Monday, September 16,1985/The Battalion/Page 5
Loss of tender system cause
of killings, TDC official says
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Associated Press
fi HOUSTON — When a federal
court abolished the building tender
[system in Texas prisons, it left a
E iwer void that gang members are
lling one another to fill, a state
prison administrator says.
raThe escalating warfare has re
sulted in seven killings since Labor
Qavand led prison officials to order
IP,000 inmates kept in their cells in a
widespread lockdown.
■James E. Riley, deputy director of
§|)erations for the Texas Depart-
Bent of Corrections, says gang activ-
lities are posing a “critical problem”
that must be dealt with.
■ The tender system, in which in-
Bate-guards had authority over
other prisoners, was outlawed about
ifivc years ago by U.S. District Judge
William Wayne justice as a reform in
a suit brought agdinst the TDC by
iflmate David Ruiz and otfiers.
“We fully intend to comply with
eveything that’s in the Ruiz liti
gation,” Riley said. “We’re a very fast
train moving down that road.”
Riley said a prime problem today
is weeding out gangsters and violent
inmates. He said there is “an inher
ent risk” and no guarantee that vio
lence won’t happen.
“Texas has always been known as
having one of the best prison sys
tems in the country, and I think
we’re going to go back to that,” said
Riley, who joined the TDC last year
after 22 years in the U.S. Army.
“There’s not another state
(prison) in the nation that has the
magnitude of litigation the TDC is
under right now,” he said. “We
really are the forerunner. What hap
pens in Texas sets the trend in what
happens in the entire nation.”
7
tute about 3 percent of the total
prison population of about 37,500.
Although the number of knifings
in prisons has fallen this year, the
quest for clout among gang mem
bers has produced more homicides
this year than for all of 1984, he said..
“There will always be groups
struggling for power,” Riley said.
“WeTl never eliminate that, but I
think we’re going to have control
over those groups down the road.”
He predicts peer pressure will re
duce gang activity.
“I’ve talked to a number who are
tired of the bloodshed — tired of be
ing what they call ‘hogged’ by other
inmates,” he said. “I think there’s
going to be a turnaround by the in
mates themselves from peer pres
sure brought on them.”
10,000 satan ists in Texas, prof says
ormer V«
t 7 p.m.ail
)F PEACE
in obser-
Associated Press
■ODESSA — A college professor
ard reserve sheriff s officer who has
■searched satanic cults says there
are probably 10,000 devil worship
ers in Texas.
■Gayland Hurst, who has also col-
leried satanic literature and other
Baterials, said one work, “The Book
of Shadows,” gives a glimpse inside
the world of devil worship.
Blhe manual contains a step-by-
stk) guide to rites and symbols of sa
lami groups and its parchment
Bges warn satanists that losing it
■11 cost them their lives, Hurst said.
■ Hurst, who doubles as an Ector
Runty Sheriffs reserve deputy cap-
Bn, said he recovered t he hook as
evidence following a suspected
■me in Odessa.
BExperts estimate that there are
10,000 devil worshippers in Texas,
said Hurst, who teaches a five-hour
segment on satanism to students in
Odessa College law enforcement
classes on “Deviant Sexual Behav
ior."
Hurst, 50, said he taught similar
classes throughout Texas and also
served as consultant on about 30
Texas, Florida and Illinois crimes
that investigators linked to devil
worship.
Dade County Deputy Chief Medi
cal Examiner Charles Wetli in Mi
ami, Fla. said that he wrote letters on
the subject to Hurst after the Odes-
san showed an interest in Miami’s oc
cult-related crimes.
“Very rarely do we see anything
we can definitely relate to satanism,
Wetli said, adding that Miami police
often notice “all kinds of strange
heads and related things, evidence
of animal sacrifice.”
But a recent spate of grave rob
bings in Dade County left Florida of
ficials speculating over ties to the oc
cult.
“The heads (of corpses) had been
taken off’ for use in caldrons by
worshipers of the dead, Wetli said.
Odessa Police Detective Sgt. Rich
ard Hirst, supervisor of the Crimes
Against Persons Section, said he
found Hurst’s instruction on sata
nism “interesting.”
Tony Cordova, former Fort
Stockton police chief, said Friday
that he called on Hurst’s expertise to
identify devil-worship cult members
living in Fort Stockton during the
1970s.
“Some transients that were into
satanic cults set up residence here
for a while,” Cordova said.
lends comfort to prisoners
50 p.m.
fri
l
, r jfc By KAREN KROESCHE
>r thefol „
. r ■ Reporter
lore intoi-1
■When most people go to prison,
kl for all the wrong reasons — that
Berimes they have committed and
imist serve time for.
HBut not these people. T he vohm-
EW YEN’ fcrs who make up the Prison
ler Tower, f No whip Ministries go behind bars
. , ^ f> a reach out to those who have com-
’ T,. • „Btted crimes, of fering them
l|endship and understanding.
“Hope and reason to live is what
ison Fellowship is all about,” vol-
inteer Jay Elder said Saturday at
Rntral Texas Prison Fellowship
Night in College Station.
■ “We don’t do it because we are
■ore superior or more righteous
jthan (hose behind bars,” Elder said.
1 He emphasized that prisoners are
1st ordinary people who have made
a mistake, not hardened criminals
completely without hope, as the sys-
1m encourages society to believe.
1 Former inmate Ron Cosby reiter-
led this point, saying that everyone
■ffers from greed, the very fault
Bat leads criminals to commit
times.
“I don’t care who you are or what
you’re like, you can relate to people
in prison,” Cosby said. “That’s our
brothers and sisters behind bars.”
Cosby is one of three former in
mates who shared their stories with
the audience.
“I smoked my first joint when I
was 15 years old,” he said. “By the
time 1 was 19, I was a drug addict
and an alcoholic.”
Cosby said he tried several times
to kill himself and committed many
crimes before he was finally con
victed of aggravated armed robbery
in 1981.
But Cosby said while he was in
prison his life changed by coming
into contact with the Prison
Fellowship Program.
“The Lord took what was sup
posed to be a horrible experience
and turned it into a blessing for me,”
he said.
The Prison Fellowship Program
was founded in 1976 by former aid
to President Richard Nixon, Charles
“Chuck” Colson. Upon his release
from prison, where he served time
for a Watergate-related offense, Col-
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Seventy-five percent of the men
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“Prison overcrowding and budget
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plained. “Prison costs — an average
of $70,000 to build one medium-se
curity cell — are increasingly bur
densome to budget-conscious gov
ernment bodies and inflation-
pinched taxpayers.”
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TUDENT
NMENT
U N I V li R S I T Y
Student
Senate
Vacancies
Now is your chance to be a part of a Dynamic Student Voice with
Genuine Influence! If you are concerned about the policies that govern
your University and your fellow students, don’t pass up this opportunity.
The quality of student representation at Texas A&M is dependent upon
the quality of legislation our senators enact.
Requirements Of A Student Senator:
(1) Attend all senate meetings. Fall schedule: Sept 25, Oct 9, Nov 6,
Nov 20, Dec 4 7:30 PM 204 Harrington.
(2) Participate on one of five legislative committees (Academic Affairs,
External Affairs, Finance, Rules and Regulations, Student Services).
(3) Report to. a student organization that is representative of your
constituency.
(4) Maintain a GPR of a 2.25 or higher and post at least 2.0 every
semester while in office.
Senate Vacancies:
1 Geosciences at Large 1 Mosher/Underwood
1 Ward II 2 Ward III 1 Ward IV
OFF-CAMPUS WARD SYSTEM:
WARD III
WARD!
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WARD II
If you have any specific questions about the senate or student government in
general, please feel free to call us. ~
Laurie Johnson, Speaker of the Senate (696-0760)
Miles Bradshaw, Speaker Pro Tempore (696-4387)
(Deadline is 5:00 PM Friday Sept. 20th)
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