. OCTOBER 21.17, 1
p
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C tlDu I'
mo t help prisoner lead a
normal life in society are
being m rried and having a
job."
"W can't help them fall
in love, but we c n help them
to learn how to hold a job,"
he said.
"The e people have been
put behind bars for a reason,"
said Sam Bono, field inspec­
tor for the Michigan State
Building Trades Council.
"When we give them job
that compete with the private
.sc cto r they're taking awa:
Irorn somcbodys livelihood.
who has n ": c o m m ucu a
crime. The law-abiding
ciuvcn of this tate could
end up paying twice," he THROU(;II TIn:
aid. 'Michigan State Indu tries
"Thcy started work (using (MSI) program inmates have
pri oner labor) at the Mar- cen manufacturing office
queue facility," he said, "put- furniture product" , which
ting in drain tine and stand compete with the office fur­
pipe, but the work wasn't niturc -i nd us rr y in Grand
done well 0 they ended up Rapid . The re seem, to be
re-doing.It a couple of times.
They also had trouble meet­
ing time chedule. In the
long run if they're doing it to
improve the facilitie • it' .
not working."
Bono a lsn c i ted anot her
reason: it is law that a p rson
be licensed to instal! plumb­
ing or electricity in
Michigan.
les t riction in this in tanc ,
however.
MSI, whic.h ha been
around ince J X46, is . pri 'on
run program hich gi cs the
pri oner jobs makin furni­
ture. The , sell their p OUUI.:t!\
only to government nstitu­
tion and ta c up one t nth of
one percent of the arke r,
'aid Howard Gentry cputy
director of correction.
Gentry said the
l'ur n it urc companie
been very helpful to t
gram. even hiring i
after their release.
Peter Jeff. "pokes
Stcclcasu. !\aICJ the hi
ture manufacturer s
CRI I ALS (;0 TO j it
• to be puni hcd: and hen
they et there the ·t tc is
,ohlig d to give them three-
qu re meal per d y. a roof
and a bed. But giving Jhem
job i where orne people
draw the line, in particular
ome union leaders con­
cerned about inm te labor.
.HO
COURT
Whe Legends
As a junior' high .ch uudent in Baltirn
Maryland, D rninique Wilkins learned
ab ut the law f gravity. After ch I
the c n ret ba .ketball c urts
. Patt rs n Park ity playgr un ,
h defi d t.
. Soaring, sc rin his way int the
history b< s, first in the C lis urn
at the U niversity of G rgia, and
now in the Ornni with th Atlanta
Haw s of the BA, D rninqu is
a major s urce 0 inspirati n f r th ,
superstars of t m rr
At Ree k, we are als enc uraging
young athletes to be th b t th Y can
be thr ugh our neighborh, 0 rt
Ren wal Pr ram. We are refurbi shing
high-us " rundown playground c urts all
across, the c untry, because we kn w
that even for uipersrars like Dominique,
there's' nothing like a home
court advantage.
MICHIGA CITIZEN
AGE 13
the p 'ilion (r th Business
Institutj and :Furniture
Manufacturers A ociauon.
that ir.pri:on products meet
sal' ty standards and use an
open bid y tern, they can
compete for the the fed ral
and tate market .
Brown aid he know there
i a problem with the publie
perception of giving' jobs to
prisoners .
"It' we avvu r c s o mc o nc
who has commuted a crime
that they will hl' l r d , �i r n
s hc lt c r , told thl:� had In
graduate from hi ih school ,
and ihc n &1 cn a Job. I I
ouldn't he u r p r i s c d if I
people came up to me and
said. "Uh , M . Brown
plea c.send me to jail.:"
"I TO 1.1) Tin:
electricians union' p oplc ,
'You folks have got to under­
uand, you have omething to
do with the whole thing bout
crime too, '" Brown id.
"'You've got to give a liul
hit so that we can do ome­
thin' me ningful with these
convicts, so that we can 'end
rhc m hack out into the
wnr ld. '"
Both Brown and Bono feel
that t hc appr ntice hip
pro 'ram' s ho ulu he i rn-
p r o vc d . They feel t h
program' .hould match ones
outside pri ns and that cur­
rent pro ram. are inferior.
"The big 'C, t problem is
that not enough work goe
on; th y can study it in the
honks. yes. hut the ca n ' t ret
cnou rh actual .hand -on e -
pc rrc ncc. It varies l'o r drf­
lc r .n t t r a d c s , hut an
c lc c t r i c i a ns ' apprentic
n . u!'\ _.( 0 h () u rs o r w 0 r tor
r 0 u rye a r � t 0 h c o.m e a n
electrician. They hav
.n u.e h o r ], th�1 10 ' �
rna he three pc op lc i ho vc
kintl� or hour. ." he s aid ,
ono �alu ever on' has a
r c s p o ns i b r l i t y I() help
rehabilitate prisoners. hut the
vraic has many. Ie n timatc
contractors who h,i"":n't com­
mitted any crime'.
Many credi
Continued from P ge 18
Be aware, however.
that credit .burcaus arc per­
rm ucu to report accurate
credit information or up to-
� 'even to I 0 years.So, thi nk
twice before you pety a credit
repair company to sotvc a
cr e d i t problems. Some
probl rns can't be fixed by
anyone. Others you c· n fix
yoursctf.Jf you've alrcady
paid' credit repair company ..
hut bc licvc it promised more
t han t del i v c re d , con t act
your local consumer f ir
office or 'state attorney
gcncn I's office for help.For
advic on de ling with credit
problem, write for 'our free
brochure: "Building a Bcucr
Credit Record," FTC, Public
Refer n e. Wa shingron, DC
20580
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