beds in prisons statewide.
The ^construction of the new
prison in Tecumseh and a work camp
in McCook will help alleviate over
crowding, Nelson said.
Also, this year’s study does not
include the community corrections
programs being developed across the
state, King said. Community correc
tions programs offer an alternative to
prison for nonviolent offenders.
“Community corrections is still
in its infancy,” King said. Nebraska
communities still are submitting
plans to develop community correc
tions programs.
With these numbers, Nelson said
Nebraska may not have to invest in
additional prisons until after the turn
of the century.
US. veterans remember
past service with pride |
VETERANS from page 1;
For Gallardo and Wilson, Veterans
Day gives the nation a chance to share
in that pride.
The holiday got its start on Nov. 11,
1918, at 11 a.m. when Western nations
signed an armistice in Versailles,
France, that ended World War I.
In ceremonies around the world,
unknown soldiers who died during
what was then considered the most
deadly and devastating war ever were
buried in places of national signifi
cance: Arlington National Cemetery in
Washington, D.C.; under the Arc de
Triomphe in Paris; and in Westminster
Abbey in London.
Those ceremonies celebrated the
peace after World War I, which was
coined as “the war to end all wars.”
Congress named Nov. 11 Armistice
Day in 1926 and made it a national hol
iday in 1938 - the same year Adolf
Hitler’s Nazi troops invaded
Czechoslovakia, setting up the world
for its second international conflict
within 25 years.
After the death of thousands of
troops in World War II and die Korean
War, then-President Dwight
Eisenhower signed a bill making Nov.
11 Veterans Day - a day to remember
the men and women who gave all or
part of their lives to represent the
United States in its military pursuits.
The day also recognizes those who
served in more recent battles like the
Vietnam War and the Persian GulfWar.
But Wilson and Gallardo said
younger generations are out of touch
with the meaning of war and what it
means to respect the nation’s veterans.
Wilson said the blame falls on the
public school system, which has toiled
to teach what it means to fight a war t
during a period of relatively little inter
national conflict
Max West, who served 27 years
with the U.S/Air Force, said policy
makers and politicians also disrespect
veterans by taking back promises to
provide health care and other needs to
soldiers who have returned home.
West, a World War II veteran, said
the United States’ lack of economic sup
port for homeless or impoverished veter
ans shows how little the younger genera
tion understands lessons of the past
Wilson also said toe federal govern
ment, made up of baby boomers and
politicians from those younger genera
tions, is selling its veterans short
“That tells us that toe government
can make promises, and with the stroke
of a pen they can take them away.”
Those problems are on toe minds of
VFW members Wilson, Gallardo and
West as they travel across toe state to
speak at civic ceremonies and public
school convocations today.
Nevertheless, Veterans Day
remains an important part ofhighlight
ing the soldiers’ selfless service to their
country and nation, they said
Wilson said presentation of the
Stars and Stripes, singing of toe nation
al anthem and recitation of toe Pledge
of Allegiance show more than token
support for the thousands of war veter
ans in toe United States.
“Despite our faults, we still live in
toe greatest country there is,” he said.
“There’s just so many things the
younger generation doesn’t under
stand.”
UNL activities to promote
Native American Month
EVENTS from page 1
Library and continues through Dec.
12.
The exhibit, which will have an
accompanying symposium Saturday,
has been in the planning stages for
months and was not planned specifi
cally to go along with Native American
Month celebrations, said Linda
Ratcliffe, spokeswoman for the Center
for Great Plains Studies.
But Jones said students should take
advantage of the coincidence and
attend the exhibit and Saturday’s sym
posium, which run from 8:30 a.m. to
12:30 p.m. and will feature lectures orjr
diffeient aspects of the photographs.
Other features of the month are the
Pow Wow and Native American
Speakers Day, which is being held in
conjunction with Red Letter Day for
American Indian high school seniors.
The event brings together six
American Indian leaders who work in a
variety of fields, said Amy Bearskin,
organizer of the event
The speakers will provide insight
to American Indian students and give
other students a chance to understand
the American Indian culture beyond
everyday stereotypes, Bearskin said.
The culmination of all the events
will be the UNITE - University
Program Council sponsored Pow Wow
at the Nebraska Union beginning Nov.
21 and running through Nov. 29.
Jones said that while attending
events during Native American Month
and celebrating American Indian cul
ture is important, people should partic
ipate in any activity that raises aware
ness about another culture.
E.N. Thompson
Forum on World Issues
A cooperative project of The Cooper Foundation and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Africa: Environmental
Conservation, Development
and Human Rights
Hitchcock will address major issues facing the African continent,
including international pressure for wildlife and habitat
conservation in the face of growing needs of Africa’s people for
land, jobs and resources. As questions arise about human rights
and social justice, small-scale, community-centered programs are
being established to help alleviate poverty and conserve diverse
societies and ecosystems.
r \ •' •• **
International Affairs
Division of Continuing Studies
Department of Academic Conferences
and Professional Programs
y
Robert K. Hitchcock
Chair and Associate Professor.
Anthropology. University of
Nebtaska-Uncoln
Free
admission
Thursday,
Nov. 12
3:30 p.m.
Lied Center tor
Performing Arts
12th and R Streets
Lincoln, Neb.
The University of Nebraska is
an affirmative aotion/equal
opportunity institution
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Watch the game on one of Rusty’s 18 T.V.’s or on Rusty’s 9ft Big
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Get Down Early - Rusty’s opens at the break of dawn Saturday
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NO COVER CHARGE • A BAR WITH ATMOSPHERE
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Need a Lawyer?
ASUN Student Legal
Services offers free _
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For an appointment call 472-3350
or stop by 335 Nebraska Union.
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