6A - THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NATION AND WORLD
Girl Scouts unites inmates, daughters
Mothers strenghten relationships with kids and build confidence
The Associated Press
NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — In a nondescript meeting room just behind the lobby of a bleak prison on the outskirts of town, craft materials are waiting on a table: scissors, yarn, old magazines.
A group of convicted murderers, drug abusers and thieves gather nearby in a circle.
One by one, another group enters,
little girls, some in matching blue T-shirts, their uniforms for the day.
They have passed through metal detectors and are escorted by a guard, but they are smiling, giggling, talking. Mac Girl Scout Tyron 560.
At the Southern Nevada Women's Correctional Facility, inmate mothers become scout leaders, teaching and encouraging their children.
Meet Girl Scout Troop 560.
The inmates and their daughters do things moms and daughters do anywhere else: sing songs, play games, work on crafts.
Field trips are out of the question, of course. After the meetings, only the girls get to go home.
"I shut this whole prison experience down when I come in here," said April Miller, 41, who is serving time for a drug conviction. "It makes me proud to be her mother."
Girl Scouts Beyond Bars started in Maryland in 1992 when scouts began working with a women's prison.
The program was a hit, for the girls and the mothers, and has now expanded to 27 other councils around the country. The Southern Nevada prison's program began in April 2000.
Prison officials believe the program is helping the mothers learn to be more responsible and to be leaders
"I see a really big change in them,"
said Carol Falconi, prison case worker and Girl Scout coordinator.
Neglected relationships are mending, and the mothers of Troop 560 have a chance to start anew. The Girl Scouts hope when the inmates are released they will continue to be involved in the organization.
involved in the order
"They're the one thing I did right," said Stephanie Williams, 25, glancing at her two daughters. "They get to see me in a program, to see I'm at least trying to do something.
"I get to spend quality time with my daughter," says Sammika Walker, 28, serving time for probation violation. "We get to paint their nails.
TUESDAY,SEPT.11,2001
Jewish praying, fasting rituals modernize
The Associated Press
To repent for their misdeeds each year, Jews pray and fast. Now, some will also watch the movie Groundhog Day.
The Bill Murray film about a scoundrel forced to repeat the same day until he reforms, is among several modern tools rabbis are using to guide their congregations through the High Holy Days, which started last night at sundown.
Rabbi Arthur Waskow of Philadelphia will ask congregants to anonymously write their wrongdoings — from hurting the environment to mistreating their children — on index cards, which will be read aloud along with traditional prayers.
Waskow once read aloud from an index card on which someone anonymously confessed to cheating on his or her spouse. The congregants gasped, he said, but the services continued.
The Groundhog Day program, developed by Rabbi Pamela Wax, focuses on the challenges and rewards of ethical behavior.
rewards of common behavior.
"It makes teshuvah (repentance) more accessible as a concept," Wax said.
as a concept. Wax provided popcorn when she showed Ground-hog Day to her congregation right before the 'Slichot service, held the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah.
The 10-day period of self-examination starts with the Jewish New Year, called Rosh Hashanah. It ends Sept. 27 with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when Jews communally admit their sins and reconcile with God.
The worship is rich with ritual.
Among the central prayers is the Al Cheit, a confession of misdeeds such as gossip, swearing and dishonest business dealings. The shofar, or ram's horn, is blown, and its wailing meant to inspire
"It makes teshuvah (repentance) more accessible as a concept." Rabbi Pamela Wax
Yet, for some rabbis, the ancient observances alone aren't enough.
Waskow, a leader in the Jewish renewal movement, which uses contemporary religious and political scholarship to re-examine Judaism, believes that traditional prayer sometimes needs a boost to fulfill its promise as a powerful, "earthquaking" experience.
repentance. Many Jews go to a river to symbolically cast away their sins. Services last for hours.
Bush wants lawmakers to pass education initiatives
The Associated Press
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — President Bush tried to breathe new life into his education agenda yesterday, seeking to caio lawmakers into action.
"I don't think education ought to be a partisan issue," Bush said. "I know reading is not a partisan issue. I mean, getting every child to read in America is an American issue, and it ought to be an American goal, and it is going to be in this administration."
Bush also announced federal initiatives to improve reading instruction
Last week, White House officials called the economy Bush's No. 1 priority, a distinction that education had long carried. On Sunday, the administration sought to fuse the two issues.
"Education is part of our economy, and remains a top priority to the president," said representative Jennifer Millerwise.
Months ago, the House and Senate passed similar versions of the revised Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which provides most of the federal support for K-12 schools. Nego-
tators are working out a compromise between the two bills, but difficult issues remain, chiefly the price tag.
The House and Senate versions of the bill differ drastically in how much money they would provide. The Republican-controlled House proposed about $24 billion, while the Senate, run by Democrats, approved $33 billion. The federal government is spending about $18.4 billion this year on elementary and secondary education.
"The president told us education would be his top priority. Now it's
"The president told us education would be his top priority. Now it's time for him to prove it."
time for him to prove it," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
Sen. Edward Kennedy
Massachusetts Democrat
Bomb injures anti-Taliban Afgan rebel
The Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bombing critically wounded Ahmed Shah Massood, leader of the opposition to Afghanistan's Taliban rulers.
An explosive device was hidden in a television camera belonging to two Arabic-speaking North African men, said an opposition representative, Abdullah, who uses only one name. They were traveling on Belgian passports and claimed to represent a news organization called Arab News International, he said.
said.
Massood's brother, Ahmed Wali, said Massood underwent emergency surgery Sunday in Tajikistan to remove shrapnel from his head after the attack by two men posing as journalists. He said Massood was in critical condition and had not regained consciousness since the operation. A report from Russian news agency ITAR-Tass said Massood was dead.
dead. The attack, which took place in Khodja Bahauddin in northern Afghanistan, also injured Abdullah's young nephew and the opposition's ambassador in India, and killed Massood representative Azim Suhail and both bombers.
Massood is the military head of the anti-Taliban alliance, which in 1996 ousted president Burhanuddin Rabbani, for whom Massood was defense chief.
The Taliban, a hard-line Islamic militia, rules roughly 95 percent of Afghanistan, with Massood's alliance controlling the rest, mostly in the north.
The loss of Massood would devastate the opposition, already a fractured collection of groups who fought each other when they ruled much of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996. Their deposed government still maintains Afghanistan's seat in the United Nations and operates embassies in several capitals.
The opposition blamed the bombing on the Taliban and Pakistan, whom they say is backing the Islamic militia with manpower, money and military training.
Mehrabodin Masstan, Massood's Paris representative, suggested that Osama bin Laden, who is living in Afghanistan and is accused by Washington of blowing up two U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998, was behind the bombing.
The Taliban has denied the allegations but refuse to hand over bin Laden to the United States.