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The Savannah Tribune • Wednesday, April 20, 2011-11
SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY NEWS
Revolving Prison Doors
Judge Greg Mathis
If you, like me, believe
that prisons should be able to
punish offenders while still
preparing them for a produc
tive, crime free life once they
are released, then you must
also believe that prisons are
failing. And they're not just
failing: they are costing the
larger society billions of dol
lars that could be put to
much better use.
Annual prison spending
has risen from $10 billion to
$52 billion over the last thir
ty years. Recent data from
the Pew Center on the States
shows that the additional
money is clearly not going to
prisoner rehabilitation
efforts. More than 40 percent
of inmates eventually return
to prison, most of them with
in three years. The recidi
vism rate hasn't changed
much in a decade and is a
strong sign that prisons aren't
doing the best job they can to
prepare offenders for life
outside of prison.
States around the coun
try are grappling with fiscal
uncertainty and are forced to
cut programs that serve the
poor and elderly in order to
balance their budgets. These
tactics, however, do not take
into consideration the needs
of the people, nor do they
protect the long-term finan
cial health of the state.
What does? Investing
in education. Many, if not the
majority, of prison inmates
did not graduate high school.
By catching students before
they fall through the cracks
and reducing the number of
dropouts will, over time,
reduce the prison population
and save the states money.
Sending low-level drug
offenders to rehab instead of
prison will also help. It's less
expensive to rehabilitate an
addict than it is to incarcerate
them. Going this route
allows states to help those
who need it and reduce their
prison costs at the same time.
Critics would say that
this approach is soft on
crime. No one is saying that
criminals should not be pun
ished. It's just more benefi
cial to everyone involved if
we punish them smartly.
To be fair, this strategy
is not going to save money
overnight. The goal is to cre
ate a plan that is sustainable,
one that will bring huge
returns over the long term.
Reducing prison costs by
reducing incarceration rates
saves money so governments
don't have to cut services like
Medicaid and Medicare that
the most vulnerable in our
communities rely upon.
SSU AKAs Celebrate Alpha Kappa
Alpha Week
Gamma Upsilon
Chapter celebrated its annual
Alpha Kappa Alpha Week
April 3-8, 2011, on the cam
pus of Savannah State
University. Focusing on the
mission of Alpha Kappa
Alpha Sorority,
Incorporated, Service to all
Mankind, the theme of the
week was RO.I.S.E.
(Presenting Others Instead
Of Self-Elevation).
All activities during the
week placed emphasis on the
sorority’s international pro
gram service initiatives as
well as the chapter’s local
program initiatives, and were
open for all students to
attend.
The week began with
Sunday worship service at
Happy Home Missionary
Baptist Church, Bishop K.
McNeal, Pastor. Church
attendance was encouraged
to promote sisterhood and
seek spiritual guidance in
order to effectively continue
our outreach mission of ren
dering service in our com
munity. The chapter gave a
monetary contribution for
the afterschool program of
Happy Home Missionary
Baptist Church.
The chapter concluded
Sunday’s activities with a
movie night showing of For
Colored Girls. This video
was selected for viewing to
uphold social
justice/women’s empower
ment in order to lessen the
occurrences of domestic vio
lence and date rape.
DJ-“CJ” Cranked the
Atrium on Monday with a
mixture of R&B and Hip
Hop music. Entering the
cafeteria, students swayed
and rocked as chapter mem
bers passed out information
on diabetes awareness in
terms of eating balanced
meals, daily exercise, and
regular medical check-ups to
include a blood glucose test.
Meanwhile, cookies,
brownies, and cupcakes were
available for purchase.
Chapter members pre
sented a fifteen minute skit
entitled Defeating One Bully
at a Time, to approximately
50 students at the Charles
Ellis Montessori Academy.
This presentation focused on
the sorority’s International
Program Initiative on Social
Justice.
Tuesday’s activities
concluded with approximate
ly one and a half hours of
African dance instruction by
the Ayoluwa African Dance
Theatre, Inc. Dancing sup
ports the sorority’s Health
Initiative
Focusing on scholastic
achievement, our mid-week
(Wednesday) activity was a
graduate school information
session, jointly hosted by
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority,
Incorporated and Alpha Phi
Alpha Fraternity,
Incorporated. This event was
held in the King-Frazier
Ballroom. The presenter was
Regina Bradley.
Thursday spotlighted
three vibrant male contest
ants competing for the title
of Mr. AKA in the 3rd annu
al Mr. Alpha Kappa Alpha
Elite Scholarship Pageant.
This pageant is the financial
arm of Gamma Upsilon
Chapter which provides the
funds to implement local and
international service proj
ects.
The winning contestant
receives a $1,000 academic
scholarship. Dominique
Arnold was crowned the
2011 Mr. AKA. First runner-
up was Asia Lawrence, and
the second place runner-up
was Delfino Mack. Judges
for this pageant were Ebony
King, Taqwaa Saleem,
Tiffany Fletcher, and Micah
Washington. Other 2011
chapter awards were: The
Scholastic Achievement
Award recipient Valencia
Barnwell, Soror of the Year
Award recipient Donisha
Rowe, and the Sisterhood
Award recipient Donisha
Rowe.
The week long activi
ties concluded Friday with a
cookout in the campus park.
Hotdogs, grilled chicken,
hamburgers, chips and drinks
were provided to the students
as they fellowshipped and
enjoyed the lunch break.
We are POISED for
service and look forward to
next year’s Alpha Kappa
Alpha week celebration as
we continue to reach in exer
cising self-discipline and
having self-identity; reach up
to be led spiritually and to
have balance; and, reach out
on a mission to render serv
ice to all mankind in our
community.
Chinnetta Buford,
President
Bridget Stephens, Ivy
Leaf Reporter
Patricia Clark,
Graduate Advisor.
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UGA Undergraduate Selected for
2011 Student Freedom Ride
JoyEllen Freeman, a
sophomore in the University of
Georgia Honors Program, is
one of 40 college students
selected to participate in the
2011 Student Freedom Ride, a
civil rights history bus tour
sponsored by PBS’s American
Experience history series.
Commemorating the 50th
anniversary of the 1961
Freedom Rides, the May 6-16
trip kicks off in Washington,
D.C. and covers eight Southern
states.
Freeman and other stu
dents on the tour will document
their experiences through
blogs, online videos and social
media. They will visit histori
cally significant sites and meet
some of the original Freedom
Riders.
“Participating in the 2011
Student Freedom Ride is a
chance for me to perpetuate a
legacy and retell a story that
changed America forever,” said
Freeman, who is from
Alpharetta. “The 2011 Student
Freedom Ride is a way to
remind America that ordinary
college students played a role
in transforming the racial
inequality in our country. It is
through their sacrifice that we
are able to enjoy the freedom of
today.”
Freeman researches and
writes content for the online
archive’s companion website
that focuses on Georgia’s civil
rights movement. At the recent
Center for Undergraduate
Research Opportunities
Symposium, she presented
another project on the life and
music of pianist prodigy
Thomas “Blind Tom” Bethune,
who was bom into slavery in
Georgia, in the context of race
relations in the 19th century.
“JoyEllen is a perfect choice
for this very special program,”
said David. S. Williams, asso
ciate provost and director of
UGA’s Honors Program. “She
is well-versed in the back
ground and history of the civil
rights movement through her
undergraduate research experi
ences, and she is utterly dedi
cated to the interests of equali
ty and justice.”
The 40 student participants
were selected from a pool of
nearly 1,000 applicants based
on their essays on why they
wanted to participate, their
thoughts on the role of social
media and technology in civic
engagement today and their
extracurricular activities.
Freeman, who is pursuing
bachelor’s degrees in English
and English education, holds a
Foundation Fellowship at
UGA—the university’s most
prestigious academic scholar
ship.
The 2011 Student Freedom
Ride is being held in conjunc
tion with the broadcast pre
miere of Stanley Nelson’s film,
Freedom Riders. The film,
which is partially based on Ray
Arsenault’s book, Freedom
Riders: 1961 and the Struggle
for Racial Justice, will air May
16 at 9 p.m. ET on PBS.
Nelson and Arsenault will
accompany the students on the
bus tour.
Television’s most-
watched history series,
American Experience has been
honored with every major
broadcast award, including 24
Emmy Awards, four duPont-
Columbia Awards and 14
George Foster Peabody
Awards, administered by the
UGA Grady College of
Journalism and Mass
Communication.
For more information
about the 2011 Student
Freedom Ride, see
http ://www.pbs. org/freedom-
riders.
Professional
Armstrong Atlantic State University
Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia
invites applications for the following position:
Instructor of English - Composition, Literature
and Journalism
Instructor of English - Technical Writing
Secretary to the Vice President
Staff Assistant for Learning Support and 62+
Programs
Telecommunications Administrator
Please visit our website, https://jobs.armstrong.edu, for
position details and application instructions.
Georgia is an open records law state. AA/EOE
arver
Mattie Bing
Skidawa\ Road Branch
Shari ce Wilson-Sinalls
Main Office
M, L. Kins Jr. Blvd.
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Even If you have never used a bank account, the people who
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