Pag College Stati™, T^:^^ TTA W^nesday, February 7, 1973 Viewpoint Page 2 CADET SLOUCH S: by jim Earte | The Short Road To Prison “You are the most suave, most sophisticated, most cool Aggie I know! As a matter of fact you’ve played it so cool, it’s taken most of the year for you to get up nerve to ask me for a date!” Free University Announces Fall Semester Schedule The Free University has re leased its schedule of courses for the spring semester. These classes are offered to any student who wishes added instruc tion in specialized subjects. Five courses are offered on Monday nights. Dr. Arthur M. Sherwood conducts a class in “Bioengineering” in Room 333B of the Zachry Engineering Cen ter. Rev. Hugh Beck teaches a course in “The Life That Changed the World” in Room 105A of the Zachry Engineering Center. A class in “English Debating Style” is held by Lincoln Union in Room 302 of the Library. T. K. Treadwell lectures on “Ocean ography” in Room 305 of Good win Hall. Gertrud Adam conducts a class in “Gourmet Cooking” in Room 107 of the old Biology Building. All of the above classes begin at 7:30. At 7:30 Tuesday nights, an “Audio-Visual Workshop” is held at the University Lutheran Stu dent Center. Drs. James H. Copp and William P. Kuvlesky conduct a class in “Ethnic-Race Relations” in Room 129 of Bolton Hall at 8:00. On Wednesdays, a group thera py session on “Speech Impedi ments” is held at 8 p.m. at 306 Borderbrook Rd. under the direc tion of Jo Ann Reeves and Jim Roberts. Also at 8 p.m., Dr. Jo hannes van Overbeek holds a class in “Human Sociobiology” in Room 146 of the Physics Building. At 7:00 Thursday nights, Rob ert H. Fletcher teaches “An Ad venture in Auto Economy” in Room 101 of the Mechanical En gineering Building. “Urban Planning” is taught by Dr. J. H.'Hinojosa. Contact him at 845-1046 for time and place. Not long ago, a thief broke into my parked car and stole my typewriter. A passerby saw the theft and got to a policeman in time to apprehend the criminal. This was the beginning of my direct involvement with crime and punishment in the United States. First, something about the man who committed the crime. I learned he had been released from a penitentiary the morn ing of the day he stole my type writer. He began the day with 25 cents given him by the peni tentiary authorities as a stake for starting his new life. He used the quarter to buy coffee and a bun. Then, with night coming on, and with no place to sleep, he picked up a spike and used it to break the window of my car. At the time he was apprehended, he was on his way to a pawnshop where he hoped to get perhaps $10 for the typewriter. I looked into the thief’s record —let’s call him H.J. He was 36 years old. His first conviction came at the age of 16 on a charge of selling marijuana. Since that time, he had spent 18 out of 20 years in prison. We made some calculations and discovered that the various trials and im prisonments of H.J. had cost American taxpayers something in the vicinity of $240,000— quite apart from the value of the items stolen, which in the aggre gate came to something under $5,000. Keeping him in prison during those 18 years was more expensive than it would have been to have put H.J. up in a small suite at the Waldorf- Astoria. I am not, of course, seriously suggesting that we ought to empty our jails and put their oc cupants in hotel suites as a way of saving money. My purpose rather is to suggest that there is something cockeyed with the prison system in America. Judg ing from the number of repeat offenders, prisons have not suc ceeded often enough in rehabili tating men convicted of crime. Quite the contrary, most prisons seem to serve as advanced schools in crime. H.J. learned all the tricks in burglary from his prison colleagues. Obviously, he could have picked up the same skills outside prison. The point here, however, is that there is some- TAMSS Starts Free Tutoring The Texas A&M Scholastic Service is again offering its tutor ing services to students free of charge. Registration for tutoring will be held at the Memorial Student Center, Academic Building and the Library Thursday between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. If the request for tutoring in any particular course is large, a seminar is sometimes held and professors donate their time. There will be a meeting for all past TAMSS tutors tonight at 7:30 in Lecture Room 3 of the Zachry Engineering Center. For further information, call Kirk Palmquist at 845-6788, Alvin Jordan at 845-6658 or Mike Sha piro at 845-4978. Cbe Battalion Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the student writers only. The Battalion is a non-tax- supported, non-profit, self-supporting educational enter prise edited and operated by students as a university and community newspaper. LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor must be typed, double-spaced, and no more than 300 words in length. They must be signed, although the writer’s name will be withheld by arrangement with the editor. Address correspondence to Listen Up, The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843. Represented nationally by National Educational Advertising ■rvices, Inc, New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. MEMBER The Associated Press, Texas Press Association The Battalion, Room Texas 77843. '*21 7, Services Building, d on request uilding. Coll lege Station, Membe Ldndse; H. E. B. B. Sears embers of the Student Publications Board at sy, chairman; Dr. Tom Adair, Dr. R. A. Alba Hierth, W. C. Harrison, J. W. Griffith, L. E. K The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for eproduction of all news dispatchs credited to it or not therwise credited in the published herein. Right: matter herein are also reserved. at College Station, Texas. is cn paper and local news of spontaneous Right re: Jim nese. Dr. Kruse and ne origin published herein. Rights of republication of all other erein are also reserve Second-Class postage paid The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A&M, is published in College Station, Texas, daily except Saturda Sunday, Monday, and holiday periods, September May, and once a week during summer school. iaturday, through EDITOR MIKE RICE Managing Editor Larry Marshall News Editor Rod Speer Women's Editor Janet Landers Sports Editor Bill Henry Assistant Sports Editor Kevin Coffey Ponderosa Specials • Friday Evening- Fish Fry — $2.00 • Sunday Noon Lunch $2.00 • Special Weekend Rates for Parents & Students Call 846-5794 Ponderosa Motor Inn ROBERT HALSELL TRAVEL SERVICE AIRLINE SCHEDULE INFORMATION FARES AND TICKETS DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL CALL 822-3737 1016 Texas Avenue — Bryan by Norman Cousins - thing hideously flawed in the notion that prison punishment acts as a deterrent to further crime or that it provides the kind of rehabilitation that can enable released convicts to be come useful members of society. The way in which H.J. was released from the penitentiary practically insured his return. How far was he expected to go on a quarter? What role as an ex-criminal was he expected to play? What jobs were open to him? I learned that H.J. had worked in the kitchen prison and was supposed to be a good cook. During his trial for the theft of my typewriter, I was able to pre vail on the court to allow me to try to find him a job. The judge was impressed that none of H.J.’s crimes over the years involved violence, suspended sentence on H.J., and gave me several weeks to find him a job. Through friends, I was able to get em ployment for H.J. as cook in an upstate New York hotel resort. Several months later, the hotel changed ownership. The new owner, on learning that H.J. was an ex-con, cut his salary in half and gave him extra kitchen de tail. After a week or two, H.J. protested the treatment to the management and was fired. I was out of the country at the time. When I returned, I discovered that H.J. was back in jail. He had been unable to find himself another job and had gone back to his original trade. He was caught in the act of shoplifting in Klein’s. The obvious way he went about the theft indicated that he thought prison was better than being without a job and a home. It may be said that H.J. was a congenital thief and that nothing could have been done to re habilitate him. I am not so sure. It may also be said that he was a confirmed menace to society and that the only place for him was prison. Again, I am not so sure. I am not so sure that the owner of the hotel resort doesn’t have some part of the respon sibility for what ultimately hap pened. Just because the hotel owner violated no . law doesn’t mean he should get off scot-free. I wonder, too, about the prison authorities. Turning loose a man with nothing more than a quarter in his pocket and with no pro spect of a job is in itself a repre hensible act that calls for correc tion. Finally, I wonder about all those who deplore the high rate of crime in this country but who don’t lift a finger to help provide jobs or find places in society for men who have been punished in full for their crimes and who need to be accepted by society if they are not to act outside it. Copyright, Norman Cousins. Dist. by Los Angeles Times Syndicate. liittle Dicivets • Placks • Gift Items • Consignment Center • Everything Handmade • Special order items for campus clubs 10% discount for students & families with ID 804 Villa maria across from Manor East Mall 822-5823 SUMMER JOBS CampcSb Olympia For Boys and Girls 7 to 16 Chris Gilbert will be interviewing for summer Coun selors on FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9 — 9:00 A. M. - 4:30 P. M. •Highest Counselor Pay in Texas •College Credit Is Available •Three Terms—June 12 - July 7, July 10 - August 4, August 6 - August 18 •One Counselor For Every Five Campers Contact Texas A&,M Placement Center For An Appointment and Location LOVV REDEEM EEM'MUSCOUPON FOR 50 EXTRA STAMPS One Per FamUy With Purchase of $6.00 or More (Excluding Cigarettes) Coupon Expires Feb./- ftb. Wto mb. MEDICAL CENTER ALCOHOL Pint Bottle 15 Pillsbury’s BEST FLOUR 39 without , COUPON Coupon Js LB. BAG^P JT 59*? 5S With $7.50 Purchase | Good only at: BROOKSHIRES | Coupon expires FEBRUARY /4, 1973 jg oner * Meadorich BUTTERMILK Half Gal. Carton 39c MEAT DEPT. HICKORY SMOKED - SHANK PORTION LIBBY CREAM OR WHOLfe KERNEL GOLDEN CORN LIBBY TOMATO CATSUP 20 oz. Btls. FROZEN FOOD Hy-Top PATIO DEEP ench. DINNERS ASPIRIN 5 Grain 1 A 100 Ct. Btl. ..A7U EACH 49 PRODUCE KRAFT BAR-B-Q SAUCE 28 oz. BSQC / Bottle PEANUTS 2JE32O0s2 LIQUID DETERGENT DOVE ™ '«f o*. Size 48 By Charles M. 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