Friday, November 27, 2009

Reminders

For those who saw "A Hard Straight" on Tuesday (11/24), don't forget to post a response to the question I posed on the previous blog post, Individual Activity, last Friday, 11/20. For those of you who did not see it, when you get back to campus go to the circulation desk in the library and ask for this DVD on reserve. IT IS FOR USE IN THE LIBRARY ONLY. There is a viewing room downstairs which can fit a few people. It might be a good idea to see it with some of your classmates. It runs an hour and 15 minutes. To earn the 4 activity points, you need to see it and post your comment by the last day of classes, FRIDAY, DEC. 11TH.

DON'T FORGET TO START READING "TULIA." IF AT ALL POSSIBLE YOU SHOULD TRY TO READ THROUGH PART II (UP TO P. 179) BY NEXT TUESDAY (DEC. 1ST). IT WOULD ALSO BE A GOOD IDEA TO TAKE SOME NOTES ON IT. YOU WILL BE DOING YOUR THIRD AND FINAL ESSAY ON THIS BOOK, AND WE MAY DO IT IN-CLASS ON THURSDAY, DEC. 3RD, FOR WHICH YOU COULD USE YOUR BOOKS AND WHATEVER NOTES YOU MAY HAVE TAKEN.

I will be handing back your papers when you get back on Tuesday. Hope everyone had a good holiday and will be ready to wrap this semester up when you get back.

1 comment:

Kit Candler said...

I watched the documentary today in the library. The parolee I'm going to focus on is Regina.
She seemed to be the one parolee whose actions that landed her in trouble could have been prevented by action taken while she was in prison, or when she was released. She was also the only parolee in the video that did not return to prison. While she did test positive for meth, which was a parole violation, she was sent to a rehab facility instead of prison.
There are many actions I think that could have been taken to help Regina become better prepared to return to the world outside of prison. One, if there had been a rehab program in the prison she was in when she was first arrested, she may have learned earlier how to not want to do speed or, as she said, to substitute the want to do speed with something else. She could have been taught how to deal with the pressures she would face in the real world once she was released. She said that she didn't want to start using again, but after her husband died she was under a lot of stress and other things happened that drove her to it.
Something else I think that could've been done to help Regina was a program she could check into apart from her parole officer. I think if California had another office that drug addicts had to check into, there would have been a lesser chance of using again.
Finally, if the rehab center she went to had not been shut down, I believe that she would have been better off. While she did not start using again after leaving Milestones, if she had completed the six-month program I think she would have been better prepared to handle the real world. Perhaps she would have been on better terms with her daughter when she returned if she had finished the rehab program. If she had completed the program, her daughter may not have been as apprehensive about her returning and staying in their house, as she was when Regina returned home after only 2 months.