Volume 124 Issue 108
kansan.com
Thursday, March 1, 2012
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CAMPUS & TOWN
What Do You Know About... Prisoner Rehabilitation?
//JOHN GARFIELD
In light of some disheartening statistics, Kansas has been reconsidering its prisoner re-entry programs. After all, 32 percent of prisoners who partake in the programs end up back in jail, as opposed to 25 percent of those in the programs who do not.
Surprisingly, only $ \frac{1}{4} $ of the program graduates who end up back in jail actually commit a new offense, while about 60 percent of the others who return have. It is for this reason that KU faculty members are banding together to advocate the program, and try to make it work better.
Margaret Severson, a KU professor of social welfare, says that "In fact, most of those who returned did so for violations of their parole; a much smaller percent of
those studied returned for new convictions. It is too early to say the program didn't work."
Severson is co-authoring a piece to be published in the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation that argues that the program has been unfairly evaluated. Along with Severson are Kimberly Bruns, the project coordinator, Christopher Veeh, a KU Social Welfare graduate and doctoral student at the University of Denver, and Jan Hoon Lee of KU's Center for Research and Data Analysis.
crimes committed and program eligibility.
The group believes that the state is not asking the right questions, and that sampling methods may have caused statistical errors. Factors they say have been previously excluded include gender, type of
Their research follows participants over multiple years, tracking how many have returned to prison following periods of a year, year and a half and two years.
In addition to the realities of sampling errors, Severson argues the qualitative issues that have been ignored thus far regarding other measures of the program's success:
"When the participants were in the community, did they contribute to the economy? Did they pay taxes? Did they provide support for their families? Did they adequately parent their children? Those are the important questions we should ask and answer."
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
What it's like to... witness a drive-by shooting
//KELSEA ECKENROTH
When Brian Jay Gibmore, a fifth-year senior from Topeka, went home to Topeka one weekend, he saw a drive-by happen a block away from his house.
One Sunday during my junior year, I went back to Topeka to visit my mom with the girl I was dating at the time. My mom had just gotten off of work but wasn't home yet, and my girlfriend and I didn't want to wait around. I suggested we go on a short walk around the neighborhood because it was a nice spring night.
As we were walking, a gray Honda drove by going 40 mph in a 20 mph zone. The Honda kept circling the neighborhood, and whenever it drove past us, it would slow down and the people inside the car would look at us, and then speed off again. It circled the block two or three more times, and we started to think something weird was going on.
An SUV appeared and pulled up next to the Honda. The people in the cars started cussing and yelling heinous stuff to each other like "I heard you were saying shit about my friend." My girlfriend and I were familiar with situations like this because they happen a lot around where we grew up. We thought it might turn into a fight or something. We walked back passed the cars and when we
were 20 feet away from them, six or seven gunshots were fired. It sounded like firecrackers were going off behind me. My girlfriend and I froze. It took us about 30 seconds to get our heads straight. It was like seeing a car accident. You think reality is playing a joke on you, but eventually you realize the situation is happening, and you have to make up a course of action.
The shots ended, and the cars quickly sped off. I stood there confused, but my girlfriend told me we should call the police. We got back to my house to do so. Soon after I called, a police cruiser whipped around the corner, and I flagged it down. The officer asked if I saw the people in the cars, but I never looked at their faces. Growing up in a bad neighborhood taught me not to stare people down, and when you see something go down, you pretend not
After I talked to the officer, he sped off to catch the suspects. I didn't hear anything about the shooting after it happened. I don't even read or watch Topeka news because I try to distance myself from it as much as I can.
Wescoe Wit //KELSEA ECKENROTH
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Brian Jay Gilmore
Professor: I don't wash my hands all the time so I have the immunity of a first grade teacher.
Girl: Some girls may find it attractive if a guy cries during the Notebook.
Guy: This guy's body odor was like mashed potatoes and lime mixed with three-day old-dead rat.
Girl: Has your vehicle ever caught on fire? I am trained to use fire extinguishers.
Professor: You know what I'm thinking right now? FML.
Girl 2: A what?
Girl 1: Have you ever had a buttery nipple?
Girl 2: A what?
Girl 1: My mom loves buttery nipples now that she's had one.
Guy: That would be the best thing to wake up to in the morning.
Girl: What? Your mom?
Professor: Now we have learned the history of the F word. Interesting.
Guy 1: Last night my toaster went off by itself.
Guy 2: Ghost toast!
Professor: Yes, I am giving you permission to research sex phone lines.
national player of the year honors after losing three of his closest family members is something to admire.
If you think you're going through hard times because you're struggling with class, you broke up with your partner, you're struggling with your relationships with your family and friends or undergoing financial hardship, just take a good, hard look at what Robinson has endured.
He has responded to his misfortune by committing himself, whether it's by taking care of his younger sister Jayla, or being the best basketball player he can possibly be. He doesn't want people to feel sorry for him. He is a symbol of hope, determination, strength and perseverance.
Losing your mother and grandparents at 19 is something nobody should have to go through.
I know senior day is a day to honor the seniors, but Robinson should be honored as well. If you aren't planning to attend Saturday's game against Texas, I strongly urge you to go because it's probably the last time you'll see Robinson play at Allen Fieldhouse.
— Edited by Jeff Karr
Coach Ritch Price said that a tournament format allows for teams to choose who they want to throw their best arms against. In a normal three-game series format, the teams match up their number one, two and three pitchers.
The layhawks will play in their third preseason tournament, The University of Texas San Antonio tournament, this weekend in San Antonio, Texas. In each of the three tournaments, Kansas has been one of the marquee teams.
Coming into the season, the Kansas baseball team knew it would be facing the best pitchers of each team it plays. That's the price that comes with being a member of the Big 12 conference.
"I told our team in a short team meeting that the advantage of playing at the University of Kansas is going to a tournament and getting everybody's best guys," Price said. "Those are the guys we're going to see in
against opposing pitchers. In seven games so far, no starting pitcher for the opposing team has made it past the fifth inning against the Jayhawks. Senior infielder Zac Elgie knows that getting starting pitchers out of the game early will lead to success.
"That's one of the big things when we start playing conference series," Elgie said. "If we can use the bullpen the first couple days, that leaves them kind of shorthanded for the weekend. The more you can do that the more you can wear them out and they can't use their best pitchers later on."
While the Jayhawks have been able to get players on base often, the clutch hit has proved elusive. Kansas has left 63 runners on base already this season, which averages to nine runners left on base a game. Senior catcher James Stanford said the team needs to lay off sliders down in the strike zone, and look for fastballs.
Stanfield said the team has to make sure they stay patient later in the game because that's when the at-bats are the most important.
the times in the those situations you just need a ground ball to the right side or a fly ball to the outfield."
Price said the team would need to be confident and relaxed at the plate to be successful.
The Jayhawks will look to build off of their 14-1 victory over Mississippi Valley State last Sunday in San Antonio.
"Anytime you're successful offensively, you're successful one-through-nine in the lineup." Price said. "The first couple of weekends we've had two or three of our key guys who are off to a slow start, but all it takes is one good weekend to turn it all around."
"The hardest part about baseball is that it beats you up mentally, at any level." Price said.
Edited by Katie James
BY THE NUMBERS
5. 0 The most innings an opposing starting pitcher has lasted against Kansas.
63 The number of runners Kansas has left on base in seven games.
10 The number of runs Kansas scored in the first inning Sunday against Mississippi Valley State.
39 The number of runs Kansas has scored in seven games.
11 The number of runs Kansas has allowed in seven games.
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