Sunday, October 21, 1973

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Page Three

magazine editors: inside:
marty porter Books in revie
tony schwartz At the sex semi
contributing editor: s Looking Back-
Iaura herman
Number 6 Page Three

w--page 4
inar-page 5
-page 5
October 21 1973

Tasting

freedom:

Prisoners

at

the

'U,

For the prisoners involved in the study-release program at Milan
prison, life is a schizophrenic battle between freedom and con-
finement. Warden Herbert Beall admits, "It's a stressful program

and it's tough on them. Although the program's track record
high, not everyone makes it through."

is

By HOWARD BRICK
RICHARD GARCIA SITS alone, star-
ing out of the front window'of.
the Undergraduate Library after his
two o'clock class. His hair is cut in a
medium-long shag, he has a brown
moustache, and he peers out from
underneath straight, dark eyebrows.
He is dressed in a striped tee-shirt
and brown flares. He looks like any
other University student, until he
sinks down in the chai'r, stretches his
legs out, and exposes the plain, heavy
black shoes he usually wears back in
the prison compound.
Garcia is a prisoner at the federal
correctional institution at Milan, and
he comes to Ann Arbor each day from
Monday to Thursday to attend his
introductory philosophy class. He is
part of Milan's work and study re-
lease program that allows selected
inmates to leave-prison grounds for
the day and go to school or a job.
Since 1967, some 900 inmates, all
within 6 to 8 months of their antici-
pated parole dates, have taken part
in the program. Most of them have
gone to work or some form of voca-
tional training, but some have taken
the opportunity to start a university
education. Lee Gill, now Student Gov-
ernment Council president and only
a few months away, from a degree,
first entered the University in 1971

as a Milan inmate. There are also
two other full-time University stu-
dents who first came here under the
release program.
At present, the program involves
some 29 inmates at the federal pri-
son, and offers them the .opportunity
of living in two worlds, the world of
freedom and world of captivity. Two'
inmates attend the University.
GILL, WHO was largely responsible
for revitalizing study release aft-
er it had fallen into disuse, praises the
program highly. Its success, he says,
can be measured in the relatively low
rate of recidivism among its gradu-
ates, and this claim is backed up by
prison officials. Most of all, however,
"It gave me a chance to do something
I always wanted -to do-go to school,"
he says.
Garcia, too, has a very positive at-
titude toward education. "I have
some long range goals I'm getting
serious about," he says, "and school
is the best way to do it." Garcia is
taking three classes at Washtenaw
Community College in addition to his
class at the University. He has plans
of studying full-time at the Univer-.
sity upon his release in January and
becoming a social worker.
Garcia was imprisoned in Septem-
ber 1972 on a charge of "conspiracy to
distribute cocaine." He had been in-

volved in what he calls "a heavy
drug scene" in Boston, a scene he is
glad he has left.
It's not that easy, though, for Gar-
cia to cope with life on the outside
after being penned up for a year. He
confesses a reluctance to talk to peo-
ple on the University campus, be-
cause he is not sure how they will re-
act to him when they find out he is
a convict.
Nonetheless, the words and feelings
pour out of him when he finds a lis-
tener. He talks non-stop about prison
life and how oppressive it is; few
questions are required to prod him.
His eyes scan the walls and have a
hard time settling on those of the
person he is speaking to but the pent-
up bitterness continues to flood out-

ward.

From a day of classes they return to a home of electronic f'e n c e s and strip
searches.

I

Rip-offs

in

HE IS CAREFUL to point out that
his new outlook toward education
comes mostly from quitting heavy
drug use rather than the prison ex-
perience itself. He feels only disgust
at having to return to a home of elec-
tronic gates and innumerable rules
and restrictions each night.
"When you'get back there, they love
to impose all their bullshit on you,
like their strip searches," he says,
stressing the word "bullshit" with a
passion. "They treat me like I'm still
a high security risk."
An
one left ajar while you watch the
World Series. The key to thousands
of doors in this city is a credit card
or .a plastic ruler.
CRIME USED TO be a real problem
out at the low cost co-op Arro-
wood complex on Pontiac Trail. Mr.
Oates, the maintenance supervisor
said "before August 1 '73 there were
about five break-ins a week. When
Mr. Oates came in August first he
immediately suggested to tenants that
they have dead bolt locks and patio
locks installed. Most have done so
and the result is appreciable. There
have been two break-ins in the last
ten weeks.

By MALCOLM McDONALD
WHERE IN ANN Arbor would you
most likely be ripped-off?
"On Geddes near the cemetery, I
know a girl who was mugged there."
replies Barbara Bowers of Benjamin.
I'm on the diag asking people ques-
tions. Here comes someone ambling
along with a girl by his side and a
flute in his hand, "The bus station
downtown" says Sam Pietch in E flat
who lives on White Street. "It's got it
all, winos, grunge, the wasteland de-
generates, weirdos, pinball machine
milkers . ..' "The bus station has a
franchise on perverts" puts in his
girlfriend Sara Rosenthall.
"At the corner of Ann and Fourth
... it scares the shit out of me," says
Johnny Robeson.
A geographically mixed reaction.
But do some areas of Ann Arbor ac-
tually have a higher crime tendency
than others? What are thenfigures?
I tried to pry some statistics from
Lieutenant Dick Hill, who appears to
guard the aged filing system at the
police department-just some figures
on locations of break-ins and the
like. You'd think I'd asked for free
tickets to the Policemens Ball when
he said, "I'm not going to do it."
"Don't you think the community
would be interested" I asked.
"Sure, but those records are for our
use not yours and we don't have the
time anyway," he replied. I asked
him how long it would take to look
,at a couple of files. "Five, ten min-
utes maybe, but I'm just not going to
do it."
His superior, Major John Hawkins
pointed out that what I wanted to
know was impossible as the files
aren't recorded with locations of
crimes. Police Chief Walter Krasny
didn't mind sharing the information,

bor with a shotgun, the locations are
so widespread."
Which I guess is some explanation
why they carry shotguns around in
their patrol cars instead of filing
cabinets.
CHIEF KRASNY describes Ann Ar-
bor as a fluid community. Peo-
ple are always on the move, so a cop
isn't about to stop a guy walking
along the sidewalk with a component
system and a color TV tucked under
his arm.
Five to seven years ago most of the
crime occured at night, today prime
crime time is 'anytime. Gradually,
since the sixties, the trend of burgl-

Washtenaw County Jail has recent-
ly instituted a work-study release pro-
gram similar to Milan's. To facilitate
the program, its coordinators hope to
open a new, minimum security dorm-
itory for the participants in January.
Such a facility hopefully will ease the
daily transition between freedom and
captivity and will enhance contact
with the community.
The residential treatment center,
as it is called, will house 20 to 25.-in-
mates, all on work or study release.
~rbo r
patrol force, but thinks it would be
too ineffective ahd too expensive. He
also advises people to keep their out-
side lights on at night, but hardly
anyone heeds him.
The Village Green complex off Ply-,
mouth Rd. does not have a crime
problem. All apartments have . dead
bollt front doors and patio locks. "The
worst thing that has happened here
was a man showing himself off in the
parking lot one afternoon." Said Ms.
eeber, the manager. Then she knock-
Weeber, the manager. Then she
knocked on wood. -
Arbor Hills on Huron Parkway has
had nine break-ins in four years.
Three of which were last week when
the manager, Mr Bartow was on
vacation. Eighty percent of the front
doors have dead bolt locks, there are
no sliding doors. "We dont really
have a problem" said Mr. Bartow.
Then he knocked on wood.
Mr Harold Rothbart, the director of
the city's Building and Safety Dept.
is lobbying for such locks to be a
standard part of the building code.
Of course the builders dont like the
idea because it costs, but it seems an
answer for the future.
O FOR THE time we will have to
rely on the Ann Arbor Police De-
partment for protection.
Ann Arbor is split into six basic
districts, each of which is patrolled
by two cars constantly, and the odd
man on the beat. The men do a ten
hour shift and rotate districts every
three months. By that time they know
their area pretty well and keep a spe-
cial eye out on the spots where crime
is repetetive. They dont have to look
up the files, they have hunches and
can anticipate all on their own.
Nonetheless the credit cards will
continue to pry open door locks. Man-
agers of the apartment complexes will

The essence of the program is in-
volvement in the community rather
than isolation from it. Working,
studying and living in the community,
project planners believe, will smooth
the ultimate return to freedom.
TO TOTALLY ISOLATE a man from
a community," the project pro-
posal states, "and then suddenly put
him back into it will hardly help him
cope with the problems he faced in
that environment - problems that
have contributed to his being jailed
in the first place." The implementa-
tion of the plan, however, depends on
securing a state grant. The applica-
tion for the requested funds is still
being considered.
BUT UNDER the Milan program, the
pressures of living between the'
worlds of freedom and confinement
can weigh heavily on the releasee.
Most of those inmates involved in
either the work or study release pro-
gram contemplate escape. Not many
actually walk away,' though. Accord-
ing to John Stacey, who coordinates
the program for the state Department
of Vocational Rehabilitation, only
twelve of the 900 inmates who have
participated in the program since
1967 have walked off. Most of them,
turned themselves in later, and, few
chargeg were made against them.
Lee Gill, considered by prison offic-
ials to be 'one of the most successful
participants ever in the program, has
also expressed the anxiety of the split
existence and the urge to escape.
"It's very difficult to have a little
bit of freedom and then have to go
back into captivity," Gill says. The
though of walking away "most cer-
tainly crossed my mind hundreds of
times, perhaps thousands of times."
He resisted the temptation, however,
for fear of jeopardizing the opportun-
ities of other inmates and of losing
sight of his goal to cQmplete an edu-
cation.
IN AN ENLIGHTENED but paternal-
istic way, Warden Herbert Beall,
a squat, middle-aged man from Vir-
ginia, appreciates the problems and
tensions that releasees feel.
"It's a very difficult program for an
inmate to become involved in," Beall
says. "In a way he's operating at work
or at the university as a free per-
son, but he can't do what everybody
else can do . . . It's a stressful pro-
gram and it's tough on them."
If inmates spend too much time on
work or study release, they may suffer
from what Beall calls the "Cinderella
syndrome . . . the feeling of having
to go back into the pumpkin at night."
The administration doesn't want the

for removal might be anything from
failure to appear in the work area at
the proper time to having a couple of
beers.
Prison officials are proud to say
that only six inmates involved in the
program during the last six years have
been charged with any crimes. Three
of those have been charged with car
thefts involved in escape attempts.
In addition three releasees who
were attending the University last
summer were- removed from the pro-
gram when the FBI inforimed "pri-
son officials that they were suspect-
ed of participating in a bank robbery
in Lansing. Charges have been made
against the inmates, but preliminary
trial hearings have not yet been held.
Prison officials say that the program
will continue despite the incident.
JOHN- PAPINEAU, another inmate
from Milan, also attends the Uni-
versity part-time and has plans of
studying wildlife management in the
School of Public Resources. In and
out of reform schools and jails since
the age of 13, he expects to be releas-
ed from Milan on November 8rafter
serving almost two years on a'petty
larceny charge. A heroin addict at the
age of 15, he kicked the habit shortly
after entering Milan. "School is very
essential to what I'm going to do
with my life," he says now. "It's a
lot better than what I was doing."
So Garcia and Papineau continue
coming to campus each day, waiting
for the time of their final release
from prison. They both; feel: the stress
of being half-free and half-captive.
And sometimes, waiting for a ride
back to the penitentiary and know-
ing what awaits them there, the
thought of walking away seems ap-
pealing.
"But I don't really think of it that
much," Garcia says. "You've got to be
realistic. I'm not going to hide out for
the next seven years of my life."
Papineau's attitude is simply de-
fin.Knowing that attempted es-,
cape would only lead to further im-
prisonment, he says, "I've given those
people too much of my life already.
I'm not going to give them any more
I'm not going to lower myself to their
level."
In the meantime, they try to ap-
preciate the opportunity for educa-
tion they've been given and relish
the little bit of freedom they have.
Noting the difference between them-
selves and the ordinary University
student, Papineau says, ''People out
here live for Fridays, but we live for
Mondays."

C:.A'..'.'.'''"'''''''''''''"'"''''"'

"You can

get that same

information just as easIy,"
says Police Chief Walter Kras-
nly, "by-shooting a map of
Ann Arbor with a shot g un ...
the loc a t io n s are so wide-

spread."

I

........::...:.. .... ...::::..:... r::., o... :........ .
.................................................. .. ..... ................................ v........ .... ..

ing sites has shifted from business
and factory areas to residential. It's
easy to see why, it's easier. No alarms,
no security patrols.
Still prime targets for commercial
ripoffs are gas stations, parking lots
and all night groceries, but more
commonly a theft will occur in an
apartment complex or the private
home. And as A general rule, the 3,000
odd -break-ins and 200 plus armed and
unarmed robberies per year are
spread all over town. Not to mention
the pickpocket, pursesnatcher who
just moves, moves, moves.
Apartments are favorite targets for
ripoffs so I decided to follow that up.
On the wav out f tho nffice T no-

Not quite the same story out on
Braeburn Circle at The Arbor Park.
complex, the largest co-op in Michi-
gan with some 604 town houses. The
manager Mr Restrepo and co-op pres-
ident Mr Tisch are continually bat-
tling the problem. They offer dead
bolt locks at $8.50, a welded bar
across the basement window for $5.00
and sticks for the sliding door grooves
gratis. The complex is hit about once
a week which isn't really bad, but
there's potential for a whole bunch
more. Only a small percentage of the
dwellers have the basement window
bars, and that's the, easiest way to
get in. "Many people won't take any
precautions until- they're hit, just