Prisoners prepare for 'outside'
(Continued from page 7)
said, "I always blamed the whole world for putting me in, and when I got out, I always tried to get back at the world for it. That's why I'm in again.
"This time I decided I'm the only one to blame, and when I leave in August, I'll never see the inside of a penitentiary again." With a flourish of the hand, he was through. He had told his life story in a nutshell.
The fat man, the bald man and the college man were three of the inmates in the Kansas
State Penitentiary at Lansing who started a program of job placement and inmate betterment more than 28 months ago. They had decided all was not lost and inmates don't have to stagnate while serving time. Their primary goal is to prepare prisoners for the outside world so they won't have to come back.
The fat man and the bald man are in for life with no chance of parole.
The bald man explained the
biggest problem a convict has. "They say you're in here for rehabilitation. Least that's what the warden said—and he means it. The warden's a good man. It's the people under him that don't give a damn. All they want is their weekly check.
"When I first came in, I was a carpenter, so when they asked me where I wanted to go, I told them the carpentry shop, cause that's all I know to do.
"Well, they put me in the plumbing shop for two years.
That's just the way these people are around here." He ground his cigarette butt into the floor.
I asked him why the warden didn't do something about the situation.
"The warden is too busy with other things," the college man spoke again. "He has pressures from the outside that keep him tied up. It's all a big game of politics. You know, public opinion dictates how a penitentiary is run."
"That is the biggest problem—communication. That seems to be the problem on the college campuses, the Paris peace talks, the racial problem.
"If the public could see that we are not all a bunch of bloodthirsty animals, that we want to go back to society and work for our keep-if they would just believe this and give us a chance, maybe prisons
would rehabilitate men, not isolate them from society."
I asked the bald man what he cared about the outside world since he would never be free.
He said, "I don't want to stagnate in here. As far as I'm concerned, I've served my time as a convict. Now, I'm working for these men who are leaving here. When one of them goes out into the free world and makes it, I'm right there with him. When he fails, I come back inside these walls.
Trip to a 'closed world'
So the fat man, the bald man and the college man are working for a program of rehabilitation and job placement, started by inmates, run by inmates and for inmates.
(Continued from page 7)
the educated, well-meaning businessman who didn't realize that he had insulted 300 men.
The last speaker, a black inmate, blamed the riots and student demonstrations on "a lack of communication and understanding." When he thanked the guests for coming, I was ashamed for I knew that I had done nothing.
At the conclusion of the program, an award was presented to Virgil Keeler, an adviser to the program. The inmates talked eagerly to us and smiled warmly as if we reminded them of something or someone special back home.
Each week, they invite square men to listen to their program in hopes of communicating with the world.
of the inmates calmly remarked that he was "in" for life.
When the inmates were ushered back to their cells, we went downstairs and ate dinner with the panel members and prison officials. As we went through the serving line, laughing and talking, I forgot we were in a penitentiary. But, I was sharply reminded when one
The men answered our questions honestly and straight-forwardly, but with a rehearsed tone, as if they had been through this many times before.
After the meal was over and we said goodbye to the men, a look of sadness and longing came over their faces. We had glimpsed for a moment at their closed world, but were now returning to the "land of the free."
May 9
1969 KANSAN 13
As I walked out of the door.
the guard asked, "Did you have a good time?" I mumbled concommittedly and wondered if anyone could enjoy a visit to a penitentiary.
Phone VI 3-0753 Open 7 Evenings A Week 729 Mass. St., Lawrence, Kan.
1989 AHM
Share the world with your fellow man.
A Honda parks in spaces cars can't use. Runs around all week on a gallon of gas. Slashes your insurance tab. Costs less to keep up. And can cost less initially than a car down-payment. With so many things it's little about, isn't it ironical that a Honda can make you such a charitable B.M.O.C.?
HONDA
See your Honda dealer for a color brochure, safety pamphlet and Inventory Circle (film or American Motor Home Co. Inc. Dept. C16. Box 50. Gardena. California 9242).