University Daily Kansan
Friday, April 22,1960
Inmates Learn Spanish Faster, Solera Says
By Donna Engle
Habla Vd, espanol bien? Si, si Vd es presidiario.
"The Spanish classes which I have taught at the federal prison in Leavenworth have always been better than those I teach at KU," said Rodrigo Solera, assistant instructor of Romance languages.
He made the statement in a Daily Kansan interview while discussing the introductory Spanish class which he teaches for college credit on Thursday nights at the prison.
He said the penitentiary is the only one in the country which offers classes for college credit.
MR. SOLERA explained that his prison classes are of higher caliber because the convict students have fewer classes, are more mature, and take the class because they are interested, not because they are required to do so in order to receive a degree.
The students are selected on the basis of their good behavior and their capability. They consider it a privilege to participate in the program, he said;
"The men do a lot of reading. Each one picks up a subject as a hobby. And they really keep the teachers on the go all of the time."
Mr. Solera said his five-hour class is taught for $2^{1/2}$ hours on Thursday nights beginning in September and continuing into June. He explained that the class is taught on a nine month basis because it is held only once a week.
He has taught at the prison since the fall of 1957. He said he uses the same grading scale and plan of study in both his prison and KU classes.
"OF COURSE, there are no absences to worry about in my prison classes," he said.
"The class which I teach is the only language \class offered for college credit. However, classes in German, French, Latin, Greek, and Arabic are taught by the inmates."
The prison students pay their tuition fees, $40 for the five-hour Spanish class.
"They really have to save a lot of money to take the course," the instructor said.
Mr. Solera said he has been informed by prison officials that Spanish and typewriting are the two most popular courses offered there.
"THE ATMOSPHERE in a prison classroom is like that in any other classroom. There is only one guard in the entire wing and the only thing that he does is to count the prisoners as they come and go. When I teach, I am alone in the room with my students." Mr. Solera explained.
The instructor said he was surprised last Christmas when he received a Christmas present from his students of the past two years.
"They gave me two original oil paintings. One is of a bullfighter and the other is a beautiful landscape."
One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it—Anonymous
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