Newspapers / Elizabeth City State University … / April 26, 1996, edition 1 / Page 16
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16 The Compass Friday. Apin 26,199€ Prison inmates help work 'on the yard' • • by Tim Smith Aldvjugh nx>st EC5U stiidents don't pay a lot of attention to the n>en doing maintenance work "on the yard," many would be surprised to fiivd that the man driving the tractor or cutting grass may not be an employee of ECSU. He might be a prison inmate on work release. Ten work release inmates from Gates Qnmty Qjrrectional Facility are woric- ing on campus doing landscape and cleanup, according to Ms. Barbara Jo Knight, grounds supervisor for ECSU's Facilities Maintenance Department. "They only get paid a dollar a day, and bring their own lunches with them," said Knight. This saves ECSU a lot of money, Knight pointed out. "These men are primarily used in the landscaping of the campus, how ever, if one of them has a ^11 that can be utilized, we'll take advcintage of it," Knight said. "We had one man who was a welder and he did a lot of re- f)airs for us. Another young man was interested in landscaping design and now has his own business in the area. Another man was a mechanic. He woriced for us two years and kept ail of our equipment going. After he was released he worked here and then opened his own auto repair business." Several ECSU students said they had no apprehensions about having prison inmates on the yard. Knight agreed with their lack of con cern. "There is rvo reason to fear any of these men," she said. "They are in a trustee status, near the end of their sen tences. None of them has been con victed of any violent crimes; most were charged with jx)Ssession of drugs, pass ing bad checks and not paying child support. I supervise these men every day and they treat me with the utmost respect They're here to be rehabilitated into sodety. I haven't heard of any of them being sentenced again after ^ey Irave here." Work release inmates are not allowed to have visitors on campus nor can they enter any buildings without su pervision, said Knight. They are also not allowed to converse with students, she added. Besides keeping the grounds clean and well-maintained, prison inmates also maintain and repair tractors, lawnmowers and other landscaping equipment "The summer months are the bua- est, they keep the tractors and mowers going aJl day," Knight said. Many of the work release inmates return to ECSU after their release from prison to seek jobs, according to Joshua Dawson, assistant director of facilities maintenance $ I Photo kjf CmHo* MeCormtkk ECSU sophomore Deon Moore has a biro's eye view of the yard from his perch In the top of a tree on campus. With final exam week approaching fast, many students may feel like clknbing a tree to "get away from It all." Congratulations! To graduates of Elizabeth City State University from the Sales, Service and Parts Staff of Eastern Gate Nissan. NISSAN ^A/INGS CENTEP Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. ■ 7 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. 1942 North Road Street 338-5161 Elizabeth City, NC
Elizabeth City State University Student Newspaper
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April 26, 1996, edition 1
16
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