From: ghost_of_morphy@theghostishere.com   
      
   Inmates trained in computer trade   
      
      
   By Ryan Clark   
   ryanclark@jackson.gannett.com   
      
      
      
      
   Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger   
   Susan Lenox of Huntsville, Ala., works with Shannon Garrison of   
   Gulfport on lab exercises that reinforce what the textbook teaches.   
   Computers, donated by state agencies, will be rebuilt by the inmates   
   and then given to local schools. The program was fostered by Gov.   
   Ronnie Musgrove and partners the departments of Corrections and   
   Education.   
      
      
      
   For details   
      
   For more information, or to make a donation to the program, call (601)   
   932-2880, Ext. 6309.   
      
      
      
   PEARL — The classroom looks like any other, with the same harsh lights   
   and the same tired tile floors.   
      
   The students are scattered about, busily working at computer   
   terminals, flipping through papers and marking notes on worksheets.   
      
   "Do you need some help?" asks Susan Lenox, a tutor.   
      
   But Tina Hunt is getting along fine by herself, learning how to   
   convert binary numbers. Hunt is an inmate in the Central Mississippi   
   Correctional Facility serving a life sentence for murder.   
      
   Through a special program, Hunt is trying to better herself, as well   
   as help others.   
      
   "I just want to learn this in case I do get out," said the 33-year-old   
   Hunt, who has the possibility for parole in 2006. "And besides, being   
   in class is better than sitting around in jail all day. That's   
   gruesome."   
      
   Using discarded computers collected from state agencies and   
   transported by the state Department of Environmental Quality, female   
   inmates at the correctional facility disassemble computers, replace   
   the broken parts, and update software and other components to make   
   them ready for Mississippi's public school students to use.   
      
   The program, which began in March under Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's   
   direction, partners the departments of Corrections and Education with   
   DEQ.   
      
   "Mississippi's school children will reap the rewards of the computer   
   recycle program," Musgrove said. "We were the first state in the   
   nation to have Internet accessible computers in every classroom. This   
   program will help us keep those classroom computers up-to-date, at   
   minimal cost to the citizens of the state."   
      
   DEQ promotes the program, and Charles Chisolm, executive director of   
   the state DEQ, said the organization "would like to see more and more   
   computers recycled and kept out of our landfills."   
      
   In September, as many as 40 female inmates applied for the 18   
   classroom seats in the second computer repair vocational class, an   
   18-week course. The first class produced 450 computers, which will be   
   distributed soon.   
      
   "I've already received calls from schools interested in getting them,"   
   said Rick Cox, the director of the facility's vocational school. The   
   Department of Education will determine distribution of the computers,   
   Cox said.   
      
   The program is financed in part by an in-house inmate welfare fund.   
   The program has spent about $20,000 to $30,000 on supplies and tests,   
   Cox said.   
      
   "This is one of the few programs in the U.S. that will give someone   
   not only a job, but a marketable skill and a decent living," said   
   Lawrence Kelly, superintendent of the facility. "And that increases   
   their ability to become a taxpaying citizen and contribute to society   
   in a positive way."   
      
   Inmates can take other vocational classes within the facility, such as   
   business technology or family dynamics, but an inmate must have a high   
   school diploma or GED to qualify, and must score high enough on a test   
   that gauges reading level, comprehension and other skills. Students   
   are tested weekly.   
      
   "It's difficult, for sure," said Jennifer Reid, a 24-year-old   
   convicted of forgery. "But I do like working on these computers, and   
   knowing that some little kids are going to be using them."   
      
   Reid has served five years, and is supposed to be released on Oct. 2,   
   2005 — her 26th birthday.   
      
   Of the six inmates that participated in the project's first class, all   
   received national hardware certification, and three also received   
   software certification.   
      
   "These people have to study," said instructor Beth Anderson. "It is   
   not easy. We'll cover 28 chapters of a technology textbook."   
      
   The long-term plan is to develop and implement at least two classes in   
   male facilities, Cox said.   
      
   "What you're seeing here is government working at its best," he said.   
   "We're helping these inmates, the environment and the educational   
   system all at the same time."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)