Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Our Pre: Awaren By John Van Dalen Gamecock Staff Writer Prison Awareness Week at USC fluttered by in a breeze of in difference last March. One of the main speakers, Albert Bronstin, director of the National Prison Project, spoke to little more than a dozen students during a key speech at the Russell House Theatre. The turn-out was dismaying and embarassing. Bronstin's energy and com passion were clearly felt by the small group in attendance and he was beseiged by questions af terward. Highly critical of the in stitutionalized nature of prisons and their failure to ever really rehabilitate anyone, Bronstin said, "Prisons are like a form of cancer and must be eliminated as they now exist because they only warehouse men and women in cages." How civilized are we as a society? Looking at the grim inner workings of our penal system, it is evident that men are deprived of their rights as human beings, shunted off to one dungeon or another and thereby forgotten and reduced to utter dependence on ther custodians or guards. Bronstin noted that rehabilitation as a goal of prisons is ludicrous because crime rates are always going up. Secondly, it is not an effective form of retribution, because "in CU In Cho By Hank Gilman Gamecock Staff Writer When the next edition of USC,s academic catalog is published, it is likely that the space reserved for Contemporary University (CU) will be vacant. As it now appears the program will be "phased out as an administrative unit by the end of the fall term," according to CU's acting director, Dr. Bert Dillon. l"it Dr. Patterson endorses the principal of independent - in terdisciplinary study," Dillon added. He said students should still be able to take independent study courses through the dif ferent departments and colleges at USC. He stressed that "we are not talking about the abolition of academic ideals or principals." However, the first and most obvious reason for the phasing out is declining student interest in the program, said CU staffers. As of now, only twelve students have signed up for projects in the fall semester. And while this is of no consequence to the students involved, "CU is serving very few students," said USC's new Provost Keith Davis. According to Gerry Bielsky, associate director of CU, students sent Pri ess And] stitutionlized revenge" works on the erroneous assumption that punishment reforms a prisoner and makes him penitent. The only thing a prison really ac complishes is isolation. That is one reason why prisoners are so hardened to society when they come out and why two-thirds have already been in prison before. "Isolation is extremely damaging psychologically." The State of Minnesota seems to be headed in the area of prison reform enlightenment. The chairman of its Parole Board, R. T. Mulcrone, has said, "We play a word-game called 'rehabilitation' while the legislatures continue to fund primarily custody programs. Thus, in a $50 million corrections budget, the overwhelming majority is used to reinforce and maintain. steel and concrete which does nothing more than hold men." The State Prison of Minnesota near Stillwater is actually a "prison town" with a governing inmate-staff council, a judicial system, medical and dental facilities, recreational outlets, and an economic base industry. Mulcrone asks, "If the punish ment which modern societies seeks to invoke on their lawless members is the loss of freedom, why can't all other aspects of life for the prison inmate remain unchaged? Is it not possible to develop within the prison walls an actual city where men could grow by the experience rather than erode and decay? Develop a Ppy Water involved in the program are not taking advantage of the possible 15 credit hours they could receive. This brings CU too close to the fine line that separates the program from individual department independent study programs. A second and more decisive factor involved in the, demise of CU , sources say, is an ad ministrative block led by USC President Dr. William Patterson, which is bent on eliminating the program begun under the Jones administration. CU is only one program in the - Center for Cultural Development which is directed by Dillon. The entire center will be under study by Dr. James Oliver's com mittee. According to an informed source close to the situation, "I've had no official word, but I've been told the Center (Center for Cultural Development) will be dispersed." The source also said that the Center is'already being divided up within the university com munity and this action is only one part of an overall plan to usher on Syst Eeform ity in every sense of the word: ;ocially, politically, religiously, -ecreationally, medically and ndustrially." These are not the ideas of science fiction visionaries looking ahead to some distant dawn of enlightenment. They are being implemented now in a very real, pragmatic sense. But actual details of the misery and injustice within crumbling prisons are so often suppressed and whitewashed that it is dif ficult to ascertain the real limensions of the whole sordid, quallid mess. Homosexuality, inhumane practices of prisoner experimentation, psycho therapy, medical drug abuse, and the list goes on. A recently publicized example at Central Correctional Institute (CCI) in Columbia perhaps illustrates only a microcosm of a much larger, more harrowing corrosion of due process. It concerned a young black in mate who tried to obtain time off from his prison duties to work on a correspondence course. His request was refused and when he did not work the overtime assigned him, he was brought before an Adjustment Committee and sentenced to 15 days "punitive segregation" and taken to the Maximum Retraining Detention Center (MRDC). The MRDC is supposed to be for inmates who are dangerous and prone to violent, aggressive acts. But, in fact, minor in fractions can land a man in this hell hole -'-"disobedience to a U.S.C.chM U NAST out the remnants of the Jones administration. While a committee has been appointed to study the Center, Bielsky said Provost Davis told her that a committee would also be appointed to study CU specifically.. As far as Bielsky knows, this nas not been done. Despite this, officials at the' Center for Cultural Development are still fighting for the Con temporary University program, but as one staffer said, "Talking to Davis and Patterson is like hitting your head against a wall." 'Since the decision seems to have already been made by the administration hierarchy the CU staff plans to mount a massive publicity campaign for the program appealing . directly to the student body for support in hopes of avoiding an eminent death. em Needed guard, making moonshine or verbal disrespect and having U. S. currency instead of prison tokens, among others. The MRDC offers a man plenty of time to think. His retraining consists of being locked in a cell, 24 hours a day, anywhere from one month to several years or more. "Therapy" includes going out into the yard for an hour of exercise once every week or ten days, showers a couple of times a week, and a chance to lift weights every few weeks. Cells are ap proximately six feet across and ten feet deep or "about the size of a bathroom or fair-sized closet." Furnishing includes two bunk beds, a toilet, and a sink. The aforementioned black inmate developed some kind of reputation as a "troublemaker" because he argued with a guard who ordered him to tuck in his shirttail and remove his hat in the mess hall. The inmate ac cused the guard of involvement in smuggling contraband into the prison and this same guard was later indicted for dealing in contraband by a Richland County Grand Jury. The inmate's recourse to due process was a six month con tinuation of sentence to the Maximum Detention Retraining Center--no jury, no cross examination, no defense, just a new sentence to make sure there was no further "failure to communicate." Some men have given up hope of ever getting out of facilities like the MDRC because even minor infractions jeopardize The only hope left is getting enough students to sign up for CU projects thus building a legitimate case for the program's survival. Bielsky said the first step in this process would be getting the support of professors who have worked on CU projects. Many of these professors are unwilling to do so, though, because they fear the loss of their jobs. This support will come in the form of pressure on the ad ministration itself and presen tation of the CU program to the students directly. Student presentations will enumerate the advantages of the program over independent study programs offered by the individual depnartments. Accordling to l sis their chances of obtaining a favorable review by the payrole board. If and when they get out, is it any wonder these men who have been demeaned, deprived of their rights, and forced to endure abnormal and perverse living conditions, come back into society hardened and vindictive, full of animosity and hatred and ready to commit more crimes? Our present prisons cannot rehabilitate. "Pretrial diver sion" programs that afford treatment and rehabilitation before the actual trial can be made more effective and workable. Probation programs must be improved and rejuvenated. "Model" prison systems can be divised as preliminary stages to full abolition of the present prison "warehouses." Can we maintain the legacy of prison condition barbarity that exists now and ever hope to succeed in rehabilitating men or preparing them for adjustment back into "normal society?" Isolation, retribution and in difference do strange things to the mind. Bielsky one important advantage "CU holds over indepentlent study programs is that in the department projrams the students involved sometimes end up doing research work for professors, where in the CU program, the students are in volved only in their own projects. Also, Bielsky said, CU serves to guide students in the planning of their projects. Students and their professors work together through CU to write their project proposal and grade contract, and to arrange periodic advisory meetings. CU also offers seminars for the students to get together and exchange ideas regarding their progress during the semeter.