Two weeks ago, on May 2, Professor Marilyn Simon treated some of her students to a field trip to the Southern Ohio Corrections Facility in Lucasville, Ohio.No one seemed to enjoy the bus ride. As RWC Student Kat Harpin put it, “The bus ride sucked.”
But the students communicated having a good time despite having to wear loose clothing that was not blue.
The loose clothing had a purpose, as RWC Student Patrick Martin said: “So they couldn’t see our body definition.” Or as Latonya Simmons put it, “So the people wouldn’t look at us.”
But there seems to be a greater purpose; Professor Simon noted, “They were hootin’ and hollerin’ when we were in the lunch room.”
There’s always a method to the madness, and Kat Harpin made an interesting comment on the method: “We couldn’t wear blue because some of the prisoners wore blue, and if there were an emergency we all had to get down.”
Harpin and Simmons expressed interest in the “Death House,” which is where prisoners are held prior to being transported to death row.
Harpin was impressed with how people on death row “.could eat whatever they wanted” on their last day. And as Simmons pointed out, “people could have visitors.”
Martin held more interest in “watching the inmates walking through the halls. Some were shackled.” Inmates who were shackled were also escorted by at least one guard.
Some things not mentioned by the students that I found interesting, courtesy of Professor Simon, S.O.C.F. holds its industry in footwear. They manufacture all footwear for all inmates in the state of Ohio.
Also, the average paying job in the Ohio Penal Industry, or OPI, is $16 per month. S.O.C.F. is the highest paying.
And equally interesting, over half of the inmates are locked down all day, save an hour.
Twenty-eight students and Professor Simon were in attendance, and those I’ve heard talking about it seem to have enjoyed the trip.
And finally, Professor Simon gives thanks to the Behavioral Sciences Department and the First Year Experience Grant from UC Main Campus for the sponsoring of this event.